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FORREST CITY, Ark. (AP) — The board of a vocational school in Forrest City is allowing the institution's leader to approach other Arkansas universities about a potential partnership in order to avoid a forced merger by the state Legislature.
Crowley's Ridge Technical Institute's board of directors made the decision Monday after a failed attempt by some Arkansas lawmakers to force consolidation with East Arkansas Community College last week, the Times-Herald (http://bit.ly/1TzetBE ) reported.
The board gave interim president David Brown permission to seek out other universities about a partnership in order to avoid a forced merger.
"Every senator who spoke to me on Thursday told me that this is going to happen, one way or the other," said Fredric Smith, board chairman. "We have to be proactive, and I say that because we have to merge with one of these systems or — and I'll give you the brutal, honest truth — we're going to merge with EACC."
Smith said he believed that by negotiating a partnership with either of the two schools, the institution could maintain some authority in how it is operated. He said that authority would be stripped from them in a forced merger.
Brown and Smith said the Department of Higher Education has expressed a desire to see each community college in Arkansas absorbed by the University of Arkansas or Arkansas State University.
The board also discussed the possibility of putting their opposition to a merger with the community college to an official vote, but they adjourned the meeting without doing so.
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Information from: Times-Herald, http://www.thnews.com/
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