Riverside Board hears annual report to the public

Riverside School Board members heard an annual report to the public at the Monday, Oct. 5, meeting.

Superintendent Jeff Priest said the school year to date has a total enrollment of 764 students with 161 choosing to use the Riverside Online Classroom (ROC); 71 certified employees; 36 classified employees and eight bus routes.

A video presentation was shown displaying pictures of the new Riverside bus; an awning added to the West Elementary; playground pods on both east and west campuses; water filling stations; the arrangement of classrooms and cafeterias to allow for social distancing; the swivl system used for online lessons; improvements to the gymnasium and other features throughout the campuses.

Priest said the district is receiving free meals for all students, on-site and virtual, through the USDA waiver. The free meals will be provided through Dec. 31 and may be extended longer. For the students learning from home, enough food for five days is picked up on Mondays.

Parent/teacher conferences were held Sept. 17 with on-site visits by appointments or virtual meetings as chosen by the parents.

West Elementary Principal Lee Ann Harrell gave her building report with a total enrollment of 255; 12 ROC students; 19 certified teachers and four classified staff.

She expressed her appreciation for the improvements to the building and the dedication and hard work of the staff throughout the changes due to COVID19.

“Our motto is, ‘Keeping Riverside West Safe, One Day at a Time,’” Harrell said. “We were also voted the Best of Northeast Arkansas by the Jonesboro Radio Group. We were proud to receive this award.”

East Elementary Principal Steven Sanders said enrollment at East is 152 with 130 in-person and 22 ROC students; 17 certified teachers; and six classified staff.

He said the water filling stations and hand sanitizer stations are being utilized by students. They are having success with after-school tutoring.

Due to the early ending of school last year tutoring is being offered to all students in all buildings on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Sanders said they have had an average of 30 students attend.

Improvements at the gymnasium on the Caraway campus have been made and thanks to the donation by Roach Conveyors, the floor will be redone giving the gym a complete renovation.

Riverside High School Principal Matt Ziegler reported 357 students enrolled with 132 (37 percent) ROC students. Graduation rate for 2020 was 96 percent making a 95 percent average from 2013-2019. The high school has 36 certified teachers with the average experience 9.5 years with nine classified staff.

Ziegler gave the projected ACT Aspire proficiency and growth numbers. Because of school ending early last year, students did not get to take the test. Ziegler said by looking at the practice tests students did show growth. He said he is confident if students had taken the test progress would have been made.

He thanked the board for allowing the graduation ceremony in July.

“It is a day the students will remember,” Ziegler said. “We also had 21 seniors receive an Associate of Arts Degree along with their high school diploma. That is money saved for our students and parents.”

He said the staff had been preparing for the ROC classes to be offered even before the pandemic hit so they were ahead.

Ziegler also said the six new high school staff members are doing an excellent job. New teachers include Cynthia Haynes, instructional assistant; Blair McClanahan, math; Tyler Timms, coach; Ashley Ziegler, library/media specialist; Jon Adams, choir; and Christina Barrentine, math.

Priest also said the district is saving money by using their own staff to cover in the classrooms. He went on to say four years ago the district’s cost for substitute teachers was $92,000 and last year it was down to $40,000.

“This is week six and we have been able to cover with our own staff,” Priest said.

Brandi Wallace, Federal programs coordinator, gave a report on the ESSA Funds including the budget and how the funds are spent. ESSA funds totaled $236,174.

Harrell gave a report on the Gifted/Talented program for Lea Ann Tacker, coordinator/facilitator for the GT program.

“She does an excellent job,” Harrell said.

She explained how students are chosen for the G/T program. Presently, GT students include 16 in elementary; 21 in junior high; and 25 in senior high. She presented some of the first nine weeks work from each grade level.

Jason Durham, assistant high school principal and athletic director, gave a report on the district’s athletics. There are 145 of the 357 students in grades 7-12 participating in some sport offered at Riverside. There may be more when the spring sports start.

Riverside hosted the 2A-3 District Tennis match in Jonesboro with boys and girls finishing as district champions and 10 qualifying for state. Boys tennis finished first and second in district; girls finished first in doubles and second in singles. Riverside will be hosting the State Tournament Oct. 12 and 13 at Allen Park in Jonesboro.

The indoor practice facility is finished and being used.

The Cross Country team participated in two meets with 26 students on the team. Two students placed in both meets.

The golf team participated in the District Tournament two weeks ago at Big Lake Country Club in Manila.

Durham discussed the upcoming basketball season and the guidelines due to COVID19.

Due to COVID there will be no Maroon and Gray Game this year; no reserved seating; no tournaments or classics; no ticket sales at the door.

Durham said they are doing their best to ensure parents of all players will be able to attend the games their children participate in.

Due to the state regulations up to 66.7 percent capacity can attend with spacing allowing only family groups six feet apart; spectators have to be 12 feet from players; players have to be six feet apart on the bench.

Durham said players and cheerleaders will be allowed four season passes each at $35 per season ticket. The cost for cheer parents or others needing dual passes will be $65.

Approximately 80 tickets will be allowed for visiting teams. The information went out to the patrons this week. The general public may have the opportunity to purchase tickets in advance when extra seating is available.

He went on to say they are making every effort to ensure the players will have some family members present at all games. Also, all of the games in the conference will be live streamed.

On the four game nights the junior and senior girls will play the first two games; a break for sanitizing; and then the boys will play the last two games.

The boys will open on Oct. 20 at 5 p.m. hosting Ridgefield Christian. Senior girls and boys will travel to Calico Rock on Oct. 22.

The girls first home game is Oct. 23 hosting Armorel. Homecoming has been set for Jan. 22.

“I know people will be disappointed,” Priest said. “Every school is going through this. We will all take a loss this year but we will do the best we can. We did not get to have the auction/dinner or other fund-raising events that help support our teams this year.”

After the reports the board reviewed and approved the 5 percent comparison. Priest explained when teachers show a five percent increase in salary, the board has to approve it. Most of the increases are due to an added duty stipend or a degree.

The board voted unanimously to accept the low bid of Service Master for cleaning services. The company will clean classrooms in all three buildings after school hours at a cost of $6,021.03.

The staff custodians in each building, one in each elementary and two in high school, will remain working during the school days.

Board member Rob Kincade expressed his appreciation to the administration and staff for their job they are doing during this difficult time.

The board accepted the resignation letter from Beth Calaway, elementary teacher, who plans to retire on Dec. 31. She has 37 1/2 years with the Riverside School District.