Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Handbook undergors changes for 2003-2004 school year in Prescott

Changes have been made to the Prescott school handbooks.

Willie Wilson, dean of students at Prescott High School, presented the changes to the Prescott School Board in its regular monthly meeting, Tuesday, July 15.

There were no major changes in the handbook, as it was presented to the board.

However, under student publications, the principal has final editorial rights for all school publications.

Other changes include seniors being required to take seven courses, and must be on campus from 8 a.m. until 3 p.m.

The advances placement courses will be graded on a five point scale, while all regular courses are graded on the four point basis.

One of the biggest changes is radios, record players, tapes and CD players are not allowed on campus during school hours.

Another change is cell phones will not be allowed on campus during regular class time, but can be used at extracurricular activities. The first offense will net the student a warning, while the second offense will result in their parents/guardian being called to come and get the cell phone. The third offense will see the student in ISS or OSS.

Under the guidelines, parents are responsible for seeing their children are in attendance at school, and the student must be in class at least 35 minutes to be recorded as attending.

Those students who have too many unexcused absences could find themselves in trouble at the end of the school year.

Under Arkansas statutes 6-18-209 and 6-18-222 excessive unexcused absences can be used as a basis for denial of promotion or graduation.

Excessive absences, though, are not a basis for expulsion or dismissal under the law, but parents are subject to a civil liability not to exceed $500 when the student exceeds the number of allowed unexcused absences. For the Prescott district, this is nine.

Once a student exceeds this figure, the district is required to contact the prosecuting attorney.

Wilson also updated the board on summer activities.

He said the principal, teachers and counselor have attended workshops this summer, and have been particular about which workshops they went to.

With the summer course recovery program, a one-time program to allow students to "recover" lower math scores, all but four have successfully completed it, and those four are working to get done by utilizing the PLATO program.

Because of this, he said, all seniors are on schedule to graduate at this time.

The summer recovery program was done to help students who had problems making the adjustment from block scheduling to the seven-period day.

David Maxwell, Prescott athletic director, said construction should soon be underway at Prescott High School.

Bids for the baseball stadium should be open Tuesday, July 29, with work possibly beginning in early August.

He said there are Babe Ruth teams playing at this time, but work on the baseball fields can be done during the school year with no problem.

Bids for the softball field dirt work have been advertised and will also be opened July 29.

"We need to get this done and have grass planted before the October rains set in," he said, "or we could be in a bind."

July 29 will also be the date bids are opened for work on the gymnasium floor. The job, he said, should be finished by Aug. 18.

The stadium fencing job has been advertised, with bids received on the cost of removing sections of the old fence containing vegetation.

Maxwell said the existing fence won't be torn down until the district is sure it would be replaced before the start of football season on Sept. 5.

Bids for resurfacing the PHS track could be advertised at any time. Maxwell said the district is looking at a time line to get work on the track finished by the time football season starts.

There will be some major changes in the fall schedule, he said. This is because golf and tennis will be played in the fall this year, instead of being a spring sport, as they have been in the past. The season for both begins Aug. 20.

Sales for season tickets have begun, he said, with prices remaining the same they were last year.

Maxwell also informed the board on the Southwest Arkansas Football Camp. He said more than 100 players attended, with more than 40 from Prescott.

The second annual Midnight Madness for the Curley Wolf football team has been scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday, Aug. 13-14. What this means is the gates will be open before midnight Aug. 13, with the practice lasting until after midnight.

Last year more than 300 fans attended the Midnight Madness practice.

A maroon-white game will be scheduled for the third week in August. Admission for this contest will be towels or blank video tape for the athletic department to use.

The tapes, Maxwell said, are sent to colleges for the players as recruiting tools.

The Wolves have been tabbed to win the 7AAA conference this year, and are picked second in the state by a statewide publication.

"I think the players will rise up and fight for the ranking," he said. "We'll know more in August with Midnight Madness and the Maroon-White game."

Steve Crow, director of the Prescott Parks and Recreation Department had a resolution approved to apply for a 50-50 matching grant to purchase playground equipment for the sports complex.

This, he said, will give children something to do while their parents are watching baseball games. In addition, Crow added, there are two neighborhoods in the area and these children would also benefit from the playground equipment.

The school, he continued, would have no financial obligation where the complex is concerned, as the district provided the land for the city to maintain the complex. Should the city fail to keep the complex up, it will revert to the district.