Gravette School Board hears from FFA members, approves trip to convention
GRAVETTE — Ashlyn Fox and Clayton Nall, representing the Gravette Future Farmers of America chapter, led the pledge of allegiance to open the September 19 meeting of the Gravette School Board. Ashlyn is president and Clayton is vicepresident of the local FFA. They, along with three of their fellow chapter members and sponsor Justin Malott, addressed the board about their desire to attend the FFA national convention in Louisville, Ky.
Both Fox and Nall expressed a desire to get more students involved and see new members come into FFA. Autumn Fisher, secretary of the chapter, and Kassi Bird, chapter historian, hope to see the chapter judging teams do well. They said they feel there is a good possibility the poultry judging team will place in the top 10 this year. Agriculture teacher Malott, the chapter
sponsor, said the Gravette FFA chapter now has 52 paid members, about half the students in his agriculture classes. They have several upcoming projects planned, including helping build a handicap ramp at the pavilion in Old Town Park.
After the FFA members’ presentation, board members voted unanimously to approve their request to attend the national convention and take two district vehicles outside the allowable 400-mile radius, if two vehicles are available at the time. Board member Brad Harris reminded the students that they would be representing Gravette High School and he hoped they would remember that and conduct themselves accordingly.
“Remember that your name on the front of your jacket may be in small letters,” he said, “but the Gravette name on the back is in big letters.”
Members voted to approve the consent agenda, which included approving the minutes of the August board meeting and August work session, approval of the annual financial report and the 2022-2023 operating budget, approval of the special education budget, authorizing the superintendent to sign the Federal Program Assurances, approving recommended expulsions and approving a board to board transfer.
Business manager Dennis Kurczek gave the monthly financial report and the ESSER/ARP financial report. He reported there were unusually high expenses, due largely to the $1.76 million spent for the new turf at Lion Field, baseball and softball complexes.
Assistant superintendent Becky Sears gave the curriculum and instruction report, including the annual report to the public and the safety report. In response to a question about who was on the safety committee, she reported it included herself, school resource officers, a safety liaison from each building and sometimes police chief Chuck Skaggs.
Daniel Rice, technology director, reported on the school safety cameras. He said his ability was good to determine which cameras were operating and which were not functional but that he did not repair nonfunctioning cameras. They are serviced by someone else.
Kelly Hankins gave the student success report and announced that there would soon be a graduation ceremony for an ALE student who was not able to graduate with the rest of the students. The student had dropped out but recently returned to the program and has completed all requirements for graduation.
Athletic director Norman Mitchell gave a report on the athletic budget and answered questions from board members. He said there was not much change from last year but reported that, when he became athletic director 18 years ago, the athletic budget was $9,000 and today it is $74,000. He said about 35% of the money goes for equipment because the equipment is now reconditioned every two years to ensure safety.
Transportation director Richard Carver discussed the proposed extension of the driveway at Glenn Duffy Elementary School. He reported that estimates showed the cost would likely be between $150,000 and $175,000 and he plans to seek another bid. He said the project will involve taking out about 12 inches of dirt and then adding asphalt. He said the whole parking lot at Glenn Duffy is in bad shape and needs to be paved.
The 2021-2022 annual report for Ozark Guidance Center was submitted. Ozark Guidance Center provides some mental health services for Gravette schools.
Superintendent Maribel Childress submitted attendance, enrollment and employment reports. She said enrollment is up 7%, with current enrollment showing an increase of 142 students over enrollment on the last day of school last year.
In action items, board members voted to open a first/second-grade split classroom before the October 1 deadline. Board member Chris Flynt said he feels a split classroom is not ideal but recognizes it is needed. First grade is now five students over the class size limit and second grade is two students over.
Board members also voted to approve adding a special education paraprofessional position at Glenn Duffy Elementary School. It was reported that there are 59 new SpEd students in K-12 this year. Another paraprofessional is needed to be in compliance.
Also approved was adding an ALE paraprofessional position at Gravette Upper Elementary School. Adding an aide will allow 12 students to enroll in the program. Without the aide, only 10 can enroll.
In other action, the board voted to accept the Superintendent’s Evaluation Instrument as written/amended for the 2022-2023 school year and to allow Superintendent Childress to apply for 10 additional ABC PreK slots for the upcoming school year.
Board members voted to support Gravette High School and Gravette Middle School in their attempt to be designated a Tobacco-Free Campus school district. Superintendent Childress explained that both campuses are already tobaccofree, but they are just not officially designated as such.
The first reading of the cigarette, vaping devices policy was accepted and board members voted to change the wording to say that repeated offenses “will” result in expulsion rather than “may” result in expulsion. Since this was the first reading of the policy, it will be voted on at the October meeting.
Board members voted to hire Scott Minyard as a special education bus aide, RitaClaire Jones Runsick as a senior cheer sponsor and Thomas Carreira as an eSports coach for Gravette High School.