June 2024

Report Card

Thunderbirds

It wasn’t long ago that the Guy-Perkins School District was shrinking. Now, the district led by Superintendent Dr. Joe Fisher, second from left, is growing. It has been a U.S. News and World Report Top High School the last two years. Its expanded preschool under the leadership of Director Amber Evans, right, is creating a pipeline of future Thunderbirds. The district also started an eight-man football team and moved to a four-day week. Its two principals serve the entire district but have different areas of focus. Susan McKinney, left, is more in charge of academics, while Tim Barnes, third from left, is more responsible for behavior and attendance. McKinney said she’s building relationships with all the students. “It’s just aligned things in such a beautiful and unique way,” she said. “I just can’t imagine doing anything different.”

Law expands executive session topics

But use these provisions sparingly in favor of open, transparent government

As of May 1, 2024, school board members have additional reasons they may meet in executive session.

School board meetings must be public and recorded, but the board has long been allowed to meet privately in executive session for the purposes of considering employment, appointment, promotion, demotion, discipline, or the resignation of any public official or employee. See Ark. Code Ann. § 25-19106(c)(1)(A).

With the passage of Ark. Code Ann. § 6-13-619(e), commonly referred to as the School Board Ethics Law, school boards may now also meet in executive session for pre-litigation discussions, litigation updates, the consideration of settlement offers, the consideration of contract disputes with the superintendent, and discussions pertaining to real property. These available reasons for executive session are significantly expanded from the reasons other public bodies may meet in executive session.

by Cody Kees Bequette, Billingsley & Kees, PA

The new law allows a school board to go into executive session for any reason surrounding litigation, including pre-litigation updates regarding the district. Those could include threats of litigation by a parent or patron, or legal updates regarding administrative matters before the Office of Civil Rights or the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Such administrative matters are typically a precursor to litigation.

In addition to the expanded reasons a school board may go into executive session, the law allows the board to invite the school attorney to be present. The superintendent has always been allowed in executive session at the board’s invi-

tation, but allowing the school district’s attorney to attend is new.

FOIA procedures remain

While the reasons for going into executive session are expanded under the new law, school boards must still be cautious to follow other procedural requirements under FOIA. The law is still clear that nothing that happens in executive session is official until voted on by the board, and such a vote must take place in public session. The board president should always announce that the board is going into executive session to discuss the particular reason outlined in the law.

However, although the reasons for an executive session are expanded, documents pertaining to pre-litigation, litigation, settlement offers, and real property are no more shielded from FOIA than they were previously, simply because the board discussion can occur outside the public. A patron hearing that the board is going into executive session to discuss a pre-litigation matter could very well request all related documents, which would be subject to disclosure unless an available exception applied.

Finally, while this expansion of the executive session may be helpful for board members in conducting business, there is opposition to this new law by several organized groups, including Arkansas Citizens for Transparency and Arkansans for a Free Press, a group aligned with the Arkansas Press Association. These groups are working to gather signatures to place an initiative on the November ballot that would repeal the new statutory language in its entirety. If that happened, the law would revert back to what we knew as of April 30.

In the meantime, school board members should use this expanded law for executive session sparingly and strictly in accordance with its intentions. The laudable purpose of the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act – open and transparent government – remains, so all actions by school boards should align with this purpose.

Report Card

Guy-Perkins is a small school district that’s growing. Recent initiatives have included a farm-to-table program, an emphasis on the arts, expanding its preschool to serve babies, and adding eight-man football. Pictured from left are principal Susan McKinney, superintendent Dr. Joe Fisher, principal Tim Barnes, and preschool director Amber Evans.

But some gender-based issues like bathrooms, pronouns and athletics teams remain unsettled. ASBA School Law Seminar attendees learned about Title IX and other legal issues like superintendent contracts, the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Family Medical Leave Act.

ASBA-AAEA Joint Leadership Conference attendees learned that it’s yet to be determined how the state will handle rising school property insurance rates. The conference also covered ballot initiatives, employee contracts, safety and merit pay.

