June 2021

Report Card June 2021 www.arsba.org

The Journal of the Arkansas School Boards Association

A good session for schools

After an often controversial legislative session, the one thing we can all agree about is that schools did well financially. Lawmakers increased per pupil foundation funding and provided an extra $185 per student to school districts that needed help reaching Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s higher targeted median teacher salary. The day Hutchinson signed the bill, the El Dorado School Board approved a $2,000 teacher salary increase. That was good news for Superintendent Jim Tucker and teacher/ coach Ashlee Curtis, who both attended the bill signing.

Compassion is how we survive

For school board members and educational leaders, it is our districts’ measure of success

As I reflect upon the events of recent history, it is easy to become overwhelmed by the circumstances that surround me. It seems that so many things that lie just beyond the control of humanity often make such a tremendous impact on each of our lives. In the current time of pandemic and turmoil, I find myself questioning how mankind is able to survive, much less thrive. To me, the answer is compassion. In The Art of Happiness, Dalai Lama XIV stated, “Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them, humanity cannot survive.” This sentiment was initially evident to me as a young immigrant when friends, family and complete strangers expressed compassion toward a scared teen in a new place. In my more recent experiences as a school board member, compassion has been marked by the countless individual efforts within our school organizations to provide opportunities for every student. Such compassion is what has kept Arkansas schools open and serving the needs of our children during the 2020-21 COVID-19 pandemic; however, the pur-

2 June 2021 Report Card

by Rosa Bowman ASBA President est form of compassion is often exemplified by the impact made through the life of a child. Cedrick Harris Jr. (CJ), was a child who made a difference through his truly compassionate nature. While he was tragically taken from this earth in an ATV accident at only 14 years old, his character has continued to positively impact others. CJ was an incredibly brilliant child, an exceptional athlete, and more importantly an extraordinarily compassionate human being. Possessing wisdom far beyond his years, CJ made it his mission to show respect and kindness toward everyone around him, especially those who were less fortunate. Although CJ is gone, his legacy now lives on in

the #BeLikeCJ movement, which has gained national recognition. The French writer Simone de Beauvoir once wrote, “One’s life has value so long as one attributes value to the life of others, by means of love, friendship, and compassion.” The lives of people like CJ exemplify the essence of de Beauvoir’s work and offer a glimpse of the compassion that we should all strive to demonstrate. As school board members and educational leaders, such compassion should be the measure of success that we set for our districts and educational communities, because compassion is truly the foundation that education is built upon. As we prepare for a new school year, it is crucial that we recognize the challenges that are ahead of us. Furthermore, it is equally important to realize that our hope for overcoming these obstacles must begin with a wholesome compassion for one another. John Holmes stated, “There is no exercise better for the heart than reaching down and lifting people up.” Through a simple smile, attending an extracurricular activity, or exercising patience in the face of adversity, our acts of compassion will surely guide our youth toward a brighter tomorrow.

Shawn Higginbotham Lake Hamilton School District Superintendent

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Report Card

The Journal of the Arkansas School Boards Association

News and Features 12

Spend COVID funds on COVID

14

Security MOUs, audits now required

18

Cover / A good session for schools

24

Executive Session with Laura Clark

School districts must ensure the federal dollars they receive for the COVID-19 pandemic are actually spent responding to the pandemic. That was one of the messages shared at ASBA’s Joint Leadership Conference with the Arkansas Association of Educational Administrators May 4.

School security laws passed during the legislative session will require school districts with school resource officers to have a memorandum of understanding with local law enforcement agencies and will require school districts to complete safety audits every three years.

18 El Dorado Superintendent Jim Tucker was able to give teacher/coach Ashlee Curtis and her fellow teachers a $2,000 raise. The school board approved the raises the day Acts 679 and 680 were signed into law by Gov. Asa Hutchinson. For districts below the targeted median salary, the acts provided $185 multiplied by the district’s average daily membership.

Departments 2 6 7 8 9 22 28 30

President’s Column Letter from the Executive Director ASBA News and Notes Calendar Advertisers Index Jay Bequette’s Column Marketplace Commercial Affiliates

4 June 2021 Report Card

The legislative session featured the largest school funding increase in more than a decade, while lawmakers also provided money for teacher salary increases. Acts 679 and 680 raised the statewide target median teacher salary $2,000 to $51,822 the next two years. For districts below that amount, the bill provided $185 multiplied by the district’s average daily membership during the previous school year.

Report Card Letter from the Executive Director

by Dr. Tony Prothro

Difficult decisions and hard choices

We have just finished the 2021 legislative session, which has been recessed until the fall when lawmakers will take care of needed legislation in response to census data. As I reflect upon what I consider a successful session, I am cognizant of a particular aspect of the recent dialogue. We have all witnessed the polarization of our nation and communities within the political realm. While it is human nature to want to see things in black and white, we all know that much gray dominates the landscape, bringing varying degrees of discomfort for all those involved in the decision-making process. The resulting uneasiness should compel us to make better policies for our students. Legislators on both ends of the spectrum are required to make hard choices concerning potential legislation and their positions on bills being filed. At times, the landscape can become confusing, and decisions can be very difficult to make. Legislators have told me at times that they really didn’t like a particular bill but voted for it as a compromise to keep more intrusive legislation from being passed. I can understand and appreciate this point of view. Legislators are called to do a difficult job to ascertain what is best for our schools and our state. ASBA is also placed in difficult positions at times. We rely heavily on the opinions and stances of our membership in trying to decide whether to support or oppose legislation. We try to stay neutral when our membership is split on a particular policy or bill. ASBA has had filters in place for a very long time that set the path for our position on potential legislation or policy issues. These filters are: 1. Is it good for children? 2. Does it help build an education ethic? 6 June 2021 Report Card

3. Is everyone held appropriately accountable? These filters are utilized heavily when we look at the specifics of potential legislation. However, even with these filters, we encounter difficulty when there is uncertainty on the potential success of a bill being passed. At times compromises must be made for the benefit of our communities, school districts, and our students. Once made, only time will tell if the compromises were fruitful and beneficial. The views of our membership are not a constant on matters of policy and governance. Board members’ opinions on specific topics evolve or change over the course of time as new circumstances surface. This is to be expected. The Department of Education has advocated that districts “pivot” to meet the needs of a changing environment in the midst of the pandemic. Schools were placed in a position to quickly change instructional platforms in relation to the state of the pandemic in their schools. Schools have done an admirable job of this. This same “pivot” is required of policymakers, organizations, and individuals in the current political environment. As an opinion or stance reaches a majority in the Legislature, it is important to try to find a position that best meets the needs of our students and school districts. I cannot speak for everyone, but for myself, I do much studying of any proposed legislation, engage with other knowledgeable individuals, and thoughtfully reflect and pray as I try to navigate and ascertain what is the best path for our students. It is very important for school board members to continue conversations with local lawmakers about the impact of potential legislation on their school Continued on next page

The Journal of the Arkansas School Boards Association Vol. 14, Number 2

June 2021

P.O. Box 165460 / Little Rock, AR 72216 Telephone: 501-372-1415 / 800-482-1212 Fax: 501-375-2454 E-mail: arsba@arsba.org / www.arsba.org

Board of Directors President: Rosa Bowman, Ashdown President-elect: Dr. Tad Margolis, Valley View Vice President: William Campbell, McGehee Sec.-Treasurer: Randy Hutchinson, Springdale Past President: Randy Goodnight, Greenbrier Region 1: Travis Warren, Farmington Region 2: Randy Rogers, Lead Hill Region 3: Dr. Julea Garner, Highland Region 4: Kyle Cannon, Mena Region 5: Clint Hull, Pottsville Region 6: Nikki King, Pangburn Region 7: D’James Rogers, West Memphis Region 8: Jereme Carter, Carlisle Region 9: Joey Astin, Forrest City Region 10: Mark Curry, Lake Hamilton Region 11: Carl “Buddy” Puckett, Poyen Region 12: Laura Clark, Blevins Region 13: Doris Parham, Bearden Region 14: Jerry Daniels, Warren

Staff

Executive Director: Dr. Tony Prothro Board Development Director: Dr. Anne Butcher Governmental Relations Director: Dan Jordan Finance Director: Diana Woodward Communications and Technology Director: Sherri Fite Staff Attorney: Kristen Garner Policy Director: Lucas Harder Database Administrator: Kathy Ivy Commercial Affiliates/Board Liaison Manager: Angela Ellis TIPS-TAPS Project Manager: Mickey McFatridge General Counsel: Jay Bequette Risk Management Program & Workers’ Comp. Program: Shannon Moore, Director Krista Glover Dwayne McAnally Misty Thompson Melody Tipton LaVerne Witherspoon Linda Collins Lisa Wigginton Kara Quinton Julianne Dobson

TO CONTACT THE MAGAZINE

Please contact Steve Brawner, Editor 501.847.7743; brawnersteve@mac.com Report Card is published quarterly by the Arkansas School Boards Association. Copyright 2021 by the Arkansas School Boards Association and Steve Brawner Communications. All rights reserved.

Decisions Continued from page 6

district. Legislators have a hard task in deciphering and taking positions on bills. As with any good communication, it is equally as important to listen as your legislators explain their viewpoints and descriptions of the political climate. Also, do not forget to thank your legislators for their hard work and efforts on behalf of the state’s students. They have a very difficult job to decipher and cast their votes on important pieces of legislation. At the end of the day, I know school board members across the state will do what is right for their students and community. I have witnessed on numerous occasions the courage and commitment displayed by our membership. We truly thank you for your sacrificial service.

