GRAVETTE — A reception was held preceding the Sept. 19 meeting of the Gravette School Board to honor Jim Singleton and Susan Santos, retiring members of the board. Richard Page, superintendent of schools, presented each with a gift. He presented Singleton with a plaque and Santos, an avid reader, was given three books, one of which was signed by all her fellow board members. Cake, punch and nuts were served to several guests at the reception.
Several members of Girls on the Run, an after-school program whose members recently ran a 5K race, attended and led the Pledge of Allegiance to open the meeting.
Bob Kelley and Steve Mitchael, members of the Gravette Historical Museum Committee, attended and displayed a book of school board meeting minutes from May, 1915, through October of 1948. Significant entries included the election of A.E. Kindley as secretary of the board and later the resume submitted by Glenn Duffy when he applied for the job of school superintendent. The museum committee is now transcribing these minutes. Kelley and Mitchael asked permission to return the transcribed minutes to the board and keep the original copy plus three other copies of old minute books for the museum collection. Board members voted to approve the donation.
Bill Hayford, financial director, presented the financial report and said the school should see an increase in federal dollars this month. He reported that the state is going to a new system of e-finance and that an auditor would be here Oct. 6.
Richard Page presented the superintendent's report, noting that several representatives from the Gravette school system were making presentations at state level conferences, including a presentation by a new teacher, Kayla Ellison, on the special education program. Page said having this representation at conferences reflects well on the school system.
Shannon Mitchell, school counselor, presented the ACT report. She reported that Gravette ranks in the middle on most scores among the schools in the Northwest Arkansas Coop, but Gravette scored number one in math this year. She noted that Gravette students have performed higher than the state average for the last two years, with local average being 20.5 and the state's at 18.8.
Richard Carver, transportation director, presented the summer transportation report. He said buses ran a total of 4,800 miles during the summer for transportation to activities, administrative functions and Boys and Girls Club events. The mileage was down somewhat, he said, because of HOSA chartering a bus for its trip and coaching changes curtailing travel to sports events. Carver also presented a report on bus routes and rider time. He has been working to eliminate long ride times and has eliminated one route in Sulphur Springs and transferred it to Bella Vista.
Board member Jay Oliphant said he felt another bus was needed to help shorten ride times, and Carver said he would like to have one but hiring drivers was always a problem. Oliphant suggested offering a raise to drivers or a bonus of some kind in order to better attract drivers. Carver mentioned that he was losing staff because other schools offered better pay. He said a neighboring district had hired one of his mechanics and wanted the other one. Oliphant asked that the issues of a bus purchase, bus driver salaries and drive times be added to the agenda for the November board planning session.
Superintendent Page presented the enrollment report, showing an increase in students this year. Enrollment in all schools, kindergarten through 12th grade, is at 1,854, up from 1,810 last year.
Sharla Heltzel gave a report on the 2016-17 ACSIP plan. She also reported that some Title IIA money carried over from the 2014-2015 school year would be lost if not spent by Sept. 30. She requested that it be used to purchase 90 Chromebooks and three charging carts for the middle school English classes. She proposed that $16,008.70 left from 2014-15 be used toward the total cost of $23,011.20 and the remaining $7,003.50 be paid with Title I money. Board members voted to approve the purchase.
Jay Chalk, high school principal, presented the vocational report. He noted that an article about the school's welding class had appeared in Sunday's daily paper over the weekend. The welding program has 14 students enrolled in the morning session and 15 in the afternoon, including two girls. He reported attending the construction management program at NWACC on Aug. 22 and the Bentonville Rotary Club Aug. 23 and making recruiting trips to Bentonville and Decatur to enroll students for the welding program. Chalk met with the Bank of Gravett on Aug. 25, and the bank is interested in building a junior bank board which may lead to summer employment and a future banking career for some students.
Michael Spaeth, representing BiLD Architects, reported that 10 potential bidders had showed up to the pre-bid meeting and met on the site of the new maintenance building. Bid opening was scheduled for Sept. 20.
Spaeth also reported on plans for the new upper elementary addition. He said seven companies have expressed an interest in being construction manager for the project. The facilities committee scheduled a meeting for Sept. 29 to interview candidates. They will then make a recommendation to the board. A special board meeting was scheduled for Oct. 3 to approve bids and vote on employing a construction manager.
Zane Vanderpool, principal at Glenn Duffy Elementary School, presented a report outlining the need for a prekindergarten assistant at his school.
Blake Robertson and Stephanie Trolinger of Northwest Technical Institute presented an agreement to the board to partner with Gravette Schools in the vocational programs. Robertson also spoke about offering an advanced manufacturing course and said both Richard Page and Jay Chalk were "marvelous to work with" and the school district is fortunate to have such forward-thinking administrators. Robertson also said Rogers School District has well over $100,000 worth of machining equipment it can't use that he would bring to Gravette to use in its vocational programs. Board members voted to approve the advanced manufacturing program and accept the donated equipment from the Rogers School District.
In other action, board members voted to change the date of the October board meeting from Oct. 17 to Oct. 20 at 6 p.m.; set the date for the next board planning session on Nov. 1, at 3 p.m.; approved the Children Internet Protection Act/Internet Content Filter in an effort to protect kids from adult computer content; approved the Web Hosting and Mobile App upgrade to allow automated attendance reports, alerts if buses are running late and access to students' grades; approved selling a 2003 bus for a sale price of $2,500; approved the 2016-17 school budget; and approved the 5 percent salary report.
Board members also voted to change the foreign exchange student policy to remove the current limit of four students per year. The new policy states the number of students accepted each school year will be determined by the board of education. Principal Chalk said that six different organizations have already inquired about placing students here. A selection committee will meet in May and review all applications, so all documentation must be received by the end of school on the first Friday in May. The acceptance committee will recommend applicants for final approval at the May school board meeting.
Board members went into a short executive session and, when they returned to regular session 15 minutes later, voted to accept the resignations of Craig Fisher as bus technician and Sara Claytor as prekindergarten assistant. They also voted to hire Neka Lundquist as pre-kindergarten assistant and to advertise an opening for a paraprofessional for the special education department.
Community on 10/05/2016