text: LRSD School Closures Approved, Community Vows Fight | KUAR
  Dr. Anika Whitfield, PTA President of Hall High School and an activist with Save Our Schools, speaks at a demonstration in front of Franklin Elementary.
  Poore, who was appointed to his position by the state last year, has argued the closures are necessary to reduce expenditures. The district is planning to cut costs by about $11 million next school year. After a 2014 federal court settlement on desegregation, the district is facing the total loss of roughly $37 million in annual funding. The district's budget is more than $300 million
  About 800 of the district's 24,000 students currently attend the affected schools.
  The plans have drawn the ire of parents and community groups who say the school closures will be a drain on certain low-income, predominantly black neighborhoods. They also challenge the state's authority in the matter and say these decisions should be made on a local level. The group called Save Our Schools gathered outside Franklin Elementary on Friday to protest the decision. In a statement, they said they "wholeheartedly reject" the action taken by Key and Poore.
  The LRSD has been under state control for more than two years, after the State Board of Education deemed six of its more than 40 schools to be in academic distress. Since that time, three of the schools have been removed from the distressed list, including two just this week, J.A. Fair and McClellan High Schools.
  You can listen to audio from some of the protest's speakers below.
  Retired Arkansas Circuit Judge Marion Humphrey speaks at the Friday protest.
  Listen to retired Judge Marion Humphrey speak in protest of school closures.
  Andrea Hogan Lewis, an LRSD parent, speaks at the demonstration Friday.
  Andrea Hogan Lewis is the mother of 5-year old Hogan Cobbs, who attends the Woodruff Early Childhood Center, one of three schools to be closed.
  Dr. Anika Whitfield is an organizer with the group Save Our Schools.
  Below is audio of State Education Commissioner Johnny Key reading a statement on his acceptance of the closure and budget cut plan at the State Board of Education meeting on Thursday.
  Listen to Arkansas Education Commissioner Johnny Key give remarks to the state Board of Education Thursday about school closures and the LRSD budget.
  The state Board of Education at its meeting Thursday.
  An excerpt of Little Rock School Superintendent Mike Poore's presentation to the Arkansas Board of Education on Friday.
  Two Little Rock Schools Recommended To Be Removed From Academic Distress
  The Arkansas Department of Education is recommending two Little Rock School District campuses be removed from the academic distress category. The LRSD schools are among a list of ten released by the department on Monday. The entire district in Blytheville is also recommended to be cleared of the designation.