ASBA News and notes Board members’ children win ASBA scholarships

Four Arkansas high school seniors recently received $650 scholarships from the Arkansas School Boards Association Educational Foundation, while another $650 scholarship was awarded to an English teacher and graduate student earning her master’s degree in library media/information technology. The four scholarships are awarded to graduating high school seniors who are sons, daughters, or legal wards of Arkansas school board members and who will attend Arkansas institutions of higher learning in the fall. The awards are based on a student’s academic record and leadership potential. One award is

made in each of the state’s four congressional districts. A fifth award, the J.K. Williams Memorial Scholarship, is awarded to a school board member’s son, daughter or legal ward who is pursing an advanced degree in education. Williams served as ASBA’s executive director from 1978 until 1992. This is the 27th consecutive year for the awards. The four graduating high school seniors are: Evelyn McHaney of Paragould, the daughter of Paragould School Board member Sam McHaney; Zachary Alexander of Clinton, the son of Clinton School Board member Angela Alexander; Monica Fisk of Mulberry, the daughter of Mulberry/Pleasant View Bi-County School Board member Terry Durham; and Ashlyn Carter of Lavaca,

Continued on next page

Report Card June 2021 7

ASBA News and notes the daughter of Lavaca School Board member Craig Carter. The J.K. Williams award winner this year was Courtney Coffman of Hoxie, the daughter of Rivercrest School Board member Kevin Weathers. McHaney plans to attend the University of Arkansas – Fayetteville to major in pharmacy. She graduated fourth in a class of 200 with a 4.18 grade McHaney point average and scored a 30 on her ACT. In high school, she was president of the Key Club, secretary of the Leo Club, a member of the National Honor Society, a member of the Student Council, and a member of the Paragould First United Methodist Church Council. McHaney was an AllState and threetime All-American cheerleader and a captain of the squad. Alexander plans to attend the University of Arkansas – Fayetteville to major Alexander

ASBA calendar July 19 and 22 Aug. 2 and 5 FMLA Compliance Workshop Virtual July 18-20 Southern Region Leadership Conference Beau Rivage Biloxi, Mississippi Dec. 8-10 ASBA Annual Conference Marriott Hotel & Statehouse Convention Center

in engineering. He graduated 10th in his class of 104 with a 4.0 grade point average and scored a 33 on his ACT. He was the 2020-21 class president. He was captain of the basketball team and competed on the baseball, track and golf teams. He was a member of the Beta Club, Spanish Club, FFA and Fellowship of Christian Athletes, and he was a member of the United Methodist Youth Group.

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Fisk plans to attend the University of Central Arkansas. She was valedictorian of her class of 23 with a 4.0 grade point average and scored a 27 on Fisk the ACT. She was president of the Future Business Leaders of America and was an EAST student. She was a member of the Student Council, Beta Club and yearbook staff. She volunteered with the Boys and Girls Club and was a member of the Stream Team environmental group. She participated in basketball, softball, tennis, track and cross country. Carter plans to attend the University of Arkansas – Fayetteville and major in psychology. She was valedictorian of her class of 50 with a 4.0545 grade point average and scored a 33 on her ACT. She was vice president of the Student Council, president of the Beta Club, Carter vice president of Future Business Leaders of America and vice president of Family, Career and Community Leaders of America. She was an all-region concert band member and volunteered nearly 300 hours with a youth mission team at homeless shelters in Tulsa. Coffman this May was completing a master’s degree in library media/information technology at the University of Central Arkansas and has a 4.0 grade Coffman point average. She currently teaches eighth grade English at Walnut Ridge Middle School and is a high school cheerleading coach and Lawrence County spelling bee coordinator. She earned her bachelor’s degree in secondary English education in 2015 from Williams Baptist University. She is married and has a two-year-old son.

Southern Region to be in-person at Beau Rivage

After a one-year hiatus, the Southern Region Leadership Conference will return July 18-20 at the Beau Rivage Resort on the Gulf Coast in Biloxi, Mississippi. It will be in-person with no virtual option available. The three participating states – Arkansas, Mississippi and Louisiana – rotate hosting duties. Last year’s event in Hot Springs was cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Because of registration commitments made by the other two state associations, Arkansas will skip its turn and host the conference again in 2023. The conference begins with early bird presentations beginning at 3 p.m. on Sunday, July 18. These will cover legal hot topics such as cybersecurity and

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students’ and employees’ 1st Amendment rights off campus. Speakers will be members of the Adams & Reese LLP Education Team. Monday’s events include a full day of sessions from 8:30 a.m. until 5 p.m. The conference will conclude at noon on Tuesday, July 20. The keynote speaker is Miranda Beard, a motivational speaker who served as president of the National School Boards Association in 2016-17. She spoke at the Southern Region Conference when it was held in Hot Springs

Continued on next page

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ASBA News and notes

in 2017. Dr. David Lee, a frequent speaker at ASBA events, will be one of the general session speakers. Other speakers include Ashlee Lucas, Mississippi’s statewide human trafficking coordinator, and a number of Mississippi board members and superintendents. Registration costs are $395 for preregistrants and $425 on site. The early bird seminar will cost $125. The cost for spouses and guests is $90 and includes the cost of meals and access to sessions. The deadline to register is July 14. There is a limited room block at the Beau Rivage Resort & Casino at a rate of $169 plus $15 resort fee per night, plus taxes. For those wanting to go early, a smaller block of rooms is available for July 17 at a rate of $209 plus $15 resort fee and taxes. To receive this rate, please mention that you are attending the Southern Region Leadership Conference. To make your hotel reservations online, visit https://bit.ly/3wcRFgM, or call the Beau Rivage Resort at 888-5676667 or 228-386-7111.

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ASBA school law books available in eBook form

ASBA is accepting pre-orders for the 2021-22 edition of Arkansas School Laws Annotated, which will be published for the first time in eBook form. Requests for an electronic format have increased as eBooks have become more common. Districts that order this new medium will receive instructions to download a copy when the printed books are shipped in October. The electronic publication will offer searchable index and text. After the initial download, you will not need an internet connection to view your copy. Copy and print restrictions will be in place to limit those functions. Copies are $75 each and include shipping and handling. Visit ASBA’s website located at arsba.org to get started. Work on the book began with the recess of the 93rd General Assembly on April 30. ASBA’s Model Policy Service provides districts with a template for policy manuals. All school districts subscribe to the service. While it provides guidance on appropriate responses to laws, it doesn’t restate the law. Districts are encouraged to provide copies of the law book to all district and building administrators as well as other employees who work on policy manuals. The book provides context and annotation that detail the history of changes to laws over time. The publication is also an accepted common frame of reference used by school administrators, the Division of Elementary and Secondary Education and Arkansas Legislative Audit. More than 1,600 bills were filed during the session. The Arkansas School Laws Annotated assembles code throughout all laws that intersect with public education. For example, Act 375 prohibits unlawful “doxxing” of a minor on social media. Doxxing is publishing private or identifying information about a person on social media with a malicious purpose. The law makes doxxing a crime and imposes penalties ranging from a Class A misdemeanor to a Class

C felony depending on the level of harm experienced by the minor targeted. ASBA does not order copies beyond those in the pre-order. To ensure your district has the copies it needs, make plans to pre-order them. Visit arsba.org for more information.

Administrative Directives sessions are this summer

ASBA will again hold its popular training session, Administrative Directives and Hard Conversations, at its headquarters in Little Rock this summer. ASBA staff attorney Kristen Garner will use real-life scenarios to teach building administrators and classified supervisors how to properly document employee misconduct or performance problems, while at the same time explaining to school board members what goes on behind the scenes (and why they can and should have no participation in this process). Year after year, participants say this in-depth and hands-on training is the most valuable and useful training they have had. Sessions will be held July 15, 27 and 29. Each session will begin at 9 a.m. and dismiss at 2 p.m. The number of registrants for these five-hour workshops will be limited, so reserve your spot soon. Lunch will be provided onsite and is included in the registration fee. If you have questions, please contact Dr. Anne Butcher at abutcher@arsba.org. Register at ASBA’s website, arsba. org.

Four districts win May millage votes Voters in four Arkansas school districts approved increased or extended millage rates while voters in two districts rejected such requests during school elections May 18. Mountainburg voters approved an increase of 4.9 debt service mills through 2051 and an extension of an existing 14.1 mills through that year for a bond issue to raise $10.31 million.

The money will be used to construct a new 1,000-seat all-purpose high school arena with a gymnasium, band room and stage. It also will pay for renovating the middle school/high school cafeteria and for making other improvements, including upgrades, repairs and renovations for the science and agriculture labs. The vote increased the district’s total millage rate from 39.1 to 44 mills. The final vote count was 125-81. Elsewhere, South Pike County School District voters approved a 14-year extension of 9.5 debt service mills to 2051. The money will be used for a new safe room, additional bathrooms, a bandstand at the football field, and teacher raises. The vote was 99-33. Springdale voters approved a 10year extension of the district’s 15.5 debt service mills, from 2041 to 2051, in order to finance $125 million in new classrooms and facilities at Central Junior High, Southwest Junior High and Springdale High School. The state had committed $35 million through the Academic Facilities Partnership Program if the district could produce the other $90 million. The vote was 342-75. In Elkins, voters approved an extension of 19 debt service mills. The vote was 134-9. The bonds will pay to renovate the primary, elementary and middle schools, construct a multipurpose activities center at Elkins High School, and make other improvements. The millage rate decreased from 44.2 to 44.

Voters said no to two districts’ requests. In Cleveland County, they rejected a 5-mill increase to pay for an $8.5 million bond issue to fund five construction projects, including a 1,500-seat arena, a cafeteria expansion, a renovation of Rison Elementary, a new track, and a new two-bay bus maintenance shop. The vote was 504-615. In Mountain Pine, voters rejected a 4.8-mill increase from 39.9 to 44.7 mills for a new multipurpose building and classrooms. The vote was 108-157.