Under Act 883, board members can face prison if they ‘should have known’ they were violating standards, Joint Leadership Conference attendees were told.

The Guy-Perkins School District was losing students until it made some changes, including adding a four-day week, an eight-man football team, and an expanded preschool. “We had to reclaim our story,” said Dr. Joe Fisher, superintendent.

Three Arkansas school districts received federal government grants to purchase electric school buses through the Environmental Protection Agency’s 2023 Clean School Bus Program rebate competition. . Three districts get electric bus grants

Six receive ASBA scholarships

Once again, children of school board members received ASBA Foundation awards ranging from $2,500 to $5,000.

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by Randy Hutchinson

Letter from the President ...

Why can’t we be friends? We can.

I recently attended the annual ASBA/ AAEA Joint Leadership Conference in Little Rock. It was a great event. After listening to some of the comments and questions, I concluded that now, more than ever before, it is important for school board members to focus on building relationships. Specifically, it is critical that board members have good relationships, and dare I say friendships, with their superintendent, district-level administrators, school-level administrators and teachers.

A friend is defined as, “a person who has a strong liking for and trust in another.” I know some of you may subscribe to the theory that one cannot, and should not, be friends with those they oversee or manage. There is an important caveat to this potential friendship: The school board is the immediate supervisor of the superintendent. My duties and responsibilities to our school community supersede any personal relationship with our superintendent. I am constantly evaluating the superintendent’s strengths, but also evaluating areas of improvement. If a healthy relationship between board members and the superintendent does not exist, it will impede the work of the school district. It is critical that board members and superintendents work closely together to meet the needs of students and staff. It is much easier to work with someone you like and trust. This type of relationship allows board members to have a genuine connection with the superintendent and the entire school community.

As a board member in the largest school district in the state, you might think it would be difficult to stay connected to my district and all the employees. It is not easy, but you must make a point to be present at events involving

students, administrators, certified staff, and classified staff.

One of my favorite things our board does is to have luncheons at our schools. We do this at half of our schools one year and the other half the next year. During our visits, we interact with administrators, teachers and students. We also eat lunch in the cafeteria, allowing us to interact with food service and custodial staff.

There are other opportunities to connect with staff members. We attend the annual back-to-school rally that involves all of our employees. At this event I enjoy walking around, shaking their hands, and thanking everyone for coming back for another school year. Our board members also participate in district administrator meetings and district coaches’ meetings throughout each school year. Near the end of each school year, our Chamber of Commerce sponsors a celebration for our classified employees. Board members get to shake their hands and thank them for the hard work they do all year long.

If you intentionally participate in events like these each year and show your appreciation, I promise a mutual respect between the board and school employees will develop. You may even develop some lifelong friendships! I encourage you to make the effort, because the relationships you build throughout the district will flourish and the personal payoff will be exponential.

Now that another school year has wrapped up, I hope you all have had a wonderful graduation season and enjoy your upcoming summer. Family time is important! Enjoy the break; take advantage of it.

God bless and stay safe. Thank you for all you do!

The Journal of The arkansas school Boards associaTion

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: Randy Hutchinson, Springdale

