Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Decatur superintendent delivers annual report
“Teachers did a tremendous job in designing lessons that were engaging, relevant, and emphasized mastery of the previously taught material.” — Steven Watkins, Decatur School District Superintendent
DECATUR — During the Dec. 14 School Board meeting, Steven Watkins, district superintendent, delivered his annual report to the public.
The board held its meeting in a different venue than it had before.
The School Board usually meets in the board room at Decatur Middle School or the library at Decatur High School. Because of covid-19 protocol, neither room was big enough to house the full board, administrators, and the general public. So this meeting was held in the middle school gym, which offered enough space to adhere to pandemic protocol.
Watkins opened his report with a bit of good news for the Decatur School District.
“All schools are now fully accredited,” Watkins stated.
What this means for the district is that every area from teachers’ certification, to standardized testing, to the school calendar, to snow days meets the state department of education requirements for operations of a public school system. Had the district failed to meet these standards, it would be on probation until it came into compliance.
Watkins’ report to the public is as follows:
“Enrollment is stable with current attendance at 523 students. Approximately 12% of the students are online.
“Decatur received $2,064,570 in State Foundation Funding for the 20-21 school year with an additional $80,350 and $54,560 for Alternative Learning and English Language Learner funding, respectively. Total budget expenditures for Maintenance and Operation for the 20-21 school year are $4,392,451.”
“Construction project started on schedule and budget with the new cafeteria and student commons area to be completed at the beginning of the 2021-2022 school year at a cost of $4.8 million. Renovation and conversion of the existing cafeteria and dining area into band and choir classrooms will begin in the fall of 2021.”
“Decatur School District’s annual report to the public focused on MAP testing versus ACT Aspire testing. During the pivot to virtual learning in the spring of 2020, no ACT Aspire testing was completed for the 2019/2020 school year. MAP scores from the winter 2019 test and the fall 2020 test were compared for each student. No appreciable decline in knowledge and skills were noticed. Credit goes to the parents and teachers for emphasizing education during the pivot to virtual. Teachers did a tremendous job in designing lessons that were engaging, relevant, and emphasized mastery of the previously taught material.”