Gravette honors retiring board members, employees

GRAVETTE — A reception honoring retiring School Board members and school employees was held May 16 before the board’s regular meeting in the high school commons.

When the meeting began, Superintendent Maribel Childress presented plaques and lifetime passes to Gravette High School activities to retiring board members Hope Duke, Jodi Moore and Jay Oliphant. Retiring employees Modella Dodson, Carolyn Middleton, Teri Finnell, Lisa Milton, Bo Moon, Ruth Kennedy, Kay Murray, Cindy Kirkpatrick, Jacki Reiff and Billy McClendon were given potted flowers.

Childress also introduced Classified Employees of the Year, and each was presented with a trophy. Employees honored were Teri Finnell, high school; Heather Holland, Gravette Upper Elementary; Jennifer Knox, middle school; Lori Miller, Glenn Duffy Elementary; and Kay Robbins, transportation.

Members voted to accept the consent agenda, which included accepting resignations and retirements, the rescinding of one retirement and consideration of expulsion recommendations.

Business manager Dennis Kurczek gave the April financial report, reporting that $476,000 in cash revenue was received during the month. He said the cost of natural gas has already gone 180% over budget for the year. Kurczek expressed his appreciation to board members for the work they do. He said an updated financial report will be presented in June, and he also gave a report on Elementary and Secondary School Relief and American Rescue Plan funds.

Oliphant reviewed the roles and responsibilities of the superintendent and board members.

During the curriculum and instruction report, assistant superintendent Becky Sears and middle school librarian Mike Walker discussed library policies and noted the commitment school librarians make to provide students, parents and staff with high-quality educational materials. Sears said some books had been pulled from school shelves and some books are designated for parents and educators and are not available to students for checkout.

There are provisions in policy, she said, that allow employees to make complaints on behalf of community members who have concerns about inappropriate materials on the shelves but do not have students enrolled in the school.

Walker noted the current policy needs to be reviewed because it is difficult to define “vulgar” or “inappropriate” because these might be a matter of personal opinion and what might be inappropriate to one person might not be to another. He said when parents have expressed concerns in the past, teachers have talked with the patrons and dealt with the issues individually.

Duke said she feels “there is no replacement for good communication.”

Oliphant said board members rely on teachers and staff to exercise good judgment and feel they can be trusted to do so.

“Our librarians love their kids,” Childress said. Thus, they will continue to scan and review the policy as needed, she added.

Kelly Hankins gave the Alternative Learning Environment annual report and said she was very proud of the program and felt the district could have no more dedicated employees than those now working in the program.

She said 22 students were served at the high school. Eleven of those graduated, but nine incoming seniors remain, and all are enrolled in career classes for the 2022-23 school year. She said students at Glenn Duffy Elementary are focusing on communication and problem-solving.

Hankins said she continues to focus on improving the program and noted that when programs were up for renewal, all four programs were approved. She reported that welding students at the career center won two of the top awards in Northwest Technical Institute’s regional competition.

Sheila Roughton, food service director, gave the food service annual report and outlined the growth of the program, with more meals being served as enrollment increases, revenue up over $2,000 and an expenditure of more than $291,000 for food service at the end of April. She said the percentage of eligibility for free and reduced-price lunches has dropped considerably. She noted that supply chain issues had been worked out and said that $44,000 in supply chain assistance has been received which she plans to spend for milk.

Roughton said the voucher to allow students to eat meals for free expires at the end of June and reported the Seamless Summer program was set to begin May 31.

Finally, Roughton reported there will be an equipment upgrade with new floors and paint at Glenn Duffy Elementary, where 182,000 and 191,000 lunch meals are being served.

Daniel Rice, technology director, gave the communications department’s annual report. He said he feels there has been good growth in social media and use of the school website. Duke said she believes there needs to be more patron engagement and she is concerned that patrons don’t use such media if it is not updated frequently.

Childress gave the April attendance report and the covid report and consideration of covid directives and mandates. She said she was happy to report that this would be her last covid report.

Board members moved into executive session at 7:14 p.m. for the purpose of discussing the employment of personnel and returned to open session at 8:55 p.m. No related action followed.

Under action items, board members voted to approve the policy changes as written, based on recommendations by the personnel policy committee.

Members voted unanimously that, upon Tracy Moorman’s reelection to the board, he be moved into the vacant Zone 5 seat because he resides in Zone 5. Then the open position, to be appointed by the board on June 20, would be the at-large position.

Members voted to raise the price of meals for students and adult/guest meals and increase the milk price from 40 cents to 50 cents for staff and students. They also voted to approve the food service department soliciting grocery bids for the 2022-23 school year.

The chief fiscal officer was given authorization to transfer cash as necessary between the operating and building fund accounts held at Arvest Bank so that the district’s general ledger cash accounts reflect the balances shown by the bank. These transfers can only be executed through the Arvest Cash Manager website portal. This authorization will remain in effect through the end of the 2022-23 school year.

Members voted unanimously to authorize seeking bids for the purchase of new school buses for the 2023-24 school year in June and to authorize seeking bids for the sale of three school buses, a Jacobsen 1900D 84” reel mower and the Turfco top dresser.

School choice requests were approved for 20 students entering the Gravette School District and 11 students leaving the district.

Members voted to give approval for additional aide support for kindergarten teachers for the fall of 2022.