President-elect: Jeff Lisenbey, Sheridan

Vice President: Doris Parham, Bearden

Secretary-Treasurer: Nikki King, Pangburn

Past President: William Campbell, McGehee

Region 1: Travis Warren, Farmington

Region 2: Mitchell Archer, Bergman

Region 3: Joe Sheppard, Jonesboro

Region 4: Beth Ulrich, Paris

Region 5: Clint Hull, Pottsville

Region 6: Keith Baker, Riverview

Region 7: Shane Bell, Cross County

Region 8: Graham Peterson, Mt. Vernon-Enola

Region 9: Donna Dunlap, Barton-Lexa

Region 10: Mark Curry, Lake Hamilton

Region 11: Carl “Buddy” Puckett, Poyen

Region 12: Laura Clark, Blevins

Region 13: Renee Skinner, El Dorado

Region 14: Vacant

Staff

Executive Director: Dr. Tony Prothro

Board Development Director: Tammie Reitenger

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

Bookkeeper: Kayla Orr

Receptionist: Kimberly Strom

TIPS-TAPS Project Manager: Stacey McPherson

General Counsel: Jay Bequette

Risk Management Program & Workers’ Comp. Program: Shannon Moore, Director

Krista Glover

Dwayne McAnally

Misty Thompson

Melody Tipton

Linda Collins

Lisa Wigginton

Kara Quinton

Julianne Dobson

Tamra Polk

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 2024 by the Arkansas School Boards Association and Steve Brawner Communications. All rights reserved. Vol. 18, Number 2 June 2024

ASBA Region

14’s Jerry Daniels of Warren passes ASBA News and notes

Jerry Daniels, 66, the Arkansas School Boards Association’s Region 14 director and a 33-year veteran of the Warren School Board, died June 4. Daniels served 19 years as Warren School Board’s president. During his time on the school board, the Warren Middle School, Brunson Elementary School, Warren Elementary School, and The Lumberjack Arena were built, and Warren High School was renovated.

ASBA calendar

July 8, 16, 25; August 6

LEARNing to Have Hard Conversations about Employee Performance and Discipline ASBA Training Center

July 21-23

Southern Region Leadership Conference

Beau Rivage Resort Biloxi, Mississippi

Sept. 5

Fall Leadership Institute

Hot Springs Convention Center

The personable and friendly Daniels was a familiar figure at ASBA events. He earned numerous ASBA awards,

including the Presidents Award in 2023 for attaining 500 hours of professional development through ASBA. Previously, he earned the Platinum Award for attaining 400 hours of professional development and the Pinnacle Award for attaining 200 hours.

He was interviewed for the “Executive Session” feature in the June 2022 issue of Report Card. That interview can be accessed at https://www.arsba.org/ page/report-card-magazine-2022.

Born Dec. 23, 1957, in Warren, he retired in December 2021 after working 43 years for Potlatch and Potlatch-Delta. He was a basketball referee for 25 years.

Daniels married his high school sweetheart, A’Seneque, on May 2, 1981. They had two children.

He was an active member of Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church - North Warren, where he served as a trustee, usher, bus driver and in other capacities. Funeral services were held June 13.

ASBA News and Notes continues on next page

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Daniels

ASBA’s Garner hosting summer employee seminars

ASBA Staff Attorney Kristen Garner is hosting or co-hosting two seminars this summer – one about employee discipline, and one about family leave issues.

One, “LEARNing to Have Hard Conversations about Employee Performance and Discipline,” is an updated version of her usual summer seminar, “Administrative Directives and Hard Conversations.”

The five-hour course will inform and empower supervisors to tackle workplace issues effectively. It will clarify the significance of thorough documentation amidst the evolving landscape of due process. It also will focus on real-life situations and experiences for supervisors and school leaders in light of the Arkansas LEARNS Act passed by lawmakers last year.

Many educators and school district supervisors may lack confidence in documenting employee misconduct or subpar performance. Others may feel perplexed by the implications of recent changes to the law, which repealed both the Teacher Fair Dismissal Act and the Public School Employees Fair Hearing Act. They may be unsure of how these changes will affect their daily lives, and what role the board will play moving forward.

Attendees, including board members, will receive five hours of credit for attending this workshop. The course will be located at the ASBA training center. Lunch will be provided on site and is included in the registration fee.

Sessions are scheduled for July 8, 16 and 25, and for Aug. 6. A session also was scheduled for June 24.

Each session will begin at 9 a.m. and finish at 2 p.m. Cost is $105 per person for early registrants and $125 afterwards.

The other seminar is “Virtual Training: Mastering FMLA, ADA and Maternity Leave Laws.” Garner will co-host this seminar with Missy Duke, an attorney with the Rose Law Firm.

