GRAVETTE -- A special meeting of the Gravette school board was held Tuesday evening, June 30, to interview candidates for the position of principal at Glenn Duffy Elementary School. No action was taken.
Board members requested that Maribel Childress, superintendent of Gravette schools, review salaries and have a recommendation ready for a special board meeting on July 2.
Board members attended a webinar on the Ready to Learn Plan hosted by the Arkansas School Board Association from 5:30 to 7:27 p.m. on July 2. Then Childress presented the Gravette Ready for Learning Plan.
The board voted unanimously to accept the administrative recommendation to hire Nikki Brecheen as the principal for Glenn Duffy Elementary School on a 230-day contract with a salary of $77,000 for the 2020-2021 school year.
In other action, board members accepted the administrative recommendation to change Taos Jones from full-time assistant high school principal to half-time assistant principal and half-time Gravette K-12 online principal with a 240-day contract and a salary of $78,000. This is a one-year contract only.
Tracy Moorman cast the only dissenting vote, saying he wanted to evaluate the virtual enrollment numbers in July before making the decision.
Board members also accepted the administrative recommendation to hire Jessica Thomas, who holds a master's degree and has one year of experience, as the Gravette High School theater arts teacher and manager of the Performing Arts Center on a 195-day contract at a total salary of $50,972.