Rankin named to State Board

Gov. Asa Hutchinson has appointed Dr. Beth Anne Rankin to the State Board of Education. The founder of Beth Anne Productions has been a Music Teachers National Association naRankin tionally certified teacher of music and was director of K-12 music and choir at Columbia Christian School. She was executive director of the Arkansas 529 college investing plans program and was associate director of development at Southern Arkansas University. She served as Gov. Mike Huckabee’s state-federal affairs policy advisor. Rankin completed her doctorate in education in 2020 at Vanderbilt Univer-

sity. She focused her doctoral capstone research on transformational teacher leadership. Rankin was Miss Arkansas 1994. During her year of service, she presented 158 youth leadership programs to more than 75,000 Arkansas students. She served on the Ouachita Baptist University Board of Trustees in 201516. She was appointed to the Arkansas Martin Luther King, Jr. Commission, the Daisy Gatson Bates Holiday Planning Committee, and the Arkansas Election Reform Study Commission. An organizational leadership consultant and teacher, she resides in Magnolia and is active in multiple ministries at Central Baptist Church, Magnolia Arts, and P.E.O., an international philanthropic education organization. Other State Board members as of press time are Charisse Dean, Ouida Newton, Dr. Fitz Hill, Dr. Sarah Moore, Adrienne Woods, Steve Sutton, Kathy McFetridge, and Susan Chambers. All were appointed by Hutchinson. Sutton and McFetridge are former school board members. Chambers’ term was to end June 30. The Arkansas Teacher of the Year serves as a nonvoting State Board member. Fort Smith teacher Susanna Post assumes those duties July 1. The current Teacher of the Year is Springdale educator Joel Lookadoo. Newton, a longtime educator, was the 2015 Teacher of the Year.

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Joint Leadership Conference

Spend COVID funds on COVID Schools are getting a lot of money, but they must make sure it’s directly related to the pandemic. Combatting learning loss is one such area.

School districts must ensure the federal dollars they receive for the COVID-19 pandemic are actually spent responding to the pandemic. That was one of the messages shared at ASBA’s Joint Leadership Conference with the Arkansas Association of Educational Administrators May 4. ASBA’s first in-person conference since early 2020 included 165 on-site participants and 200 attending virtually. Sessions focused on COVID-related federal funds, combatting learning loss, rezoning after the census, school safety, and the 2021 legislative session. Arkansas schools are receiving $1.27 billion from the American Rescue Plan. Ninety percent will go to school districts, with the rest going to the state Department of Education. It’s the third of three federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) COVID-related payments, said Ivy Pfeffer, Division of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) deputy commissioner. The first payments came from the CARES Act in March 2020, when Arkansas schools and the state received $128 million. The second totaling $558 million came in December through the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act. Through all three appropriations, schools and the state have been required to spend the money specifically to prevent, prepare and respond to COVID. Funds can be used broadly for all schools and all students, or they can be targeted to specific needs. Those areas include direct student supports, technology, facilities and other expenses. Eligible expenses also include those related to budgetary shortfalls caused by COVID. Shortfalls haven’t been an issue in Arkansas because school funding has not been cut. However, schools next year could see funding reductions 12 June 2021 Report Card

SHERIDAN MIDDLE SCHOOL PRINCIPAL Lupe Pene de Martinez speaks during a panel discussion regarding learning loss at the ASBA-AAEA Joint Leadership Conference.

because of smaller average daily memberships. Pfeffer traced how those federal dollars have been used. Districts used the initial CARES Act funding for reopening schools, technology, cleaning and personal protective equipment (PPE). The state used it for digital curriculum, digital classes, formative assessments, a comprehensive system for contact tracing, a wi-fi program, pay for teacher leave, and engaging disengaged students. With the second round of funding, districts were focused more on air quality, facilities, transportation, and paying teachers more for extra work. The state focused on teaching academies, the second year of digital content, and formative assessments. Pfeffer said the state maximized its use of these additional funds and saw significant successes as a result. Un-

like most states, all students had the opportunity for in-person instruction. At the school year’s beginning, 63% of students were learning in person while 37% were learning remotely or through hybrid instruction. Now, 70% are learning in person. She noted that the state had tested more than 90% of its students with three weeks remaining in the testing phase. “I don’t think there’s anybody out there that ever thought that we would meet the 95% testing line, right?” she said. “I don’t think anybody thought when we started school last August that we would be in after Labor Day, did we? OK. But look at what we’ve done. We’ve been in school. Yes, it’s been hard. Yes, there have been interruptions, but we’ve been in school, we’ve provided those opportunities to kids, and now we’re going to be able to have

information and data that’s going to help us in developing a plan for us to sustain and maintain and continue on those opportunities.” Among the concerns is a significant decline in pre-K and primary grade students in 2020 and an enrollment decline of 6,428 students in 2020-21 that will affect districts’ average daily memberships long-term. Schools must prepare for students who may be less ready to learn. With the American Rescue Plan, the focus has shifted, Pfeffer said. It’s no longer so much about getting kids back to school. Instead, schools will need to take a longer view. “Now the intent and the acknowledgement even from U.S. Department of Ed is really that these funds need to be used to maximize in-person learning, sustain safe operations of schools, and address academic, social, emotional and the mental health impacts of COVID,” she said.

This third round of funding required the state to submit a plan by June 7, while districts were required to develop their own plans that would not be approved Pfeffer by DESE but instead would be posted on the district’s website. Pfeffer said school districts should have meaningful consultations with stakeholders. “This third round of funds, (there is) a lot more money and a lot more to think about if we’re really going to focus on sustainability and coming out of this on the other side even better – developing systems, building capacity so that we are able to do a better job after COVID than we were able to do before,” she said. In a panel discussion covering learning loss, Stacy Smith, DESE deputy

commissioner, said districts must start with their current data as they consider how they spend their American Rescue Plan money. “You’ve got to look at your data, and you’ve got to make a plan, and this is honestly the time for Arkansas to make a plan that systemically changes education in our state,” she said. Smith said community partnerships will be an important part of the process. School districts should consider where students will be spending their summer and consider if they can partner with community organizations. After-school and summer programs must have a focus. Districts should start with asking what essential learning students must have and consider what the data says is missing. McCrory has one of those partnerships with ARcare, a medical provider with a local office, to do a summer program at the elementary school, said Dr.

James (Beau) Simpson

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Joint Leadership Conference

Security MOUs, audits now required

Legislation establishes Center for School Safety as state’s clearinghouse; ASBA on Advisory Board

School security laws passed during the legislative session will require school districts with school resource officers to have a memorandum of understanding with local law enforcement agencies and will require school districts to complete safety audits every three years. Dr. Cheryl Mays, director of the University of Arkansas System’s Criminal Justice Institute, said the laws grew from the work of previous school safety efforts. Mays made her remarks at the ASBA-AAEA Joint Leadership Conference May 4. Two identical laws, Acts 622 and 551, require school districts with school resource officers (SRO) to have a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the local law enforcement agency. The MOU must govern financial responsibilities, chain of command, SRO selection and evaluation, roles and responsibilities, and other duties. The Division of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) and the Arkansas Center for School Safety will develop a model memorandum. School districts with their own institutional law enforcement officers are required to adopt policies covering the same areas. Mays said SROs can serve as mentors, counselors and “prevention spe-

cialists.” They can improve students’ perceptions of law enforcement. But they need the right resources to maximize what they do. The legislation requires law enforcement personnel assigned to a public school campus to complete a 40-hour basic training program developed or approved by the Arkansas Center for School Safety. Mays said the training will be provided at no cost. Officers will be required to obtain and maintain certification in Youth Mental First Aid. They also annually will complete 12 hours of public school-specific continuing education. SROs who provide services only for extracurricular activities are exempt. Superintendents and principals are required to complete a one-hour training course within nine months of accepting or employing a school resource officer. Mays said the number of SROs has been growing since 2012, the year of the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting in Newtown, Connecticut. There are now about 445 SROs in Arkansas, although a significant number have not had 40 hours of training, she said.. About 11 districts have their own police departments. Center is state’s clearinghouse Two other companion laws, Acts 620 and 648, define the Institute’s Arkansas Center for School Safety as the state’s school safety clearinghouse. It will serve as a resource for DESE, other education groups includ-

Nathan White, the district’s superintendent. The district also was sending summer learning kits home with students. Novella Humphrey, director of curriculum/federal programs with the Southside School District, said only 10% of her district’s 2,000 students are virtual, and it’s only 3% in grades K-5. Half the virtual students plan to return. Her district plans to address learning loss through face-to-face instruction. The focus will be on being at school all day long and on time. Her district has created reading programs for grades K-8. Students in grades K-3 were taking home four books on the last day of the year. Teachers every other week are doing a social media blitz focused on one of the books. Grades 4-8 took home a fiction and a nonfiction book. Nonfiction reading will be a 14 June 2021 Report Card

ing ASBA, and private schools. The legislation created an advisory board that includes ASBA’s director or a designee. The legislation requires school districts to conduct a comprehensive school safety audit every three years in collaboration with local law enforcement, fire and emergency management officials. Among the areas to be audited are exterior and interior safety and security, access control, and school climate and culture. It also requires schools to conduct annual lockdown drills in collaboration with local law enforcement and emergency management officials. Mental health is also part of the legislation. Mental health awareness training will be added to licensed school personnel’s required two hours of training for teen suicide awareness. Another provision requires school counselors to receive Youth Mental Health First Aid training every four years. Mays said the legislation updated provisions of previous school safety legislation passed in 2015 to reflect current best practices. Another security-related law, Act 964, allows the superintendent to notify the school resource officer of a licensed employee suspension or termination. When necessary for campus security and student safety, the superintendent can share the reason for the suspension and the identity of other individuals involved in the recommendation of the termination.

particular focus after data showed some students were weak in that area. Humphrey said the loss of extracurricular activities due to COVID caused some students to disengage. “We’re trying to help kids become excited and fall in love with school and learning and reading again,” she said. “We’re trying to give them a sense of hope that school is where we can build that.” Sheridan Middle School Principal Lupe Pene de Martinez said her district knew learning loss would occur, so it has been asking teachers to make recommendations on how to address it. Likewise, her middle school students have been empowered.

“You cannot find a more passionate group of people, right?” she said. “Yes, they sequester them in their own facility for a reason, but they are also passionate. I mean, you give them a little bit of just an inch, and they will shock you. They will shock you with how innovative they are, and you don’t even have to teach them.” Asked by ASBA Executive Director Dr. Tony Prothro what groups of students concerned the educators the most, Humphrey said it was younger students. Smith said the state had seen the biggest enrollment declines in the earliest grades, which is concerning because research has demonstrated the importance of reading by the third grade. She said educators need to start addressing issues systematically. One concern, she said, related to how masks will affect the way younger students hear sounds and therefore how well they learn to read. Smith said educators need to be intentional about how they address learning loss issues. “We can’t wait to start the intervention,” she said. “Don’t let someone say to you, ‘They’ll grow in a year. Just give them time. They’ll catch up.’ That’s a red flag.” Smith said now is the time to invest in teachers. As an example, the state recently launched the Special Education Resource Academy to pay for teachers to earn 12-15 hours of college credit for special education endorsements. She said Pkease see CONFERENCE, page 31

ASBA PRESIDENT ROSA BOWMAN of the Ashdown School Board addresses Joint Leadership Conference participants.

