Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

State board reviews GHS status

Gurdon High School remains on accreditation probation after the Arkansas Board of Education reviewed the schools status along with that of 11 other Arkansas schools on Monday, Nov. 13.

Gurdon High School was placed on accreditation probation by the Arkansas Department of Education after two violations were found at the school in the 2005-2006 school year. Gurdon Superintendent Bobby Smithson said the school was cited for not having a certified instructor teaching biology and for not offering enough science classes.

Smithson said the school was offering five science classes as required by the state, however one of the classes being offered, advanced placement biology, did not meet state requirements to be one of the five required classes.

The school district had made several attempts to hire a certified biology teacher before the probationary status was placed on the school. Those attempts were outlined in a letter from Smithson to Arkansas Department of Education General Counsel Scott Jones in September.

In the letter, Smithson states that after the district was notified of the citation for not having a certified teacher in the biology position in April 2006, Libby White, principal at Cabe Middle School and a certified biology teacher, replaced the non-certified teacher.

On June 20, the Gurdon School Board hired a teacher to fill the position. Another teacher resigned on July 6, and the teacher who was hired to teach chemistry was assigned to teach biology. This teacher then resigned four days later, the day before school was scheduled to begin.

On August 28, a teacher from North Carolina was hired by the district to teach biology. Two days later, this teacher accepted another job in North Carolina and declined the Gurdon job.

On Sept. 1, another teacher was interviewed and hired. This teacher worked for 12 days before being dismissed by the district.

On Sept. 25, the school hired another teacher to fill the biology position. This teacher is certified in family and consumer sciences and will work in the position on an additional licensure program in order to become certified in biology.

Smithson said that the schools probationary status will be removed if the school continues to comply with standards for the remainder of the current school year.

Were alright now, he said. I dont foresee anything else happening.

Smithson said that there are other options that the state board could have taken against the school but did not.

Smithson, Gurdon High School Principal Leonard Gills and Curriculum Coordinator Bonnie Ross attended the hearing before the Arkansas Board of Education in Little Rock.