GRAVETTE -- Members of the Gravette School Board held a special meeting Monday evening, June 7, following a work session with David Matthews in which he presented information about the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act. All board members were present.
During the special meeting, members accepted the resignations of Amber Cole, Bailey Boatright and Audrea Vore.
Becky Sears, assistant superintendent for curriculum, gave a report on summer school, which is being held June 1-30. Summer school at the upper elementary school is online only because the maintenance department is stripping and redoing all the floors in that building. Glenn Duffy Elementary is conducting summer school classes both on site and online with a focus on reading and math skills. Letters were sent to all students not performing at grade level encouraging them to attend. Classes are being conducted on site at Gravette Middle School Monday through Thursday with half-day sessions for small groups. Summer school at Gravette High School is focusing on credit recovery with 45 students enrolled through Virtual Arkansas.
Robert Adams from Crossland Construction and Clay McGill, principal architect with BiLD Architects, attended and participated in a discussion of bids received for the renovation project at Western Benton County Career Center. They reported receiving four bids for electrical work, six bids for millwork, two bids for drywall, three bids for HVAC work and three bids for plumbing. They reported a huge increase in costs over February and said the addition of sidewalks and installation of a sink and cabinets added $25,000.
Adams and McGill reported four 10% price increases in materials costs in the last few months because of increased demand. Materials are scarce, they said, and bid time on the metal studs is about three months. Adams recommended the only way to reduce costs was to cut the scope of the project or wait and combine the work with another project. However, Richard Carver, maintenance department supervisor, recommended going ahead with the project because "things won't get cheaper" and board members voted unanimously to approve the project. Board member Jay Oliphant suggested materials be ordered soon to prevent any further price increases.
Board members also voted unanimously to approve Carver's request for the upgrade of cameras for all school buses. The total cost from 24/7 Security will be $41,917.70 for cameras, a server, and related equipment. He said any incidents occurring on a bus can be marked on the video for review later. When questioned about the frequency of motorists passing the buses, he estimated there were 40 or 50 a year. Cameras will be purchased with ESSER funds.
Board members gave unanimous approval to a request from incoming GMS principal Taos Jones for hiring an in-school suspension aide for Gravette Middle School. Jones felt it would be beneficial for holding students accountable for their behavior and helping them submit their work on time. This will be a classified position and the cost will be about $19,000.
Superintendent Maribel Childress submitted a request to split the vacated middle school English/math overflow position. She said there was a need to split it into two overflow classes with four sections of each class. The proposal was approved unanimously.
Board members approved the transfer of Tera Leroy from first-grade teacher to Title I instructor at Glenn Duffy Elementary. Childress pointed out other internal candidates were considered. They also approved the voluntary transfers of Bethany McKinzie from middle school social studies to middle school Title I teacher, Brittany Ellison from halftime upper elementary/halftime middle school special education teacher to full-time upper elementary and Shannon Holcomb from upper elementary special education teacher to middle school special ed. New hires approved were Morgan Knuckles as art teacher at upper elementary and Glenn Duffy Elementary, Kinsley Hurtt as FACS teacher and cheer coach at the high school, Andrew Paslay as elementary PE teacher/assistant boys basketball coach and Tanner Gilliaum as middle school social studies teacher and assistant volleyball coach.
A recommendation for girls basketball coach was to be considered at the June 21 regular meeting of the board.