The September Blytheville School Board meeting was held Monday, live on YouTube. Board president Erin Carrington opened the meeting.
Kris Williams, director of technology, and Sally Cooke, director of curriculum, gave reports to the public.
Williams said all of the Blytheville District Schools were accredited by the Arkansas Department of Education for 2019-2020 school year.
Sally Cooke highlighted the Professional Teacher Development progress including the Science of Reading required by all teachers.
This year’s enrollment numbers for K-12 included 1,737 (face-to-face, 967; virtual, 751). Williams said the number of students who did not show up was 19. Two weeks ago the district had 98 students who did not show up for face-to-face or virtual classes.
Superintendent Bobby Ashley said staff had gone door to door making contact with parents and the students who did not show reducing the number to 19. He said they will continue to reach out to those 19 students.
Board member Michelle Sims commended the staff for going out and finding the no-show students.
“Great work to all of the staff who went out looking for those students,”” she said. “Great job.”
Williams said it is not just a Blytheville problem, schools across the state are having the same problem.
Williams reported the licensed staff at 164.33 FTE with 51.93 percent (85.33) with Bachelor’s Degree; 42.59 percent (70) with Master’s Degree; 5.48 (9) with Advanced Degree; 19.47 percent (32) with License Waivers; Classified Staff 127.67 FTE for a total staff of 292 employees.
Williams then gave a report on federal funding. Title 1 funding is at $1,575,549 and he explained what it pays for; Title II-1 for $160,505; Title IV, $1,112,274; Title V, $37,810; Title VI-B, $609,619 (Special education) and CARES Act, $1,178,018.
Other budget reports included ESA, ELL, ALE, PD223 and State Foundation Funding.
The District ended last year with $1.8 million. A discussion was held on the number of students teachers can work with virtually. Cooke said principals and teachers are working to equal/balance the load for the teachers.
Board members also discussed the cut off date for students returning to school for face-to-face classes.
The deadline has passed but Cooke said if there is a student not being successful in the virtual situation the parents/teachers can work together to bring that student back to school.
Some students do well in the virtual classes but others do not.
There was a date but exceptions will be made to ensure what is best for the student.
Board member Carloney Lewis asked about the large numbers in kindergarten.
Elementary Principal Jana Wilson reported an additional kindergarten teacher had been hired last week which has helped lower the numbers.
One of the virtual teachers volunteered to come back to face-to-face and the other virtual teacher will take the 34 virtual students.
Wilson said all of the petitions have been placed on the desk and on the tables.
Superintendent Ashley gave an update on the gym construction reporting the project, both track and arena, are all but finished. He plans to have a grand opening in October.
The students are using the new arena. Financially, Ashley said he is hoping the money will equal up but everything was not exact.
“We may have to dive into the second lien bond funds to finish it up but that will be fine,” he said. “We have done some things out of the second lien bond. We will pay the remainder of the track balance and asphalt paving at the elementary.”
Danielle Dodd, project coordinator with Baldwin and Shell, joined the meeting giving a report on the Chickasawba gym/track project which is complete. She added Baldwin and Shell will be available if any issues should arise.
Ashley gave a Covid-19 update reporting Blytheville District cases are down.
“We are doing everything possible on our end to prevent a spread,” Ashley said.
Lewis asked about placing no touch faucets in the gym to prevent spreading germs.
Ashley said the school is in the process of replacing drinking faucets with water bottle filling stations, but went on to say the touchless faucets are very expensive.
He did say he would check into pricing.
Cooke gave an update on the Family and Community Plan saying the plan had to be changed due to Covid. The district is working on involving parents and engaging the family. The PTO meetings will be virtual and will be doing a lot more on Facebook.
She said they can’t bring parents on campus but they will coordinate with them and share what works and coordinate with the families. The plan was completed and when approved by the board will be submitted to the state.
Jean Cole, director of Support Services, gave an update on the number of students being serviced face to face and virtual saying they are working with parents to help the children at home.
Brandon Harper, director of operations/security, gave a report saying he will be meeting with a civil engineer to consult about the parking lot renovations this week to get ready for the bids. He said the child nutrition program is serving 650 meals per day. The District has 17 bus routes with two special services transporting 275 to 276 students per day.
“We have had no accidents or damages to date,” he said. “Social distance is in place and masks are required on the buses.”
He went on to say gates will be replaced at the track field to prevent motorcycles or ATVs on the track and they are looking into a second security camera with more zoom capabilities.
Board member Barbara Wells commented she was not at the board meeting but had a concern about an underage student’s name mentioned and appeared in the NEA Town Courier and read a portion of the article.
Superintendent Ashley and board members said the student’s name was not mentioned at the meeting, The newspaper report added the name on its own.
The board voted unanimously to accept the minutes from Aug. 24, Aug. 31 and Sept. 21; moving the next board meeting back to Oct. 26; accepting the Financial Report, ACT 1120 - 5 percent Salary Rule; Budget for 2020-2021; Title VI-B Budget; Thomas,Speight and Noble, 2019 Audit; and the Family and Community Engagement Plan.
The Sept. 14 work session meeting, reviewing policies/region 7 meeting, Part 1 passed with Billy Fair and Barbara Wells voting no.
The board then approved the personnel recommendations including appointments, certified employees, classified employees, and a voluntary resignation.