District school board meeting focuses on St. Paul School
Posted on Thursday, November 20, 2008
The Nov. 10 meeting of the Huntsville School District board took place in the cafeteria on the St. Paul School campus. All board members came early to tour the campus and have supper prepared by lunchroom supervisor Linda Shackelford and her assistants.
Following the opening ceremony and unanimous approval of the consent agenda, Superintendent Shelby Sisemore said, “ The focus of our board meeting tonight is St. Paul. We toured the facilities this evening, and they look really good. ”
Sisemore asked St. Paul Principal David Borg to present a status update about St. Paul School.
“ Welcome to the Best Small School in Arkansas, ” Borg began. “ I truly believe that we are the best for many reasons. ” He said that high school enrollment at St. Paul is currently 138 with 127 students in the elementary. “ While this is down 6 percent from last year, this can be largely accounted for by comparing this year’s kindergarten class of 13 to last year’s graduating class of 28. ”
Borg presented a lengthy list of achievements and new opportunities at St. Paul School, ranging from successful blood drives to improved test scores, and including several new rewards programs.
“ We appreciate being part of the Huntsville School district and all of the resources and help you provide us, ” Borg told the school board members.
St. Paul sixth grade teacher Anita Lawrence and computer lab coordinator Martha Eaton presented seventh graders Ashley Reno and Mackenzie Belanger with certificates of achievement for academic excellence in math on the Benchmark Exam last year. Seventh graders Lula Napolitano and Nathan Taylor also earned certificates but could not attend the board meeting and received them the following day at school.
Lawrence talked about the significant gains made by her students last year on the standardized test. She said that teaching Accelerated Math and leveled math based on the Arkansas standards coupled with help from Lendy Eaton’s high school study buddies and Eaton’s help with the AR math scoring and tutoring contributed to last year’s sixth graders scoring 95 percent overall on the Benchmark math test.
“ Several of our students went from below basic or basic to score advanced on the math portion of the Benchmark Exam last year, ” Lawrence said. “ I’m very proud of all of them. ”
Bonnie Rodgers, St. Paul first grade teacher, said explaining what a school board is to her students was somewhat difficult, but they grasped the concept and prepared packets for each board member in an early celebration of Board Appreciation Month. “ Thank you so much, ” Rodgers told the board as she distributed the envelopes. “ We appreciate all of you. ”
Sisemore said, “ I am down here a lot and I am proud of what goes on at St. Paul School. I am impressed. Keep doing what you are doing. I am proud of every one of you. ” Sheila Trinkle presented a report about last week’s Standards and Assurance Visit. She said this is a routine visit that happens every four years. This year, eight team members came to both Huntsville and St. Paul schools and checked 155 items. “ We got 146 out of 155 items correct, ” Trinkle said. “ That’s 94 percent, and I think we got an “ A. ” She said that the nine violations noted by the team involved language in some of the district’s policies. “ It was a good visit, ” she concluded. Sisemore recognized each board member for their dedication and attendance at a variety of workshops include two recent ones held in Gravette and Little Rock. He gave each of them a lapel pin and commented, “ We appreciate what they do. ” Unanimous approval was granted to the special education budget as presented by Freda Waters. Several members of the supervisory staff reported to the board on a variety of activities and accomplishments on the Huntsville campus including a “ Glimpse into the Classroom” project and a successful “ Boot Camp” program. High School Principal Mike Gray invited everyone to DeQueen on Nov. 14 to watch the school’s football team in the playoffs at 7: 30. He said that basketball games will start this week at Huntsville. “ It is great to know that everything we got was real positive from the standards board, ” Gray commented. Dr. Robert Allen brought the board up to date on the district’s financial standing. “ We are up just a little bit financially, ” he said and added that they would be looking at the cost of utilities very closely and continue trying to lower the usage.
Debbie Holt told the board that the ACCIP Plan had been approved by the state, which meant that federal money “ will start flowing in. ” She also said that the district had received some reimbursement from the E-rate program.
Trinkle talked about a University of Arkansas program for sixth, seventh, and eighth grade science teachers and said that eight teachers were participating.
“ I appreciate our administrative team, ” Sisemore said. “ We meet every Monday morning and discuss pertinent issues. They have their say and are certainly an important part of running our school district. ”
After formally adjourning the meeting at 7: 30 p. m., Sisemore convened the Public Meeting portion of the evening and talked about the importance of passing the upcoming proposal which will be voted on at the special Jan. 13, 2009, election.
Explaining that this was not a millage increase, Sisemore said that those in the former St. Paul School District # 48 area would actually see their taxes decrease to the level of taxes paid by those in the Huntsville District area if this proposal passes.
People who vote “ for” the tax on the ballot will not be voting for a tax increase, ” Sisemore said. “ They will only be voting to restructure and extend the district’s existing debt. ” He told the group that the district has been approved for a partnership matching grant from the state facilities division if the proposal passes, and together the funds raised from both sources would pay for the 12 classrooms.
Sisemore outlined the process that culminated in the board’s decision to seek a restructuring of the current debt. Over 120 people were part of the facilities team, holding 9 meetings and doing several evaluations of Old Main before deciding to recommend the current plan of demolishing Old Main, which was constructed in 1928, and building an addition of 12 classrooms to the middle school in Huntsville and moving the sixth graders up from the elementary to the middle school.
When asked what the other options were in case the proposal failed, Sisemore said that Option B was to take a second lien bond and use all the reserve building funds to build the state-mandated classrooms. He characterized this as a bad option since it wouldn’t generate enough funds for the project and would increase the district’s debt and create a loss of revenue of about $ 80, 000 a year since the reserve building funds would not be there to bring in investment income.
Option C, Sisemore said, would involve the state coming in and taking over the district. He said that he didn’t know if that would really happen but recommended asking patrons in Greenland, Decatur, Gentry, Bald Knob, and several other districts around the state of Arkansas where that option actually became a reality. Sisemore and several board members commented that they did not know what the state would do with the district if Option C was implemented.
“ I want to encourage people to come to St. Paul and Huntsville and see the amazing things that are going on at both schools and how we are maintaining the buildings and grounds. ” Sisemore said. “ We have tried to come up with a plan that is good for the kids in the Huntsville School District. We have got to get the majority of our patrons out for the good of our kids and pass this on Jan. 13. ”
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