Fort Smith schools boss touts charter school plan; building named after Gooden

A charter school primarily for military families connected to the foreign pilot training center at Ebbing Air National Guard Base in Fort Smith could open its doors as early as the fall of 2027, according to Fort Smith Public School District Superintendent Dr. Martin Mahan.

Mahan presented the elementary charter school plans during Monday’s (May 18) school board meeting. The board on Monday also approved a plan to name the district’s service center, which houses offices district administration offices, after former district Superintendent Benny Gooden. Gooden, who was the district superintendent for 30 years, retired in 2016. He was first hired as superintendent in 1986.

CHARTER SCHOOL
The school will be a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) elementary charter school, housed at Bonneville Elementary School. According to Mahan, the charter allows the district to provide non-approved curriculum and allows the district to hire non-licensed teachers. Mahan said the charter school is initially estimated to have between 30 and 50 students.

“Mandarin (language) and Singapore (math), there may not be an Arkansas-licensed teacher in those areas that is readily available, so we may pull from someone that has that background in teaching that may come to us that doesn’t have a credential in the state of Arkansas,” Mahan said. “So charters allow for some flexibility in that.”

Mahan also told the board that competition from other private schools is a reason to pursue a specialized charter school within the district.

Mahan estimates that five elementary teachers will transfer from other district schools to the charter school. He said an additional teacher will be hired to teach Mandarin, and administration at Bonneville Elementary will oversee the charter. The annual cost above the existing budget will be around $125,000, according to Mahan. The district estimates a one-time cost of $30,000 for furniture, branding and other incidentals.

Mahan is scheduled to present the plan to the Charter Authorizing Panel of the Arkansas Department of Education on May 21. He said retired Brig. Gen. Chip Brown, director of military affairs at the Arkansas Economic Development Commission, will attend the May 21 meeting in support of the charter school.

The focus on Singapore math and Mandarin language education will support the expected arrival later this year of military members and families from the Republic of Singapore. Ebbing was selected in March 2023 by the U.S. Air Force to be the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program pilot training center supporting F-35 fighter planes purchased by Singapore, Switzerland, Poland, Germany, Finland, and other countries participating in the program.

Singapore’s F-35 fighter jets are expected to arrive at Ebbing Air National Guard Base in Fort Smith in late 2026, with the country’s F-16 fighters set to arrive in the summer of 2027. Up to 400 personnel are to be stationed in Fort Smith when all Singapore planes arrive.

SERVICE CENTER NAMING
Gooden said he is flattered by the naming decision, but stressed repeatedly during an interview that his biggest privilege was working with “the thousands” of teachers, faculty, staff and others who worked to meet the needs and expectations of students and parents.

“I am deeply honored and humbled by the fact that the people who promoted that, and the board of education chose to take that action,” Gooden said. “But the greatest honor that I had in 30 years with the public schools was seeing young people succeed and programs develop because of all the good people who worked there.”

Gooden said when he first came to the district, he thought it was odd that the central admin office was known as a service center.

“But it didn’t take me long to realize that’s where important decisions were made, where you provided the support, the logistics, the things to make the district run as a good organization should,” he said. “So if they are going to name something after me, that’s appropriate.”

Gooden was raised in Clinton and received a bachelor’s degree in music education from Harding University. He also received a master’s degree from the University of Arkansas and a doctorate in educational administration from the University of Missouri.

He was honored in 1992 by the American Association of School Administrators as the “Arkansas Superintendent of the Year.” In 1993, he was selected as one of 100 Outstanding School Administrators in North America by Executive Educator magazine. He was named “Administrator of the Year” by the Arkansas PTA in 1995, and in 1999 he received the Phoebe Apperson Hearst Outstanding Educator award from the National PTA.

Following his retirement from the district, Gooden was hired by the Arkansas Colleges of Health Education (ACHE) and is now the senior executive assistant to the provost.