Today is a day that means something. It’s not just about the man it’s named for and his legacy, as remarkable as it is; it’s not just about the past, though it’s a story that we should all know and understand its meaning for the sake of our nation. It’s about who we are as a country and as a community, what our values are and who we are as a people. It’s about recognizing how the values of today aren’t the values of yesterday and that there is good reason for that. It’s about learning from the past and critiquing the present, so that we may together build a better future for all of us.
That said, it is no secret that, in Arkansas, there are a great many school districts that go out of their way to avoid recognizing today for what it is. Most of us are probably well aware of at least one school that refuses to refer to Martin Luther King Day by its name, using it instead for staff development or using it as a snow day. Some don’t even go to that miserable extent, simply going about their business without even suggesting that there might be something special about the day. Most of those schools will happily acknowledge Labor Day, President’s Day, and even Columbus Day, so there really is no excuse. Hell, some even include “Deer Days” on their schedule, allowing for school to let out for deer hunting season of all the stupid things. (And we wonder why public education in this state still needs work?) For a long time, this nonsense has gone on mostly unchallenged. It’s the old Arkansas way of thinking-sweep it under the rug, don’t rock the boat. Well that’s ending today. With some tremendous help from Blue Ark. writer La Voix, I went through a list of Arkansas School Districts and checked out their calendars to see just how many schools fail to acknowledge the holiday for what it is. Now personally, I don’t give a rat’s rear end if they let out for MLK day. Personally, I’d prefer they kept the students in and devoted the day to learning about King and the civil rights movement. So really, it’s a low bar I was going for here. I just wanted to see that they referred to the holiday by name. Seems simple enough right? I mean, if they’re going to list every other holiday in the book they should be able to spare a little bit of ink for MLK. But apparently not. It’s that old bigotry of dismissiveness, and in someways it is more damaging to our society than open hatred because it allows the ugliness King and his allies fought against to fester unchallenged in our society. And you know the sad thing? Well over a hundred schools made the list after weeks of research.
Now, a few things here. I believe in rewarding good behavior, so I’m also putting up a list of schools that do the right thing and acknowledge the holiday by name on their calendars. Our work can be checked by simply clicking on the link provided for the school by the Arkansas Department of Education and finding their school calendars. Both lists are, in fact, incomplete. There were several schools that failed to have up to date calendar information or didn’t seem to have functioning websites. So, for the time being, they have been left off the lists. However, I am open of course to amending both lists and if our readers can provide information to help expand (or correct if a mistake has been made) the information we’re providing here. Remember, this is about naming and shaming and about rewarding those that do the right thing with recognition. It’s also about dragging the skeletons out of the closet for everyone to see, because without doing so positive change will never come about. There are a few surprises on both lists, and if you see your local school district on either please, by all means, contact them to either thank them for doing the right thing or make some noise to get them to change their policies.
Schools that DON’T acknowledge MLK Day:
Alma School District, Alpena School District, Ashdown Schools, Batesville School District, Bauxite Public Schools, Bay School District, Beebe School District, Bentonville Public Schools, Bergman School District, Berryville School District, Bismark School District, Booneville School District, Bradford School District, Caddo Hills School District, Cave City School District, Cedar Ridge School District, Centerpoint School District, Charleston Public Schools, Clinton School District, Corning School District, Cotter Public Schools, Cross County Schools, De Queen Public Schools, Decatur Public Schools, Des Arc Public Schools, Dierks Public Schools, Dover School District, East End School District, Elkins School District, Eureka Springs School District, Foreman School District, Fountain Lake School District, Gentry School District, Glen Rose School District, Gravette Public Schools, Green Forest School District, Greenbrier Public Schools, Green County Tech School District, Greenland School District, Greenwood School District, Hackett School District, Harrisburg Public Schools, Harrison School District, Hartford School District, Heber Springs School, Hector School District, Highland Public Schools, Hillcrest Public Schools, Hughes School District, Huntsville School District, Izard County Consolidated School District, Jackson County School District, Jasper Public School District, Jonesboro Public Schools, Kirby Public Schools, Lakeside School District, Lavaca Public