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45-696: In its final years the district operated two schools: Martin Elementary School and Altheimer-Sherrill High School . In the pre-desegregation era white students attended Altheimer High School and black students attended Altheimer Training School. In 2006 it merged into the Dollarway School District , which in turn merged into the Pine Bluff School District in 2021. In the 1960s the Altheimer district began

90-433: A one-room school for white students opening in 1914. Initially the district only operated elementary and junior high school level education and was racially segregated; religious entities educated black students in the district's beginnings. By the mid-20th century black students were educated in area schools for black children and continued to Pine Bluff School District 's Merrill High School , while white students attended

135-493: A "school of choice" program where parents could choose which schools their children could attend, in light of educational desegregation of races. The Altheimer-Sherrill district was created in 1979 when the Altheimer and Sherrill districts merged. Fred Martin, Jr., formerly the principal of the high school, became the superintendent of the Altheimer-Sherrill School District in 1982. Martin left

180-563: A larger number of schools in this district are rated below average in school quality. However, students at many of the schools in this district are making about the same academic progress as the state average. Dollarway High School is the only high school in the Dollarway School District and is ranked 221-267th within Arkansas 2. The AP® participation rate at Dollarway High School is 26% and the total minority enrollment

225-480: A period the consolidated district had two taxation rates, one for the original Dollarway district and one for the former Altheimer Unified. In addition the district operated two bus mechanic stops, with the Pine Bluff one serving the majority of the population of the district and the Altheimer one moving children from the Altheimer area to the schools in Pine Bluff. There were two interim board members to represent

270-555: A result of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 , the district created a new desegregation plan involving "freedom of choice" where parents choose which school their children will attend. Due to still relatively low numbers of black students attending white schools, Pickhardt wrote that the freedom of choice plan effectively kept races separate. Late 1960s court cases however forced districts to change their freedom of choice plans to outright combine schools, and Henley ordered changes to

315-695: A stay in the courts. The district enacted testing for black students who wished to transfer. Dollarway Elementary began hosting black students on September 7, 1960, with no incidents of violence occurring. The first black student at Dollarway High began attending in January 1963. Pickhardt stated that in the 1960s the Dollarway district board of directors allowed small numbers of black students to white classes, something area anti-racial integration groups did not oppose, and that such groups did not instigate violence. This meant that little negative press appeared in

360-482: A vacancy, even though the perception elsewhere in the district was that Hardin residents did not want racially integrated schools. Schools were combined for grades 7-12 effective 1969. Judge J. Smith Henley , seeing that the district did not put enough white students in Townsend Park elementary schools, ordered elementary schools combined effective 1970. White flight occurred over several decades. In 1979

405-611: The City of White Hall having fewer people than the City of Pine Bluff. The Pine Bluff Commercial stated that there was a lack of comment in the Arkansas state board of Education meetings and that there was a "lack of any significant outcry from patrons or anyone else for that matter." The pre-Altheimer merger boundaries included two non-contiguous portions, each between the White Hall School District . The part to

450-417: The 59 teachers, three were white. Circa 1969 there were about 270 Hardin students at Dollarway schools, 5 of them being black. In 1970 the district was about 55% black and each school, now fully integrated, had roughly the same proportion. The district at the time had a total of 114 teachers, half black and half white, with each school having roughly that proportion of teachers by race. Due to white flight

495-459: The Altheimer area. The Dollarway district, in 2007, was no longer in financial distress partly because the State of Arkansas gave the district $ 1,700,000 to help the district absorb the Altheimer district. From about 2008 to 2018, the poor economy of Pine Bluff prompted parents to leave the area, and accordingly, Dollarway district officials have an estimate of an enrollment decline of about 900 for

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540-437: The Altheimer district, with an additional 333 square miles (860 km ) of area, includes the municipalities of Altheimer , Sherrill , and Wabbaseka . It also includes the unincorporated areas of Lake Dick , New Gascony , Pastoria , Plum Bayou , Sweden , Tucker , and Wright . In the mid-1950s about 50% of the students were black and about 50% were white, with the former concentrated east of Dollarway Road, and

