GRAVETTE -- Robin Hilger, medical professions teacher and HOSA club sponsor, introduced two of her HOSA students who were medal winners at HOSA state competition and they led the Pledge of Allegiance to open the April school board meeting. The students were Casey Ogle, state gold medal winner in veterinary science, and Zane Hilger, state silver medal winner in pharmacology.
Richard Page, superintendent of Gravette schools, gave the vocational report and said that the Walton Family foundation has shown much interest in the Western Benton County Career Center.
Representatives from Nabholz Construction Company gave a progress report on the addition to the upper elementary school. They reported that construction was on schedule and should be completed in July. They presented bids for the upper elementary library addition.
Jim Singleton reported for the facilities committee and presented a master plan formulated by the committee. Board members asked Singleton and the committee to provide a cost estimate for each project at the May school board meeting.
Board members voted to accept the base bid of $486,492 presented by Nabholz for the upper elementary library addition. This amount, added to the current construction contract for the upper elementary addition, will bring the contract total to $1,888,494.
Board members voted to approve the 2016-2017 legislative audit for Gravette School District.
Board members voted to approve a reimbursement of unused sick days to all employees who have served more than 10 years in the Gravette School District and plan to retire at the end of the school year. Compensation will be $30 per day, beginning in the 2017-2018 school year.
Board members voted to approve the school board policies for the 2017-2018 school year. They asked Shannon Mitchell, high school counselor, and Carla Hicks to present a list of math classes that would meet the state requirements at the May board meeting. Superintendent Page said an updated discipline policy would be presented at the May meeting.
Board members voted unanimously to accept a bid for the 77-passenger Type-C bus in the amount of $88,988. They also voted unanimously to accept a bid of $22,390.13 for a marquee sign at Gravette Middle School.
After going into executive session for a little more than three hours, board members voted to accept the resignation of Wendy Roth, Title I aide and pre-K aide. They also voted to rehire classified staff as presented for the 2017-2018 school year, to hire Haylee Mitchell as a special education paraprofessional and to approve Kizzy Hill as a secretary-registrar at Glenn Duffy Elementary School.
Board members voted to approve a step increase for certified and classified staff and a base increase of $500. They also voted to increase administrators' salary by the base raise percentage without the step.
In other personnel matters, they voted: 1) to change the director of curriculum's title to assistant superintendent with a salary increase of $10,000; 2) to approve the position of a special education teacher for the middle school and high school, a half-time dyslexia teacher and a first-grade teacher; 3) to approve an increase to the RN's salary schedule; 4) to add a salary level for the district central office secretary at 5 percent above the current building level; 5) to approve a Title One teacher and a middle school ALE teacher to be paid out of Title One funds and an instructional coach-data specialist to be paid from Title One/NSLA funds; and, 6) to approve giving Will Pittman, senior girls' head basketball coach, and Matt Busch, senior boys' head basketball coach, extended contracts from 210 days to 225 days.
The meeting was adjourned at 11:58 p.m.
Special Meetings
Gravette school board has held three special meetings during the past month.
In a special meeting Thursday, April 4, members of the board accepted the resignation of Theresa Morley, special education director, who will leave at the end of this contract year.
Tuesday, April 25, the board met again and voted to expel a junior high student for making a bomb threat.
A third special meeting was held Tuesday, May 2, at which the board voted to expel a high school student for the remainder of the school year and the first semester of the 2017-2018 school year for an attempt to distribute a controlled substance.
General News on 05/10/2017