Decatur School Board hears positive reports

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

— Superintendent Larry Ben presented Decatur School Board members Darleen Holly and Ike Owens with a pin from the Arkansas School Board Association for being outstanding level board members at the Dec. 17 meeting.

Outstanding level board members have completed at least 25 hours or more of board training, according to the ASBA website, asba.org.

Ben also recognized sixth grade student Anthony Deering for winning the Northside Elementary School spelling bee. Deering will go on to compete in the Benton County Spelling Bee next month.

Two Decatur football players were also recognized at the school board meeting. Sophomore Victor Urquidi was named NWA Times newcomer of the year. Senior Elijah McIver was named to the NWA Times All Region Team. Coach Shane Holland was in attendance and commented on the two players' achievements on and off the field.

Decatur's enrollment is at 518, down from 525 last month, Ben told the school board during his administrative report.

Some improvements were made to the gym in preparation for the county tournament, which was hosted here last month, he said. Trim was painted and new ceiling tiles were put in, recessed lights were installed and lockers in the locker rooms were repaired. In addition, new blinds were put in the officials’ dressing rooms, and the new scoreboard is set to be installed over Christmas break, Ben said.

The Arkansas Department of Education recently monitored Decatur's Gifted and Talented program and gave it approval. The monitoring took place on Nov. 29, Ben said. He explained that the current G.T. coordinator only works halftime and that the percent of students identified as gifted and talented is over the amount typically expected.

Ben also shared with the board that the Decatur School District has received the Alternative Learning Environment Educator's award. Decatur was in the top 20 in the state in math performance. Most ALE programs are behavior based but Decatur's is not. Instead, it's a program for learning and a different avenue for learning outside a regular classroom, Ben explained.

Federal programs coordinator Mitch Wilber discussed the school's partnership in the consortiumof the ABC initiative, during his report to the school board. The consortium has allowed the school to attend area meetings, and the area coach has been on the Decatur campus twice, he said.

Wilber also told the board that Decatur has had two on-site teacher professional development training sessions using the school's own staff to train their fellow teachers how to use iPads and SmartBoards in the classroom.

High school principal Debra Coffer reported that, with the events which happened in last Friday's school shooting in Connecticut, safety in the high school is a priority. She also told the board that her building is gearing up for semester finals. The high school is also on its third round of formative assessments and has started after school tutoring.

The ABC coach has been to the high school campus twice recently, the first time to meet with all the teachers and the second time to meet with junior high math and English teachers, Coffer said.

Elementary school principal Jeff Gravette reported to the board that his building hosted the band, choir and art program last week. The program was a big success, with about 250 in attendance, he said.

Gravette said the elementary school is preparing for grade cards, awards assembly, a seasonal music performance and a reward incentive trip.

Gravette told the board he had just finished with the ABC preschool visit and the preschool program received a lot of positive comments.

He also reported that the library technology equipment purchase the board approved at the November meeting was underway. He said the equipment was arriving and would be installed shortly after Christmas break.

In new business, school board members in Decatur voted 4-1 to deny a family's request to transfer their two children out of the Decatur School District at the Dec. 17 meeting.

The Decatur School Board hears transfer requests out of the district twice a year, in December and July. It voted to deny five student transfer requests last July and to deny three transfer requests and accept two last December. In September and October the board voted to accept three transfer requests into the Decatur School District.

While still discussing new business, board president Ike Owens asked Ben if the school district needs to expand the Gifted and Talented teacher's times to accommodate the needs of the program. Ben said he would like to research the issue and get back to the board with the matter.

The Decatur School Board held a special meeting at 6 p.m., Dec. 17, before the regular meeting convened at 7:10 p.m. that night, to discuss Ben's evaluation in executive session. No actions were taken.

News, Pages 11 on 12/26/2012