Reports focus on progress this school year

Westside Eagle Observer/SUSAN HOLLAND
Fifth grade students at Gravette Upper Elementary School who have perfect attendance for the first quarter of the 2020-2021 school year are honored at the Nov. 16 meeting of the Gravette school board. These students, who led the pledge of allegiance to open the meeting, are Ciara Carver (front row), Jack Grimes, Braxton Wilkerson (hidden behind Ciara), Chloe Maki, Brandon Arnett, Jax Lawson and Marley Miller. Several parents, visible in the audience, attended the meeting to see their children honored.
Westside Eagle Observer/SUSAN HOLLAND Fifth grade students at Gravette Upper Elementary School who have perfect attendance for the first quarter of the 2020-2021 school year are honored at the Nov. 16 meeting of the Gravette school board. These students, who led the pledge of allegiance to open the meeting, are Ciara Carver (front row), Jack Grimes, Braxton Wilkerson (hidden behind Ciara), Chloe Maki, Brandon Arnett, Jax Lawson and Marley Miller. Several parents, visible in the audience, attended the meeting to see their children honored.

GRAVETTE -- Seven fifth-grade students from Gravette Upper Elementary School attended the Nov. 16 meeting of the Gravette school board and led the pledge of allegiance. These students were representing 30 fifth graders who were recognized for having perfect attendance this school year and each told what they liked about school. The students were Brandon Arnett, Ciara Carver, Jack Grimes, Jax Lawson, Chloe Maki, Marley Miller and Braxton Wilkerson.

School superintendent Maribel Childress also recognized school nurses Carolyn Middleton, Joanna Deaton, Alicia Bayley and Wendy Catron. She thanked them for their exceptional work this year and acknowledged that they are spending a lot of extra time tracing contacts and doing paperwork because of the covid-19 pandemic.

Board members voted to approve the consent agenda which included approval of the minutes of the Oct. 17 board meeting and the October financial report. Business manager Dennis Kurczek reviewed the financial report, noting changes in fund balances, and said $22,000 has been received as reimbursement for expenditures related to covid-19. Board members also voted to accept the resignations of Heather Edgmon as food service worker and Ronnie Moore as bus driver.

Kelly Hankins, middle school principal, reported on Star 360 data. She said testing results showed there is work to be done in reading instruction but she is pleased that struggling students had already been identified and teachers are working with those who need help. Remedial classes are helping students get back on grade level and multiple students have advanced more than one grade level in reading. Teachers are working to identify the basic skills needed to help ensure their progress.

Hankins said, "We are never where we want to be in math" but reported instructors have been able to get an online textbook so all students are using the same text. She said teaching both in class and digitally has been a huge strain on teachers and is very time-consuming. District staff did a good job of doing what they knew to do, she said, but had to continually adjust and that has taken a huge emotional toll. However, the stress level is going down and she feels teachers have done a "fantastic job" of keeping on-site students progressing while working with virtual students. She said the best place for struggling students is in class and she hopes to get some virtual students back in class. She expressed appreciation for the support provided for online students, particularly the provision of meals to take home.

Progress reports have been sent home, along with letters telling parents that administrators want failing students back on campus where teachers can work with them. There are about 70 online middle school students and approximately a third of them are failing. Teachers providing virtual instruction have been given an extra 43-minute planning period every day. In addition, two long-term substitutes are now available to relieve teachers, and two study hall periods have been set up for lagging students.

One problem is that half of the tech staff are out due to quarantine. Several new Chromebooks have been received but no one is available to set them up and the process is time-consuming. Upper elementary principal Mandy Barrett said she and some of her staff have unboxed several of the Chromebooks. She said all fifth-grade students and about half the fourth-grade students already have their own Chromebooks and chargers.

(Superintendent Childress confirmed that all students at the upper elementary had received their Chromebooks by the end of the week.)

Shannon Mitchell, high school principal, reported that letters have also been sent out there encouraging virtual students to come back on campus. Some have applied for admission to alternative school, she said, but numbers are limited because of physical distancing requirements. She said there are a couple of seniors who are in danger of not being able to graduate. She said every high school teacher has been asked to plan an enrichment period, an intervention period and a study hall where students can work quietly each Wednesday. She said she plans to partner some students up to go out and do community service after the Christmas break.

Superintendent Childress reported on the results of the family and community engagement surveys. She said 549 parents, 827 students and 127 teachers responded to the survey and administrators are working to address their concerns. She reported only 82% of third-through-12th-grade students said they felt loved and cared for when 98% of teachers of those students thought they had provided the necessary support, so "there is obviously a gap in perception." Childress said the family and community engagement district goal is to exceed the families' expectations and they are working to accomplish that.

In other business, board members voted to initiate the process with Scott Beardsley of First Security Beardsley of applying for a permit and related documents to issue bonds. They stipulated that the application process is to proceed only after clarification from Beardsley about any prepayment restrictions and penalties.

Board members also voted to give transportation director Richard Carver approval to seek bids for a new bus and to sell a 2009 Freightliner bus to the highest bidder, Elk River Floats, for $5,001. They accepted Carver's recommendation and voted to hire Christina Skaggs as a bus driver. Carver said Skaggs has driven a bus route the last two years.

Board members adjourned the regular session and went into executive session at 7:20 p.m. to discuss personnel pay. After a 40-minute executive session, they returned to regular session and voted to request Superintendent Childress and business manager Kurczek to review the possibility of a Christmas bonus for all district employees and the impact of that on each employee and on district finances. There was no other action taken.