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Report Card June 2021 15

CAPITAL THINKING: A NATIONAL PERSPECTIVE ON FUNDING K-12 EDUCATION CAPITAL PROJECTS APRIL 21, 2021

From pandemic-induced remote learning

The panel discusses the impact of the COVID-19 pan-

to historic winter storms, K-12 education

demic and other disasters, remote learning, common

decision makers in Arkansas, Texas and Tennessee have faced an enormous amount of critical challenges over the past 12 months. And despite all of these transformative changes, one thing remains constant: that brick-and-mortar

funding hurdles, political considerations, as well as how to achieve efficiencies in funding K-12 education capital projects. Here are a few key highlights.

ALMA SCHOOL DISTRICT — Arkansas Mr. Woolly says Alma School District was in the midst of planning for refunding and restructuring bonds to lower its annual payment, and generating additional funds for

educational institutions are still essential

a small construction project when the pandemic struck

knowledge centers to school districts

in March 2020. After reassessing due to COVID-19 and

across the U.S.

making certain changes regarding HVAC and construc-

Leigh Ann Biernat, a Certified Public Accountant and Senior Vice President in the Public Finance team at Stephens Inc., co-hosts the team’s inaugural webinar in its new virtual thought leadership series, Capital Thinking:

tion, Alma School District presented the plan to voters. The plan included a reduction in property taxes paid by the citizens, and it was approved in November. The district also was able to use financial support from the CARES Act, Mr. Woolly says.

Public Finance Insights for Today’s Market. The webinar

Regarding the political landscape, he says that school

series explores the challenges and opportunities affecting

districts must be prepared to make the case to taxpayers

capital projects for state, municipal and county govern-

that funding new K-12 education capital projects are still

ment transactions. This first entry focuses on a national

worthwhile. This entails explaining to voters how lack of

perspective on funding K-12 education capital projects.

taxpayer funding will likely affect students and teachers

Alfred Ray, a Vice President at Stephens Public Finance who holds a Ph.D. in educational administration and spent 30 years in public education in Texas, serves as co-host with Ms. Biernat. In the webinar, they speak with three expert panelists: David Woolly, Superintendent of the Alma School District in Arkansas and former Vice Chair of the Board of Directors of the Arkansas Public School Computer Network; Johnny Hill, Chief Financial Officer at the Allen Independent School District in Texas and a CPA; and Dr. Donna Wright, the Wilson County Director of Schools in Tennessee.

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long-term, down to details such as whether or not children will be able to have air conditioning while in school.

ALLEN ISD — Texas Mr. Hill says Allen Independent School District went 100 percent remote for the remainder of 2020 shortly after COVID-19 was declared a pandemic in the United States, by leveraging technology that already was in place. Allen ISD spent millions of dollars to upgrade school building ventilation and filtration systems, add signage throughout common areas to guide students on social distancing, and purchase personal protective equipment.

Winter Storm Uri, which battered Texas in February 2021

WATCH THE WEBINAR TODAY

and damaged the state’s power grid, has had knock-on

You can watch the full webinar from Stephens Public

political ramifications for the district, Mr. Hill says.

Finance, A National Perspective on Funding K-12

As state legislators have struggled to meet budgeting

Education Capital Projects at:

needs for Texas, Allen ISD has sought to become more

capital-thinking-public-finance-insights-for-todays-

efficient with operations — cutting $6 million from its own budget—in anticipation of receiving less state-level funding over the next couple years.

WILSON COUNTY SCHOOLS — Tennessee

market.videoshowcase.net Please be sure to return for future entries in this new webinar series, Capital Thinking: Public Finance Insights for Today’s Market.

Dr. Wright says a devastating tornado, which hit Wilson County two weeks before the pandemic, had greatly Leigh Ann Biernat, CPA Senior Vice President (501) 377-6316 leighann.biernat@stephens.com

damaged a middle school and an elementary school in the district, displacing 1,700 students and 150 staff members. This unexpected disaster forced Wilson County Schools to solve financial and logistical needs for supporting those students and staff remotely. Among other things, this required taking steps to improve their access to high-

Dr. Alfred Ray Vice President (214) 258-2733 alfred.ray@stephens.com

speed broadband internet. A high-performing school district must be especially aware of political issues, Dr. Wright says, because it often has to manage public awareness that the district is a good steward of tax dollars on the local, state and federal levels. This may be accomplished by retaining highly qualified and effective teachers, and demonstrating continued growth of a successful student population. Taking this approach during good economic times can alleviate some of the political challenges of funding K-12 education that arise during bad economic times, she says.

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Cover / A good session for schools

MORE MONEY FOR TEACHERS. Gov. Asa Hutchinson signs into law Acts 679 and 680, which were companion bills that raised the statewide target median teacher salary to $51,822 and provided $185 per student to districts falling below that amount. Behind Hutchinson at the bill signing April 12 from left are Sen. Missy Irvin, R-Mountain View, the Senate Education Committee chair and primary Senate sponsor of the bills; El Dorado School District Superintendent Jim Tucker; Rep. Jon Eubanks, R-Paris, a former Paris School Board member; and El Dorado teacher/coach Ashlee Curtis. The acts provided about $800,000 to the El Dorado School District. That night, the school board voted to give teachers a $2,000 raise.

A good session for schools The legislative session featured the largest school funding increase in more than a decade, while lawmakers also provided money for teacher salary increases

The 2021 state legislative session was a good one for Arkansas’ public schools and public school teachers, including those in El Dorado. Teachers there received a $2,000 salary increase the same day Gov. Asa Hutchinson signed into law Acts 679 and 680, which were companion bills that raised the statewide target median 18 June 2021 Report Card

teacher salary $2,000 to $51,822 the next two years. For districts below that amount, the bill provided $185 multiplied by the district’s average daily membership during the previous school year. Districts are not penalized for failing to meet that target. The House and Senate Education Committees will set statewide targets for later school years as part of the adequacy review process. According to the legislation, the gap between the highest average salary, $60,963, and the lowest of $39,578 was $21,385 in 2019. The legislation was a priority of Hutchinson’s, who said as he signed the bill that $15 million will come from

adequacy funding passed by the Legislature, while $10 million will come from the educational adequacy trust fund. The bill will mean an additional $800,000 for the El Dorado School District. Superintendent Jim Tucker attended the bill signing along with Ashlee Curtis, a career and technical education teacher and ninth grade head girls basketball and track coach. El Dorado School Board members that night passed salary increases that included a $2,000 raise for all certified staff. The act accounted for about $1,000 of that amount. “Teachers deserve to be fairly compensated,” Tucker said at the bill signing. “Teachers deserve more than what

they get. They are the lifeline of our state, and I am very, very happy about this bill and am excited for our teachers in El Dorado School District.” The increase won’t be enough to allow El Dorado to equal the state target, but it will close the gap. Curtis said teachers have been aware that the district’s salaries are lower than they are in some other districts, but on the other hand, teachers have the administration’s full support and she feels appreciated. Still, more money is nice, and the pay raise was a major topic of discussion. “The lounge, the parking lots, dinner, snack time – it didn’t matter. We were talking about it,” she said. The district was able to provide the $2,000 raises because of that extra funding and also because lawmakers also increased per-student foundation funding from $7,018 in 2020-21 to $7,182 in 2021-22 and to $7,349 in 2022-23. Those 2.3% annual increases were the largest in more than a decade and came as a result of the legislative adequacy review process that occurs in the months before each session. Lawmakers also increased funding in specific areas. Alternative learning environment funding rose from $4,700 per student in 2020-21 to $4,794 in 2021-22 and to $4,890 in 2022-23. Funding for English language learners increased from $352 per student in 2020-21 to $359 in 2021-22 and to $366 in 202223. Professional development funding

remained the same at $40.80 over the next two fiscal years, but legislators did increase professional development funding for professional learning communities from $12.5 million in 2021-22 to $14.5 million in 2021-22 and $16.5 million in 2022-23. The money funds a program where the state selects schools and districts for training and support to build collaborative student learning cultures. Legislators did not increase Enhanced Student Achievement funding, which is provided to districts based on how many students are eligible for free and reduced price meals. However, Act 322 did change some of the processes school districts must follow. Districts now must submit a three-year expenditure plan to the Division of Elementary and Secondary Education for approval. Their plan should demonstrate justification behind the need for their requested expenditures to enhance student achievement. School districts must review the plan annually. Additionally, Act 909 allows school districts that were eligible to receive special needs isolated funding and have experienced a decline in average daily membership to receive both the special needs isolated funding and declining enrollment funding. Previously, they could receive only one of the two. In El Dorado, all the extra money is appreciated, but as Tucker explained, “There’s plenty to spend on,” including for learning recovery expenses resulting

from the COVID-19 pandemic, and for next year’s pandemic response. Private school tax credit In other business, legislators passed a new private school scholarship program funded by donations encouraged by tax credits. Under Act 904, donations from individuals or corporations to scholarship-granting organizations will be eligible for a 100% tax credit. Students from families with incomes no larger than 200% of the federal poverty level will be eligible to receive the scholarships. The program is currently capped at $2 million, with the credits awarded on a first come, first served basis. An independent research organization will report year-to-year learning gains on a statewide basis, but it won’t describe the performances of specific private schools or individual students. That bill arose late in the session after a similar bill, House Bill 1371, had failed in the House. Proponents said the program helps students enroll in the school that best meets their needs and that it would offer poor students the same opportunity to attend private schools as wealthier ones. While such goals are laudatory, ASBA considers each issue through three filters: First, is it good for children? Second, does it help build an education ethic? And finally, is everyone held appropriately accountable? ASBA Continued on next page

