Jeannie Roberts

2 weeks ago | volumeone.org | Jeannie Roberts

—after Jean-Francois Millet’s painting, The Angelus My maternal grandparents emigrated from Sweden— a down-to-earth, persevering couple, they made their home in Minnesota. As a kid, I’d watch Grandpa Emil “Namie” harvest potatoes. His hilled rows faced the lake. I made dirt piles while he worked the soil. Weekends at Crosslake were carefree, comforting— we fished, swam, searched for shells, took walks, played Slapjack, Crazy Eights, and Kings in the Corner.

May 5, 2024 | arktimes.com | Jeannie Roberts

When Andy Chisum took over three years ago as superintendent of the Mayflower School District he recognized right away that something was very wrong. “Our teacher attrition rate was awful,” he said. The Mayflower district is surrounded by bigger ones like Conway, Cabot and Pulaski County — districts that could offer higher salaries. “At that time, we were paying the state minimum salary, which was $36,000. That’s all we could afford,” Chisum said.

Apr 4, 2024 | arktimes.com | Jeannie Roberts

Student First Technologies, based in Bloomington, Indiana, won the contract to handle the finance side of school vouchers in the second year of Arkansas LEARNS. The company replaces Kleo Inc., which does business as ClassWallet, who provided the online platform to distribute Educational Freedom Accounts and literacy tutoring funds for the 2023-24 school year, the first year of the voucher program.

Mar 28, 2024 | arktimes.com | Jeannie Roberts

A judge in a federal lawsuit challenging a section of the Arkansas LEARNS Act that prohibits “indoctrination” in the classroom has recused herself from the case and asked for it to be reassigned. In court documents filed Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker made the decision “to avoid the appearance of impropriety.” No other reason was given. The case was reassigned to Judge Lee P.

Mar 27, 2024 | arktimes.com | Jeannie Roberts

State lawmakers will wait until the upcoming fiscal session to decide whether or not to follow a consulting firm’s recommendation that Arkansas start its own insurance company for school properties, legislators said Wednesday. Roberts Lee, president of Meadors, Adams & Lee Insurance Inc., urged lawmakers to make a decision soon during its presentation to the Arkansas Legislative Council’s executive subcommittee.