By John R. Schirmer
News-Leader staff
The Nashville School Board filled five faculty positions Monday night as preparations for the 2017-18 academic year continue.
Those who were hired include the following:
Glennon Bobo, high school offensive line coach, social studies teacher
Cynthia Bailey, primary school teacher
Dara Calico, junior high math
Phillip Miller, head softball coach
John Martin, junior high offensive line coach, assistant softball coach, junior high teacher.
Bobo is a former Ashdown Panther.
Miller spent several years as a volunteer assistant coach with the Scrapperettes. He is the former head coach at Arkansas High.
Martin is a former Scrapper who currently coaches at Mineral Springs.
The hirings came after a 45-minute executive session.
Other vacancies will be filled in coming weeks.
Board members took care of a host of other matters during their regular June meeting which lasted nearly two hours.
Superintendent Doug Graham said the district has an operating balance of about $6.84 million. He said that some of the balance likely will be transferred to the building fund in order to comply with a new state law which sets limits on the percentage of a district’s budget may be kept in an operating balance.
The board approved a bid from the Arkansas School Board Association for building insurance. The bid was $67,575.63 and was the only one the district received. Graham said the amount is about $5,200 more than that from the recently concluded academic year because of hail damage to some classroom roofs and other claims filed by the district. The policy pays the replacement cost for buildings from ABC through high school, Graham said.
Board members approved a meal charge and delinquent debt policy. “The legislature requires districts to have a board policy,” Graham said.
Assistant Superintendent Joe Kell said students and staff may charge up to $10. After that amount is reached, students will receive an alternate meal until the debt is paid. The alternate includes a cheese sandwich, fruit and vegetables, and milk. “We’re not going to let our kids go hungry,” Kell said.
“This formalizes the process we already had in our handbook,” Graham said.
Districts can choose not to have a substitute meal plan, according to Graham. Nashville substitutes the cheese sandwich for the main meal item, but everything else is the same.
“This was an issue during the fall. Some people misunderstood or got part of the story. That must have been an issue in other places too because the legislature said to write a policy,” Graham said.
Elementary school Assistant Principal Rick Rebsamen reviewed the district’s wellness policy. “We provide a healthy environment for our district. We’re following all state and federal mandates,” Rebsamen said.
The district’s wellness committee meets three times during the year, with another meeting in the summer.
The policy applies to all students, staff and schools in the district.
The board renewed the food services contract with Aramark. It reflects a 2.4 percent increase over last year, guided by the Consumer Price Index, Kell said. “We won’t go up on student meal prices because of free and reduced lunch reimbursement.”
After one year with Aramark, the food service program has a balance of about $60,000, Graham told the board. “There are still some expenses to pay by the end of June. We’ll give final numbers then.”
Aramark “will take the balance and roll it back into equipment for all four cafeterias,” Graham said.
Junior high and third grade offered breakfast in class during state testing in the spring. The district is looking at ways to expand offerings on other campuses.
Graham said the summer meal program is going well, with about 50 students age 18 and under eating Monday.
Summer employees were approved during the meeting, including the following:
Primary – Casey Goodwin, Lakan McAdams, Allison McCauley, Krissie Talley, Shannon White and Karlie Worley
Elementary – Abby Cortez, Autumn Reeder, Karen Kell, Tabitha Jones, Janet McCullough and Janet Copeland
High school – Kim Newton and Regina Westfall. Graham said the high school and junior high programs are combined. Students work on computers to pick up needed credits. Newton and Westfall serve as facilitators, Graham said.
District summer maintenance – Chris Willard, A.J. Whitmore, Delford Traylor and James Barron
The board approved Personnel Policy Committee policies sections 3 and 4, model policies from ASBA. The other sections will be dealt with in July.
Handbook changes for each campus were approved. They will be included in next week’s News-Leader.
The board approved three indexes for extended contracts.
The ESL coordinator’s index went up to .14 because of the increasing number of students involved in the program. “This is in line with the gifted and talented coordinator index,” Graham said. Increased testing and additional correspondence with the state were among the factors in the revised index.
The Battle of the Books and Reading Fair index was set at .01, the same as for other sponsors.
An index for the shooting sports coach will be addressed in July, Graham said.
Extended substitute pay for 30 days or more was increased to $150 per day for a someone with a college degree and $200 per day for a certified teacher. The extended substitute pay applies to a situation in which a teacher is out for at least 30 consecutive days, and a substitute teaches in the same position for 30 days or more. “It’s a unique situation,” Graham said.
Persons interested in the Zone 3 school board position may pick up petitions at the courthouse and turn them in between July 5 and 11. David Hilliard is the incumbent from Zone 3 and has picked up a petition, Graham said.
