Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Nevada School Board Bids Farewell To Benton

By JOHN MILLER

It was strange Thursday, Sept. 18, when the Nevada School Board met.

This was because for the first time since the Nevada district was created in 1987, Davis Benton was not present at a meeting.

In the 10 years the district has been in existence, Benton has been a member of the board. However, Tuesday, Sept. 16, he was upset in his bid for reelection by Don Callicott and did not attend the Sept. 18 meeting. This was the only meeting he had ever missed.

Those on hand, though, handled the district's business, learning the students had been going through testing during the week.

Hardy Herrington, NHS principal, said students were given incentives to work harder and improve their Stanford 9 test scores.

Superintendent Rick McAffee said the testing was done on all levels, being kicked off with a pep rally. He said the students really seemed to enjoy the team spirit of the rally as they prepared for testing.

In her report, Natalie Sherwood, NES principal, said Nevada County Sheriff Steve Otwell provided a bus safety program for the kindergarten and first grade students.

Sherwood and Anna Atkins, reading specialist and title I coordinator, spent three weeks of after school tutoring for the fifth grade students in preparation of the SAT-9 tests.

The district is getting the services of Ann Averitt, who teaches reading recovery for the Southwest Arkansas Educational Cooperative in Hope.

She said the elementary teachers toured the new alternative learning center the school's maintenance crew built during the summer.

And, she told the board more than 100 showed for Grandparent's Day at the school.

Maintenance director Jim Cross said the bus fleet is holding up well at present, but there are problems in the lunchroom again.

A freezer went down, but crews managed to get it repaired for the time being. Cross said how long it will hold up is not known.

He said the maintenance department has the assistance of a Green Thumb participant to help out.

A thermostat in the elementary office needs to be replaced, he said, but otherwise, there are no major problems with the school.

McAffee, in his report, said the Arkansas School Board Association will host the region 12 meeting Oct. 13 at Saratoga.

Board members who attend, he said, will get three hours of in-service credit. This, he said, is half of the required hours for the year.

McAffee read a letter from Benton thanking the board and former members for helping make Nevada School one of the premier schools in the state.

"I cannot express in words the dedication and hard work that has taken place over the past 10 years to accomplish our goals," he wrote. "We all recognize that this took a team effort from the community, administration, faculty and all employees of the Nevada School."

Benton also gave the board his blessing and urged them to "stay the course."

A meeting for new board members will be held in Little Rock Oct. 9. This, McAffee said, earns those attending seven in-service hours.

The final order of business was a first reading of an internet use agreement. As the board had not read the agreement, it was tabled until the October meeting, which was moved to Oct. 23 from the 16th because of conflicts.

In the meantime, an emergency clause was instituted with the agreement so students can utilize the internet for research purposes.