Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Emmet School District's Enrollment Up

All things considered, the Emmet School District compares favorably to other districts.

According to the Annual Statistical Report, presented to the Emmet School Board Monday, Feb. 7, the district has come up on average daily membership from 308th last year to 288th out of 311 districts in the state.

Because of the district's size, 31 square miles, it appears as though Emmet is getting the short end of the stick, but this isn't the case. Finances for school districts are based on coverage area and student population.

The Prescott district, for example, has 282 square miles in which students live, with the Nevada district having 306 square miles.

On student population, Emmet, according to the 1997-98 report, had 260 students, while Prescott had 1,123 and Nevada had 611.

However, both of these districts experienced declines in their student count, while Emmet reported a substantial growth percentage-wise.

Prescott was down 2 percent and Nevada had a 9 percent drop while Emmet grew by 52 percent.

Emmet's assessed valuation is also considerably less than the other districts in the county, but, again, this is because of its coverage area and the value of the property therein.

Emmet's assessed valuation is $5,066,894 annually, while Prescott's is $38,540,081 and Nevada is assessed at $25,773,586.

One of the major differences is in the debt service of the three districts. Emmet, with 26.7 mills, has 3 dedicated to capital outlay with none for debt service.

Nevada, with 34.8 mills, has 25.8 dedicated to debt service, while Prescott, 28.1 mill, has 11.7 to pay off its debts.

Emmet also owes quite a bit less than the other two. The district's debt is $242,029.

Prescott is in debt $1,935,966, while Nevada owes, $1,082,000.

Because of the difference in the amount owed by each district, their borrowing power differs as well.

Emmet can borrow up to $1,126,032, while Prescott can take loans out in the amount of $5,022,902 and Nevada can borrow up to $9,323,822.

According to the two principals, Emmet's student population as of Feb. 7, was 299. Of this, 183 are in the primary school, with the remaining 116 being high school students.

Floyd Pollock, elementary principal, said his side gained three students in January.

He and Frank Henson, high school principal, said the teachers voted to extend the school year by three days to make up for the time lost because of the recent snowstorm.

This was done to keep from taking away days the district had scheduled in to be off already.

Now, the district's school year will end May 31 instead of May 25 as originally scheduled.

Emmet will again host the Nevada County Spelling Bee, taking on students from the Prescott and Nevada districts. This will be held Feb. 20 for students in grades 4-8.

A field trip for elementary students were approved. Second graders will head to Hot Springs for a visit to the Mid America Museum. Pollock said this trip had helped students on the environmental part of the SAT-9 tests.

Students, he said, are currently working on a fund raising project for the Leukemia Foundation. The winning class will get a pizza party. This is part of the student council's service project.

Henson, in his part, said teachers are working to bring test scores up, especially in English and Math. One day per week students are taught basic skills in these subjects.

More emphasis, he said, is being placed on reading and writing in all other areas.

The junior and senior girls basketball teams will be making a trip to Arkadelphia Feb. 26, to see Henderson State University take on the Riderettes of Southern Arkansas University.

Dr. Gene Ross, Emmet superintendent, in his report, told the board there were four applications for substitute teacher positions filed. This, he said, is good to have because it is never known when subs will be needed.

However, he added, at this time these substitutes aren't needed. The board approved putting three in the files, while doing some checking on the fourth as no one knew much about the applicant.

Dr. Ross said the state made a mistake in grading the benchmark tests the district took recently.

This prevented the district from getting the results in a more timely manner. However, students in the eighth grade scored 181 on the reading, which is above the state and region average.

This group also did well in math, 148, and this, too, is above average for the region and state.

Fourth graders scored 188 in math and 198 in literacy for a showing well above the norm.

Dr. Ross said $48,000 of the $56,000 Impact technical grant has been spent. The money was used to put two computers in each elementary classroom and get them networked together.

The board approved a seven-member panel of parents to be on the school uniform committee.

The state is requiring all districts to examine the issue of school uniforms and make a decision before the September school elections.

Those districts not reaching a decision will have the authority to make one taken away as the measure will be put to a vote of the public.

Dr. Ross said the board needs to make a decision before school resumes this August so parents can make clothing purchases accordingly for their children.

Those on the committee will be provided copies of the school uniform law as well as other pertinent information on the issue.

It will be up to the committee to make a recommendation to the board, and the board must decide to accept or reject the panel's findings.

If rejected, 5 percent of the voters can petition and have the measure placed on the ballot for the Sept. election.