With a decision on the future of the Little Rock School District's Hall High School looming, it's important to know how we got here, so we may learn from and not repeat the past.

Because of steadily declining enrollment (24,424 in 2004; 19,565 in 2025), LRSD is now the third largest district in the state. And yet, the two larger districts--Springdale and Bentonville--only have two high schools each.

LRSD currently has four high schools, with a fifth--Pinnacle View--scheduled to open in 2027. Only one other district in the state has more than two, sprawling Pulaski County Special with four.

For years, midtown's Hall was the zoned high school for west Little Rock. At the time of the state's takeover in 2015, rather than being a viable choice, midtown's Hall had been allowed to steadily decline, becoming an F school, one of six schools in the district designated in Academic Distress, and among the lowest performing high schools in all of Arkansas.

Meanwhile, because of Central High School's magnet status, students who were designated as "Gifted and Talented" could receive free transportation to Central, no matter where they lived. LRSD then proceeded to over-designate "Gifted and Talented," more than tripling the state's average and chronically over-enrolling Central by 30 percent.

In short, the district prioritized making Central look better, while sabotaging Hall, Fair........

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