Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

No Uniforms For Now At Gurdon; AAA Receives Complaint

Students in the Gurdon school system will not be wearing uniforms any time soon.

Becky Jester, a member of the uniform committee, said a recent meeting of the group, including students and parents, saw a unanimous agreement reached against requiring school uniforms.

The 19 at the meeting, she told the Gurdon School Board at its regular monthly meeting Tuesday, March 28, they examined the information they had and questioned the need for uniforms.

All 19 agreed there was no reason for students to wear uniforms to school in Gurdon.

Jester said some districts have implemented uniforms on a staggered basis, first going from K-5, then grades 6-9, and finally adding 10-12. No district in the state, she added, has gone with a k-12 uniform policy.

It was said uniforms have their place in larger districts where teachers may not know their students, but in a small district like Gurdon it isn't needed.

Superintendent Bobby Smithson recommended the board follow the committee's suggestion, with the panel agreeing.

Smithson brought up the issue of the old Gurdon High School buildings to the board.

The district had sought bids to sell the structures and received two. One backed out with Mike McKenzie, owner of M&M Enterprises, bidding $25,000.

Smithson said he had countered this offer with one of $40,000 and has heard nothing back.

McKenzie, he said, has stated the old GHS would be renovated and used in his manufacturing business.

The buildings, Smithson told the board, won't last more than four or five years if nothing is done with them.

Should the district keep the buildings, he said, fences would have to be put up to keep people off the property. Guards would also have to be hired to prevent break ins and vandalism.

Stan Escalante, a member of the board, said he'd talked with McKenzie, who said he couldn't justify spending more than $25,000 for the property because he would have to put about $250,000 into it with renovations.

McKenzie, Escalante said, has been looking at possibly buying the old Wal-Mart building in Malvern and possibly moving his entire operation there if a suitable facility can't be located locally.

The problem McKenzie is currently having is the inability to expand, Escalante said. Where the company is currently located on Highway 53 has no room for expansion.

Smithson said if the building is sold at this price people in the district would be upset and the board will hear complaints.

"I'd like whoever gets it to put it to good use," he said. "It would be a shame to have to knock it down."

The board agreed to reconsider McKenzie's offer at the April meeting and check into the city's ordinances on having large trucks in this area of town.

In April, Smithson said, McKenzie can be at the board and explain his plans.

"The best thing for Gurdon would be if this created some jobs," Smithson said.

He informed the board complaints had been lodged with the Arkansas Activities Association about how Gurdon handled the 7AA Regional Basketball Tournament.

Smithson said a lot of it was "sour grapes" because Caddo Hills and Centerpoint don't want the tourney to be held in this part of the region.

Most of the allegations are not true, he said and come from one disgruntled coach and school who wrote to the AAA.

The game in question, Smithson said, was between Gurdon's and Caddo Hills's senior girls. The game went into overtime and Gurdon pulled out the win.

The letter from Caddo Hills Principal Ralph Bishop claims derogatory remarks were made toward their players by Gurdon fans, who used vulgar language as well.

He claimed the players, fans and parents feared for their safety after the game ended and stated there wasn't enough security on hand.

Bishop also wrote no members of the Gurdon administration were present at the game.

He also claimed Gurdon senior boys coach John Ware may have been "an active part of the problem and not the solution."

Bishop asked the AAA's executive committee closely evaluate giving regional or state tourney bids to Gurdon again as long as the current personnel and practices are in place; to establish rules requiring fans be immediately removed for the aforementioned type of behavior; and consider training law enforcement personnel on accepted fan behavior.

Smithson responded for the district refuting Bishop's claims.

He informed the AAA there were three uniformed policemen at each game during the tourney and members of the administration were present as well.

When an officer was called to the Caddo Hills side, Smithson wrote, he directed five or six Gurdon students back to their own side of the gym.

According to Smithson, the Caddo Hills fans, parents or players were in no danger during or after the game.

However, three adults were removed from the stands by officers after the alleged remarks were made. These three were not allowed to buy tickets for the rest of the tourney.Smithson admitted the Gurdon students were wrong in going over to the Caddo Hills side and corrective action was taken the next morning.

The district, Smithson wrote to the AAA, spent almost $1,000 providing security for the tournament.

Smithson told the board Gurdon would continue bidding on the regional and state tournaments in years to come.

He said Gurdon was hurt by the allegations made and it could be difficult to get these events back.

But, videotape copies of the game have been sent to the AAA for its review.

"They took a cheap shot at us," he said of Caddo Hills, "and claimed this is common occurrence at Gurdon. It's not true. Most of the schools complimented how we handled the tournament."

The topic of students in the Gurdon district attending school in Delight was addressed again.

"I don't like the idea of Delight buses coming into our district to pick up students," Smithson said.

However, he said this is a complex situation with most of it occurring after he left as superintendent in 1987.

At the time a county board of education existed. Its job was to handle consolidations.

Smithson said he has not been able to find a signed copy of the agreement allowing students to choose whether they wanted to attend Gurdon or Delight schools.

The Delight district has been asked for a list of students being picked up in the Okolona area, but has yet to respond.

Smithson told the board the agreement was made 12 years ago and is now into a second generation of students. "You can't transfer a child not born," he said of the situation.

Delight, he said, was under the impression it would also get property along with students at the time Okolona consolidated, but land can't be transferred from one district to another.

"I want to know how many children are being transferred," he said. "If it's being done illegally I have a problem with it. We have to protect our own and they're going to fight us."

When the consolidation occurred, he said, Gurdon's enrollment went down, though the district did pick up five employees including the superintendent, a principal and coach, the highest paid people on the payroll.

"I just want the children in our district where they belong," he said. "We'll be patient and find out how many they're picking up. It's unfortunate. I want to be friends, but we need to be objective about it. I don't think Delight is playing by the rules and I want them to do what's right."

Smithson said construction in the district has been a long hard struggle but is almost over.

Most comments made at the recent open house at Gurdon Primary School were positive, he told the board.

One of the final pieces to the construction puzzle, though, will be the building of Gurdon's first track.

Statewide Construction of Hot Springs submitted a bid of $84,000 a few months ago, but has since raised it to $86,000 because of the increased cost of oil and gasoline.

The district, he said, has $90,000 in the budget for construction purposes with this money not yet earmarked for the 2000-2001 school year. It could be used to build the track.

Getting the track built hasn't happened as fast as the district wanted, he said, but this is because other things were more important  such as renovating GPS.

Before making a final decision on hiring Statewide Construction to do the job, members of the board will visit Hot Springs Lakeside and examine a track built by the company.