Gentry School District gives annual report to the public

GENTRY -- School district officials presented the Gentry School District's annual report to the public at a meeting at the high school on Sept. 29.

The district reported an enrollment of "approximately 1,420 students in grades K-12." Student numbers were broken down by school, with 452 at the high school, 328 at the middle school, 305 at the intermediate school and 337 at the primary school.

According to the report, student numbers have hovered around the 1,400 mark (plus or minus 25) for the last five years.

According to the report, approximately 67 percent of Gentry students qualify for free or reduced lunches, which are based on federal poverty index guidelines.

Average expenditure per student each year is $9,000, the report states. The district generates approximately $13 million annually from all income sources, according to the report, with approximately $1 million per year spent on bonded debt and the greatest other expense being salaries.

According to the report, the district employs 125 licensed and 88 non-licensed employees.

The report summarizes the district's master facilities plan which includes" life-cycling out" the intermediate school campus because of its age, moving the intermediate school to the middle school campus, the middle school to the high school campus and building a new high school. It also points out that the school district's application for partnership funding by the Arkansas Division of Public School Facilities and Transportation was denied, along with the first appeal of that decision.

The report summarizes past building projects by the district. It also includes financial reports, teacher salary scales, a millage history, budgeted disbursements and statistical reports.