DECATUR — Four newly elected Decatur school board members were sworn in at a special school board meeting on Monday evening and started off their terms by making some weighty decisions.
The board - which regained control of the district on Oct. 1 - faced the issues of how to appoint another member to fill the open Zone 3 position and whether or not to continue transporting pre-kindergarten students on school buses.
Election of Officers
After the school board members were sworn in by Justice of the Peace Dan Douglas, the first order of business was to elect officers and draw lots to see how long each member will serve until they are up for election.
Ike Owens was appointed to fill the position of school board president, Darleen Holly was appointed vice-president, Justin Thompson was appointed the primary dispersing officer - the person responsible for signing checks - and Ike Owens was appointed secondary dispersing officer.
Superintendent Larry Ben pointed out that the secretary did not have to be a school board member, and the board appointed special programs coordinator Dawn Stewart to serve as secretary.
Ordinarily school board members serve rotating fiveyear terms, but because all the board members began serving at one time, they drew lots on Monday to see how long each will serve. Justin Thompson will serve a one-year term, Darleen Holly will serve two years, the person appointed to Zone 3 will serve three years, Ike Owens will serve four years and Aaron Owens will serve five years.
Transportation change
Pre-kindergarten students will no longer be transported
For safety reasons, the Decatur School District will no longer transport prekindergarten students, the school board decided Monday night.
Decatur is currently the only school district in the area that provides transportation for pre-kindergarten students, but after Oct. 15 parents will have to find another way of getting their children to and from school or find an alternative child care arrangement.
Eighteen of the school’s 40 pre-kindergarten students ride the bus regularly to and from school, Ben told the school board. A total of 30 students ride the bus either once a day or only a few days a week, according to a Sept. 29 transportation list provided by elementary school principal Leslie Sharp.
The decision was prompted because a 3-year-old student was dropped off at the wrong stop on the second day of school and wandered alone for some time before she was found by a mailman and returned to the elementary school.
Ben said it was his opinion that the incident could have happened to anyone and, “if it happened once, it could happen again,” he said.
Ben said he had reviewed the rules and regulations for pre-kindergarten transportation and discussed the issue with transportation director Sherman Robinson and Sharp. He also said he had held a meeting with bus drivers and they unanimously agreed with the idea of not transporting the young students.
Ben said the district had lost several drivers over the issue and that it could be hard to find more drivers if they were to be responsible for transporting pre-kindergarten students.
“If there’s not bus transportation, will parents get them there anyway?” asked Darleen Holly.
Ben said it was hard to tell, but there was a possibility that some children would no longer be able to attend. He pointed out that there is a waiting list for the program.
The school is not paid any money to transport the children, Robinson said, and they will have to install child safety systems on at least two buses for $300 to $400 each to continue hauling pre-kindergarten students, he said. The systems require drivers to walk to the back of the bus and punch a button or an alarm will go off, ensuring that any students who fell asleep on the ride will be found.
Ben recommended giving parents one week’s notice to make other arrangements. Justin Thompson said that from a parent’s point of view, people need longer than one week to make other arrangements.
The board agreed to allow two weeks before they stopped transporting prekindergarten students. One week to give parents notice and the second week to allow parents to make other arrangements.
Ike Owens also requested that all parents receive a personal phone call about the issue rather than a note sent home in the child’s backpack.
We want to stress to parents that we’re not wanting the students to quit coming to pre-kindergarten. We have just stopped transporting them for safety reasons, Ike Owens said.
Board seeking member from Zone 3
School board members, at Monday’s meeting, also set a plan for appointing a member to the vacancy in Zone 3.
The school board will have 30 days to appoint a board member to fill the position. If a new member is not appointed in 30 days, the Benton County Quorum Court will be responsible for appointing the new member.
Ike Owens suggested following Gentry’s example and publishing a notice in the paper, setting up interviews and then voting on the new member.
Those interested in filling the vacancy are asked to pick up a questionnaire from the superintendent’s office, fill it out and return it before the next school board meeting on Oct. 18. Then the board plans to review the questionnaires and interview the candidates before taking a final vote.
It is not entirely clear if the appointee has to live in zone 3. Ben said he called Chris James from the County Clerk’s Office, and was told that James feels the new member must live in zone 3. However, James could not show Ben a law requiring the appointed member to live in zone 3, he said.
Ben said he would be calling the school board association lawyer to clarify the issue. Ike Owens said he would like the person appointed to the vacancy to be from zone 3 so they could run for re-election in the future.
The next school board meeting will be held at 6 p.m., Oct. 18, in the professional development room inside the former middle school building. Ben will be giving the school’s annual report to the public at the meeting.
News, Pages 1 on 10/06/2010