School board views gym progress, OKs buying Chromebooks
GRAVETTE — Members of the Gravette school board held their regular meeting Monday, June 14, in the Performing Arts Center at Gravette High School. All board members were present.
Board president Heather Finley led the pledge of allegiance to the flag to open the meeting.
Minutes of the April 27 special meeting and the May 11 regular board meeting were approved as presented.
Dennis Kurczek, business manager, gave the May financial report with detailed statements of assets, liabilities and changes in fund balances. Kurczek also reviewed the construction outline summary and shared information from Scott Beardsley, of First Security Beardsley, regarding bond refinancing. Kurczek will proceed with a bid for a refinancing proposal on July 8.
Robert Adams, of Crossland Construction, and Clay McGill, principal architect with BiLD Architects, were in attendance and showed a video presentation with highlights of construction progress on the new high school gymnasium. They reported that curbs in the parking lot and metal panels are complete. The front of the building is taking shape and good progress is being made now that the frequent rains have slowed. The weight room is complete and telescoping bleachers are almost complete. Fixed bleachers will be installed in the third week in July since there have been a few delays because of the covid-19 pandemic. Adams noted that there have been 167 rain days on the job and said rock for the building cost $94,308, which will put the job over contract by $46,080.
Action taken at the meeting included passing a motion to adopt the covid emergency resolution. Motion passed unanimously.
Becky Sears, assistant superintendent for curriculum, led a discussion on the student handbook. She said she felt making the handbook available online would be more cost-effective than printing a hard copy for each student. Hard copies would be available on request. Also, a handbook with policies for all schools will be provided rather than separate handbooks for each individual school. Sears said she is working to make the handbook more parentfriendly. Board members voted to move forward with these changes after they have had a chance to review any questions.
Board members voted unanimously to approve the athletic handbook for the 2020-2021 school year. Athletic director Norman Mitchell said the only changes from last year’s handbook are changes in protocol required by state standards.
Daniel Rice, technology director, presented a proposal for lease-purchase of 514 Chromebooks for $40,689 with a $1 buyout option. This will allow each student in kindergarten through 12th grade to have his or her own Chromebook. Funds will come from the CARES Act since technology acquisition qualifies for reimbursement under the act. After a brief discussion, members voted unanimously to enter into the four-year lease-purchase agreement.
Board members voted unanimously to install a plaque or display of some type in the foyer of the Western Benton County Career Center recognizing the substantial contribution made by superintendent Richard Page in the creation of the Center and thanking him for his work on the project.
Becky Sears presented a draft of the school reopening plans. Each school district must have three plans, one for a normal return to classes, a pivot plan and a virtual plan, for those families uncomfortable with having their students return in person. The plans outline suggested response procedures in the event of a second flareup of the covid-19 pandemic.
Shannon Mitchell, high school principal, reported that high school graduation would continue as planned on July 11 at 8 p.m. with the newest covid-19 guidelines in place. Current Arkansas Department of Health guidelines for outdoor gatherings call for no more than two-thirds capacity in the football stadium. This would allow for 850 persons attending, or six tickets per graduate family, and all persons over 10 would be required to wear a mask. She noted that the school’s guidelines were more restrictive than those for the general public.
In other action postponed from the June 9 special board meeting, members voted to change the school nurse position from an LPN to an RN since an LPN would require supervision from an RN anyway. They also voted unanimously to hire Rachel Gibson as the gifted and talented coordinator for the 2020-2021 school year.
Board members went into executive session at 7:08 p.m. to discuss personnel matters and returned to open session an hour later. No action was taken. The meeting was adjourned at 8:05 p.m.