Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Gurdon School District Ends The Year Well

Overall, the Gurdon School District ended the 1996-97 school year in the black.

However, some accounts did run in the red. But, according to Superintendent Bobby Smithson, the district ended its fiscal year with more than $213,000. He told the Gurdon School Board, at its regular monthly meeting, Tuesday, July 15, the final budget will look better because of the accrual on some funds.

Additionally, he said, the district had to pay out more money than it used to for items such as insurance and the handicap programs. He said the state used to pay for insurance, but no longer does. This cost the district $8,500. The district was also cited by the federal government for its handicap programs, costing another $6,000. And, he said, it cost $6,735 to get the mechanical bleachers hooked up in the new gym.

Still, he said, the district is in good shape financially. There will be $244,000 more coming in from the state for the 1997-98 fiscal year, and locally the tax base increased $68,000 annually. However, the local monies will be used to pay off the second lien bonds for the construction of the new Gurdon Middle School.

In discussing the new GMS, Smithson said the gravel pad is finished and the architect has made elevation observations. The plans, he said, should be ready in a couple of weeks and the project should go to bid in August.

Handbook changes were among the issues dealt with by the board. All changes were approved.

One change parents need to take note of is the earlier starting time at Gurdon Primary School. The school day will begin five minutes earlier, at 7:55 a.m. instead of 8 a.m. Breakfast will be served to students at 7:40 a.m.

However, students will also be out of school five minutes earlier than they were.

The only other change discussed at GPS was the addition of detention for unruly students.

There were more changes for Gurdon Middle School's handbook.

One of the most important will be on the homework policy. According to GMS Principal Jeff Alexander, students will lose 25 percent of their assignment grade the first day it's late and all of the grade the second day it's late.

In an effort to cut noise and congestion between classes, students at GMS will be going to their lockers every other period alternating by grades.

Detention slips must be returned to detention hall teachers. If these slips are not turned in properly, the student will be given an extra day of detention.

A major change in the policy has students being required to furnish their own transportation to In School Suspension (ISS).

Those students riding motorcycles will also have to show proof of being licensed before they will be allowed to ride their motorcycles to school.

Students will also be required to get phone passes to make calls, and must check out any playground equipment.

There will be several changes Gurdon High School students will be dealing with.

First and foremost, activity credits now count one-half a credit. But, students will be required to have 24 credits for a standard diploma and 26 for an honors diploma for graduation.

Sophomores will be required to have six credits before moving on, while junior must have 12. The minimum credits allowed to be a senior will be 18.

All student will be required to have three math and science credits, with the math courses taken in sequence. Four English credits will be needed to graduate, along with three social study credits and three activity or physical education credits.

Those students planning to graduate with honors will be required to have two credits of a foreign language.

One of the major changes in the policy, according to GHS Principal Leonard Gill, is once a student has earned enough credits to graduate, they can. This will be regardless of their student classification.

Another change students should be aware of is how grades will be reported to parents. This year, the school will send letters to parents/guardians at the end of each semester showing the courses a student has passed or failed. Those courses failed must be repeated in order for the student to graduate.

ISS and the Alternative Learning Environment (ALE) have been separated. It was pointed out ISS is a punishment for improper behavior while ALE is a different method of teaching students.

Students can now be suspended for 10 days without a hearing by the school board. The superintendent, under new guidelines, can recommend suspension or expulsion on a case by case basis for students caught bringing weapons to school.

Because of an incident last year in which a female student was assaulted by a male student over a Confederate flag headband, no headgear or sunglasses will be worn at GHS.

One issue not passed by the board, but placed on its first reading, dealt with a faculty dress code. This code, if approved, will set the parameters for faculty at all three schools in how they dress.

In other business, the board heard from Coach John Pace on a problem caused by the Arkansas Department of Education.

The eligibility rule, he said, was changed by the ADE doing away with the required 2.0 grade point average for students to participate in athletics. However, the ADE later changed the rule back, again requiring the 2.0 gpa.

Because of this, Pace said, two students who needed to attend summer school to be eligible to play ball in the fall semester didn't go when it started. When the rule was changed back, he told the board, it was to late for them.

He requested these students be allowed to make up their grades through correspondence courses so they will be eligible to play ball.

Pace told the board after the ADE's initial ruling, he told the students they didn't need to go to summer school. Therefore, it wasn't their fault and they shouldn't be punished because of the later change.

The board agreed and both students can bring their grades up with correspondence courses.

The district is being sued by James Lee Baker, who was injured in a bus accident about three years ago.

Smithson said Baker was on the bus when it turned over and is trying to get the district's insurance carrier to pay the bills. However, he has to sue the district to get this done, Smithson said.

The Arkansas School Board Association, the district's carrier, has been notified and will respond quickly.

There were also several positions filled, while one was vacated. Darrell Bearden was hired as the new GMS science instructor, while Bonnie Wimberly will be the new ALE director. Bonnie Beals transferred and will be the GHS social studies teacher, with Cena Clark replacing Beals at GMS English teacher.

Phillip Taylor was hired to replace Randy Kizer for a year as P.E. and assistant football coach, while Sherry French will be the new second grade teacher. The final position filled was for maintenance person, with Bryan Watson h