30 Years and Growing

30

Years and Growing

On March 1, 1991, then-Gov. Bill Clinton signed House Bill 1387 of the 78th Arkansas General Assembly into law as Act 305. Two days earlier, he had signed Senate Bill 236, enacting Act 259. Together, the two pieces of legislation officially established the Arkansas School for Mathematics and Sciences.

Today, the school is known as the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences, and the Arts and is a campus of the University of Arkansas System. It has more than 2,700 alumni, the majority of whom reside in Arkansas. Within the past decade, the campus has celebrated the opening of two new buildings — the Student Center in 2012 and the Creativity and Innovation Complex in 2019. A full renovation of the Chapel and Convent structures is set to begin in summer 2021. Additional projects are on the horizon.

But 30 years ago, ASMSA was represented by words on paper and the drive by several passionate visionaries who thought such a school was an important step to better educate Arkansas students and prepare the state for future economic growth.

The path getting there was a series of events that at first may seem unrelated but were key to ASMSA’s creation, said Dr. Ron Hart, the former director and chief scientist for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s National Center for Toxicological Research near Pine Bluff.

“What has fascinated me is how a series of presumably nonrelated events can combine into a pattern leading to the creation of legislation that impacts the lives of thousands of people,” Hart said.

The first of those events was the creation of the Arkansas Science and Technology Authority in 1983, Hart said. The organization was the result of a phone call years earlier he received from U.S. Rep. Ray Thornton who contacted him with an oft-asked question: how could he improve the quality of jobs for his constituents?

Hart said he told Thornton that society was becoming more technology-based and the residents of Arkansas were not being prepared for the jobs that would be required for such a transition. Hart said one thing which could help improve that would be an organization that focused on improving science and technology initiatives — including math and science education — in the state.

Dr. John Ahlen, who would play a crucial role in ASMSA’s creation, was brought in to lead ASTA in 1984.

A second out-of-the-blue phone call was the next unexpected event in ASMSA’s history, Hart said. Hillary Clinton, who was then serving as first lady of Arkansas and head of the Arkansas Education Standards Committee, was passing through Pine Bluff when she called Hart.

“She asked if I was free for a cup of coffee. She said she had been speaking to John (Ahlen), and he told her about my push for education. She asked, ‘What are you suggesting we try to do?’” he said.

During their visit, Hart said he spoke about how it wasn’t economically feasible for many school districts around the state to offer the level of mathematics and sciences courses that would have the desired impact on the state’s economy.

“I said if you really want to impact that then what you need are people who love science and love doing research and education. But in most of Arkansas, it’s pretty hard to have teachers in Algebra II much less calculus. You just don’t have school budgets to do it,” he said.

So he suggested the creation of a school whose goal would be to provide the science and math courses for motivated students who wanted to pursue advanced study that their home school wouldn’t be able to offer. He said Clinton liked the idea.

Hillary Clinton said the idea of such a school began to germinate with her in 1983 when she became the chair of a commission to make recommendations to the Legislature about standards. The commission traveled to every county in the state for public meetings and hearings, and they kept hearing the same message, she said.

“We were told over and over again how hard it was for some students in some districts to take math and science courses in high school to be prepared for college,” she said. “One of the things Bill and I started in 1979 was to host a reception for honor students, valedictorians, and other top students in the state. We would ask them what they were planning to do. Too often they said they didn’t have the courses needed to go to the university. It required certain math and science courses.”

Clinton said even after the Legislature passed a sales tax to fund teachers’ salaries she was still struck by the absence and capacity of districts to offer a full range of advanced math and science courses.

In April 1990, Clinton hosted a feasibility meeting for a group of education, business, and state government leaders to discuss establishing such a school in Arkansas. A second meeting was held in August 1990 in which a decision was made to seek a study of similar programs in other states.

