Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Wright Updates School Board On Gym's Progress

Prescott School superintendent Ron Wright told the board last week the district had to redeem a certificate of deposit for $400,000 from the bond issue to make payments on construction of the new gym.

The building will be coming in soon, he said, and must be paid for. Crews are ready to pour concrete for the foundation and get the roughed in plumbing in place.

Recent weather problems have resulted in delays on construction.

Wright said the district will operate on the $400,000 as long as possible before cashing in the other CD, to accrue as much interest as possible.

The board also approved bids for the ceramic tile and masonry work to be done.

Kings Tile of North Little Rock was the low bidder on the tile work at $25,000, while Wallace-Hall Masonry of Malvern had the low bid for masonry block and brick at $127,000.

The last bids needed will be for the flooring and painting. These will be let as soon as the other work has been completed.

Other construction news given to the board concerned more roof repairs.

The December ice storm damaged the roof on the administration building; the storm also popped gaskets in roofs on metal buildings at MMS and PES. Additionally, the roof on the current gym is now worse and has several leaks.

Wright said he had hoped to make it another year before having to re-roof the gym, but it won't be possible.

Three bids were turned in, with Hostetler Roofing the low bidder at $29,979 for the old gym. This roof, probably the original one, is retaining water, causing damage on a regular basis.

The district received a check for $43,000 from its insurance company, because of the damage from the ice storm to the administration building.

In addition to getting the roof repaired, carpet will have to be replaced in several rooms.

McLelland Construction is replacing tiles in the ceiling.

The impact lab at MMS has had to get its roof literally screwed back on. It is a metal building, with the roofing panels screwed on. The ice storm popped the rubber gaskets, resulting in leaks.

Wright said this work has been done, costing the district about $400.

However, similar roofing work needs to be done at the primary school, but it will have to wait until school is out.

Along with replacing the screws and rubber gaskets, the ceiling will have to be primed and painted.

Wright said as much roofing work as possible will be done during spring break, with invoices to be sent to the insurance company.

The district will also be building a new greenhouse for its agriculture program.

Agri instructor James Cannon suggested the district go with Stuppy Greenhouse Manufacturing, even though the initial cost appeared to be more than the bid by Hummert International. However, the Stuppy bid actually included more than the Hummert bid.

The greenhouse will be 30 feet wide by 60 feet long and 10 feet high covered with Lexan 8-mm thick. The Lexan covering, Cannon said, will hold heat in better. It should last 15 to 30 years, depending on how its cared for, he told the board.

He said the Hummert bid called for the district to use wood for its building, while the Stuppy bid has no wood in it at all.

Additionally, he said, the doors bid by Hummert were smaller than those of Stuppy, and engineering plans would have cost $400 from Hummert, while being provided by Stuppy.

Hummert's bid also didn't include a water control system while Stuppy's did.

The district, though, will have to gravel the inside of the building and install utilities.

According to Cannon, the greenhouse will be built near the maintenance building.

In discussing the legislative update, Wright said Gov. Mike Huckabee still plans to give teachers a pay raise this year with the district's being required to pick up a portion.

Huckabee's idea, he said, is to give teachers $1,000 this year and $2,000 next year if the state can find the money.

"I'd rather give $1,500 this year and $1,500 next year," Wright said. "I'm tired of losing good teachers to other districts."The Prescott District, he said, has been lagging behind in beginning base salaries, the starting salary being $21,860 for those with a bachelor's degree and no experience.

By giving a $1,500 raise this year and next, he said, it will put the district on better footing for getting and keeping teachers, while meeting the letter of the law.

However, before any raises are given, the district is waiting to see what the governor and the General Assembly will do, as nothing has been etched in stone yet.

The board approved a school calendar for the 2001-2002 academic year.

The calendar was presented by members of the Personnel Policy Committee, with the explanation as why there will be fewer days off for students in the fall, and more in the spring semester.

There will be no days off between Labor Day and Thanksgiving. This includes no Friday off for the first day of deer season. In fact, there will be no Fridays off during the fall, as they interfered with football season last year.

Christmas vacation will run from Dec. 21 through Jan. 7, with semester tests to be given before the holiday break. Finals are scheduled for Dec. 19 and 20, with classes over at 1:30 p.m. Dec. 21.

A mid-winter break has been scheduled for February19-22, but this could be used for snow days in the event next winter was as bad as this winter.

Spring break will be March 25-29, with graduation slated for May 17 and school to be out May 31 for all other students.

The calendar calls for more days in the spring semester than in the fall, but still has a total of 178 student days.

The PPC recommended the district allow teachers to attend AEA conferences and provide substitutes for them.

The final order of business was a discussion on drug testing for those in extracurricular activities governed by the Arkansas Athletic Association (AAA).

This would affect students in all sports, along with band and Quiz Bowl. The district is looking at adopting a policy similar to the one Harrison has.

Harrison's policy calls for testing 10 percent of each athletic team during the year, with the head coach randomly selecting who will be tested.

The students being tested would be required to take a urine test, but would first have to remove a coat or jacket, and empty their pockets. This is done to prevent a substitute sample from being smuggled in.

No fewer than three students from one group can be tested unless there are fewer than three in the group.

Those who refuse to take the test will be suspended from participating in athletics until a test has been taken.

Under Harrison's policy the student and parents will be notified if a test is positive.

The head coach will then talk to the parent and counsel the student, with the student being on probation for 20 days. On day 21 the student will be tested again at their expense, providing a written copy of the results to the head coach.

Should the student again test positive they will not be allowed to participate in sports for the rest of the year, but may be required to practice or go through off-season workouts at the head coach's discretion.

The test results, though, will not be given to any law enforcement agency.

Prescott High School principal Steve Britton favors such a policy. He said the current policy leans more toward the pusher and are harsh.

The Harrison policy, adapted from one created by Cave City, he said, is more reasonable and leans more toward counseling the students.