Mabelvale Middle School in the Little Rock School District (LRSD) operates a 21st Century Community Learning Center (21st CCLC) that provides summer, before-school, and after-school tutoring for students. Mabelvale’s 21st CCLC site coordinator is Shikara Linsy, the front office secretary.
As site coordinator, Shikara Linsy has control over the $660,000 in federal grant money that Mabelvale is collecting over the course of five years. Each enrolled child is worth $1200.
Although lame-duck superintendent Baker Kurrus’ signature is on the front page, it was really Kelsey Bailey and Linda Young (yes, the two administrators currently vulnerable to “conflict of interest” charges for their relationship with the 21st CCLC “Tendaji” program at St. Mark Baptist Church) who filed LRSD’s official grant application for Mabelvale in June, 2016. LRSD estimated that Mabelvale would serve 75 students per day in its 21st CCLC after-school program.
In order to keep its federal grant money, Mabelvale must serve at least 80% of its estimated enrollment numbers each year. However, none of Mabelvale’s 21st CCLC programs have ever come close to 80% of their enrollment goals.
Fake Enrollment Numbers
I already wrote about how Shikara Linsy and her colleagues pad the enrollment numbers on Mabelvale’s 21st CCLC paperwork. My next step has been to determine how many students are actually participating in after-school tutoring at Mabelvale Middle School. On September 16, I submitted a Freedom of Information (FOI) request for surveillance footage from the Mabelvale after-school program.
September 16 was the opening day of Mabelvale’s after-school program for the 2019-20 school year — Mabelvale’s fourth year of receiving federal money.
In this frame from Mabelvale’s surveillance footage, it appears that Shikara Linsy is not present with the 21st CCLC students. More importantly, only 40 students appear to be enrolled in Mabelvale’s 21st CCLC after-school tutoring program. That’s only 53% of its estimated enrollment numbers — 20 fewer students than are required to keep the federal money flowing.
Sadly, no LRSD administrator has corrected Shikara Linsy’s work — nor have any law enforcement officials intervened to stop the apparent fraud. Instead, Superintendent Mike Poore and Employee Relations Specialist Jordan Eason seem determined to overlook every bad action Shikara Linsy commits.
Skipping School
Jordan Eason recently attempted to institute a policy of punishing LRSD teachers for using their allotted sick days, in order to address the problem of “excessive absenteeism.” Instead of following the district’s written policy of allowing employees to accumulate up to 90 days of unused sick leave, Jordan Eason wants to limit every LRSD staffer to 10 days per year.
Every LRSD staffer except Shikara Linsy, apparently.
As of September 25, 2019, Shikara Linsy had registered eight absences: Four in August, and four in September. Additionally, surveillance footage shows no record of Shikara Linsy showing up to work on September 18, 2019 — a date on which she did not report her absence to the district.
Of the nine days that Shikara Linsy has failed to appear for work at Mabelvale Middle School so far this year, she has only arranged for someone to substitute for four of them. Moreover, Shikara Linsy’s key card records show that she has not been arriving at school in time to run the 21st CCLC before-school tutoring program. Instead, she arrives between 8:30 and 9:00, while classes begin at 8:45.
It looks like two different sets of rules apply to employees of the Little Rock School District: If you are doing the job that’s listed in your official job description, you get underpaid and overworked, while the state tries to destroy your right to collective bargaining. However, if you are willing to lie, take advantage of student athletes, and destroy student attendance records, you get to skip work with impunity.
More of that Arkansas-style Elite Deviance, I guess.