Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Transfer tabled by Nevada School Board

Parents of a handicapped five-year-old child were told to come back in May to discuss a transfer from the Nevada to the Emmet school district.

John and Lisa Barham met with the Nevada School Board Thursday, April 25, asking their son be allowed to transfer to Emmet as it's closer to their home.

The child has been diagnosed as having Ashbergers Syndrome Characteristics. According to the mother, the child lacks in social skills and has problems with trust.

The child has been undergoing occupational therapy twice a week in Hope. The child has also been in an early childhood development program since September 2001.

Rick McAfee, Nevada superintendent, said he understood the parents's concerns, but the Nevada district has two special education instructors with more than 30 years each. All schools, he said, must offer both occupational and physical therapy to handicapped students.

Nevada, he said, has a contract with therapists in Magnolia, with the district transporting students there as required.

Nelwyn Almand, a member of the board, said the child is bright and special, but the board needs to consider his best interest. "We have an awesome education program here."

McAfee said there would be no problem with the program offered at Nevada, though it could put a strain on the family due to the difference in distance from their home to the Nevada school as opposed to Emmet.

"I feel we can offer a quality education to your son," he said. "There are extenuating circumstances to be considered, though."

Nevada, he said, actually has three full-time special education teachers on staff.

John Barham said they were considering placing their son in private education if necessary. "We feel strongly about being able to pick him up and getting him to therapy."

Lisa Barham told the board the therapist their son sees could likely go to the Emmet school.

Initially, she said, they will have to take their son to whatever school he goes to as he is unable to cope with many changes at a time. It has not been recommended, she continued, for him to attend school five-days-a-week.

"We have a great system in early childhood education," McAfee said. "We have after school care and extended services until 6 p.m., along with tutorial sessions before school. We try to accommodate the parents."

The district, he said, has 240 computers for student in kindergarten through the 12th grade. All students are taught how to use these machines.

Board President Don Callicott said the district's Individual Education Program (IEP) must be signed off on by the parent. IEP courses are tailored to the specific needs of students in the program.

He called for a motion on the transfer, but none was forthcoming. Callicott told the Barhams they could request being put on the agenda for the May meeting, which will be May 23 at 7 p.m.

As they were leaving, they requested to be put on the May agenda to discuss the issue further.

In other business, McAfee said the district didn't get an early literacy grant it applied for. The problem was the number of students signed up for the free and reduced lunch program.

Nevada ranked sixth on the grant list, which funded the top five schools, all having approximately 80 percent of their student body in the free and reduced lunch program.

"We had a great proposal," he said. The grant amount, had the district been awarded it, would have been $345,000.

Nevada, he said, has a unique problem  its test scores are too high, while the number of students getting free and reduced lunch is too low.

The district also had problems during the recent Benchmark Exams. It seems some of the booklets went from page 21 to page 33, then to page 1. This was due to a faulty print job.

The state, McAfee said, spent more than $3 million on these tests, and this problem could skew the district's test results because those who had the misprinted booklets could have their tests thrown out. The problem, he added, is some of the brightest students received the bad booklets.

Texas, he said, takes one such test per year, whereas students in Arkansas take three (SAT, ACSIP and Benchmark). Superintendents across the state have asked the Arkansas Department of Education to allow only one such test per year, with all students taking the same test. This, though, has not happened yet.

The board was given copies of policy changes which will be incorporated into a new policy handbook for the district.

McAfee said the policies reflect 300 changes in law made during the last legislative session. The information presented meets current laws, he added.

The district's personnel policy committee has been given the personnel section to study.

Policy changes will be addressed at the May meeting.