GRAVETTE -- Gravette school board members reorganized at their October meeting. Tracy Moorman was elected new school board president; Ty Russell, vice-president; Heather Finley, secretary; Jodi Moore, primary disbursing officer; and Jay Oliphant, secondary disbursing officer.
Members of the student council were present and led the Pledge of Allegiance to open the meeting. Board member Jay Oliphant presented the students a plaque from Niche.com designating Gravette High School as one of the 2018 best high schools. The award is based on several criteria, including academics, extracurricular offerings, school safety record, student/teacher ratio and sports. Gravette High School has received the award for four years in a row.
Bill Hayford, business director, presented the financial report for the month of September. He said expenditures were similar to those in the same period last year, except for the $200,000 extra expense for ongoing building projects. He said the electric bill was up a little but it was probably due to a warmer fall. He reported the legislative auditor is working in Gravette now.
Richard Page, the superintendent of schools, gave his report to the board. He reported the Arkansas School Boards Association annual conference would be held the first week in December in Little Rock. Board member John Edwards will be attending and was elected as the board's delegate. Page also reported the administration has applied for an alternative method of instruction program where students can be taught by digital hookup on bad weather days rather than taking snow days. He announced that Horton Farms was no longer scheduling prom events, so this year's senior prom will be held at the Cypress Barn in Siloam Springs on April 28.
Page also presented the ESEA annual report with 2017 state assessment results, as well as the 2017-18 state and federally funded programs and the 2017-18 ACSIP (Academic Comprehensive School Improvement Plan) overview. Gravette's seventh-grade English scores were the highest in the area, with an 89 percent ranking, one of the highest in the state. Elementary school writing scores were among the weakest, but teachers have begun using Chromebooks in second grade with the hopes of raising writing scores.
Page reported there had been 16 school choice students come in and 20 out, and there have been six students transferring into the district and four out since the start of the school year. He said the district is getting larger, with the Oct. 1 district enrollment report showing 2,032 students including pre-K students and 1,992 without.
Mandy Barrett, Gravette Upper Elementary principal; Duane Thomas, Middle School principal; and Jay Chalk, High School principal, presented state testing assessment data for their individual schools. Chalk said the high school has had great scores for the past five years but scores failed to meet expectations for this year. He said teachers and staff are working to identify what is wrong and fix it. Results showed 47 percent of students are not comprehending what they are reading. Ninth grade scores are the worst and ninth grade is also high in disciplinary problems, with 50 percent of disciplinary referrals coming from that grade. Chalk also submitted a written report on the vocational education program.
The attendance report is good, with all schools showing more than a 90 percent attendance rate.
Richard Carver, transportation director, reported he had received five bids for the school bus the district had advertised for sale. Board members voted to sell the bus to the Decatur School District at a sale price of $2,636. Carver said he had received three bids for a 2018 Suburban the district wishes to buy. He recommended accepting the bid of $42,235 from Nunnally Chevrolet since it had a vehicle in stock and there would be a wait of eight or nine weeks with the other two dealerships. Board members voted to accept the Nunnally Chevrolet bid.
Board members adjourned into executive session to consider personnel matters. After returning to regular session, they voted to accept the resignation of Michelle Mulder, paraprofessional, and approved the hiring of Kay Robbins as a bus driver and Carrie Weeks as a cafeteria worker/cook at the Middle School. They also approved the addition of an assistant senior high band stipend of $2,090 for Mark Hendrick.
Board members have held three hearings recently for the expulsion of high school students. Two hearings were held on Thursday, Oct. 19. One student was expelled for the remainder of the 2017-18 school year and will be placed in the random drug screening pool upon return. The other student was expelled for the remainder of the current semester provided the student passes a hair follicle drug test within the week. Should the student fail the drug test, he will be expelled for the remainder of the year. Another hearing was held on Oct. 23 preceding the regular school board meeting. The high school student was expelled for the remainder of the 2017-18 school year and will be placed in the random drug screening pool upon return.
General News on 11/01/2017