GRAVETTE -- A reception honoring new teachers and staff members was held preceding the August meeting of the Gravette School Board. John Edwards, board vice-president, introduced board members, and new teachers introduced themselves and told something about themselves.
Debra Rosell, a special education teacher, addressed board members at the beginning of the meeting, held in the high school library. She thanked them for the additional classroom space the board provided for special education.
Bill Hayford, the business manager, gave the financial report and said expenditures were holding pretty close to the budget.
Jim Singleton reported that the facilities committee met Aug. 4 and did a walk-through of the new Upper Elementary addition and library. A mid-September completion is expected on the library. He reported that a study had been done on Middle School expansion, with a $1,244,614 cost estimate for new construction and an estimate of $960,637 for remodeling. The facilities committee recommended the remodeling option.
Norman Mitchell, the athletic director, gave a report on the athletic budget. He reported last year's budget was really good, with expenditures $6,544.22 under his projections. This year's budget reflects some projects required by the state, including reconditioning of helmets and shoulder pads every other year. Mitchell said he also wants to build batting cages for the baseball and softball fields, and pole vault standards need to be replaced on the track. Board members voted to approve a one-time increase of $21,000 in the athletic budget, to be paid out of the general fund.
Jay Chalk, the high school principal, gave a vocational report. He said 28 students are enrolled in the welding class, seven from Bentonville, three from Bentonville West, two from Decatur, three from Gentry, three from Siloam Springs and 10 from Gravette. The HVAC class has six students enrolled from Gravette and two from Decatur. The CNA/PCA class is full, with 12 students. Two cosmetology students are going from Gravette to Siloam Springs, one diesel mechanic student is going to NTI in Springdale and one student to the Ignite program in Bentonville. Chalk said an after-hours welding class would probably be offered again this year.
Richard Page, the superintendent of schools, gave his mid-year goals report. He said progress is being made, particularly on one of his main goals, parent-community involvement.
Board members voted to approve the Northwest Technical Institute tuition agreement. The 2017-2018 budget was also approved, including a transfer of $607,568.48 from debt savings to the building fund and a transfer of $250,000 from the operating budget to the building fund. Based on the current debt schedule, the district was refinanced to realize a savings for three years, the 2016-2017 school year being the last year. Per state mandate, the savings must be transferred to the building fund.
After a short executive session, board members returned to regular session and voted to approve hiring Nova Sudduth as a half-time bus driver; Roger Miller as a bus driver; and Adam Vore as the assistant senior-high football coach, extending his contract 15 days for a total of 205 days for the 2017-2018 school year.
A special meeting of the board was held Thursday, Aug. 31, to consider the expulsion of a student. At that meeting, the board voted to expel a high school student for a period of one year.
The next regular meeting of the board will be held Monday, Sept. 18, at the school administration building.
Community on 09/13/2017