El Dorado School Board approves one-time non-recurring salary payment
EL DORADO — A $500 one time, non-recurring salary payment for certified personnel and a 1.43 percent salary payment for classified personnel, not to exceed $500, was approved for El Dorado School District employees during the El Dorado School Board’s May monthly meeting Monday night. School employees will receive the bonus in their May check.
Also during Monday night’s meeting, Grace George, food service director for the district, explained that online applications for free and reduced price meals in the school district are now available and can be accessed on the new El Dorado School District website, under child nutrition.
Last year, over 900 applications were processed for free and reduced price meals for students and George said the online version “speeds up the process” and fewer errors are recorded. She said the online version of the application asks parents or guardians of students simple questions and she also said packets to apply for free and reduced price lunches will be available by July 1 and paper copies will also be available. School personnel will assist parents and guardians to help fill out applications, if requested.
Of the 900 applications processed last year, George said 798 students qualified for free breakfasts and lunches. She said last year, another 100 students were eligible for free and reduced price meals, but did not turn in applications.
El Dorado School District Superintendent Jim Tucker said parents are encouraged to fill out applications for their children to receive free and reduced price meals.
Several members of the cast of Barton Junior High School’s recent production of “Mary Poppins,” including Jackson Fite (Bert), Ella Langridge (Mary Poppins), Karli New (Jane Banks) and Carmelo Brown (Michael Banks), sang some of the songs from the musical – excerpts from “Chim Chim Cher-ee,” “Practically Perfect” and “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious,” for board members.
Nine El Dorado School District students advanced to the State Math Contest, according to Tom Simmons, math chair for the school district. They are Sophia Anreder, Jadon Cunningham, Dave Davison, Coleigh White, Ethan Hammons, Zander Jones, Scott Ratchford, Caroline Alderson and Andrew Longinotti.
The 2017-18 school year will be the last year for the El Dorado School District’s five-year grant cycle for the School-Based Health Center, Debbie McAdams, coordinator of the program, told board members Monday night. “This is the seventh year for Arkansas
to have SBHCs. We have over 15,000 students enrolled in school-based services state-wide. SBHC funding is being considered on the federal level this session and mental health is the current ‘buzz-word’,” she told board members.
The El Dorado SBHC is located at Washington Middle School and McAdams said the total enrollment this year is 354 – down 135 from last year’s enrollment. “Students move out of the district, switch providers, do not need mental health services anymore – could account for the decrease. We currently have 53 enrolled for physical health, 140 for dental and 161 for mental health,” she said.
She also explained that El Dorado’s SBHC is participating in a pilot program with Arkansas Children’s Hospital on documenting “saved seat time,” which will “help prove the significance of SBHCs on school campuses – another tool to advocate for the need to improve health care outcomes and education.”
From October through December 2016, “we documented 291 entries with 21 hours and five minutes saved of quality seat time in the classroom” and from January through March 2017, “we had 347 entries with 20 hours and 32 minutes saved of quality seat time in the classroom,” she said.
Members of the school board approved a wellness policy which requires the district to comply with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s regulations on local wellness committees – the final rule of section 204 of the Healthy, Hungry-Free Kids Act of 2010 requires schools that participate in the National School Lunch and Breakfast Programs to “establish minimum content requirements for the local school wellness policies, ensure stakeholders participate in the development and updates of such policies and periodically assess and disclose to the public schools’ compliance with the local school wellness policies,” McAdams said. “We are to fully comply with the requirements of the final rule by June 30, 2017 or risk losing federal money from the child nutrition program,” she said.
McAdams told board members that $16,000 was given to the district, the Centers for Disease Control “dictates how and where the money can be spent” and in August, she will bring a speaker to introduce a simple technique, “Seed Digging,” that can help teachers and staff better connect with students and guide students to improve their behavior and choices. Two community grants – one for $2,500 to purchase a new elliptical machine for the school fitness center and another for $1,000 from Blue and You Foundation to support the new machine – have been awarded, McAdams said.
She also told board members that the district will have the opportunity to select an elementary school to be a pilot campus for adding more recess times during the school day.
This year, baccalaureate services will be held at 8 p.m. on May 14 at the El Dorado High School Wildcat Arena and graduation ceremonies will be held at 8 p.m. on May 15 at Memorial Stadium.