585-548: The Arkansas Board of Education also ruled that the district was in "fiscal distress". The district held a centennial celebration in 2014 after band director Brandon Shorter read an article in the Arkansas Historical Quarterly that gave the year of establishment in 1914 and he verified that information, prompting him and his colleagues to organize a committee for the centennial. As of 2015

630-588: The Dollarway School Board exempted the district from a state law that normally allows parents in one school district to have their children sent to attend schools in another school district. Parents from seven families, including the president of the Dollarway Parent Teacher Organization, Annie Bryant, argued against the exemption; Bryant stated that due to the large number of students on free or reduced lunch, it

675-642: The Dollarway School and then had a choice between Pine Bluff High School in the Pine Bluff district, Watson Chapel High School in the Watson Chapel School District , and White Hall High School in the White Hall School District . After World War II African-Americans moved into the district to work at the Pine Bluff Arsenal , prompting the district to build new schools to accommodate them. Dollarway annexed

720-414: The Dollarway district, the only one to agree to a merger with Altheimer, formally asked the state to give the Altheimer territory to Dollarway the previous May, and the Altheimer board also agreed to the consolidation. This consolidation meant that small towns and rural areas in northern Jefferson County, including Altheimer, Sherrill, Wabbaseka, Tucker, and Plum Bayou, became a part of the district. For

765-637: The Hardin school district in 1948. The four black schools were combined into Townsend Park Elementary School, which opened in 1951. In 1954 the district board refused a request to have racially integrated classes made by several black parents and National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) member William Dove. In 1955 the district opened a high school for black children, Townsend Park High School , and in 1957 it opened Dollarway High School for white children, partly because in 1955

810-547: The Jefferson County School District dissolved, with a portion of the students going to the Dollarway school district. In 2006 the Dollarway district was in financial distress. The Altheimer Unified School District consolidated into the Dollarway School District on July 10, 2006. The State of Arkansas had demanded that the Altheimer district merge with another district as the Altheimer district's financial situation had deteriorated. The board of

855-602: The Pine Bluff district stopped taking Dollarway students. The Dollarway district continued to oppose desegregation, with Dove being refused a second time in 1957, as the Brown II decision in the U.S. Supreme Court allowed Southern school districts to choose their paces of desegregation. John B. Pickhardt, an alumnus of the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville , stated that the district was already spending less per capita to educate black students than white ones and so "there

900-502: The ballot. The Arkansas Department of Education took control of the school district in 2012 due to failing to meet state education guidelines. In 2014 state control ended and the school board resumed operations. State control resumed in 2015 due to low test scores. The State of Arkansas designated the school district as being in "academic distress" from 2011 until 2016, and after an audit found issues in financial reporting, in April 2016

945-575: The consolidation into Dollarway, the Altheimer-Sherrill High School school building was used as the Altheimer-Martin Elementary School until it closed in 2013. A 2011 State of Arkansas legislative research document stated that "Altheimer’s high school’s test scores were was [ sic ] just as low as Dollarway High’s ." The first athletic programs were organized when Fred Martin

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990-553: The consolidation plan, all schools of the two districts will continue to operate post-merger. Ryan Watley, the CEO of the organization Go Forward Pine Bluff, argued that Dollarway no longer was viable as an individual school district. Joni Alexander, a member of the Pine Bluff City Council, argued that the post-merger school district boundaries in effect privilege students in the White Hall School District ; he pointed to

1035-565: The district in 1988 and became the mayor of Altheimer. Altheimer-Sherrill School District annexed the former Wabbaseka-Tucker School District on August 16, 1993. As the Altheimer Unified School District it began operations on September 1, 1993, making Wabbaseka, Tucker, and Plum Bayou a part of the district. Both the Altheimer-Sherrill and Wabbaseka-Tucker districts had debts from overpayment and so

