Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Emmet examines charter school possibility

Emmet's school cafeteria was full of people from the community to come out to hear about the possibility of Emmet becoming a charter school.

That subject was not the only of the meeting though. The school's annual report to the public and the monthly school board meeting were held as well.

Elementary school Principal Floyd Pollock gave the pre-kindergarten through sixth grade report first. "Your child is our primary concern," said Pollock.

He then introduced the elementary faculty and announced the elementary school has 165 students this year. One of the major achievements of the school is adding a band program for fifth and sixth graders. They also started a parent center.

"We need you parents. We need you involved," said Pollock.

One of the goals for this school year is to raise the literacy and math scores on the benchmark exams. The student recognition program is still in place to honor students with good grades.

Also a new anti-bullying act has been added to the elementary handbook. This comes from Act 681 passed by the state legislature in its regular session.

Next, high school Principal Frank Henson gave his annual report. He told the crowd that the high school has 128 students this year.

EHS is now offering an advanced placement history class through Virtual High School, a program over the Internet that allows students to earn high school and college credit.

The school has also added a first year French class and a third year Spanish class through a program with the Arkansas Math and Science school.

Henson also announced math scores are up this year and 40 percent of geometry students were proficient in the subject. He added the student recognition program is still in place for the high school and the Eagles Club was started for those who wanted to donate to programs like student recognition.

Superintendent Gene Ross then took the floor to give his annual report.

His main goals for students this year was to improve scores on benchmark exams and the ACT. He also wants students to be proficient and on their grade level in reading and math.

Some of his improvement that he wants to make in the coming year is to improve the band program, complete the school's tornado shelter, expand advanced placement classes and upgrade the school buses. He said that he is proud of the school's 1:10 student teacher ratio and the fact the district is debt free.

He informed the public that Emmet schools are meeting all government standards and are above schools like Little Rock and Pine Bluff in their efficiency rating. He also added that Emmet is not in the top 40 schools facing consolidation.

Ross then began the hearing to talk about charter schools. He gave some background information first. According to Ross there are not many Charter schools in Arkansas because it is a relatively new program in the state. A charter has to be granted by the State Department of Education and is a grant for three years. The grant provides $450,000 plus the funding of a regular school.

Ross said that with the extra money they would strive to have a laptop computer for every student.

Emmet would be a conversion charter school. This means the district would only use students from the district. Emmet would be the first school to get a charter for the entire district if it is granted one. Many standards would not apply to the school if a charter was granted, such as grading scales and school dates.

However, Ross said he thought things would stay the same.

"It may be a shot in the dark," said Ross. "The grades have to be made. Ultimately it comes back to the kids."

The school board then took a 10-minute break and came back for its regular monthly meeting.

It approved minutes from the August meeting, then took comments from the public. The junior high cheerleaders showed the board the awards they won at a recent camp. Some of them even won the chance to be in the Macey's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

The board approved the purchasing of 18 instruments for the band. It also approved a bid to repair a walkway and all field trips and fund raisers scheduled for the month.