GRAVETTE -- Members of the Gravette school board held their regular meeting Monday, May 17, at the school administration building with all members present.
Gravette High School students Lauren Meenan and Hailey Lantz led the pledge of allegiance to open the meeting. Meenan and Lantz recently placed second in the state DECA competition and spoke briefly about their presentation there.
Superintendent Maribel Childress welcomed new faculty members to the district and introduced Susan Hawkins, new counselor at GHS, who spoke briefly. Childress recognized counselors from Ozark Guidance Center who assist teachers in working with students at each school. Jennifer Pittman was the only OGC counselor in attendance.
Childress also introduced district employees who were chosen as 2020-2021 Classified Staff Members of the Year and gave a brief profile of each and presented each one with a gift. Honored were Carolyn Middleton, nurse, Gravette High School; Joanna Deaton, nurse, Gravette Middle School; Alicia Bayley, nurse, Gravette Upper Elementary; and Billy McClendon, maintenance/transportation department. Brian Weeks, custodian, Glenn Duffy Elementary School, was unable to attend.
Vicki Holloway presented an update on the Growing Green Grant she received at Glenn Duffy Elementary School. (See story elsewhere in this issue.)
Business manager Dennis Kurczek presented the April financial report and said $568,000 in property taxes had been received for the month, making a total of $8.3 million received to date. He said the high utility bills experienced earlier in the school year have moderated now.
Clay McGill, principal architect for BiLD Architects, attended and gave an update on progress to prepare a display recognizing former superintendent Richard Page at the Western Benton County Career Center. A 22-by-14 1/2-inch plaque, small shadowbox display and looping videos running on a display monitor are projects being considered.
Rachel Gibson gave a report on the gifted and talented program. She said there had been some changes in the structure of the kindergarten through second-grade enrichment program, giving the students more support and providing virtual options. She said teachers were incorporating social psychology into the animation segments and reported that adjustments had been made after input from students, parents and teachers. She reported a positive response to the changes.
Superintendent Childress, athletic director Norman Mitchell and maintenance department supervisor Richard Carver presented some cost projections for athletic facility improvements. Board members voted unanimously to pay for upgrades to the volleyball gym, middle school gym, baseball/softball fields and football field out of the general fund, with the exception of new scoreboards and trophy case updates at the volleyball gym and graphics on the concrete wall at the football field which will be paid out of the athletic activity budget. Board member Robyn Lovell asked that superintendent Childress and business manager Kurczek work on financing netting over the bleachers at the baseball/softball field at a cost of $80,000 as the number one priority.
Transportation department supervisor Richard Carver reported on the school district and school bus driver records audit and said the district was not found deficient in any area. Carver also discussed supervision of students while riding buses and indicated a parent's recent suggestion to provide an aide on each bus was just not practical because there were not enough people to do so. He also said the cost would be prohibitive. He reported that a substitute driver moves around among the buses as needed and said the camera system technology was just not effective this school year with the mask mandate in effect. Board members voted to authorize Carver to go out for bids on updating the camera systems on all buses.
Superintendent Childress gave a report on school communications with district patrons, with building principals sharing their views. A parent who recently addressed the board recommended the use of Peach Jar technology, but all local staff members were in agreement that Remind, the district's current communications tool, and Facebook were the best means for communicating with district students and parents and those means will continue to be used. Childress said she was "really excited" about the new communications person recently hired.
Action to approve an update to the prohibited conduct policy was tabled until the June 6 board meeting to give time to discuss it with David Matthews. Board members are still attempting to find the appropriate phrases to use in the policy wording, and board member Hope Duke said she feels it is important to take the time to make sure the policy is correct and will not have to be revised again later.
Discussion was held on the licensed personnel dress policy and Hope made a motion to allow the policy to be changed to make the superintendent the person responsible for monitoring the appearance of employees. Superintendent Childress pointed out that she was not in each building every day and felt that enforcing such requirements would be difficult. Building principals seemed to think the policy was working well with the principals defining proper dress in their buildings. The motion failed with a 3-4 vote.
Board members voted unanimously to give a one-time stipend of $2,500 to administrative secretaries Lacy Haag and Lisa Sizemore to compensate them for accepting additional job responsibilities for the 2021 spring semester. Robyn Lovell asked for clarification that this would be the last stipend, and Childress said it would be. Unanimous approval was also given to approve Mr. Williams as School Psychology Specialist for Gravette Schools beginning with the 2021-2022 school year, working four days a week on a 190-day contract with an annual salary of $55,508.
Board members voted to approve school choice applicants, with Jay Oliphant opposing, feeling that school choice should be more inclusive. A board-to-board transfer into the district was tabled until the June meeting, but the transfer of two students out of the Gravette school district to attend the Bentonville school district was approved. The two students, a kindergartner and a second-grader, are already attending Bentonville schools. The family has moved to Bella Vista but wants the children to continue attending Bentonville schools.
The meeting adjourned at 8:45 p.m.