1080-458: The latter west of Dollarway Road, with the western Hardin part of the district predominately white. In the 1957–1958 school year it had about 2,060 students. The black Townsend Park campuses together had about 1,043 while the white Dollarway campuses together had about 1,017 students. In fall 1968 the Dollarway campuses had 1,328 students, with 64 being black. Of the 48 teachers, four were black. All 1,679 Townsend Park students were black, and of

1125-579: The merged district took those debts. The district received a 12-acre (4.9 ha) school property in Wabbaseka when it annexed the Wabbaseka district; the district ended all use of the property in 1996. Altheimer Unified sold it to the City of Wabbaseka for $ 674,623 in the 2001 fiscal year. By June 2001 it was not yet used for a new purpose. The Altheimer Library of the Pine Bluff-Jefferson County Library System

1170-399: The municipalities of Altheimer , Sherrill , and Wabbaseka . It was one of four school districts to serve sections of Pine Bluff. It also served the unincorporated areas of Hardin , Lake Dick , New Gascony , Pastoria , Plum Bayou , Sweden , Tucker , and Wright . It merged into the Pine Bluff School District effective July 1, 2021. It was named after Dollarway Road, with

1215-432: The newspapers and slowed the rate at which black students appeared in area schools. In 1964 there were two black students in majority white schools, making Dollarway district have the second lowest percentage of black students in mostly white schools of the 21 school districts in the state that already began the integration process. Of those 21 districts it was one of two that had a population of over 30% African-American. As

1260-423: The number of white students declined. 92% of the students were black as of 2007. In 2006 the district had 2,037 students in grades K-12, and 92 preschool students. In 2015, according to Bryant, about 98% of the district's students were on free or reduced lunches. In 2015-2016 it had almost 1,200 students. Circa 2016 it had 1,171 students. In May 2020 that figure was down to 941, and by December that year it

1305-521: The period. A 2011 State of Arkansas legislative research document stated that additionally the Dollarway district lost enrollment while the Watson Chapel and White Hall school districts' enrollment remained constant, and it concluded that Dollarway students were leaving to go to those districts and private schools and charter schools . Superintendent Arthur Tucker stated, as paraphrased by the document, "he believes some of these losses result from

1350-413: The poor reputation the Dollarway School District has in the area and the rundown school facilities." The legislative document stated, in regards to whether to first prioritize academic improvement or repairing the buildings, "there is little consensus about which part of the problem to address first." By 2015 a millage increase had been voted down so the majority of the board was reluctant to put another on

1395-483: The position. The Pine Bluff Commercial praised the state takeover and criticized the previously elected school boards. In 2020 the district had 921 students. In December 2020 the Arkansas State Board of Education ruled that the Dollarway School District should merge into the Pine Bluff School District as of July 1, 2021; all seven Arkansas state education board members approved this. According to

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1440-478: The principal, who sought to improve the curriculum and building. In the period 1955-1982 the school received accreditation from the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools , and a red-brick classroom building and gymnasium were built. The school became Altheimer High School in 1969, and the school received its final name around 1979. Martin served as the principal until he became

1485-591: The school had about 142 students. It was previously the Altheimer Training School . It served as the high school for African-Americans, while Altheimer High School served as the high school for white students. In 1955 Fred Martin Jr., who began his term as a mathematics teacher at the school in 1949, was named the school's principal. In 1961 its name changed to Martin High School in honor of

1530-537: The school system effective 1969. Some Hardin parents advocated for re-separating the Hardin school district; on September 11, 1969, they voted to leave the Dollarway district, with the county board of education making a move to change funding. The vote to separate was on a narrow margin. However the US District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas blocked the split on the grounds that it

