GENTRY — The Gentry School Board, on Dec. 18, withdrew from the Western Benton County Career Consortium and approved seeking bids on a new school bus to be delivered prior to the start of school in August 2018.
At the recommendation of Terrie Metz, superintendent of the Gentry School District, the board voted unanimously to withdraw from the Western Benton County Career Consortium with the understanding that the district would further pursue its own career training programs and perhaps cooperate less formally with Siloam Springs and other nearby school districts, colleges and technical schools.
The decision came after Metz voiced concerns about the cost of continuing in the consortium compared to the number of seats which would be available to Gentry students if the consortium moved forward. The Bentonville School Board voted last month not to fund the construction of the career center because it would require a millage increase in the district.
Metz said that the Gentry School District could be forced to levy a millage increase to pay its share of the cost of a new career center if it did not withdraw from the consortium, and she did not wish to ask the voters for another millage increase since the voters recently approved an increase to pay for a new classroom facility at the intermediate school campus and a career training facility on the high school campus.
Metz told the board in November that she had concerns about the direction of the Western Benton County Career Consortium because she doesn’t know how well it would serve Gentry students. Metz said the consortium was talking about building a $16 million dollar facility, possibly on land near the Benton County Fairgrounds, and hoped to pay for it through a millage. She said, based on high school enrollment numbers, Gentry would then receive only 24 classroom seats compared to Bentonville’s 235, which could mean Gentry students would receive little benefit from such a center.
She said she thought the consortium is close to the stage at which it will ask member districts for a financial commitment to build the center but questioned if the Gentry School District could afford to do a good job with the work it has started with its own career center and also be a part of the consortium.
“I don’t think we can be great at this (referring to the career classes the district currently offers at its new career classroom facility) and also do that,” Metz said. She said she doesn’t think the consortium is going the same direction as it did when Gentry became involved in its initial planning.
The school district opened a career classroom facility on its high school campus in August and offers diesel mechanic training, certified nurse aide training and computer technology classes. Additional classes, including the possibility of evening classes for adults, are in the planning stages.
Metz said Siloam Springs was not a part of the consortium because it has its own career training program.
Also approved by the board was putting out specifications for bids on a new school bus to be delivered in the summer and ready for use in the new school year. Jason Barrett, transportation and maintenance supervisor for the district, suggested returning to buying one new bus each year because of the wear and tear on many of the district’s school buses. He said, with 14 regular bus routes, buying a new bus each year would allow for buses to be rotated out of service after 14 years. Barrett said it’s not so much the miles but the rough roads that wear out the bus frames and chassis.
At the request of head baseball coach Justin Ledbetter, the board granted him permission to take the baseball team to play in a weeklong tournament in Panama City, Fla., during the spring break. Ledbetter presented a plan for travel and lodging, as well as supervision, and said the only cost to the district would be wear and tear on a bus. The rest of the money would be raised by the team and team sponsors.
Three more travel requests were received by the board. A request to take two track members to a meet in Austin, Texas, was declined because it would be at the expense of the district and was only for two athletes and not the entire team. More information was needed on requests from the cheerleaders to compete in a national competition in Orlando, Fla., (and possibly in Dallas, Texas) and for a choir trip to Memphis, Tenn.
Requests were also received to add a dance team and seventh-grade volleyball to the school’s activities. The board asked for more study to see how many students were interested in such programs.
Kevin Johnston, Gentry’s mayor, addressed the board, asking that it consider cooperating with the city as it develops a use plan for its city parklands. Even with new parkland being purchased by the city, Johnston suggested cooperation and planning between the city and the school district rather than duplication could make more amenities available to local residents and students. The board agreed and voted to become involved in the city’s park planning process.
Barrett updated the board on school construction projects, saying construction on the new classroom facility at the intermediate school was on schedule with decks being poured. He said the warranty work on the career training facility was being finished up and that project should be complete.
Metz reported that the district’s waiver request to start school earlier in August had been approved. Randall Bolinger reported on attending a state-level meeting for school districts and school board members and being impressed with a session on branding and use of a communication director to promote schools and school districts to the public through websites and other digital media.