Among those who participated in the study was Ahlen, who said then-Gov. Bill Clinton asked him to lead a feasibility study of the proposed school. Clinton said he wanted a fresh set of eyes on the subject. Conducting such feasibility studies was something Ahlen was familiar with through his work at ASTA, which had conducted such studies for its own programs. The topic, however, was outside of the range they normally explored, Ahlen said.

April 16

Hillary Clinton leads a feasibility meeting to consider creating a math and science school. 1990

May 16

Dr. John Ahlen visits the North Carolina School for Mathematics and Science, the oldest such school in the country. The school had 550 students at the time.

August 14

A second feasibility meeting is held, and focus groups are expanded.

August 22

The first of several focus group meetings lasting into October is held.

December 10

A position paper authored by Dr. John Ahlen outlining a proposal for the school is sent to Gov. Bill Clinton.

Ahlen and several members of the committee visited similar schools in other states, such as North Carolina and Mississippi. Charlie Cole Chaffin — who then served as a state senator and was one of the sponsors of the eventual Senate bill to establish the school — served on the committee and helped lead meetings about the possible school around the state.

Ahlen wrote a paper supporting the creation of the school based on the committee’s findings. The paper included draft legislation for the school that laid out its purpose, how it would operate, and other details.

Then came the hard part of convincing legislators that the new institution was important for the state. Ahlen said that the consensus of many legislators was that it wouldn’t work.

“They had all kinds of reasons of why it wouldn’t work,” Ahlen said. “No community in the state would be able to provide the required facility. Facility costs would come from the community, and communities wouldn’t be willing to pay those. No parent is going to allow their child junior year to go to a residential school. Kids wouldn’t want to give up their social activities for junior and senior year to go to a brand-new school.

“There were maybe three or four more things. There was all these preconceptions that this could not happen. But the idea prevailed.”

Clinton said having similar schools that were successful in other states that Arkansas could model its school after was important in convincing not only legislators but also educators around the state as well. “North Carolina was the motivator to see that it could be done,” she said. “Getting educators on board was important but it was not going to be enough. Getting teachers was essential but not sufficient. We had to get community leaders and business leaders who were convinced that it could make a difference.”

Chaffin — a former teacher who often heralded education bills through the state Senate dur‘They had all kinds of reasons of why ing her tenure — said it wouldn’t work. No community in one of the keys to success was getting the state would be able to provide people who were not teachers involved in the required facility. No parent is the creation of the going to allow their child junior year school.

“We changed attitudes that this was important,” said Chaffin, who later served as a chemistry instructor for five go to a brand new school. ... But the years at ASMSA. “We were able to involve people who seemed to carry more weight than educators and the idea prevailed.’

Dr. John Ahlen, former director of the Arkansas Science and Technology Authority, authored a position paper on the creation of ASMSA. Dr. Johnnie Roebuck, who taught in Arkadelphia schools at the time and later became a member of ASMSA’s advisory board as well as its ensuing Board of Trustees in the 1990s and 2000s, was a member of the Arkansas Education Association. She said educators in Arkansas wanted the school to allow the state to follow the path of states such as North Carolina, who established the first school of its type as part of the University of North Carolina System. “Some schools couldn’t offer the same kind of resources. We saw it as a way for our gifted students to realize their potential. It’s not that there was anything wrong with our public schools, but this would allow one place to come together to educate these talented 11th- and 12th-graders,” Roebuck said.

January 1

Companion bills are filed in the Arkansas Senate (SB236) and House of Representatives (HB1837) to establish the

Arkansas School for Mathematics and Sciences. 1991

February 27

Gov. Bill Clinton signs SB236 into law, creating Act 259 of 1991.

March 1

Gov. Bill Clinton signs HB1837 into law, creating Act 305 of 1991. The Arkansas School for Mathematics and Sciences is officially established by law.

Both Roebuck and Chaffin led campaigns to host the school in their hometowns — Roebuck in Arkadelphia and Chaffin in Benton. Chaffin led a successful sales tax campaign that would have helped pay for the school’s operation if Benton had been selected, but Hot Springs was chosen in July 1992 as the school’s host site.