Grimsley Junior High School, Bentonville

Report Card June 2021 19

Cover / A good session for schools opposed the bill because its membership traditionally has opposed legislation that would divert public funds, or funds that otherwise would have been public funds, to private schools that are not required to meet the same standards as traditional public schools and have limited accountability. Another law, Act 689, made children of a member of the uniformed services eligible for the Succeed Scholarship Program, which provides students vouchers to attend private schools. Previously that scholarship, which legislators created in 2015, was available only to students with disabilities and those in foster care. Legislation pertaining to transgender students made national headlines. Act 461 requires all school sports to be designated by gender, with female sports closed to male students based on biological sex. State government entities, licensing and accrediting organizations, and athletic associations are prohibited from taking adverse action against the schools. Students and schools who are negatively affected by violations of the law would have a private cause of action against the school for injunctive relief and unlimited monetary damages. Act 953 authorizes the attorney general to enforce violations of the act. Lawmakers passed a number of instruction-related bills. Act 414 requires all students to complete a unit of credit in a high school computer science course in order to graduate, beginning with the entering ninth grade class of 2022-23. Beginning with the 2023-24 school year, all districts must employ a high school computer science teacher. The act was a priority of the governor’s. Act 552 requires public schools to make available to parents materials related to sex education, sexual orientation, and gender identity. Act 684 codifies existing ASBA model policy allowing parents to review and challenge instructional materials, events and activities. Act 611 requires the Holocaust to be taught in all public schools. Act 259 adds the late Rep. John Walker, D-Little Rock, a prominent desegregation attorney, to the list of Arkansas civil rights leaders to be studied in school. Act 606 prohibits school districts from using instructional programs for students in grades K-2 that 20 June 2021 Report Card

PROVIDING THE SCOOP. Dan Jordan, ASBA governmental relations director, left, and Dr. Mike Hernandez, executive director of the Arkansas Association of Educational Administrators, discuss bills passed during the legislative session at the ASBA and AAEA Joint Leadership Conference May 4.

do not comply with the Science of Reading. School districts that fail to comply with this provision could lose up to 10% of their foundation funding until the State Board of Education finds them in compliance. Several education-related laws dealt specifically with the COVID-19 pandemic. Act 1002 prohibits a governmental entity from mandating masks as a condition for entry into a facility, receipt of education, or the providing of services. Act 977 prohibits students from being required to be vaccinated to attend class and prohibits employers from coercing employees into being vaccinated. Act 89 suspends public school letter grades this past school year because of the pandemic. Act 56 allows board meetings to be held virtually during a governor-declared state of emergency. Board members must have a policy for remote attendance and cannot enter into executive session during the virtual meeting. School elections changes Act 610 includes several provisions related to school elections after Jan. 1, 2022. It moves odd-year annual school elections to the second Tuesday in May or to the second Tuesday in November to coincide with the dates of other

special elections. They previously were held on the third Tuesday in May or the first Tuesday following the first Monday in November. It also eliminates the requirement that a special millage election must take place prior to the annual school election and sets four times per year when millage elections may take place. In odd years, they can be the second Tuesday of February, May, August or November. In gubernatorial election years, they can be the second Tuesday of February and August, four weeks prior to the third Tuesday in June, or the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November. In presidential election years, they can be the second Tuesday in May and August and the first Tuesday after the first Monday in March or November. Dan Jordan, ASBA governmental relations director, said other bills filed by legislators would have further limited school millage elections. With four potential millage election dates, Act 610 gave districts more flexibility to respond to local needs and take advantage of favorable movements in the bond market. Three other new laws relate directly to school elections. Act 349 amends the one-week candidate filing period for fall elections to end 90 days prior to the election instead of Aug. 1. Act 85 removes the requirement for the commis-

sioner of elementary and secondary education to approve the date of special millage elections. Act 511 adjusts timelines for school districts that must undergo redistricting as a result of having 10% minority populations in the latest census. School boards will be required to publish a resolution requiring zone and at-large elections 90 days before the filing deadline rather than the previous 30. That last bill was part of ASBA’s legislative package. Three other bills that were part of that package were passed into law. Act 261 increases the time a board has to fill a board vacancy after a board member’s death from 30 to 60 days. Act 262 allows the commissioner of elementary and secondary education to round up the annual bid threshold increase to the nearest $100. Act 182 requires board members to receive training regarding school safety and student discipline in their initial nine hours. The law also standardizes the format of the superintendent’s annual report on board training hours. It also increases the window for a board member to cure deficient training hours so that now it lasts from Jan. 1 through 30 days following the board’s January meeting. Lawmakers passed two bills related to student displays of patriotism. Act 958 requires a school to play or perform the “Star Spangled Banner” at the beginning of each schoolsanctioned sporting event and at least once a week during school hours. Act 959 requires public schools to observe a moment of silence following the daily recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance and to recite the Pledge at school assemblies and sporting events. Among the other education-related laws passed this session were the following. – Act 688 requires that, starting with the 2022-23 school year, the first day of school be no earlier than the Monday two weeks prior to Labor Day, and allows districts to convert student instructional days to hours. – Act 678 provides a procedural process for when the State Board of Education will review or repeal Act 1240 waivers and requires the superintendent and board president to be notified of the State Board’s intention to review the waivers. – Act 968 doubles the tax deduction a teacher can claim for eligible classroom expenditures from $250 to $500. – Act 556 adds as mandated reporters all full-time and parttime employees as well as volunteer coaches and directors of athletic and nonathletic teams and clubs. Jordan noted that some school board members may volunteer in those capacities and therefore become subject to the law. – Act 264 clarifies that a driver must come to a complete stop not less than 30 feet before a stopped school bus that is loading and unloading passengers in front of a public roadway; a private or public property open to the general public; or a private or public road, driveway or parking lot belonging to a K-12 public or private school. – Act 350 allows land previously donated by the land commissioner to be transferred to school districts for establishing a school. – Act 662 allows contiguous districts to accept a campus from another district that was considering closing it after receiving it through consolidation.

– Act 513 allows the state to grant a teaching license for undocumented individuals who are covered by the U.S. government’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy. – Act 663 allows school districts to adopt a bilingual or dual-immersion program approved by the Division of Elementary and Secondary Education. – Act 657 allows college professors to be issued a teaching license after completing application requirements. – Act 621 clarifies that school districts are required to increase their total contribution rate to employees’ health insurance by the same percentage that the district increases the base salary for licensed personnel with a minimum of a bachelor’s degree. – Act 820 prohibits schools from knowingly entering into any transaction with an individual or entity that provides abortions. – Act 1084 restricts the use of physical restraints outside of emergencies to staff who have been trained in the least restrictive technique necessary. – Act 933 allows schools to use federal funds to provide students free feminine hygiene products. – Act 730 changes the required passing score on the United States citizenship civics test from 60 correct answers to 60%, a change that was needed after the number of questions was increased. – Act 1089 requires at least one of a district’s nurses each year to participate in professional development related to

Please see SESSION on page 23

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Report Card June 2021 21

Cover / Schools did all right

A look back at the legislative session

Numerous laws will or could affect school boards and districts, so we’ll be watching what happens next

So the most recent General Assembly has been completed … finally. Let’s take a quick look at laws that will or may have an impact on school boards and districts. Many of these laws are covered elsewhere in this magazine, but some aren’t. – Act 873 creates a sales tax exemption for sales of goods and services to a parent teacher organization that is affiliated with a public school. Included in the exemption are the organization’s ticket sales to fundraising events. – Act 556 adds school personnel and adult volunteers to the list of required reporters under the Child Maltreatment Act. It adds an exemption for attorneys who obtain information concerning child maltreatment in the course of providing legal representation. – Act 182 changes school board member training requirements, the format of the training requirements report that superintendents submit, and the time by which a school board member may cure a training hour deficiency. – Act 85 removes the requirement that the commissioner of elementary and secondary education approve the date of a special school election. – Act 89 requires the Division of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) to suspend the public school rating system for the 2021-22 school year due to the disruption to education caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. – Act 977 prohibits schools, licensing entities, and employers (who are granted immunity from civil liability for injuries resulting from exposure) from mandating COVID-19 vaccinations through discrimination or coercion. – Act 971 increases the teacher’s classroom expense deduction from 22 June 2021 Report Card

by Jay Bequette ASBA General Counsel $250 to $500 for individuals, and from $500 to $1,000 for married teachers filing jointly. – Act 678 requires the State Board of Education to give the superintendent and the school board president at least 15 business days’ notice before conducting a review of a waiver that was granted following a petition. – Act 349 sets the beginning of the filing period for school board positions at 90 days before a general election. – Act 261 provides a school board with an additional 30 days to fill a vacancy in the event that the vacancy is caused by death. – Act 688 authorizes the first day of the school year to be as early as the Monday two weeks before Labor Day beginning in 2022-23. It also prohibits waivers and provides for implementation of an alternate school calendar. – Act 684 requires school districts to develop policies and procedures for providing parents and guardians access to instructional materials and the opportunity to challenge materials, events and activities associated with classroom instruction. – Act 622 requires school districts that accept a school resource officer to file a defined memorandum with a local law enforcement agency. It also requires school resource officers and their supervisors to complete specified training. – Act 511 changes the notice requirements for school board elections

related to the composition of the school boards that are up for election. It provides more time for districts following a census when they must calculate minority populations. – Act 620 revises the 2015 School Safety Act. It requires school safety audits every three years, revises safety drill procedures, and creates the Advisory Board of the Arkansas Center for School Safety of the Criminal Justice Institute. – Act 964 authorizes a school superintendent to notify a school resource officer of the recommended termination of a teacher and allows the superintendent to disclose additional details if they believe there are risks to campus security or student safety. – Act 1084 requires school districts to implement measures to avoid the use of physical restraint on a student to the greatest extent possible without endangering the safety of other students and school personnel. – Act 1016 requires DESE to establish a network of certified academic language therapists, required to convene annually, to establish and coordinate a dyslexia therapy training program for educators. – Act 322 charges the Division of Elementary and Secondary Education with developing rules for school funding, requires each school district to submit a three-year enhanced student achievement plan by July 1, 2022, and requires an annual plan review. – Act 1024 authorizes the licensed carry of concealed handguns in any building owned or operated by a county, municipal, or other governmental entity, and in which alcohol is not regularly served and handguns are not otherwise prohibited under § 5-73-122. We will be carefully monitoring the inevitable commissioner’s memos and rules promulgated by DESE to implement these laws.

