GENTRY — Brief and mostly informational well describes Monday’s Gentry School District board meeting, which lasted only about 30 minutes.

Approved by the board were two student transfer requests, each involving three students - one to Decatur and one to Siloam Springs. In both cases, the families moved into the Gentry district and requested the transfers to allow their children to continue in the districts in which they have been attending.

The board unanimously approved participation in Western Credit Union and PACE. The action is at no cost or obligation to the district. One makes it possible for teachers and staff to make use of business offerings from the credit union. The other makes itFMLA leave from Feb. 8 to April 12 of 2013.

Gentry school superintendent Randy Barrett reported that the district is in sound financial shape with an operating fund balance of more than $1.5 million at the end of period four.

The board also approved a contract renewal with Sarratt Therapy Services and gave appossible for the school to buy items it needs from a another purchasing cooperative rather than going through a bid process for each individual major purchase.

Two resignations were approved, along with a Family Medical Leave Act request. The resignation of fifth-grade teacher Rachel Thrailkill and bus driver Gene Bishop were accepted. Lisa Hills, thirdgrade teacher, requested theproval for the district to substitute the purchase of a Ford F-150 pickup truck for the Chevrolet Colorado it had approved because the state bid contract expired before the purchase was made and the new state bid contract included the full-size pickup truck for close to the same price.

Barrett explained to board members that the Arkansas Department of Education released on Monday the evaluative categories which will be used for schools and school districts under the waiver to the federal No Child Left Behind Act which is in the process of being replaced by the new Common Core Stan dards. Under the new cat egories, Gentry’s primary, intermediate and middle school campuses were listed among achieving schools. The high school, along with all the other high schools in the county

and most in WashingtonCounty, were placed under the Needs Improvement category.

Possible categories are: Exemplary, Achieving, Needs Improvement, Needs Improvement Priority and Needs Improvement Focus.

“This doesn’t mean the high school is a bad school,” Barrett said. “It means there is one area where work needs to be done.”

According to materials released Monday by the ADE, a school can be categorized as needing improvement if even onesubgroup of students falls short of meeting performance, graduation rate or the expected growth in new annual measurable objectives.

More information is to be reported on the topic at the next regular board meeting, tentatively scheduled for 7 p.m. Dec.

10 rather than on the 17th, as originally scheduled. If needed, a special board meeting may also be called for 5 p.m. on Dec.

5 to review and approve partially completed plans for the new multi-purpose athletic facility.

News, Pages 1 on 11/21/2012