GRAVETTE -- Members of the Gravette school board held election of new officers at their regular meeting June 17. New officers elected include Ty Russell, president; Heather Finley, vice-president; Hope Duke, secretary; Robyn Skaggs, primary disbursing officer; Jodie Moore, secondary disbursing officer; and Tracy Moorman, legislative liaison.
Dennis Kurczek, business manager, gave the financial report for the month of May. He said the district was on track with its budget and "everything's looking good." He presented a detailed statement of fund balances and said he would be eliminating several accounts soon. He said $2.5 million has been spent on the building projects so far.
Members voted to approve the consent agenda which included approval of the recommendation to hire two classified employees, Paul Mahon as an evening custodian and Heather Edgmon as a cafeteria cook/cashier at the middle school. They also voted to approve seeking bids for food service supplies and for the sale of three used buses. Approval was also given to selling the old stadium lights.
Richard Page, superintendent of schools, explained that, because the district had an offer from an out-of-state buyer, it was required to advertise them within the state also. No in-state buyer bid higher so they will be sold to the out-of-state buyer for $500. Page said the lights are being replaced with much better, higher-quality lights and they will be on shorter poles.
Superintendent Page reported that interviews with the top three candidates for assistant superintendent of curriculum are scheduled for Tuesday, June 25, a facilities committee meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, June 26, and that board member Robyn Skaggs will be attending new board member training in Hot Springs June 24.
Page said summer school attendance that day (Monday) was 52 students. Attendance had reached a high of 55 students. This includes students attending the writers camp which is being conducted. The Boys and Girls Club has been operating from 1 to 5 p.m., which offers students interesting activities in the afternoon and helps parents who are not able to pick up their children immediately after the summer school session.
Robert Adams, with Crossland Construction, and Michael Spaeth, principal architect with BiLD Architects, gave an update on the district building projects. He reported that flooring in the Glenn Duffy cafeteria is finished and about 30 percent of the hallways are ready for flooring. Workers are ready to finish drywall in the middle school. All masonry work is completed in the connecting hallway at the gym and they are ready to put the lockers back in. HVAC installation in the gym was scheduled to begin Thursday. He said work was a little behind on the career center but he projected a completion date of Sept. 12.
Superintendent Page asked about possible dates to schedule an open house or houses. He said Meet the Teacher Nights will be scheduled the Monday and Tuesday before school starts and that might be a good time to have an open house. A brief discussion was also held about having an open house on Gravette Day at the buildings under construction, and it was decided an open house will be held that day, Saturday, Aug. 10, at the two schools and the career center with light refreshments and guides to conduct tours through the buildings.
Action items included approval of the school policies. Board members approved the policies as presented for the 2019-20 school year. Superintendent Page reported there were not many changes. Minor changes were made in licensed personnel policy training, prohibited conduct and Smart Corps requirements. The threshold on federal and state purchases was increased and a requirement added that the Arkansas civics exam is to be administered to all students.
Board members voted to approve changes in the school handbooks. There were no changes in the high school and middle school handbooks. Five minutes of instructional time will be added to the school day at Glenn Duffy Elementary and the Upper Elementary School. Zane Vanderpool, principal at Glenn Duffy Elementary, explained that, after the first week of school, administrators will lock the door and parents will no longer be able to walk their students down the hall to class. He said this is being done in the interests of providing better security for school staff and students.
Because the reserve fund balance cannot exceed 20 percent, board members voted to approve a $300,000 transfer from the general operating fund to the building fund.
Ty Russell updated board members on land being considered to complete a carpool loop at Glenn Duffy Elementary and said the owner is not interested in selling at this time.
After a short executive session, board members reconvened in regular session and voted to approve hiring Amanda Dover as a first grade teacher, Cara Piatkowski as a third grade teacher, Katherine Rogers as a third grade teacher, Morgan McDaniel as a middle school FACS teacher, Shannon Moots as a high school business teacher and Kelby Bohannon as high school head football coach.
Community on 06/26/2019