Session Continued from page 21

school nursing mandates and practices. School districts must participate in the Division of Elementary and Secondary Education’s annual health services survey, with the information provided to school boards. – Act 1074 requires the Departments of Education and Health to create guidance and requires districts to include in their wellness priorities four areas from the Healthy Active Arkansas program: physical and built-in environment; nutrition standards; physical education and activity; and age-appropriate breast feeding education. – Act 1070 allows students in grades 7-12 to access vending machines that offer only food and beverages that meet federal Smart Snacks standards, provided access is authorized under the district’s wellness plan. – Act 986 requires payment bonds for public construction project contracts exceeding $50,000. – Act 775 requires water bottle filling stations to be included in new school constructions or in total renovations. – Act 612 prohibits public employee collective bargaining, including for school districts, except for firefighters, police and public transportation employees.

– Act 539 requires the Arkansas Higher Education Coordinating Board to create a higher education consumer guide providing information to students and parents about colleges’ retention and graduation rates, tuition costs, alumni income, and other information. – Act 1066 requires the Division of Higher Education to collect information regarding the cost of college and job opportunities for use by students, parents and guidance counselors. – Act 646 amends previous law to require school districts each year to prepare three-year teacher and administrator recruitment and retention plans by Aug. 1. Districts must review the plans and their own progress annually, and the plans must be posted on the district’s website. The plans must set forth goals for recruiting minority teachers and administrators. Previous law focused only on recruiting minority teachers in districts where more than 5% of the students were minorities. – Act 490 amends the state’s public school choice law so that applications may be received but cannot be accepted until after Jan. 1 Applications under Opportunity School Choice can’t be made to districts that are rated by the state as Level 5 – Intensive Support and to schools within the resident district that have an “F” rating. The session occurred amidst unprecedented protocols caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. ASBA staff members

wore masks inside the Capitol, had their temperatures taken when they entered, and occasionally waited in special holding rooms until legislators needed them to testify. Social distancing was the rule in all committee meetings. Lawmakers were separated by plastic dividers that were removed late in the session when the state’s caseloads fell. The Capitol was a much emptier place than in previous sessions with fewer lobbyists, staff persons, tourists and schoolchildren walking the halls, especially in the first few months of the session. On the plus side, committee agendas made it clearer which bills would be debated, making it easier for ASBA staff to follow the action and reducing the number of unexpected bills being presented. “That process and protocol was just different but quickly became the daily routine,” Jordan said. Jordan thanked lawmakers for their service and thanked school board members for contacting legislators. “I want board members to know their voice is very important,” he said. “Those legislators work hard and they do listen to school board members who are elected just as they are. Again, I want to thank all board members who reached out to communicate with their legislators and let them know that we appreciate their dedication and willingness to get involved in the legislative process. All of their efforts were helpful and appreciated.”

Report Card June 2021 23

EXECUTIVE SESSION with

Laura Clark

By Steve Brawner Editor

Laura Clark has spent her life in McCaskill, a southwest Arkansas town of about 100 people, and now she serves as board president of the Blevins School District where she was educated. A nurse by trade, she became an educator and eventually vice chancellor of academics at the University of Arkansas Hope-Texarkana. She’s responsible for everything directly related to academics, including college transfer courses, workforce certification, and concurrent credit. This past academic year, she served as interim chancellor. Clark still considers herself to be a nurse and is a big believer in workforce education. Students with a skill can earn an income. That belief comes from watching her dad run a concrete business despite being unable to read. Clark discussed her dad’s influence, her philosophy about education, and what happened when she and her daughter discovered a World War II-era bomb on the family’s property. You’re from here? “Yes. I moved to Arkansas when I was about five years old to a little town, McCaskill, which is about six miles west of here, and I have pretty much lived there my entire life since then. I went to school here at Blevins and graduated here. I was here when the new high school was built. I believe my daddy poured the floor of that new high school. I attended the high school here up until I think when we moved in ninth grade. This building remained abandoned for years and then it burned, but we do have the bell tower out of that building. I can remember being in that building. I remember the elementary, played ball in the gym, so it’s a hometown. It’s my hometown.” 24 June 2021 Report Card

Did you have an opponent when you ran for school board? “Not the first time, no.” Did you soon learn why no one else wanted the job? “You know, it can be challenging, but it’s rewarding. I think the great thing about a board – especially if you’re diverse, and we have a diverse board in every aspect: male-female, gender, race, our jobs, our areas that we grew up in – we represent our students. We look like our students, or what they’re going to be. Some are going to go to college,

and I feel like I’m great with that. I can make sure that we’re preparing students or be intuitive in the things that we’re doing for college preparation. Some [board members] went straight to the workforce. They’re intuitive about workforce skills and what you need to do and so forth. So I think it’s really good. We have an educator on our board, and that’s good because they understand public school education.” Did you get a good education here? “I did. I’m a first-generation college student. Many of our kids are going to

be first generation college students. I went off to, at that time, a four-year school clueless, didn’t know what I was doing. I just knew I needed to go to college. My dad was self-employed, and neither parent went to college. My dad didn’t even graduate high school. And so it was kind of a make-it-or-break it thing, and I learned kind of the hard way about college, but I was successful. I went to Henderson, graduated, got my nursing degree there, and started nursing then. It wasn’t until after I ended up teaching there that I thought, well, you know, maybe [I should further my education]. At the time a bachelor’s degree in nursing was really odd. It was rare. There were a lot of two-year programs but not very many four-year programs. And so I thought maybe I should go on. You know, you just never know what you might need. So I went on and while I was working at the college, I went back to school and got my master’s in nursing administration. And then because of that, an opportunity came up with being a dean and being a vice chancellor.” How long did you practice as a nurse? “Before I moved into education, about five years. I worked at Children’s Hospital in Little Rock, and I worked at Howard Memorial in Nashville. And then when I started teaching, then I stopped doing that. I also [earned] my EMT license, and I worked as a volunteer firefighter and a volunteer county deputy, Office of Emergency Management. … I was overseeing the EMT program.”

to keep our masks on, so why would I vote for adult learners to keep their masks on and not for young children to keep theirs? Secondly, Blevins did a survey of approximately how many parents wanted it, just to try to get a feel for it. … There were 30% of parents that really wanted to keep the mask, and my vote went for them. It was because those are the parents who are likely to not send their kid to school because they’ll be fearful. Those are the parents who may have a loved one at home still who is not vaccinated yet. Those are the parents whose kids could be high risk. I said, listen, we’ve got five weeks of school left, and attendance has been an issue at most schools. … And I voted for those 30%. It didn’t hurt anyone to keep wearing a mask, but it could really hurt some for not, so we decided for now we would do that.” What is the balance between the risk of COVID versus the risk of not having school in person? No one would get COVID if we all just stayed in our house. “I think the best balance is science. What does science tell us? And science told us mask wearing and distancing and washing your hands. Those were the three things that science has told us. … I don’t know the statistics here on campus, but I know at our [college] campus where we have 1,500 students there was no spread on campus. It never happened on campus … and I believe it’s true for this campus as well. ... Every instance, it has been at a home, at a birthday party, or some-

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Were you part of the fire department as a medical personnel, or were you fighting fires? “Both.” You just wanted to do that? “Well, we were small. They always gave me the easier job. CRCRAWFORD.COM | 479-251-1161 I could run the machines, I would drive the tanker truck, but yeah, it took all of us.” As a medical professional and a school board member, how have you approached COVID? “We’ve approached it that we want to maintain as safe an environment as possible while not affecting the integrity of education. As far as the school district was concerned, you’re dealing with both face to face, so you have to deal with that, and that’s with distancing, wearing masks, the activities completely really going down. Then of course you have all the online learning, which has been a challenge. I think if a student says it was easy, I’m not sure if they were getting everything, or if it was offered because online learning’s difficult, and not just for the student. It’s extremely difficult for the teacher. I don’t know how a teacher handled both face to face and online students at the same time.” What is Blevins’ mask policy now? “The board did vote to continue mask wearing through the rest of the year. I can’t speak for all board members, but I will speak for myself. Several reasons why I voted that way. Number one, as chancellor of the institution I work at, I voted

CRCRAWFORD.COM

Report Card June 2021 25

Executive Session thing like that where masks weren’t being worn. So what that showed was that there was safety if we followed protocol, and that was the big thing.” What is the University of Arkansas Hope-Texarkana’s focus? “Our focus is community focused, so we do several different things. We do offer programs of study so students can transfer to four-years. We have a group of students that do that. They come to us, they get two years, and they’re going off to another four-year university. Then we have students who need a job skill, and we offer those courses, too. You want to work as an HVAC, you want to work in welding, you’re going to work as a nurse, come to us. When you graduate, you have a job skill to go into the job market. We have a power plant technology program, we have funeral service, lots of varieties. And then we also have the community education sides. Those who are already in the workforce, they already have jobs, but they need some supplemental assistance there, we do that. “We work with our public school districts significantly – with Blevins as well – where we offer what’s called dual enrollment or concurrent credit. We have some faculty here that are qualified to teach college credit courses, and so we work with all of our school districts so the students can get their first taste of a college rigor course before transferring off to the real world where you’re doing high school one day, and then you wake up one day, you’re at a four-year university, you have a liquor store down the road, and you’re dependent on Bubba to wake you up every morning and go to class. ... “In addition to the college side of it, the campus has what’s called a secondary career center so students who are in their junior and senior years can come to campus, take their welding classes, take industrial maintenance, CNA, those things. That way when they do graduate high school, if they want to go to college, fine, we’ll continue. But if that’s not their goal, they really have a job skill and they have a certificate that says, hey, I graduated high school, but I also have a certificate of proficiency in indus26 June 2021 Report Card

what I tell people. I say I’m “an That’s educator. I have a master’s, but

I’m a nurse. That’s my trade. My trade is nursing. I can go anywhere with that trade. I can’t go anywhere necessarily with education, but right now I can go anywhere with that. If you can plumb; if you can weld; if you can do something with your hands, you could probably go anywhere.