1575-566: The superintendent of the Altheimer-Sherrill School District in 1982. Another school building, 30,000-square-foot (2,800 m ) large, was built in 1987; it included a gymnasium. The Altheimer-Sherrill School District consolidated into the Altheimer Unified School District on September 1, 1993. Altheimer Unified consolidated into the Dollarway School District on July 10, 2006. In 2007 Altheimer-Sherrill High closed, with 102 middle school students and 137 high school students in its last year. Students were rezoned to Dollarway High School . After

1620-480: The west included unincorporated areas such as Hardin , and the part to the east mostly included unincorporated areas between the Arkansas River and Pine Bluff, with a northern part of Pine Bluff included. The western section also includes a portion of White Hall . The area that was the sum of the district between 1948 and 2006 has a total of 48 square miles (120 km ) of area. The merged area from

1665-653: Was a junior and senior high school (grades 7-12) in Altheimer, Arkansas , United States, operated by the Altheimer-Sherrill School District , and later the Altheimer Unified School District . At the time of its closing it served Altheimer, Sherrill , Wabbaseka , and other portions of Jefferson County , including the unincorporated areas of Tucker , Plum Bayou , Pastoria , and Wright . Circa 2005

1710-412: Was built on land sold by Altheimer Unified to the county government for $ 3,784. For a two-year period until 2006 the district ran at a deficit due to enrollment declines. Its final enrollment was about 400. The State of Arkansas required for the Altheimer district to merge with another district, but Altheimer could choose another district that agreed to merge with it. The only district that agreed to do so

1755-496: Was clear that the students had no other choice but to go to public schools, and therefore the district ought to allow transfers. As of that year there were no persons requesting that their children be transferred from another school district to the Dollarway district. In 2015 the Arkansas State Board of Education took control of the district. Barbara Warren became superintendent as per the school board naming her to

1800-401: Was down to 921. Its projected 2021 enrollment was 904. 901 was the enrollment in the final school year. The Arkansas Democrat Gazette stated that according to analysts, the district's cash reserves eroded because it was not pulling in as much funds as the student enrollment had declined and that bankruptcy was a possibility within several years in the future. In the mid-1950s the district

1845-418: Was interfering with desegregation efforts as those were based upon the Hardin staying in the district; the court stated that Hardin could split again once desegregation efforts ended. Pickhardt wrote that opposition to being in Dollarway had built up over decades partly due to the 1964 closure of the Hardin school and partly because the Dollarway board of education chose not to appoint anybody from Hardin to fill

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1890-481: Was little economic incentive to integrate". In June 1959 black parents sued the district after it kept refusing desegregation requests. Judge Axel J. Beck of the Eastern District of Arkansas ordered the district to allow three black children to attend Dollarway High effective fall 1959, starting anti-integration efforts in the district. However Dollarway schools remained segregated for 1959-1960 due to

1935-571: Was principal. The gymnasium was the Asive Thomas Memorial Gymnasium. Dollarway School District Dollarway School District No. 2 ( DSD ) was a school district headquartered in Pine Bluff , Arkansas , United States . With over 1,600 students and employing more than 300 educators and staff, the district had three active school campuses at the end of its life. It served sections of Pine Bluff as well as

1980-520: Was spending less to educate black students than to educate white students, with $ 120 per capita on the former and $ 157 per capita on the latter. The district headquarters was, in 2012, on the same campus as Dollarway High. The 2012 Arkansas legislative document stated that as a result the workers in the two facilities were in "close proximity". Dollarway School District is located in Pine Bluff, Arkansas and operates five schools, serving students from pre-kindergarten to grade 12. According to GreatSchools,

2025-513: Was the Dollarway School District . The Altheimer Unified School District consolidated into the Dollarway district on July 10, 2006. A majority of board members of each district ultimately agreed to the consolidation. Effective July 1, 2021, the Dollarway territory became part of the Pine Bluff School District . Before the closing of the district, the district was in academic distress according to State of Arkansas measurements. Altheimer-Sherrill High School Altheimer-Sherrill High School

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