Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Rogers high schools to get fencing
ROGERS — The School District hopes to enhance security by installing some wrought-iron fencing at two of its high schools.
The fencing at Rogers High School will enclose the courtyard area next to the auditorium. Fencing also will be added at Heritage High School, blocking off an area between the main building and the career center on the north side of campus.
The School Board unanimously approved the projects at its meeting Tuesday. The work at Rogers High School will cost $68,241 and the work at Heritage High will cost $69,371, a total of $137,612, according to district documents.
The work will be included as part of some athletic-facility projects Flintco and Nabholz started last year at the schools. Flintco is building a competition gymnasium and Nabholz is building a multipurpose space at Heritage.
All fencing will be 8 feet tall and will be in place by this fall. The idea to install the fencing originated with feedback from the schools’ principals and parent-teacher organizations, said Charles Lee, assistant superintendent.
“It’s a proactive measure to just improve security,” said Rogers High Principal Lewis Villines.
The district recently completed a project installing fencing at each elementary school. Fencing at the high schools will be ornamental, not the chain-link kind, Lee said. Gates within the fences will be covered in lattice to prevent people from reaching through from the outside to open them.
The Bentonville School District took a similar step last summer when it installed ornamental fencing between Bentonville High School’s two buildings, a security measure intended to improve control over visitor access.
Also at Tuesday’s meeting, Superintendent Marlin Berry and board members recognized Kristen Cobbs, who was attending her last meeting as a board member. Cobbs has served as Zone 3 representative for 15 years.
Cobbs, 52, was part of the opening of five schools and the district’s administration building. District enrollment has grown about 20% since she joined the board.
She was board president from 2015 to 2019, during which time the board hired Superintendent Marlin Berry and earned voters’ approval of a 3.5-mill tax increase to pay for two new schools and other facility improvements.
Berry, while praising Cobbs for her service, noted she achieved nearly 300 hours of board training. Nathan Gairhan, board president, said Cobbs will be missed.
“We do appreciate all that you’ve done, Kristen, over the years, the thousands of hours you’ve volunteered for our district,” Gairhan said. “It’s easy when you get to know Kristen to see her heart and her passion for excellence.”
Cobbs opted not to run for re-election in next month’s School Board elections, but nobody else filed to run for the Zone 3 seat either.
That means the board will have 30 days from March 3, the election date, to appoint someone to the seat. That person would have to stand for election next year in order to maintain the seat for the remainder of the five-year term.
The board will accept applications and do interviews next month before appointing someone, Berry said. He said he was a little surprised no one filed to run during the November filing period.
“It’s a real commitment obviously, people are so busy,” Berry said. “That’s why
I’m always so glad we have such committed board members. But this community has always had good people step up and want to be a part of that. So I’m sure we’ll find someone.”
School board service in Arkansas is entirely volunteer work.