The intensive one-day virtual training seminar will focus on the Family and Medical Leave Act, the Americans

with Disabilities Act, and other relevant laws and their impact on school districts, superintendents, and other central office staff who handle these issues daily. While board members may choose to register and attend, the training is geared toward central office employees who are responsible for administering FMLA.

Family and Medical Leave Act disputes are among the top five issues that land employers in the courtroom. The seminar will cover topics such as:

• Are you prepared? Do you have questions about FMLA?

• Are you concerned with employees who seem to be absent more than they are at work but are unsure of the next steps?

• How will the new Arkansas law requiring paid maternity leave for school employees work with FMLA?

• How does the ADA interact with the FMLA?

• What are your district’s obligations under the federal Pregnant Workers Fairness Act that went into effect on June 27, 2023?

Dates for the sessions were July 11 and 22 and Aug. 13. The cost is $205 for early registrants and $225 for others.

Morning sessions will be from 8:30 a.m. until 11:30 a.m., while afternoon sessions will last from 1 p.m. until 3 p.m. Attendees will receive five hours of credit if they attend both sessions.

For more information or to register for either seminar, go to ASBA’s website, www.arsba.org. Also for more information, contact Tammie Reitenger at treitenger@arsba.org.

Executive session webinar is now available online

School board members and administrators who missed attorney Cody Kees’ webinar, “Executive Session Do’s, Don’ts and Changes after the May 1 Ethics Law” can view it online by registering at ASBA’s website.

The webinar provides valuable insight into the significant changes included in the law.

Board members can gain one hour of credit at a cost of $50, or they can

Garner

audit the webinar at no cost. Go to www. arsba.org for more information.

Southern Region to be July 21-23 at Beau Rivage

Plans are in place for this year’s Southern Region Leadership Conference at the Beau Rivage Resort in Biloxi, Mississippi.

The annual event brings together school board members, superintendents and education leaders in Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi. The three state school boards associations take turns hosting the event. The event was in Hot Springs last year.

Featured speakers at the conference will be keynote speaker Dr. Adolph Brown, clinical psychologist and educator moderator of “The Parent Test” on ABC; motivational speaker Denise

Ryan; Dr. Noal Cochran, associate dean at the University of Southern Mississippi; and leadership coach Dr. Samuel Jones. Jones will speak at the Early Bird Seminar July 21.

Among the subjects covered will be “Changing the Culture of Student Success” by Sunflower Consolidated School District Superintendent Dr. Miskia Davis. Under her leadership, Sunflower went from an “F” rating to a “B” rating. Other topics include “AI in the Classroom”; “Board and Superintendent Relations”; and “Navigating Legal Matters.”

Ashlee Lucas, Mississippi Bureau of Investigation human trafficking coordinator, will speak on “Safeguarding Students: Preventing Human Trafficking and Predators in Our Schools.”

Register at the Mississippi School Boards Association’s website, msbaonline.org. A limited room rate is available at the Beau Rivage Resort & Casino for $196 plus a $15 resort fee per night, plus taxes.

School Law Seminar

Change broadens gender rules

But some Title IX issues like bathrooms, pronouns and athletics teams remain unsettled. Meanwhile School Law Seminar attendees learned about superintendent contracts, ADA and FMLA.

The U.S. Title IX law is only 37 words, but it has had a huge effect on schools. Now with new rules scheduled to go into effect Aug. 1, that effect could become even bigger.

The law, passed in 1972, states that “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subject to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.”

The subject was covered by attorney Jackie Gharapour Wernz at the ASBA

ELEVATING THE HUMAN EXPERIENCE IN EDUCATIONAL ENVIRONMENTS.

fect Aug. 1. The document covers 1,600 pages, but the rule change itself is about 50 pages.

