Arvest Foundation donates $7,000 to career center, school vo-ag department
GRAVETTE — Jim Singleton, president of Arvest Bank’s Gravette branch, attended the Jan. 21 meeting of the Gravette school board and led the pledge of allegiance to open the meeting. Singleton then presented a $7,000 check from the Arvest Foundation to the school district. $2,500 of the donation will be used for vocational instruction in the school’s Western Benton County Career Center and $4,500 will go to the Gravette High School vo-ag department. Accepting the check were Richard Page, superintendent of schools, and William Tapp, GHS vo-ag instructor.
Page expressed appreciation to the school board members and thanked them for the long hours and hard work they put into the job, often with little recognition. He noted that January is School Board Appreciation Month and reported that school board members would be recognized at Friday night’s homecoming basketball game. Each board member was given a certificate of appreciation from the Arkansas School Board Association.
Greg Miller, of Bella Vista, addressed the board and expressed a desire to begin a wrestling program at Gravette schools. He noted the rapid growth of the sport in the area and said it helped participants develop agility, endurance, balance and strength. He said there are currently 12 active youth wrestlers in the district and they are learning that the sport requires discipline. Miller estimated it would take $15,000 to $17,000 to start a wrestling program but noted there are other programs in the area that are willing to loan some equipment or make cash donations to help defray the cost. Page replied that the proposal would be discussed with the athletic director and brought back to the board for consideration.
Thomas Carreira, robotics instructor at Gravette High School, introduced two of his students, senior Corbin Wells and sophomore Yeezong Vang, and reported there are currently seven students in the robotics class. Both students brought robots they had designed and built in class and demonstrated them for those present. They gave a brief explanation of their classwork and answered questions from board members. Carreira reported the students have entered several competitions recently, including at Claremore and Nowata, Okla. Mandy Barrett, Gravette Upper Elementary principal, reported that these students have helped students at GUE get involved in robotics.
Dennis Kurczek, business manager, gave the December financial report to the board. He reported it had been a pretty normal month, but he expected gas bills to be higher this month due to the recent cold temperatures.
Superintendent Page gave the student attendance report and said classes were averaging 92 to 94 percent attendance, which is good for this time of cold weather and holidays. He reported that Keith Jensen has been recommended as a bus driver and Ashley Becker as a special education paraprofessional at the upper elementary to fill vacancies in those positions.
Page reported an upcoming Law Seminar Conference in Little Rock and a safety committee meeting Thursday, Feb. 7. He announced that Gravette High School has been approved as a pilot for Active Shooter Response training in partnership with R&R Solutions. A special board meeting on ASR was set for Tuesday, Feb. 12, at 6 p.m.
Duane Thomas, Gravette Middle School principal, GMS counselor Roger Sharp and math instructor Taylor Lewis gave the Aspire ACT update for the middle school. Thomas gave the test scores, then Sharp gave more details on literacy strategies and how instructors are dealing with dyslexic students, using “Phonics First” and teaching reading fluency. Principal Barrett noted that literacy specialists from the education coop have worked with upper elementary students in promoting literacy and that has helped test scores when these students feed into the middle school. Lewis said math instruction has improved with the use of Chromebooks in every math classroom and said after-school homework help is being offered. Thomas commented that the school’s PRIDE assemblies have helped to motivate and reward students.
Scott Beardsley, senior vice president with First-Security, presented information on bond sales to the board. The bond was split into two parts and closing date for the second part is set for Jan. 31. Closing and transfer of funds to First National Bank of Lawrence County will take place at that time. Beardsley noted that the school district’s treasurer is responsible for district compliance. Board members voted to adopt the resolution authorizing the issuance and delivery of the $2,810,000 Gravette School District No. 20 Construction Bonds dated January 1, 2019, and other documents pertaining thereto.
Representatives from Crossland Construction were present and presented the Guaranteed Maximum Price for the Glenn Duffy Elementary, Gravette Middle School and Western Benton County Career Center projects. Board members voted to approve the GMP for all three projects. They also voted to approve the site package for the gym construction project at $789,819.
Board members voted to approve the first reading of the 2019-2020 school calendar and advance it to the certified personnel policy committee and personnel policy committee for their review.
Transportation department supervisor Richard Carver presented a bid for the purchase of two 77-passenger Type C buses in the amount of $171,600. Board members voted to accept the bid with funding for one bus coming from the transportation budget and funding for the other from student growth funds.
Board members went into executive session shortly after 9 p.m. They returned to regular session at 10:28 p.m. and voted unanimously to approve the resignation of Evelyn McGraw as food service manager at the middle school, effective Jan. 18. They also voted 6-1 to receive a letter requesting a leave of absence for April Stiglebauer but to deny the request. Jay Oliphant was opposed.
The meeting was adjourned at 10:30 p.m. The next regular meeting of the board will be held Monday, Feb. 18, at 6 p.m.