Teachers and staff receive bonus

Pea Ridge School employees will receive lump sum checks of $600 for fulltime and $300 for part-time employees before the winter break. The amount will be added to the base salary as a “district wide step increase,” according to Rick Neal, superintendent.

In past years, the money has been given as a bonus, Neal told School Board members. He said the base salary at Pea Ridge is about $37,000. Board members said they would like to reconsider the practice in the future and discussed step increases and bonuses, but agreed to discuss it in full in a working board meeting in the future.

Members of the varsity volleyball team attended the board meeting and led in the pledge of allegiance. They, and coach Jessica Wood, were congratulated for their success this year.

“The girls worked hard. We had a lot of firsts and began a great tradition,” Wood said.

Answering a request by Ann Cato from several months before, Neal reported that Pea Ridge School District personnel are trained in universal precautions every year during professional development meeting the OSHA requirement. He said the Pea Ridge School District has met or exceeded requirements of polices.

Board members also received the Emergency Operations Plan borrowed from Joplin, Mo., to review and put into context for Pea Ridge.

“I want this to be an ongoing document over the next several months,” Neal told board members. “This doesn’t need to be Rick Neal’s document; our administrators are looking at it. When you have something of this depth, putting it into perspective is going to be an enormous time and commitment.”

“We need to really work on implementing this district wide,” Neal said.

In other business, the board:

• Corrected contracts and approved raises for three employees to appropriately reflect their status, education and professional license: Ronda Hall from $16,440 to $23,476; John Fisher from $29,381 to $34,376; and Jeff Lang-We from $28,181 to $33,176.

• Adopted a resolution authorizing issuance and delivery of $2.9 million refunding a construction bond;

• Adopted a continuing disclosure dissemination agreement;

• Reimburse the operating funds approved for the application for a permit to issue bonds in the amount of $12,890,000.