Southeast Arkansas Education Service Cooperative

Monticello, AR

together everyone achieves more

Southeast Arkansas Education Service Cooperative

Historical Narrative

 The educational Service Cooperatives in Arkansas originated with the passage of act 360 in 1981 as the result of work that was done in 1979-80 by Dr. Don Roberts, Dr. Jerry, Perrin, and Dr. Noble Gividen. Dr. Noble Gividen was an important leader in this movement as he moved to Arkansas from New York and apparently brought the “education coop concept” with him from New York.

 The Southeast Arkansas Education Service Cooperative has been in existence for approximately twenty years and was one of the first two coops that were initially established in 1981 by Act 360. The Southwest Educational Service Cooperative was also formed at this time. No funding was provided.

  Funding in the amount of $200,000 was provided by the state in 1983 for the original two coops and three additional new coops. The new coops that were formed at this time were the following: Howard A. Dawson at Arkadelphia, North Central Arkansas at Melbourne, and Western Arkansas at Branch. Three additional coops were also formed in 1981 through funding from the Department of Higher Education: Ozarks Unlimited Resources at Harrison, Arch Ford at Conway, and Northeast Arkansas at Jonesboro.

 The Arkansas General Assembly passed Act 349 of 1985, which changed the name of the coops to Education Service Cooperatives and provided authorization for up to 15 centers to be funded at $200,000. Act 349 contains the current rules and regulations that govern the current fifteen Arkansas Service Cooperatives.

 The Southeast Arkansas Education Service cooperative has had four directors in the approximate twenty years of existence. The first director for the SEARK Educational Service Cooperative was Dr. Nobel Givinden and served as the director from 1891 to 1985. Dr. Loyd Crossley served from 1985 to 1995; Norman Hill served one year 1996/97 and the current director Bruce Terry has served from 1998 until present.

 The original Southeast Coop formed in 1981 had a director, a secretary, and a very limited number of employees with a major emphasis in Special Education. In 1985 the coop had grown to 20 employees and was providing multiple services to twenty-six school districts in nine southeast Arkansas counties. The current number of employees for the Southeast Coop is in excess of 150 with an additional 257 AmeriCorps and Foster Grandparent Volunteers and the number of services has dramatically increased.

 The total budget in 1985 was approximately $800,000 compared to the current budget of approximately $11,000,000. The base funding in 1983 was $200,000 as compared to current base funding of $328,000.

 The University of Arkansas at Monticello has been a partner with the coop since 1981. The original office was established in Willard Hall on the U.A.M. campus and the coop office space increased in Willard Hall until 1997 whereby the first phase of the existing facility was built. Adding an additional8600 square feet has just recently expanded the facility. The existing Southeast Arkansas Education Service facilities are valued in excess of two million dollars and provide modern training facilities and equipment for the educators of rural southeast Arkansas.