Wernz later described those changes in a video posted to her website, www. educationcivilrights.com. The 2024 rule explicitly states that harassment and gender identity are based on sex and are therefore subject to Title IX. Those characteristics had not been specifically included in earlier versions of the law. The law also clarifies that individuals must not be treated differently based on sex in a way that subjects them to more than insignificant “de minimis” harm except in limited circumstances permitted by Title IX. It changed the term “sexual harassment” to “sex-based harassment,” which conveys the fact that the harassment can be related to gender but doesn’t have to be sexual in nature. For example, gender stereotypes can be sex-based but not sexual.

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School Law Seminar Feb. 7. The event, which featured other school law topics, drew about 155 in-person attendees and 140 attending online.

Wernz is now the director of civil rights/Title IX and the Americans with Disabilities Act coordinator at the University of Idaho. She also owns a school civil rights policy consulting firm, ECR Solutions.

She told attendees that Title IX covers anything sexual, sex-based, genderbased, or related to sexual orientation or gender identity. That can include topics such as sexual harassment, single-sex education, discipline practices and pregnancy policies. Things get especially complicated regarding intimate facilities and athletics.

“It just says, don’t discriminate against somebody based on their sex if you receive federal funds,” she said. “That’s it. It is very, very short, but it has been interpreted in an incredibly broad way.”

Wernz spoke as the Biden administration’s Department of Education was finalizing rules changes that were later announced April 19 and will go into ef-

The new rule states that actionable sexual harassment occurs when conduct is “severe or pervasive.” That’s broader than the current rule, which describes harassment as “severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive.” The new rule also states that harassment includes conduct that “limits or denies” an individual’s access to an educational program or activity. The current rule uses the more narrow phrase “effectively denies.”

Pronouns, sports not yet settled

Some high-profile and controversial issues remain unsettled. The department did not make major changes to existing rules regarding the use of pronouns. Those will be a case-by-case consideration. It also did not make a final determination regarding athletic teams.

On bathrooms and locker rooms, however, the Department of Education is clearly moving toward a broader view of the law. The rule itself isn’t explicit, but its preamble indicates that having separate facilities is more than a de minimis injury.

“What the department said is that it’s not presumptively unlawful sex discrimination to use sex separation in bathrooms and locker rooms or other

JACKIE GHARAPOUR WERNZ, an attorney specializing in civil rights law, speaks about the Title IX law regarding sex discrimination at the ASBA School Law Seminar Feb. 7. The photo above was a screenshot taken from her remarks.

No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subject to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance. -Title IX, passed in 1972 ”

circumstances, but it imposes more than de minimis injury on a protected individual when it denies a transgender student access to a sex-separate facility or activity consistent with that student’s gender identity,” she said in the video.

Wernz also said in the video that there will be lawsuits, and indeed there have been by at least 22 states, including Arkansas. Attorney General Tim Griffin joined five other states along with an Arkansas female student in a lawsuit filed in District Court May 7.

Wernz said during the seminar that courts tend to leave in place rules that have gone through the entire rulemaking process. The last Title IX rules change occurred in 2020 under the Trump administration.

To prepare for the changes that are coming, school leaders must understand that policies and procedures will need to be in place, and the district’s practices will need to mirror them. Title IX administrators will need time and funding for training, policy updates and creating templates. School districts that use an outside template should know the source, She advised relying on information provided by ASBA. She said school districts should consider giving their community more than the bare minimum of information about the rules.

“My only advice to you on this is to please make sure that your staff at the building level and the district level know that this is a hot issue,” she said. “If they get any of these questions …

it is above their pay grade. You do not want them making that decision. You as the board and the superintendent need to be involved in what your practice is going to be. And you might even want to start thinking about what it will be now before you get the request because it gets really hard to make these decisions when you have two or three days to put something together because everybody wants an answer.”

