Raymond F. Orr Elementary School in Fort Smith to close its doors permanently

FORT SMITH, ARK. (KNWA/KFTA) — Fort Smith families react to the news that Raymond F. Orr Elementary School is closing its doors at the end of this school year.

The school said it “Has been working on this plan for a while now.” Fort Smith Public Schools closed down Trusty Elementary School in May, and now there will be more changes within the district.

There will be some huge changes at the end of the school year for Orr Elementary, and some of these changes include students being zoned to new schools. Orr Elementary has been open for 61 years, and one parent is concerned about the school closing.

“Students go to Orr Elementary School because there is an influx of students at other schools within the district,” said Cooper.

Jamie Cooper has a child who goes to elementary school in the district, and she has had first-hand experience with transferring schools. “I don’t agree with it as a parent with one in elementary school. I don’t agree with it. I got a call saying he’s been class-sized out, which means their classes are over capacity, so they have to transfer schools. There are not enough elementary schools alone to deal with our capacity of kids,” said Cooper.

Tiffany Bone is the assistant superintendent for curriculum instruction at Fort Smith Public Schools. “Orr closing its doors is going to be one piece of the puzzle that the district has been working on,” said Bone.

“What it will do is it will put our districts at a good 500 student range, and have all of our buildings at a max capacity at about a good 625,” said Bone.

The closing of Orr will bring opportunities for Fort Smith Public Schools staff, parents, and students. “We’ll be able to have full-time assistant principals it will be better for our kids because we won’t have to do anything like move them, and we will have space for all of them. It will just be more efficient for our district,” said Bone.

The Forst Smith School Board has been handed a proposal on what’s next for the housed building at Orr. “One of the proposals is to possibly use it to rehouse the existing [Alternative Learning Environment] and possibly put a K-12 ALE there, but that’s a proposal that has not been yet finalized by the school board,” said Bone.

Jamie Cooper isn’t happy about this plan. “It hurts. It does because you’re telling me that our elementary students aren’t worth your time and effort because you got to deal with the high school students that don’t listen. Well if they’re not gonna listen in regular school, what makes you think that they’re going to listen in an alternative school?”

Fort Smith Public Schools is always open to feedback from parents to make sure they are doing the right thing for students, staff, and the community. Fort Smith Public Schools’ website can guide you to the school board meeting dates and can put you in contact with someone who can help.

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