Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Board Hires Augusta Educator During Special Meeting

In a special board meeting Thursday, July 24, the Prescott School Board hired a new principal for Prescott High School.

The panel selected Steve Britton to be the chief administrator at PHS. Britton hails from Augusta, home of the Devils.

Britton graduated from Blytheville High School and earned his Bachelor of Science in Education from the University of Arkansas at Monticello. He received his Master's degree in secondary administration from Henderson State University.

"We're excited to have him," said Don Johnston, Prescott Superintendent. "When we got his application, I called people in the community not listed as references."

Johnston said everyone he talked with recommended Britton for the job, saying he always has the students best interest at heart.

Britton was principal at Augusta High School from 1996 until taking the job at PHS. He was the elementary PE instructor and eighth grade U.S. History teacher from 1994-96 at Augusta, as well as being a member of the Personnel Policy Committee.

From 1990-95, he was with Lewisville, where he taught health and world history.

He was the U.S. and World history teacher at Osceola from 1988-90, and taught American Government, World History, College Prep U.S. History and social studies at Turrell High from 1978-88.

Britton has also been head football and track coach at Lewisville, was the assistant football coach and track coach at Osceola, with the same duties at Turrell.

Act 779 of 1997 got most of the attention from the Prescott School Board Tuesday, July 22 during its regular meeting.

This act, according to Superintendent Don Johnston, prohibits the use of tobacco or tobacco products on school owned or leased property.

However, he told the board, there is an exception. The Arkansas General Assembly, in its 81st session earlier this year, said school boards can designate smoking areas where they will not affect others. These areas can only be utilized by faculty, adult staff and visiting adults.

Students, he said, will not be allowed to smoke or use other tobacco products anywhere on school grounds. In fact, if a minor is caught using tobacco on school grounds they can be fined.

Johnston suggested the board allow faculty and staff to smoke in their cars on all three campuses.

He will meet with the principals and administrators to discuss the issue of smoking areas.

The board gave Johnston the authority to designate areas where tobacco can be used following these discussions.

But, no decision was made on what to do about fans who smoke and the coming football and basketball seasons.

In other business, the Arkansas Department of Education's (ADE) waffling on extracurricular requirements was heavily discussed.

The ADE originally ruled all student participating in any extracurricular activity must maintain a 2.0 grade point average. However, earlier this summer, the ADE reversed this position, only to revert back to the original ruling about a week later.

Board President Jim Franks said the issue is currently in a holding pattern.

The ADE, he said, had studies done on the impact of a 2.0 gpa requirement on students. The requirement was not a problem for most students.

When the ADE changed the ruling, Franks told the panel, its board voted 6-5 to modify the rules where students who didn't have a 2.0 gpa would not be disqualified from participating in extracurricular activities. Instead, he said the idea was to help these students in the areas they were having problems.

Unfortunately, Franks said, the plans did not specify how this would be done, or even how it would be funded.

Because of this, the ADE backtracked and went back to the original ruling. Franks said the ADE may revisit the issue for the spring semester after trying to work out the bugs in its plan.

However, regardless of what the ADE rules, it will have little effect on students in the Prescott School District. This is because the Prescott board, in 1983, adopted standards higher than required by the state.

At the time, the state required students to pass a certain number of courses, regardless of the grades made. Prescott, though, went with a 2.0 gpa across the board.

Those students with special educational problems are exempt from the 2.0 gpa requirements. However, they must have individual educational plans (IEPs).

These students are tested to see what grade level they can perform at, and will be required to perform at this level under federal law.

The overall intent, Franks said, is for the betterment of the students. "I feel we would be heading down the wrong path if we lower expectations to the students," he said.

At one time, the Prescott district required all students to have a 2.0 gpa for graduation. It was one of the few districts in the state with this requirement. But, this level was dropped to a 1.75 gpa requirement and met with protests from the students themselves.

"We've probably had the 2.0 gpa requirement longer than any district in the state," Franks said. "It's a hot topic."

The board agreed to draft a letter to present to the ADE when it meets on Sept. 8. The time and location of this meeting have not been set yet.

Johnston said the Arkansas Activities Association and individual school districts can institute higher standards than required by the ADE.

In other business, Johnston informed the board there was only one difference in the claims for the fire damage. The lobby floor cost more than anticipated, but has been installed.

The floor ended up costing $21,883, and not $18,000 as expected. Johnston said he sent a revised claim to USF&G, the district's insurance carrier.

The district has submitted total claims of $1,520,493.68, and has been paid $783,335.90.

In a special meeting in June, Franks told the board he had requested money from the governor's emergency fund after Gov. Mike Huckabee gave the Murfreesboro district money after its fire.

However, the Prescott district didn't fare as well, as its request was denied. Franks said he was told the request was submitted too late in the fiscal year and there was no money available at the time.

The board also approved milk and bread contracts for the coming school year. Borden had the best overall price for milk products, while Ideal was given the nod for all bread products.

The board also approved the transfer of a student from the Prescott district to Blevins.

Johnston said the family had moved to Blevins and the Blevins board had approved the transfer.