The school opened to students in 1993. In that time, it has been recognized by several education organizations and national publications such as Newsweek, The Washington Post, The Daily Beast, Code.org, Study.com and the National Consortium of Specialized STEM Schools as one of the nation’s top and most innovative public high schools. That recognition is important to the continued operation of the school today, said Roebuck, who also served as a state representative during her career.

“It helps with student recruitment, but it also helps with legislators and lawmakers. They see results from the investment by taxpayers,” Roebuck said.

Clinton said everyone in Arkansas should be proud of the school for multiple reasons. The national recognition is beneficial for the whole state, she said. The continued efforts to provide advanced courses in math and science are important, especially in a time where some people have become skeptical of science. Giving graduates an educational base that leads to an opportunity for them to attend the college or university of their choice “is a terrific outcome,” she said.

“Here we are with this real beacon of excellence in Arkansas,” Clinton said. “The support the Legislature gave 30 years ago has been more than realized in outcomes and impact. The more than 2,700 graduates and $200 million in scholarship offers. More than two-thirds of those students choosing to continue their education in Arkansas. It has an ongoing impact.

“It is a terrific testimony that if we come together and learn what works that we can create our own successful version.”

Clinton said during her travels across the country she has had the opportunity to meet several alumni.

“I’ve lost track of how many, but people will come up to me at an event and tell me that they are a graduate of the school. They work in all kinds of areas. Many of those in tech industries attribute their jobs to their studies at the school. There are people from other walks of life as well, but they are all so grateful for how well-educated they were.”

Hart said the school’s national recognition disproves a stereotype about education in Arkansas.

“Whether we like it or not, Arkansas tends to have a certain national reputation. It is not recognized for its leadership in education at many levels, which is unfortunate because we do have leadership in various areas. It always surprised people in Arkansas that they have a high school that is a national leader,” Hart said.

Hart said the national recognition is the outcome of something more important: results. He said one of the original goals of the school was to provide advanced educational opportunities to students regardless of their social or economic backgrounds. ASMSA has done that, he said.

As proof he shared a story about meeting an ASMSA graduate on a plane ride back to Arkansas after a business trip years ago. The young woman next to him recognized him and his affiliation with the school.

She grew up in Wabbeseka in Jefferson County. Her father was an evangelical pastor, and she was one of 17 children. As she grew older, she thought she would likely either get married or work at the paper mill in Pine Bluff. A counselor at her school told her she should apply to ASMSA at the time, and she convinced her father to let her attend the school. When she met Hart on the plane, she was a doctoral student in mathematics at Princeton University.

“I have no idea what eventually happened to her, but for her to have that opportunity is exactly why I pushed as hard as I did. Wherever they were raised, they would have an opportunity to get a good education in the sciences and mathematics. I knew at that point we had achieved that goal,” he said.

Ahlen said he has had similar opportunities to visit with students and their parents. He reflected on one student he knew before she attended the school.

“ASMSA was a life-changing experience that took their future in a different arc than it may have taken. Many were recognized among the bright stars in academia. That’s the payoff we were hoping to achieve 30 years ago,” Ahlen said.

1992

January 27

The Arkansas Department of Education issues a Request for Proposals for the future site of the Arkansas School for Mathematics and Sciences.

July 1

The Advisory Board of Directors holds a meeting to vote on the final site. The board chooses Hot Springs over Batesville on a narrow 5-4 final vote.

April 3

The deadline for RFP submissions for site selection. The state received proposals from 52 cities. It is narrowed down to 7: Arkadelphia, Batesville, Benton, Blytheville, Conway, Fayetteville, and Hot Springs.

April 30 - May 26

Site visits are conducted by the ASMSA Advisory Board of Directors and Dr. Betty Cravy, the school’s first director. Hot Springs’ site visit is held May 21.