Schools, Lawrence County School District, Lead Hill School District, Magazine School District, Magnet Cove School District, Mammoth Springs School District, Manila Public Schools, Mansfield Public Schools, Marion School District, Marmaduke School District, McCrory School District, Mena Public Schools, Midland School District, Mineral Springs/Saratoga, Mount Ida Public Schools, Mount Vernon-Enola School District, Mountain Home School District, Mountain View School District, Mulberry/Pleasant View Bi-County School District, Nimo-Vista School District, Nettleton Public Schools, Norfolk School District, Ouchita School District, Ouchita River School District, Ozark Mountain School District, Pangburn School District, Paris School District, Pea Ridge School District, Perryville School District, Pocahontas Public Schools, Pottsville School District, Poyen School District, Quitman School District, Rector School District, Riverview School District, Rogers Public Schools, Salem School District, Searcy School District, Searcy County School District, Sheridan School District, Shirley School District, Sloan-Hendrix Schools, South Side Bee Branch School District, Springdale Public Schools, Trumann School District, Two Rivers School District, Valley Springs Public Schools, Valley View Public Schools, Van Buren School District, Van Cove School District, Vilonia School District, Viola Public Schools, Waldron Public Schools, Westfork Public Schools, White County Central School District
There’s well over 100 school districts on that list and, sadly, there are more on that list than on the list of schools that do acknowledge the holiday. It just goes to show you how much work we still have to do even in this day and age.
Schools that acknowledge MLK Day:
Alma School District, Arkadelphia Public Schools, Augusta School District, Bald Knob Public Schools, Barton-Lexa School District, Batesville School District, Bearden Public Schools, Benton County School of the Arts, Benton Public Schools, Blevins School District, Blytheville School District, Bradley School District, Brookland Public Schools, Bryant School District, Cabot School District, Calico Rock School District, Camden Fairview School District, Carlisle Public Schools, Clarendon School District, Clarksville School District, Cleveland County School District, Concord Public Schools, Conway Public Schools, Crossett School District, Cutter Morningstar Public Schools, Danville Public Schools, Dardanelle Public Schools, Dermott Public Schools, Dewitt School District, Drew Central School District, Dumas Public Schools, Earle School District, East Poinsett County School District, Eldorado School District, Emerson-Taylor Schools, England School District, Eudora Schools, Farmington Public Schools, Fayetteville School District, Forrest City School District, Fort Smith Public Schools, Genoa Central Schools, Gosnell School District, Guy Perkins School District, Hamburg School District, Hampton School District, Harmony Grove School District, Hatfield Public Schools, Hazen School District, Helena-West Helena School District, Hermitage School District, Hope Public Schools, Hot Springs School District, Jessieville School District, Junction City School District, KIPP: Delta Public Schools, Lake Hamilton, Lakeside School District, Lamar School District, Lee County School District, Lincoln Consolidated School District, Little Rock School District, Lonoke Public School District, Magnolia Public Schools, Malvern School District, Marked Tree School District, Marvell School District, Mayflower Schools, McGehee School District, Monticello School District, Mountain Pine School District, Mountainburg Public Schools, Murfreesboro Schools, Nashville Public Schools, Newport School District, Norphlet Public Schools, Omaha School District, Osceola School District, Ozark Public Schools, . Palestine-Wheatley School District, Paragould Public Schools, Piggott School District, Prairie Grove, Prescott Public Schools, Pulaski County Special School District, Riverside Public School District, Russellville School District, Siloam Springs School District, Smackover School District, South Conway County School District, South Mississippi County School District, Southside School District, Spring Hill School District, Star City School District, Stephens School District, Strong-Huttig School District, Warren School District, Watson Chapel School District, West Memphis School District, Western Yell County Schools, Westside Consolidated School District, Whitehall School District, Wonderview School District, Wynne School District
Again, if you don’t see your local school district on either list it’s probably because we couldn’t find any clear data on it. However, if you can help us amend the list or correct anything that may be wrong, by all means please do so. I’ll close by saying one more thing. Someone I talked to about this list while it was in the works suggested that this was the equivalent of making an issue out of something that isn’t so important. History is important. An acknowledgement of how this country has changed is important. King’s legacy is important. Having our local school districts acknowledge the holiday may seem like something small, but it will still be a helpful step forward for our state and our local communities in realizing King’s dream.
