Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Parent Makes Accuasations Against School

Gurdon School Superintendent Bobby Smithson, Principal Jeff Alexander and the Gurdon School District have been accused by a parent of harassment and prejudicial treatment without reason.

The allegations were brought before the Gurdon School board Tuesday, March 20.

Board members sat quietly, as Norman Montgomery explained his irritation with the suspension of 10 days placed on his child by Alexander, Cabe Middle School principal.

The alleged center of this dispute is based on an incident at CMS involving a group of students and, according to Montgomery's child, "A dare to urinate on the wall of the school."

Alexander was not present at the meeting due to a spring break trip, according to Smithson.

"I believe Mr. Alexander is harassing my child," Montgomery told the board. "The policy which allows action to be taken against a student without evidence of an offense should be changed."

He said his child had been the victim of long term stereotyping as "maliciously violent," believing his child on more than one occasion had been the victim instead of the attacker. He also said another student had received a lesser suspension than did his child for an apparently similar incident.

"I'm willing to file a formal complaint if the action is necessary," stated Montgomery.

Smithson defended Alexander's decision. "There's always two sides to a story," he said.

Board member Billy Tarpley asked the student directly about his involvement in the incident. The student conveyed his innocence.

The entire matter will be opened again at the next board meeting with Alexander present to defend his decision on the suspension. The suspension has been placed on hold until then.

Stolen band instruments will be covered in the future by the school's insurance. Three stolen band instruments, valued at $1,800, taken over the December 2000 winter break will be replaced by the school district this time.

"I will recommend that in the future, all instruments owned by individuals be given to the school district for insurance purposes as we discussed at our last board meeting," Smithson said.

Mr. and Mrs. Capps of Gurdon have donated $1,800 toward the purchase of a scoreboard for the girls' softball field. The board expressed its gratitude for the Capps generous donation.

Gurdon band students will receive new band uniforms, thanks to the Horace Cabe Foundation, which has awarded $25,000 for the purchase of the new uniforms.

Construction will began again at the middle and high school complex. The decision was made by the board to accept the only construction bid under the $10,000 in funds Alexander has set aside for a pavilion. The funds were raised through the cola money earned by the school and placed in reserve by Alexander.

The placement for the pavilion will be between the fieldhouse and the football field along the fence line. Tables for the area will be built by the school later.

Smithson announced the school district's placement in the top 25 percent of schools in teacher salary. The Gurdon District was 73rd out of 310. He said this ranking was for last year and did not include the latest raises. The ranking is done by the Arkansas State Department of Education.

"It's my goal to put us in the top 50 school districts in the state," Smithson said in materials provided.

A preliminary review of the district earmarked some minor changes in policy and the policy book. For one, the policy book lacked the grading system. Other policies to be placed in the policy book are staff development, instructional time, transfer policy, extracurricular activities, and mandatory attendance. This meeting heard the first required reading.

Actions taken during the executive meeting included the rehiring of all the principals, and the board accepted the resignation of GPS school nurse Debbie Daniels.

A substitute will be hired for the remainder of the school year to take Jean Smithey's position. For the 2001-2002 school year Polly Ferguson will fill the Title One reading teacher's position.