GRAVETTE -- Students who are members of K-Kids, a Kiwanis sponsored club at Gravette Upper Elementary, attended the January school board meeting. They gave board members and guests a brief report on their club activities and led the Pledge of Allegiance to open the meeting. Students attending were Carlee Hembree, Hayden Kellhoffer, Maddie Lovell, Tori Majdan, Jake Mayor, Ashley Rangel and Dalacie Wishon.
Richard Page, superintendent of schools, thanked the board members for their service and read the governor's proclamation designating January as Arkansas School Board Member Appreciation Month. He said he personally wanted to honor them for all the hours they put in and said he knew that school administrators and staff appreciated their service as well.
Bill Hayford, financial director, presented the financial report for the month of December. He reported that the schools had received a $75,000 donation from the McKee family for the vocational program and a 21st century mini-grant in the amount of $20,000 for the coding program. He reported that the schools had received the final tax payment for 2015. He noted that a new assessment period began Jan. 1, 2016, and said this should result in increased income this year due to increased property tax values.
Superintendent Page announced there would be a board member training event at the co-op in Farmington Feb. 8 and urged all board members to attend. He said the state needed input from the local board members as to what goals they wanted the school to achieve. Then Page will plan action strategies for achieving those goals. Board members and Page himself will then evaluate his effectiveness in reaching the goals at the end of the year. A new system for evaluating the superintendent will be instituted in the 2016-2017 school year.
Page mentioned the CAPS program in the Bentonville high school, where students work in industry and do on-the-job training. BHS would like to share their program and have invited Gravette board members to a luncheon in Bentonville Friday, Jan. 29, in a continued effort toward collaboration regarding vocational education efforts.
Board member Jack Skillett gave a report on a recent visit he made to Fort Meyers High School in Lee County, Fla. The school district, which is comprised of 13 high schools, has a $1.3 billion budget, 90,000 students and over 660 buses. The Fort Meyers school is in a residential area and has a large AP program and an international baccalaureate program. It is noted for its business and finance programs. Skillett reported on several aspects of the school and its programs that he liked. He feels Gravette schools might benefit from implementing some of their ideas.
Skillett said, "Our program has considerable strength, but I think we should be adding to our AP offerings."
He was also interested in the program at Fort Meyers that requires all specialists (administrators, counselors, etc.) to spend a half day in the classroom. He said this was common practice at several schools, partly because of a teacher shortage and partly because of the "disconnect" an administrator experiences after a few years away from teaching. He suggested that this might be implemented locally, with the classroom experience coming perhaps every third semester.
Skillett also noted the Florida school had a good quality carpet in the school corridors and said it seemed to be wearing well. It was just an idea he presented, he said, because "I think we have outstanding maintenance at Gravette schools."
Jay Chalk, Gravette High School principal, gave a report on the vocational program. He reported meeting with Diane Johnson from NWACC on Dec. 16 to discuss possible connections with them for future curriculum offerings, including refrigeration. Chalk and board member Jay Oliphant met with Walmart executives on Dec. 30 to learn about their needs for employees trained in refrigeration. Chalk announced that Gentry High School had started their diesel mechanic program and one student from Gravette is enrolled there.
Chalk had attended a meeting regarding the work force skills report that will be completed in February. He, superintendent Page and Jay Oliphant also met with representatives to discuss possible configurations for a future career center. A Western Benton County Consortium meeting was scheduled for Jan. 20 in Gentry and Chalk and superintendent Page traveled to Little Rock to meet with state representatives Jan. 21.
Richard Carver presented the proposed master facilities plan for Gravette schools. After some discussion, board members decided to move proposed plans out 10 to 15 years in the future except for projects which are scheduled to be completed this summer. This will cause completion dates for the projects to fall in the years 2025 to 2030. A motion was made to approve the amended master facilities plan. Jay Oliphant cast the sole dissenting vote.
Board members voted to send the proposed 2016-2017 school calendar to personnel policy committees for review.
After adjourning to go into executive session for about an hour, board members reconvened in regular session and voted to approve the resignations of seven employees. Resignations for Jerri Berry, food service, Marcus Arnett, bus driver, and Harry Almond, high school teacher, are effective immediately. Resignation for Karen Longan, pre-K paraprofessional, is effective Jan. 29. Resignations for Randall Hunt, assistant high school principal, Jan Coughran, resource teacher, and Faith Hendricks, junior high cheer coach, are effective at the end of the school year. Board members also voted to hire Angela Catron, Title I aide/duty relief aide, for the remainder of the 2015-2016 school year.
Community on 01/27/2016