Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Emmet Board Touts Plans To Expand

For an hour, the Emmet School Board was unable to conduct any business during its regular meeting Monday, Feb. 1.

This was because only two members of the panel were on hand when the meeting began.

However, these two listened to the reports needing no votes and discussed action requiring board approval with plans to address them at a special meeting later this month.

But, a third member of the board arrived at 8 p.m., with business being conducted as usual.

The major business was plans to build three more classrooms onto the campus to allow for growth. Jerry Simmons, with Twin Rivers Architects of Arkadelphia, presented three different approaches to the problem.

The first plan Simmons proposed was to attach the new rooms onto the existing structure at the elementary end of the building, with the idea of later going back and adding a room at the corner.

These rooms, he said, would have restrooms for the children as required by law.

With this plan, Simmons told the board, there would be room for an elementary principal's office.

Plan two would be adding a sloping walkway following the natural grade of the land and build the three rooms separate from the existing structure.

These plans also included a principal's office and restrooms for the classrooms.

The third concept concerned placing the three rooms on a level area where it would be more economical to do the dirt work. This plan, though, did not include an office for the principal.

Simmons told the board it might be more costly to attach the new rooms onto the current facility because of the roof. He proposed putting them together with a covered walkway instead.

He also reminded the board these are only preliminary concepts and not final plans. Changes can be made to suit the board's desires, he said.

Dr. Gene Ross, Emmet Superintendent, said the idea is to keep the elementary school separate from the high school so the students don't mingle together.

He also said the cost must be kept down to $250,000, as this is what the district can afford at this time. The district, he said, has the money for the project now.

These rooms, Dr. Ross said, are needed by the time school begins for the 1999-2000 academic year in August.

With three board members on hand, business could be taken care of and the meeting went back to its beginning, so to speak.

Full-time teachers in the Emmet district will be getting a bonus at the end of this school year. This is because the board voted to give them a $1,000 raise across the board.

Next year, this money will be factored into their contracts.

In addition, the board added another step to the salary plan, giving those with master's degrees plus 15 hours an extra $200 per year.

This will affect two members of the staff.

With the raises, Emmet teachers with bachelor's degrees will begin at $21,500, while those with master's degrees will begin at $30,500.

Another item of business involving teachers concerned replacing two on maternity leave for an extended period of time.

The board approved raising the pay for the long-term substitutes from $43 per day to 480 per day. Dr. Ross said these two teachers could be our three or four weeks each.

The business not needing board approval was primarily reports from the two principals and superintendent.

Frank Pollock, elementary principal, said enrollment currently stands at 186 in grades K- 6.

He talked about how the district will be required to institute the Smart Start program, designed by Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, and how teachers are going to seminars to get familiarized with the program.

Students were approve for a field trip to the Museum of Discovery as well.

Pollock said Emmet will be hosting the Class A District Basketball Tournament starting Feb. 15 and running through Feb. 20.

Floyd Henson, high school principal, said the enrollment is currently 117.

He added school will not be dismissed early for the tournament.

Dr. Ross said admission to the tourney will $3 for students and adults.

The board also raised the district's travel rate from 17 cents per mile to 25 cents a mile.

This, Dr. Ross said, is the amount most surrounding districts pay when employees must use their own vehicles for school business.

The board also discussed adding a building for school bus maintenance. Dr. Ross said a 20 by 40 foot metal building could be erected for $7,740, but this price doesn't include the slab or insulation it would only be a shell building.

Jack Faulkner, a member of the board, said a 20 by 40 building wouldn't be big enough, and suggested the district consider a 30 by 40 or 40 by 40 building, as the larger size would allow room for storage.

He suggested going ahead an adding the roughed-in plumbing and wiring the building for the future. Faulkner added the floor shouldn't be flat, but needs to be sloped where water would run into a drain.