Update: The Alma School District somehow got put on both lists. Obviously that’s a mistake. Sadly, the Alma School District is one such school district that lists MLK Day as “a professional development day” on their district calendar.
Update II: Addressing two things here. First, thanks to reader Roger for pointing out that I mistakenly put Batesville Schools on the wrong list. Don’t know how that happened-the simple explanation is I goofed.
Secondly, I repeat, my only criteria here is recognation for the holiday BY NAME. I don’t care if they’re in school or not-I just want to see it acknowledged and respected for what it is rather than ignored or written off as “staff development” or some other such slight.
Thanks to those who have commented with insights and corrections-it’s been a tremendous help in making this more effective. The list actually got a shout out today from a school board member here in Jonesboro so hopefully we will see some action taken on this in some quarters soon.
Note: You put Alma School District on both lists. I am curious about who is charged with creating the school calendars for each district, particularly those who did not acknowledge the MLK holiday. I wonder too what other states fall short of recognition.
Not sure what happened but if you look at Batesville’s calendar on their website, it is marked as MLK Day.
http://www.batesvilleschools.com/education/page/download.php?fileinfo=MjAxMC0xMV9TdW1tYXJpemVkX1NjaG9vbF9DYWxlbmRhci5wZGY6Ojovd3d3Ny9zY2hvb2xzL2FyL2JhdGVzdmlsbGVzY2hvb2wvaW1hZ2VzL2RvY21nci81MzBmaWxlNjcyLnBkZg==
Has been for the last 15 years as I recall.
I’d like to see these districts plotted on a map, to see if there is any geographic correlation. Though I think I could take a guess at it by just reading the list.
I am a little confused about the lists of schools. Are you saying a school did not observe the day because they were in session, because their teachers had in-service days, or because of the wording on the school calendar? If the criteria for observing the day is that the school is not in session and the teacher’s are off, then your list is extremely inaccurate. Several of the schools you listed as observing are holding teacher in-services today. Several of the schools you listed as not observing were scheduled to be out today but did not specifically list Martin Luther King Day on their calendars. These same schools were supposed to be out on President’s Day as well but also did not list the words “President’s Day” on their calendar either, so you really can’t claim that they are purposely disrespecting Martin Luther King unless you want to claim that they are also disrespecting all of the Presidents of the United States as well. Let us also not forget about Veteran’s Day. Schools are always in session on Veteran’s Day and nobody seems to mind. Schools have to be in session so many days per year as required by state law. Some schools have chosen to make-up the snow days on Jan. 17 and Feb. 18 rather than have the kids come 2 days extra during Summer break. The teachers at most of these schools, however, will be going the 2 extra days to make-up in-service hours that were planned for those days. Teachers have to get so many in-service hours per year as required by state law and they can’t get the hours while school is in session, so the schools are very limited as to when they can hold these in-services. Some have no choice but to allow the kids to be out for the holiday and have the teachers come in. If you want everyone to be out for Martin Luther King Day, propose changing the laws governing how many days are in the school year and the number of hours required for teacher in-service but don’t try and make a case that all schools in session today or holding in-services are somehow racist or disrespectful of Dr. King. That is ridiculous. They are just doing what they have to do to meet state requirements for the year.
I really like the idea of having school in session on MLK day and using that day to teach the students about civil rights.
People, remember that in most cases regarding school decisions there is some degree of local autonomy. This means that some decisions (i.e., school calendars) are made by the district staff. Now there are some factors usually mandated by the state legislature such as no school can start prior to August 19th, spring break (mandated by lege about three years ago), number of days students will be in class, etc.
After that, it is the district’s decision to determine their schedule and call it what they will. We will never be able to change community attitudes from the state level.
Sad thing is that most people don’t realize that Dr. King’s work and sacrifices benefit more than just a particular race.