Wernz said in the seminar that the most likely Title IX risk for a school district is a complaint fielded with the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights. It has regional offices that will require a school district to change its policies and undergo training, but it does not levy punitive fines. The U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division/Educational Opportunities Section will initiate a lawsuit on rare occasions. Schools also can be subject to a federal lawsuit by a plaintiff. Those

settlements can be huge. Furthermore, the school district can be dragged through the court of public opinion, angering both sides of the political spectrum in the process.

School districts must have the proper procedures in place for handling Title IX complaints. Districts must have a Title IX coordinator, identify that position to the community, post the training materials on its website, and have and share their policy prohibiting Title IX sexual harassment and a grievance procedure. Employees must be trained to report when they witness sexual harassment.

“It is incredibly important that every single individual in your school district who has the title of employee is fully aware of their responsibility to report. … Keep it simple. If it involves sex, a sexual body part, a sexual comment, just report it to the Title IX coordinator,” she said.

Wernz advised school districts to have a process in place to address bullying, harassment and discrimination. They should work with their legal counsel to address the overlap between the Office of Civil Rights, state laws and federal court decisions. They should communicate their expectations to teachers and staff members. Staff members need to know how to seek an exception if they have an objection to using a preferred pronoun.

Superintendent contracts require performance goals

Also at the conference, ASBA General Counsel Jay Bequette and his law partner, Cody Kees, reviewed changes made to superintendent contracts under the LEARNS Act.

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Now, every superintendent contract executed, negotiated or renegotiated after July 1, 2023, must contain performance targets that have yet to be spelled out through the Division of Elementary and Secondary Education’s (DESE) rulemaking process. Failure to do so could make the contract null and void, which could be a problem in a contract dispute for either the school board or the superintendent, Kees said.

The performance targets must include goals for the district’s student achievement as well as its high school graduation rate for each high school in the district. Each school scoring a C, D, or F on the state’s report card also requires a goal. The student achievement piece is broad, while the graduation rate is specific. Kees suggested school districts base their achievement target on the district’s letter grade on the state report card, while its target graduation rate could be based on the high school’s four-year average. It’s fine to let the superintendent propose targets that the board accepts or modifies.

“This should really be kind of a collaborative process where … the board members and the superintendent are working together to develop something that is workable, that makes sense, and then also, importantly, complies with this new law that we have that we really don’t have any guidance from DESE yet on,” Bequette said.

Kees suggested including the performance targets in the back of the contract on a separate document or as an exhibit, and then the board can pull that last page every year if it wants to modify the goals. Goals can be revised to comply with changing DESE guidance. He noted that working on goals can be difficult with a new superintendent, so districts can execute

CODY KEES, front, and ASBA General Counsel Jay Bequette, both with Bequette Billingsley & Kees, spoke about changes to superintendent contract law under the LEARNS Act at the ASBA School Law Seminar Feb. 7. The photo above was taken in 2023.

the contract and then return before July 1 and adopt the goals. Schools can have an incentive payment plan tied to the goals, but Kees said conversations with superintendents have indicated it would be risky to pay a bonus to the superintendent but not to other staff members. He noted that DESE may create a new metric system that changes how schools are graded. That makes it hard to hold a superintendent accountable for reaching the goals. Those changing metrics are a good reason for the performance targets to be settled through a collaborative process. Moreover, the contract needs to include language to the effect that failing to meet targets is not a material breach of the agreement.

The law allows up to three-year contracts for all certified employees. A review by the Arkansas Association of Educational Administrators (AAEA) found that 148 districts offer a three-year contract, 59 offer a two-year contract, and 28 offer a one-year contract. The

model ASBA contract doesn’t have an automatic renewal, though some boards choose to include one. Districts can include a retention bonus. Kees said that with superintendent lengths of service seeming to be decreasing, finding ways to keep the superintendent can be a good thing. Superintendent contracts should ensure they have access to counsel on all legal matters arising when they were superintendent even if they have left the district – a provision known as “tail coverage.”

