Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Biley taking over as Gurdon basketball coach

Lights at the Gurdon baseball field, student insurance and employment of additional teachers were among the topics discussed by members of the Gurdon School Board during the July meeting.

After an executive session, the board approved the employment of Brian Biley of Magnolia as a basketball coach, Brittany Matthews of Bismarck as speech therapist, Lori Capps as a social studies teacher at Cabe Middle School and Christie Lewis as middle school special education teacher.

Gurdon Superintendent Bobby Smithson said work on the baseball field is going well. The project includes six light poles with 10 lights per pole. He said the bleachers are also being installed and the work should be done in plenty of time for the season. There was discussion about a press box, but that part of the project has been put off.

On the subject of student insurance, Smithson told the board that the low bidder was not the same company the school has used for insurance in the past.

Three bids were submitted, according to Smithson. Benchmark Insurance of Beebe submitted the "compulsory insurance for all students and athletes, including band and cheerleaders" for one year, $25,000 maximum benefit with a zero deductible at an annual cost of $5,300.

Student Insurance of Dallas offered a bid of $5,950 and Dwight Jones Agency of Nashville bid $7,089.

"We've never done business with this company before, but I'm going to recommend we take it," Smithson said.

Smithson said the insurance is only meant as a supplement to the family's insurance

On the subject of the school's financial condition, Smithson said he hopes to have a budget ready for board consideration by the August meeting.

The payment of extracurricular funds has been a topic of discussion for several months. Smithson said several of those funds were in arrears at the end of the year.

"All funds have now been paid out of debt," Smithson said last week. "I think we had a good year financially. We're all right."

Smithson said he expects the budget for the coming year to increase over the 2003-2004 budget. State mandates call for salary increases for teachers and Smithson said teachers can expect an increase of $1,200 to $5,000, depending on their individual status. He said that will cost the district about $247,000, and said he expects to be able to include an additional $50,000 for teacher raises. Personnel policy committee president Pat Talley was instructed to present a proposed salary schedule, including the increases, to teachers for a vote before the August school board meeting.

The board were also given a list of proposed changes to the personnel policy committee. Some of the changes are a result of changes in law.

After going over each of the proposed changes, Smithson said he was not ready to recommend whether the changes should be accepted.

He said the changes will be included on the August agenda after he and the board have had a chance to look over the changes.

Smithson also took a moment to remind board members of the deadlines for filing petitions to seek a seat on the board. Six of the board's seven seats are up for election this year, the result of appointments over the past few years. Smithson said any seat that does not have an official candidate will be up for appointment. Typically, the person who currently holds that seat is reappointed for one additional year, and that continues until someone runs for the seat.

To run for school board, a person must gather signatures of 25 registered voters in that school board zone. The petition is then turned in to the county clerk's office. The deadline for filing is Aug. 9.

"I urge all of you, if you want to run, to get that done," Smithson said. "I think you've all done a good job. It's a job that needs to be done."