Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Money Still A Headache For Gurdon School District

Financial problems continue to plague Gurdon's School District.

This was the message Bobby Smithson, district superintendent, had for the Gurdon School Board at its regular monthly meeting Tuesday, July 16.

He told the district's governing body another $150,000 is still needed to finish out the new gymnasium.

Additionally, he said the band and athletic programs were "bailed out" to the tune of about $18,000. The programs were in a deficit situation at the end of the academic year as well as at the close of the school's fiscal year on June 30.

Smithson said this is the second time in five years the district has had to "bail out" the band and athletic programs.

He said the contingency fund, normally 10 percent of a district's budget, is low as well, but not alarmingly so. The budgeted ending balance for the contingency fund was projected at $328,839, while the actual balance was $210,989.47.

However, he said the district cannot afford to continue deficit spending practices. Steps will be taken to correct this situation next year, the board was told.

Part of the correcting will come in attempting to make the basketball and football programs self-supporting.

Actually, the football program is self-supporting most years, but proceeds from it are used to help pay for spring sports as well.

Smithson said next season the revenue from the basketball concession stand will be used to help pay for the program. Hopefully, a good football campaign will help pay for baseball, track, golf and tennis.

In other business, the district has filed suit against the company that laid the parking lot. This is because the lot already has problems and bad areas on it, though less than a year old.

According to Smithson, it will cost about $13,000 to repair the lot. He said the construction company responsible for asphalting the lot is trying to blame the subcontractor doing the dirt work.

However, Smithson said the subcontractor put 12 inches of gravel on the lot, though the specifications called

for eight inches.

In addition, the City of Gurdon bladed the lot after the subcontractor had finished and watered the lot again, rerolling it before it was paved.

Smithson said he expects the contractor to file suit against the subcontractor, while being sued by the school district.

"I don't know the chance of recovering (the money)," he said. "We could be left holding the bag." No court date has been set in the suit as yet.

There were several changes made to next year's handbooks. In the elementary school, only the attendance policy was affected.

Gurdon Middle School Principal Jeff Alexander, though, said several changes were made for GMS because of the move to the former high school.

First off, he said, a new calendar was put together, and a new equity policy is to be instituted. The non- discriminatory policy has been approved, but needs to be put in the handbook, he said.

A new mission statement has been devised for GMS and will be added, along with excessive absences being reported to the Clark County Prosecuting Attorney's Office.

These absences don't include in school suspension or other forms of suspensions, but only those students not attending school.

The homework policy was also reworked. Under the new plan, a student not completing their work will lose 10 percent of the grade the first day, 20 percent the second day and 50 percent on day three. If they haven't completed their assignments by the fourth day, they will be placed in detention hall and required to catch up there.

Any student expelled, Alexander said, is not allowed on the school campus, nor can they participate in any school activities until the expulsion is completed. This, he said, includes ISS students.

Students bringing a firearm on the campus will be automatically expelled for one year, he said.

Leonard Gill, GHS principal, had a full list of changes as well.

Because the cafeteria is so far away from the main building, he said, 10 minutes have been added to the lunch period. This won't affect morning classes.

Other changes to the GHS handbook include changing the name of several courses, primarily those in business and computer classes.

Under the Arkansas Activities Association guidelines, he said, students are required to have physicals before the start of the year or attending any type of practice for extracurricular activities. This was added to the GHS handbook as well.

Gills said the United States Supreme Court ruled random drug testing for high school athletes is legal. He suggested adding a random drug testing clause to the handbook, with the board's agreement.

The checkout policy was also amended for GHS. When students moved to the new campus, the rules on checking out were changed, requiring a parent or guardian to physically sign their child out.

Under the change, a parent or guardian can give their consent for a student leaving campus. They must, however, notify school officials of any medical appointments they have in advance.

Any student transferring from another district into Gurdon's schools must tell officials if they have been expelled from their former district.

Students must also have parental permission before they will be allowed to have access to the internet at GHS.

There is some good news for students with the handbook changes. Now, students with a "C" average can be exempt from semester tests. Gill said this could help cut down on absenteeism.

All changes to the handbooks were approved by the board.

The district will remain with United Insurance as its policy carrier. Three companies submitted bids, but United's was the lowest at $5,370 for blanket coverage.

Coleman Dairy was the lone milk company to bid for Gurdon's contract, and will be slightly higher than last year's costs.

Two bread companies bid for the district's contract, with Wonder Bread the low bidder.

Smithson, discussing the 1996-97 budget, said without raises, there will be $170,000 not budgeted.

However, it will still take $150,000 to finish out the gym, and in order to comply with the new salary schedule, teachers need to be given raises of at least $1,000 per year.

Also, the school supply store needs more inventory for the students.

However, Smithson said the district could apply for a $150,000 loan from the revolving loan program. This would put the district in debt about $250,000 in this program.

The board agreed to try and borrow this money to finish out the gym for next year.

Kelly House was hired as a half-time biology instructor. The current staff will be spread a little more thin as they will be required to take up the slack in keyboarding and English. Keyboarding and Career Orientation