GENTRY — Among miscellaneous items reported to the board by Randy Barrett, superintendent of Gentry Public Schools, was a letter from the Freedom From Religion Foundation asking the school district to assure the FFRF in writing that it would cease scheduling prayers at high school graduation ceremonies. The June 17 letter, written by Patrick Elliott, staff attorney for FFRF, cites a number of court cases in which school policy allowing or scheduling student-led prayer was allegedly ruled unconstitutional.
Cases cited include Lee v. Weisman and Santa Fe Independent School Dist. v. Doe. The full letter is available on the school district's website.
The letter alleges that FFRF was contacted by a concerned citizen in regard to prayers scheduled at Gentry High School's graduation, including an invocation and benediction listed in the graduation program.
The letter claims that "by scheduling prayers at graduation, the District abridges that duty [to remain neutral in regard to religion] and alienates the 35 percent of young Americans who [FFRF claims] are not religious." It says the school district is not free to allow prayer even if local opinion favors the practice.
Barrett noted that he shared the letter with the board so board members would understand the changes in future graduation ceremonies. He said the district would comply with the federal court rulings but he would still continue to pray for graduates on his own time.
In other action, the board approved all legal documents related to the proposed bond issue so that it may be placed on the September School Election ballot. Voters will be asked to approve a millage increase of 3.1 mills to fund a $9.5 million bond to build a new intermediate school classroom facility.
Plans were shared with the board in May to build a 57,000-plus-square-foot building, including 18 classrooms and a safe room/commons area, on the intermediate school campus on South Second Street in Gentry. Proposed plans would make the new building two-stories to accommodate the need for adequate classroom space on the limited-space campus. The look was also modeled to reflect the old two-story brick high school building once located on that campus.
Included in building plans would be a new roof on the portion of the intermediate school not included in demolition plans (the multi-purpose building on the north side of the bus tunnel), a diesel-mechanics' lab with two truck bays and career classrooms on the high school campus (proposed along Swepco Rd., on the north edge of the baseball field), electrical upgrades and improvements in the high school and the new agriculture building, and an upgrade to the sound and lighting system in the high school auditorium.
The millage increase of 3.1 mills is being proposed to pay for the school construction and improvements, and the increase will be placed on the ballot in the September 20 school board election.
The millage increase is less than needed to fund the building projects which have a price tag of $12 million, but the district is expected to retire a significant portion of its bonded debt next year, reducing yearly bonded debt payments by nearly $438,000, and is also hopeful it will receive approximately $2.5 million from the Arkansas Division of Public School Academic Facilities and Transportation for the intermediate school classroom project. Additional funding could also be received from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for the building of a safe room/commons area on the intermediate campus which would be large enough to accommodate all students and staff from the school.
Should the district not be approved for state funding to assist in the building projects, the intermediate school campus would be the first priority, according to Randy Barrett, superintendent for the Gentry School District, and would be built with voter-approved bonds with the other upgrades put on hold until funding becomes available. Building a diesel mechanics' lab and classroom space for the new charter school's career training was also a high priority in the building plan.
The board also approved the required biennium budget, renewed the tuition agreement with NTI and the Food Service Agreement for 2016-17.
Brae Harper, Gentry High School principal, introduced the new voag teacher, Jeremy Mabry. Denise Waters, who is resigning her post as intermediate school principal at the end of the month, thanked the board for the opportunity to have worked in the Gentry School District. The board also thanked her for her service.
Board minutes and financial reports were approved. A Step 24 was added to the Classified Salary Schedule. A revision was made to the stipend schedule for the drama-theater instructor, and a stipend of $700 was added for the trap coach. A 2017 graduation date was set for June 21, at 2 p.m., at John Brown University in Siloam Springs.
The board approved per diem compensation for Coach Brent Hester, Jeremy Mabry and Keeta Neal who are 12-month employees working now prior to their July 1 contract start dates. Keeta Neal was hired as the new intermediate school principal. Brent Hester, former basketball coach at Shiloh Christian, was hired to be Gentry High School boys' basketball coach and a teacher. Jeremy Mabry was hired as the new vocational-agriculture teacher at the high school.
General News on 06/29/2016