”

trial maintenance, so I’d like to start here at this company. … “We have one mission, but our goals are varied, and it’s for the community. It’s to help our students thrive and become hopefully better breadwinners for their families.” What is your philosophy as vice chancellor of academics? “I believe in group decision-making. Although I’ve been there 26 years now, and I have a lot of background and experience, and I’ve seen a lot, and I know processes, I do know that I have to use my people to help make those decisions. So my philosophy is that we do this as a group. We take the best and the brightest, we put them in a committee, and we look at what’s the best way to pursue this. I have academic deans under me, so one of my deans is over all the technical programs – the welding and all that. Any time we’re looking at a program there, I pull her into it and I pull her faculty into it and say, hey, what do you think about this? And she’ll do the same thing. What do you think about this idea? What are the pros of this? What’s it going to cost us? Will we have students? Will they get jobs? What’s the job market out there? That’s the big thing when we look at that. Are we training them for the jobs that they can get here or close by, and is it going to give them a good-paying wage? And then do students want to do that? We can have a great program, but if a student is not interested in it, it’s just going to fall by the wayside. So that’s kind of how we approach it.”

How does your job inform your school board service? “I’m really focused on academics. I look at what are their test scores. What’s our percent of reading? What’s the average ACT? I want to push that. I want rigor. I want to give students a good education so they have the opportunity to use it or not. If they don’t ever get it, they don’t have the opportunity to use it, so it probably plays a very significant role. I’ll ask, can you send students to our [UAHT] campus? Who do you have qualified to teach a college course? Hey, can we do a course with your welding teacher that counts for you guys and us, too? I’m pretty heavy on the actual academic side of that. I want students to be pushed enough that they gain the education we’re supposed to give them. I think it’s a waste if we don’t do that.” And you push workforce. “And I push workforce, yes. That’s what I tell people. I say I’m an educator. I have a master’s, but I’m a nurse. That’s my trade. My trade is nursing. I can go anywhere with that trade. I can’t go anywhere necessarily with education, but right now I can go anywhere with that. If you can plumb, if you can weld, if you can do something with your hands, you could probably go anywhere. If nothing else, you can be an entrepreneur, and you do it on the side. “Those are some skills I think our students need to realize. Yeah, a degree is great. You can have a bachelor’s degree in business, but if you can’t do the accounting, if you can’t oversee people, those kinds of skills, you could run into a problem, so I’m big on it. Especially in our area where most of our population, we’re hands on. We’re skilled workers.”

Is being interim chancellor fun? “I don’t know if I’d use the word ‘fun.’ I take this as, I don’t want to mess it up, and this is an opportunity for me to learn things I didn’t know. I’ve been on the academic side. I’ve not been exposed to student services side or the finance side. We’re building a onemegawatt power plant, and the process of getting that approved happened during this year. So there have been some things I’ve never done. I will never do it again because I won’t be a chancellor again, I don’t guess. It was an opportunity, and I just took it as, ‘Laura, this is an opportunity for you to be better at what you do when you go back to your job.’ And I hope I didn’t mess it up too bad.” Tell me more about your dad. “My dad had a second grade education. He was older and grew up in a time when education wasn’t thought highly of. And I’ll say my dad could not read or write, but he worked by the sweat of his brow. He and my uncle had a trade. They knew how to pour concrete, and they knew how to pour it really, really well. When he moved to Arkansas with him and my family, they started their concrete business here. And I walk around now, this school, other businesses, I see their slabs, and I remember my dad saying, ‘Hey, we poured that slab.’ So I appreciate those who have a skill.”

Your dad’s ability to provide for you has had a huge effect on your approach. “Absolutely. My mother graduated high school, and she would take the really low pay. She would take jobs where she could carry insurance on us. My dad worked Monday through Saturday, and he would even have, he called them ‘scab jobs.’ He could do side jobs. He could do other things. He had other skill sets. “We were poor. We just didn’t know we were poor. But we had everything we needed. We had a cow. I had food. We had a car. I mean, we had a house. We had everything we needed, and so that taught me how important having a skill is. When kids say they’re dating so-andso, even my kids, I say, well, what can he do? I don’t ask what degree does he have. It’s, so what can he do?” Do you tell that story about your dad often? “A few people know this story. I don’t know if a lot know it. But I tell it. I like to tell it to kids because people sometimes look at you and say, ‘Oh, well, I bet your parents are educated, and I bet you went to wherever. And that’s not it at all. … We moved from California when I was five years old. We were 30 days without electricity or water. I mean, we moved into the proving grounds, and my dad went to work the next day, and we started school

that summer, and they started, really, almost like homesteading.” What’s the proving ground? “The proving ground was used [during] World War II to drop bombs and practice bombs.” Was it safe there? “Is it safe? They’ve tried to find them all even though we found a bomb last year on our land over there. We still have 10 acres. My daughter and I dug it up. (Laughs.) Little Rock had to come down and blow it up.” Really? “Yes! (Laughs.) We said, ‘What is this?’ ‘I don’t know.’ ‘Looks like this.’ ‘I don’t know.’ We were kind of messing with it. I said, ‘It doesn’t look like a bomb.’ Doesn’t look like those big missiles. It was little. Looked kind of like a jack. I don’t know. We moved it around. We took some pictures of it and put it out on social media, and [respondents said], ‘Oh, you might need to see.’ “So we called and the police came out, and they sent pictures and said, ‘Yeah.’ So they had to bring down, I think, someone from the Air Force, and the police were there. I mean, it was kind of a big thing. We were metal detecting out there at our old homestead.” Note: Executive Session is edited for length, style and clarity. Conway High School Indoor Practice Facility werarch.com

Designing For Your Home Team WER Architects has teamed with educational campuses across Arkansas to design athletic facilities of all types, including the Indoor Practice Facility at Conway High School. Working together, we can provide unique solutions to your district’s needs. We would love to be a part of your story!

ARCHITECTS/PLANNERS

Report Card June 2021 27

Marketplace

The latest news from Report Card’s advertisers “These buildings will yield many opportunities for our students on both campuses,” said Superintendent Audra Kimball. “We are so pleased with the buildings and excited to be able to offer even more ways for our students to be successful. This will be a great benefit for many.” C.R. Crawford Construction was the construction manager and Architecture Plus was the project architect. For more information, go to crcrawford.com or call 479.251.1161.

All-Clean assists Norfork High after flooding event Entegrity helps All-Clean USA responded to a water damage cleanup at the Norfork High School, where the music room, art room, Concord save on administrative offices and gym had energy costs experienced flooding. The carpet was extracted in the office to ensure proper drying. Five dehumidifiers and 21 fans were set up in the affected areas over the weekend. To learn more about how All-Clean USA can help schools with water, mold or fire/smoke damage, go to allcleanusa. com or call their three locations: Jonesboro, 870.972.1922; Conway, 501.336.0075; and Hot Springs, 501. 760.0075. Someone is available 24/7.

C.R. Crawford completes Huntsville CTE buildings

The Huntsville School District celebrated the opening of two new Career & Technical Education buildings at ribbon-cutting ceremonies in mid-May. A 19,000-square-foot facility in Huntsville will offer CNA, diesel mechanics, welding, and computer science training. A 7,500-square-foot facility in St. Paul will offer CNA training and mechanical training for power sports equipment. 28 June 2021 Report Card

Dr. Kenneth Moore, Superintendent of Concord School District, said, “We are constantly looking for ways to demonstrate leadership and increase the efficiency of our facilities.” By partnering with Entegrity, the district achieves these goals through energy and moneysaving projects such as LED lighting upgrades, a new 341-kilowatt solar array, and smart thermostats. Together, these projects generate over $45,000 in annual savings for the district. To learn more, contact Entegrity at 800.700.1414 or visit www.entegritypartners.com.

First Security Beardsley offers short-term financing

Lease purchases for up to 10 years are available for buses, technology, remodeling and construction. A lease purchase is not a lease but instead is a fully amortizing loan with a stated interest rate. The district owns the asset during the term of the lease purchase. At the end, there is no buyout; the asset is the district’s. Contact your First Security Beardsley representative at 800.965.4644 to see if a lease purchase can save you money. The Beardsley team will complete the IRS form and all required Arkansas Department of Education paperwork.

TIPS purchases on HVACs can be made with ESSER Arkansas school districts that obtain

Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds can utilize TIPS contracts to save additional money. ESSER funds can be used to replace or upgrade existing HVAC units, giving school districts the ability to retain their building fund balance, increase air quality, cut energy costs and pay for these upgrades with the stimulus money. Through TIPS, the competitive bidding process has been completed and a district can choose from multiple vendors that have provided discount pricing and a history of savings. Visit tips-usa. com.covid.cfm for more ways to utilize ESSER funds, including personal protective equipment contracts. For more information, contact Mickey McFatridge at 870.926.9250 or go to www.tips-usa.com.

WER Architects designs school athletic facilities

WER Architects has worked with school districts across the state to design athletic facilities of all sizes and for all needs. It recently worked with Jacksonville-North Pulaski on a high school arena, indoor practice facility and football field, and with the Pulaski County Special School District for its Sylvan Hills High School arena and indoor practice facility. The WER team designs high school athletic facilities to collegiate standards, providing athletes with state-of-the-art equipment while filling spaces with daylight and graphics. WER has also designed the new University of Arkansas J.B. and Johnelle Hunt Family Baseball Development Center, which is opening this summer, and it recently began designing Fayetteville High School’s new athletic facilities. For more information about WER Architects, go to werarch.com.

