Northeast High School - Charger Yearbook (North Little Rock, AR)

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Ken Brooks, director of secondary education, locates files dealing with secondary education. - Photo by Mark Donnell. Men in charge District faces tough decisions By Susan Slater Operating the North Little Rock School District demanded a variety of tough decisions from Superintendent George Miller, the man in charge. He met those decisions, which covered topics ranging from an off-campus prom to a court ordered desegration, with characteristic wit, candor and practicality. The basis of his objection to an open-campus policy, which would allow students to leave campus for lunch, was typical of his style. We don't believe in it, he said. lt creates too many prob' lems in a crowded situation. Another decision concerned an off-campus prom that Senior Cabinet members wanted for Northeast. Mr. Miller rejected the idea and in October reiterated his position. Absolutely not, he said. I've already expressed myself on that. He had reasoned earlier that an off-campus prom would create problems which school officials could not control. Mr. Miller was equally adamant in a stand he took in October jim Dyer, assistant superintendent for instruction, spends much of his time keeping up with the latest facts in education. - Photo by Mark Donnell. against a group of parents who wanted the district to provide free transportation for their children. I think that commercial tran- sportation should be provided, he said, but the school district can't. We don't have the money. Desegration of the school district has been an issue for more than a decade, and the district has been under a Supreme Court order to desegrate since 1970. The district's efforts to have the court order lifted were turned down for the second time in October. Mr. Miller explained that the district's reasons for wanting the court order lifted related to conven- ience. Mr. Miller said that budget limitations are the deciding factors in many decisions. He described the district as solvent We can't deficit spend in a public school situation, he said. The law says you can't spend more money than you take in. You have to arrange the budget that way. So what we said we would do, we are going to be able to do. But we donit have anything to spare. P 18O!Classes, administrators

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School Board Keeping the By Chris Glass Program needs are brought to the school board's attention by parental input and citizen invol- vement, according to school board President S. R. Bob Lyon. Students requesting programs brings changes, he said. For instance, at Northeast we have had more classes in foreign languages because of an increased interest over the past four or five years. Vocational classes are on the upswing at Ole Main, and, according to Lyon, Northeast students wishing to take vocation- al classes are provided transporta- tion to Ole Main. New programs have been added throughout the district, not just on the secondary level. We've put more of an empha- sis on basic education instead of if PROUD AND HONORED - School board president S. R. Bob Lyon makes an award presentation during the October meeting while Leon Barnes and Judy Wear observe. Photo by Robert Miller. up with times the more superfluous areas of education, Lyon said. The school board doesn't always make the right decisions when making program changes, according to Lyon. With the new math, for instance, we found that many students didn'r have a good foundation in basic math by the time they got into high school. We re-evaluated that program, he said. In the future, the school board plans on giving emphasis to math, science and computers. We are fairly blessed with the computer system in our schools, Lyon said. Lyon, who has served on the school board for 12 years, said that serving so long gives him a chance to keep abreast of what is happening in education. CATCHING EVERY DETAIL - Senior Pam White represents Northeast students at an October meeting. Pam attended and took notes at every school board meeting. Photo by Robert Miller. Keeping up with the timcsfl79

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Q 5 X ' 5 .Q ' 45 xx , . . AI. , . . , 1 F, t t y ' N 1 N5 ' ' 3 it Q QQ, 1' t 1 . E XB E X N Q- Q s a x s Y t wi N at is 'N' Sw s SX S X is S a Superintendent George Miller takes care of some paper work in his office at tht Administration Building. - Photo by Mark Donnell Assistant superintendent for educational programs and student affairs, Andrew Powers examines a map of the school district with his secretary. - Photo by Mark Donnell a 3 . Assistant superintendent Doyle Crow- nover checks to see what mail he has received. - Photo by Mark Donnell Assistant superintendent in charge of business affairs, Dr. Leon Wilson studies computer output. - Photo by Mark Donnell.