Welcome to the Education Renewal Zone.
The origin of the process for developing the Southeast Arkansas Education Renewal Zone began on December 9, 2004, at the Jacksonville Community Center, Jacksonville, Arkansas, when Dr. Doris Terry Williams, U of NC, presented information concerning Arkansas Act 106 (HB 1056) of the 84th General Assembly. This ACT established the Division of Education Renewal Zones within the Arkansas Department of Education and authorized public schools, education service cooperatives, and state-supported higher education institutions to enter into inter-local agreements through which they could collaborate to improve public school performance and academic achievement. A companion act, Act 97, appropriated funding to implement the Education Renewal Zone (ERZ) initiative. This information was presented to state-supported higher education institutions, education service cooperatives, and qualifying schools. Representatives of the Southeast Arkansas partnership were at this initial meeting. This group formed a team at the meeting, discussed the presented information, the various steps of forming an ERZ, goals of the partnership, and the implementation process.
Several meetings followed that led to the formation of the Southeast Arkansas Renewal Zone including goals, a mission statement, and the writing of the strategic plan that will serve as a guide for the ERZ.
contact information
Dr. Tracie Jones
jonestr@dos5.net
Director
870-460-1796