Stephens says disclosure report filings coming due

Stephens Inc. advises school districts that continuing disclosure annual report filings are due by Sept. 28, 2021. As you may know, when most districts issue bonds they agree to provide certain annual financial information to investors. This is known as a Continuing Disclosure Agreement (CDA). If a district fails to comply, it is in breach of the CDA and could possibly face adverse consequences from investors and/ or regulators. Increased enforcement of securities regulations makes it imperative that districts stay current with their financings’ continuing disclosure requirements. As part of its services, Stephens offers dedicated continuing disclosure services for school districts. Once engaged, Stephens collects and compiles data and prepares an annual financial information report to meet a district’s requirements. We help the district be certain that all filings are in compliance with regulations. By entering into a legal contract with Stephens, the district can demonstrate to investors and regulators that it has taken formal steps to engage a third party to provide these services. If you have any questions about this requirement, please contact your Stephens advisor or Michael McBryde at michael.mcbryde@stephens.com.

Modus Studio designs Flippin’s new ball fields

The Bobcats of Flippin School District are now enjoying brand new softball and baseball fields designed

by the architects at Modus Studio in Fayetteville. This new complex has the capability to host full tournaments, with a concourse connecting both fields and extensive concrete seating recessed into the hillside. The facility also features allnew branded dugouts, bullpens, bleachers, field lights, and scoreboards. This is the fifth project Modus has completed on the campus since the development of the campus master plan. For more information about Modus Studio, go to modusstudio.com or call 479.455.5577.

Chartwells to serve customized summer meals

As the school year comes to a close, Chartwells K12 is gearing up for a busy summer serving Arkansas communities. Summertime is critical for many students who rely on school meals to meet their dietary needs. Summer feeding programs give families peace of mind, encourage students to participate in summer enrichment activities, and ensure they continue to receive the health benefits of school meals. While some districts are using their food truck to meet students where they are, other districts are opting for a packaged, two-week meal supply. District Manager Jason Kuhn is working with leaders in each district to implement a plan that meets the needs of their students and community. Meals are free to anyone 18 years of age or younger. For more information, contact Kellye Neal at 501.615.3660 or at kellye.neal@compass-usa.com.

SchoolEats offers dining program for smaller districts

Designed for districts with an enrollment of 1,300 or fewer, SchoolEats is the new school dining program exclusive to districts in Arkansas. SchoolEats adds instant value to the dining program without the major changes that accompany management contracts. Jason King, who was instrumental in its creation, says SchoolEats gives district directors the tools they need to be successful. It’s important students, especially those who rely on school meals, have high-quality food options. For more information, contact Kellye Neal at 501.615.3660, or at kellye. neal@compass-usa.com.

French Architects designs auditorium for Hot Springs

French Architects designed the Joyce L. Littleton Craft Auditorium for the Hot Springs Junior Academy. The auditorium has seating for 1,000 and is connected to dance, band, and vocal wings including dressing rooms and additional spaces for practice rooms and instrument storage. It is separated from the building’s academic spaces. The large entry lobby is designed for multipurpose use and is connected to the Junior Academy’s hub. For more information about French Architects, email David French at david@frencharchitects.net, or check out the firm’s Facebook page. Continued on next page

Report Card June 2021 29

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Homeland and Halo can prevent infection spread

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to public health becoming a higher priority. In an effort to mitigate “Sick Building Syndrome” and keep the premises safe from airborne illnesses, many schools have integrated air quality monitoring devices into their security systems. Devices with continuous air quality monitoring like the HALO Smart Sensor play an important role in today’s facility management. It can rapidly detect if the environment is in the danger zone for spread of disease or harmful chemicals and alert authorized personnel for action to be taken. Homeland Safety Systems offers this level of protection to its customers to provide real-time situational awareness and ensure the product is fully leveraged for a variety of security needs.

Visit homelandsafetysystems.com to find out additional security measures that can be integrated with HALO, including access security devices and temperature detection cameras, for combatting the spread of infection from pathogens such as the coronavirus.

Nabholz helps Van Buren save $760,000 on school

Van Buren School District’s Oliver Springs Elementary School was the first new campus to be built in nearly a decade, and Nabholz helped it come in $760,000 under budget. The 60,000-square-foot, two-story elementary school was designed to help accommodate continued growth in the city’s northern part. Though extensive site work and extreme weather pushed the schedule back, Nabholz helped the client keep the end goal in mind. It cre-

Commercial Affiliates

ated multiple mockups to help the owner – and more importantly, the end users (students and faculty) – visualize the final product and fine-tune colors/layouts and room schemes before construction was completed in a specific area. These preconstruction services by Nabholz saved valuable time and money, allowing it to make up for lost time and even finish ahead of schedule. Starting with an original contract value of $13,053,276 and ending with a $12,289,407 contract, the owners had a savings of over $760,000 under an already condensed budget. For more information about Nabholz, go to nabholz.com or call 877.NABHOLZ.

ASBA thanks its premier partners and other commercial affiliates for their support.

Premier Partners

Contact

Phone

Email

Website

American Fidelity

Tom Sledge

800.688.4421

tom.sledge@americanfidelity.com

americanfidelity.com

Apptegy

David Rutledge

501.613.0370

David.rutledge@apptegy.com

www.apptegy.com

BXS

Bill Birch

501.614.1170

bill.birch@bxsi.com

www.bxsi.com

Edbrix

Jerry Shepard

501.605.6740

jerry@edbrix.com

www.edbrix.com

Entegrity Energy Partners

Rick Vance

501.414.0058

rick.vance@entegritypartners.com

www.entegritypartners.com

First Security Beardsley Public Finance

Scott Beardsley

501.978.6392

scott@fsbeardsley.com

fsbeardsley.com

Homeland Safety Systems, Inc.

Mike Elliott

318.221.8062

mike@hssems.com

www.homelandsafetysystems.com

Jackson Brown Palculict Architects

Randall Palculict

501.664.8700

randy@jbparchitects.com

www.jbparchitects.com

Pro Benefits Group, Inc.

Gary Kandlbinder

501.321.0457

pbfsi@sbcglobal.net

www.pbfsi.com

Stephens Inc.

Jason Holsclaw

501.377.2474

jason.holsclaw@stephens.com

www.stephens.com

The Interlocal Purchasing System (TIPS)

Mickey McFatridge

870.839.8477

mickey.mcfatridge@tips-usa.com

www.tips-usa.com

Exhibiting Partners All-Clean USA

Contact Melissa Martin

Phone 870.972.1922

Email mmartin@allcleanusa.com

Website www.allcleanusa.com

AVID

Marybeth Hines

858.654.5072

mhines@avid.org

www.avid.org

C.R. Crawford Construction, LLC

Jordan Ligon

479.251.1161

jligon@crcrawford.com

www.crcrawford.com

Capital Business Machines, Inc.

Ben Higgs

501.375.1111

bhiggs@capbiz.com

www.capbiz.com

Chartwells

Kellye Neal

501.615.3660

kellye.neal@compass-usa.com

www.chartwellsk12.com

Crow Group, Inc.

Brian Rohlman

479.354.6511

brohlman@crowgrp.com

www.crowgrp.com

ESS

Julie Crum

870.236.2350

jcrum@ess.com

ess.com

Kinco Constructors

Clay Gordon

501.225.7606

cgordon@kinco.net

kincoconstructors.com

KLC Video Security

Bill King

903.792.7262

billking.klc@gmail.com

www.klcvideosecurity.net

McPherson & Jacobson, LLC

Thomas Jacobson

888.375.4814

mail@macnjake.com

www.macnjake.com

Palomar Modular

Jane Tavern

214.546.2843

jtavern@palomarmodular.com

palomarmodular.com

Southern Bleacher Company

Sarah Lundgren

940.549.0733

lundgren@southernbleacher.com

www.southernbleacher.com

Summit Bus

Richard Cooper

501.945.8400

richard.cooper@summittruckgroup.com

summittruckgroup.com

WER Architects/Planners

Russell Fason

501.374.5300

rfason@werarch.com

werarch.com

Wittenberg, Delony & Davidson Architects

Glen Woodruff

501.376.6681

gwoodruff@wddarchitects.com

wddarchitects.com

Supporting Partners Central States Bus Sales, Inc.

Contact Mike Wingerter

Phone 501.955.2577

Email mikew@centralstatesbus.com

Website www.centralstatesbus.com

Cobb & Suskie, Ltd.

Michael Cobb

501.225.2133

mcobb@cobbandsuskie.com

www.cobbandsuskie.com

Grasshopper Company

Brent Dobson

620.345.8621

bdobson@grasshoppermower.com

www.grasshoppermower.com

30 June 2021 Report Card

Conference Continued from page 21

170 slots were made available, and all were filled less than a week after they were announced. Only 35 teachers had signed up for higher education programs last year. Asked by Dardanelle School Board member Jerry Don Woods what school board members can do, White said they can ask the right questions and wait for answers. “Realize that we’re all in a unique situation, and the answer we have today may not necessarily be the answer we have tomorrow on a lot of these questions,” he said. Martinez encouraged board members to be informed of what stakeholders need and be an advocate for teachers. “Hold us to the highest expectation,” she said. “Ask those uncomfortable,

tough questions because it’s kind of like math. You know you’re growing but you did get the problem wrong. And so push us to elevate our own thinking because it’s easy to get in silos.” In another session, Lucas Harder, ASBA policy director, covered zoning issues related to the 2020 U.S. Census. He said school districts that are already zoned due to having a 10% combined minority population will have every position up for election after zones are adjusted based on new population counts. Other districts must elect school board members by zone if they attain a 10% combined minority population based on the census. If a district was previously zoned, then the zones must be adjusted to ensure they have a substantially equal population. Newly zoned boards can have five or seven members, the latter of which can include two at-large positions. For both currently zoned and newly zoned boards, terms are established by

drawing lots after the election, with no more than two board members up for election any year. To the extent possible, boards should have an equal number of board members up for election each year. The typical result is two board members having five-year terms, two having four-year terms, and one each having a three-year term, two-year term and one-year term. Delays in reporting census results mean data will not be available until the fall. Legislators will meet then and may push back the party primaries, which is when many school boards have their elections. ASBA is recommending districts start working with 2019 data and then tweak when the final numbers arrive. There is no way to appeal the results of the census. Harder said school districts aren’t required to hire a demographer to draw the maps, but it is recommended unless they have someone inside the district who can do it.

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