Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Nevada Board Discusses Baseball

Baseball and the boys of summer dominated discussion at the Nevada School Board meeting Thursday, April 15.

Representatives from the Rosston Baseball Association (RBA) talked about the condition of the field and an upcoming jamboree planned to kick the little league season off.

The jamboree has been set for April 24, but could be moved to May 1, as it is supposed to rain Saturday.

Rick McAffee, superintendent of the Nevada School District, said the school needs to be notified when something is going on at the little league field.

The board was informed Rosston has nine teams this season from 7-15 years of age for boys and girls. The teams will primarily play at Prescott, with hopes being some games can be played at the Rosston field.

Prescott, the board was told, is hosting the 11-12-year-old All Star Tournament this summer, and the Rosston complex could be used to help take some of the pressure from the Prescott fields.

The board was also informed the Rural Electrical Association (REA) has donated eight 45-foot poles for new lights at the little league field. These poles will be put up as soon as possible for evening practices and night games.

Jim Cross, maintenance and transportation director at Nevada, said the big expense for the little league field will be getting the lights. There are no above-ground lines, with all electrical services to the field being buried.

Cross also told the panel and RBA reps there is a maintenance problem as the capacitors keep grounding out. This, though, can be corrected.

From there it was business as usual.

Natalie Sherwood, elementary principal, said the sixth grade class will go to Magnolia for job sharing. On this trip the students will visit different businesses and learn about the jobs done there.

Cross, in his report to the board, said the district is still two drivers short at this time. Mowing is also being done on the grounds, when it's dry enough.

He praised the maintenance staff for working to keep the building looking good while keeping costs down.

Once again, there are problems with the air conditioning system, Cross said, but this occurs every year at this time and is no big deal.

Future plans for the air conditioning system are to install computerized thermostats to better regulate the temperature throughout the building.

McAffee said the Southern Regional Education Board's review team has been going over the district's High Schools That Work program. The team spent 2.5 days at school, visiting classes, talking with students and teachers about how the plan is used.

Arkansas, McAffee said, is in the midst of developing a plan for vocational education to help those students who go straight from high school to the work force.

"We need to help students get the skills they need to fill the jobs out there," he said.

He said the review team commended the district's maintenance staff as well, as they thought the building was only three years old. The team also praised the students for how well they were behaved while going from class to class, saying it was a pleasure to visit Nevada.

Once the team's review has been returned to the district, McAffee said, teachers going to a national workshop can go to specific seminars where the district may be weak in. There will be nine teachers attending the conference this summer in Atlanta, Ga.

Graduation is rapidly approaching, the board was informed. The Class of '99 will have its commencement ceremonies Thursday, May 13, in the gymnasium.

The board also increased the district's insurance policy to cover students who get injured.

The policy will insure all students and is a secondary policy. This means a family's insurance plan would first be used should something happen to the child, with the district's policy filling in any gaps in coverage.

This, though, is not a health care policy for students, but primarily will cover accidents.

The policy was purchased from the Dwight Jones Agency of Nashville. This company, McAffee said, has a AA rating and has been the district's insurer since the district was formed.

The board approved a policy costing about $4,000 a year with no deductible.

One change was made in the proposed school calendar for the 1999-2000 academic year. The teachers will report for in-service training Aug. 16, with school starting Aug. 19.

This change was made at the request of the teachers.