GENTRY -- In a special meeting on May 26, Gentry School Board gave the go-ahead to apply for a conversion charter school in the district and to hire an athletic trainer for the district with a costs-shared plan in conjunction with the Siloam Springs Regional Hospital.
The school board voted unanimously to authorize the district to apply for a conversion charter school in the district. The decision was moved up to a special meeting because the deadline to apply was moved up by the Arkansas Board of Education and waiting until the scheduled June meeting would have been too late.
The board also unanimously approved a plan to hire an athletic trainer for the district at an estimated salary of approximately $40,000 per year plus benefits, with Siloam Springs Regional Hospital agreeing to pay half the salary and benefit costs for three years.
According to information provided to the school board by Brian Little, athletic director for the district, Siloam Springs Regional Hospital offered to reimburse the school district for half the athletic trainer's salary and benefits for three years if the school district was willing to hire a person to fill the post. After three years, the school district would be responsible for the full salary should the district decide to keep the position.
The school board raised concerns about its options should the person hired not be a good fit for the position, and Barrett suggested that, since the person would be hired by the district, the district could choose not to renew the individual's contract and hire someone else to fill the post if that were needed.
Little told the board that the trainer would be a full-time employee of the district and available year-round as needed for all the district's athletic programs.
Little also assured the board that students using the trainer would be under no obligation to go to Siloam Springs Regional Hospital or to see physicians affiliated with the hospital.
Barrett said he would prepare a memorandum of understanding with the hospital and that the employee contract would be a one-year contract similar to those of other district employees.
Little said that Todd Bowden, athletic trainer at John Brown University who has also assisted the school district at no cost, has offered to assist the district in finding a pool of qualified candidates for the position.
In other business, the board approved on a final reading a long list of policy changes so that new teacher and staff contracts could reflect those changes. Included in those changes were raises for teachers and support staff at the schools.
The pay raise for teachers will include a $700 across-the-board increase and a $500 step increase, meaning that each returning teacher would receive $1,200 more next year than this school year.
The increase, recommended by Gentry school district superintendent, Randy Barrett, was less than the $2,000 across-the-board increase initially requested by the school district's personnel policy committee.
The increase for classified personnel will pay $1,500 stipends to school personnel with certifications that are directly related to their job duties at the school. A $1,500 stipend was also included for the school nurse supervisor because she has to be a registered nurse and has additional supervisory duties in addition to being the campus nurse. Stipends of $1,000 for an associate's degree and $2,000 for a bachelor's degree with majors in fields directly related to current job duties were included in the recommendation. And, an increase of 25 cents per hour was included at the base-salary level for every classified position.
Also approved at the special meeting was the resignation of Nina Meins, a speech-language pathologist who works in the Western Benton County Special Education Consortium, and the transfer of Jo Young from maintenance and custodian to night custodial supervisor.
Coye Cripps and other board members also commended the girls' soccer team and coach for their season and state championship. Cripps pointed out that, overall, the Gentry girls outscored their opponents 22-2 in state tournament play.
Sunday, May 15, at 2 p.m. was chosen as the graduation date for Gentry High School next year. Barrett told board members the date was available at John Brown University and choosing a Sunday afternoon graduation time would alleviate the problems students have had this year and in years past of choosing between attending their own graduation or attending athletic events scheduled throughout May for students and teams who do well.
General News on 06/03/2015