Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Maintenance, in-service top Nevada's summer

Summer means maintenance at Nevada School.

Jim Cross, maintenance and transportation director, told the Nevada School Board, at its July meeting, the floors have been stripped and are having a new coat of wax applied. But, he said, it's been difficult getting the old wax up in the main hallway.

The counselor's office has also been remodeled over the summer, and the district is working to get help from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for damages playground equipment sustained during the June storms.

Cross said if the district receives FEMA assistance, the money would be used to replace coverings and remove trees. FEMA would pay 75 percent, with the state picking up 12.5 percent of the cost, leaving the district to pay the remaining 12.5 percent.

Nevada Superintendent Rick McAfee said the gymnasium floor has been sanded down to its natural state and will be refinished with a new logo and stripes painted on it. The floor was damaged when rains blew in through the vent fans, leaving a couple of inches of water on the floor.

The insurance, he said, has paid more than $10,000 from the storm damage. The district's deductible is $500.

During the summer, he continued, teachers have been busy working to get their in-service hours in. New laws require all teachers to have 60 in-service hours per year. Nevada instructors, McAfee said, have been attending workshops in Malvern, Hope, De Queen and Hot Springs. "It's been a busy summer for in-service."

In the past, he said, teachers had time to recuperate during the summer, but under the new regulations this is no longer possible. "I've heard it (in-service hours) could be more next year."

According to McAfee, if the district can increase the number of students on the free and reduced lunch program more in-service programs could be done at Nevada. District patrons, he said, will be mailed applications to the free and reduced lunch program, and be notified several times before the October 1 deadline. He said there could be popcorn parties for classes reaching 100 percent participation.

Back on the topic of in-service hours, he said they could be raised from six a year to 12 for school board members.

The facilities team is expected to be at Nevada before the end of July. It was supposed to have arrived and done its study in June, but didn't. McAfee said all major renovations may be done by the state, with everything else being considered a local expense and up to the taxpayers to foot the bill. The roof at Nevada, he added, cost $250,000 to replace and it's been there for 17 years.

The Legislature, he said, will make a determination for schools, which must be complied with. "If they say all schools have to have pitched roofs, McAfee said, "the state will tell us what it will cost. But, we'll have to wait and see what happens in with the Legislature in January."

He reminded the board the Arkansas School Board Association meets in December and members of the General Assembly will be there. He urged the board members to attend and find out what the Legislators are thinking about for the session.

Fiscally, he said, the district ended its year on a positive note. Last year there was $58,000 in the operating budget at the end of school, but this increased to $180,000, and with the federal program carryover, the total amount was $269,000. "We've made several cuts in the last two years that have paid off. We're back in line financially and are trying to be solvent for the public so we don't have to raise taxes."

McAfee lauded the teaching efforts of Glyndon Franklin. Franklin's students, he said, scored 30 points higher on their end of course exams in Geometry than the state average. What makes this more remarkable is the students weren't allowed to use calculators while taking the test, because Franklin didn't know they could.

The board passed a budget for the 2005-2006 school year, as required by law, but that means little. The budget for transportation was increased by $30,000 to cover the possible hikes in fuel prices. Though all school districts in the state are required pass such budgets in advance, they are not held accountable for them during the actual school years in question.

Two years ago, McAfee said, the superintendent's salary was frozen. However, under the new salary schedule it was automatically increased by the state. He asked the board to maintain the superintendent's salary at the rate it was two years ago. The board did.

He said there is a new state standard for minimum wage. Because of this, the district will go through all salaries of non-certified personnel to make sure they're in-line with the new regulations and report to the board in August.

In discussing personnel, the board agreed to reassign Sandra Browning to the post of elementary counselor and half-time federal program administrator. With some of the funds from the free and reduced lunch program, the board hired Andre Toney as half-time math coach and half-time assistant high school principal. Tiffany Beasley was hired as half-time literacy coach and half-time elementary principal.

The board moved the next meeting to August 26 as the regular meeting day of the 19th is Open House for the district for the new year.