By Ray King
There has been a lot of talk recently about school consolidation, particularly from the Pine Bluff Chapter of the NAACP, who is calling for the Watson Chapel District to be consolidated with the Pine Bluff District, which now also includes the former Dollarway District. The state consolidated Pine Bluff and Dollarway school districts on July 1 of this year.
On Friday, Dr. Andrew Curry, Superintendent of the Watson Chapel District, appeared on the Oldies 101.3 morning show and said he was not in favor of consolidation.
The most recent ACT scores for the Pine Bluff District is 15 and for the Watson Chapel District around 18 and Curry agreed that number was not high enough.
He said the students in the district can enroll at SEARK while still attending Watson Chapel, and a number of students are also attending the career training center, which is on the campus of SEARK.
