Washington County Enterprise-Leader
School Board Members Get Lesson From Taekwondo Student
TAEKWONDO STUDENT GIVES LESSON TO BOARD MEMBERS
FARMINGTON — Farmington School Board members on March 25 unanimously named high school Principal Bob Echols to lead the district’s new Freshman Academy next year.
Following an executive session, the board also renewed employment contracts for school administrators and teachers for the 2013-14 school year.
Echols was named acting high school principal after former Principal Chris Webb resigned the position in July. The school district is interviewing candidates for the principal’s job but Echols did not apply for the job.
Echols’ new position will be effective July 1 and he will serve as principal for the Freshman Academy. His salary will be $79,221, according to school treasurer Mandy Uher. The salary is based on a 240- day contract, 25 years of experience and a master’s degree plus 15 hours . The salary also includes a 1.18 index, which is the multiplier given to assistant principals on the salary schedule.
The board was treated to presentations from many students at its March meeting. Several students presented their science fair projects and these included experiments to determine what type of fan works best for a hovercraft, the type of baking power that is best for rising cornbread and which battery powers a flashlight the longest.
Other projects asked what color affects memory the most and which Taekwondo move is the best for breaking a piece of wood.
Students from the middle school EAST Lab gave an update on their projects for the year. Both the middle school and high school EAST Lab programs received a superior rating at the national EAST conference in Hot Springs.
Superintendent Bryan Law said the school’s financial status is looking better than projected. School officials had thought the district would have to use money from its construction fund account for debt service this year, Law said. However, because of student growth, he said the district will not have to tap into that account and all of it will be available for phase 1 of a new high school campus. Phase 1 will be a fine arts center and competitive basketball arena.