Superintendent contracts also can contain benefits. They are only entitled to the same health benefits as all other certified staff, but there are other ways school districts can reward them. According to an AAEA survey, 76 districts provide their superintendents a vehicle while 39 provide travel allowances ranging from $1,800 to $14,508 per year. All provide reimbursements for the use of personal vehicles. Eighteen provide a residence while 11 provide a hous-

ing allowing that ranges from $1,800 to $32,400 a year. Almost all – 97% – pay state and professional dues, while 72% pay national dues. They also provide superintendents various insurance and annuity policies up to $10,000 per year. Kees said boards should keep in mind the tax implications associated with providing various benefits.

Kees said annual superintendent evaluations by the board are required by law, but “some boards do better than others.” He said it’s important that boards not shirk this duty, because the yearly evaluations help set the stage if superintendents and the board need to go their separate ways. The evaluations can be done at any time during the contract years. They can be done in executive session, and the evaluation instrument and related records are exempt from the Freedom of Information Act. Bequette said the evaluation process is meant to be a collaborative process between the

BUILDING TOGETHER for a Better

board and superintendent, not an adversarial one.

Family and Medical Leave Act

Also speaking at the School Law Seminar was Dr. Tyler Broyles, Cossatot River School District superintendent and a lawyer. He spoke at length about the Family and Medical Leave Act, which allows covered eligible employees to take unpaid leave for medical reasons. Qualifying reasons for eligibility include the birth of a child, a child placement such as adoption or foster care, care for an immediate family member with a serious health condition that is defined in the law, or the employee’s own serious health condition. Covered employers include all public agencies and schools and also private sector employers who employ 50 or more employees. Employees must have worked for the employer for 12 calendar months and 1,250 hours during the 12 months prior to the start of leave. Broyles advised school districts to round up if an employee is close to reaching the 1,250 hours because they may have missed a time sheet or may have been given an extra duty. Some employees who are close to their 1,250 will come up with the extra hours, even if they have to fabricate them.

Broyles said school employees are considered to be “imputed with knowledge” of any FMLA issue they may hear about. If a principal overhears that a staff member may have to miss time because of a medical condition, that person must report what he or she has learned to the district’s FMLA designee. Staff members need to be trained in the law, including administrators, supervisors and secretaries. The latter are especially important because they are recording staff absences and often hear rumors and gossip.

Broyles encouraged attendees to focus on teacher absenteeism because of its effect on student achievement. A school would run fine for a while without a superintendent or principal, but if teachers are not at school, students are not learning. Chronic teacher absenteeism causes problems with school finances, instruction and efficiency. Substitute teacher costs increase. Other teachers must take over the absentee

teacher’s duties, which hurts morale and can cause them to lose faith in the administration. The combination of teacher and student absences means there can be many missed instructional days in a school year.

Broyles said schools need a culture of accountability for attendance. For students missing too many days, the school should send letters to parents and be willing to send truancy cases to the local prosecutor. For staff members, the human resources director should run an attendance report a couple of times each year. Building principals should read the list person by person. ASBA’s model policy says that if employee absences are excessive or grossly excessive, disciplinary action can be taken up to termination, although the superintendent can consider the totality of the circumstances. School districts can treat the champion teacher differently than the one who is chronically absent year to year. Broyles said that in his experience, employees being counseled will react with anger, tears or silence, but they will know that the administration is aware of their problem, and they will probably start coming to work. Meanwhile staff morale will improve, and student achievement will go up.

“You don’t want to weaponize your attendance policy, but you do want to use it to address your problems,” he said. “And when you do that, if you don’t do that already, your culture will go up because you’re holding people accountable, and the people will finally say, ‘Thank goodness, they’re finally addressing this with that staff member.’”

Broyles said school leaders should consult their legal counsel and set expectations. They should isolate the problem and notify their chronic offenders both informally and formally. If necessary, they should pursue nonrenewal to ensure compliance with district policies.

ASBA Staff Attorney Kristen Garner agreed that schools must be in compliance with the FMLA. She has had experiences where an administrator contacts her about an often absent employee, but when she asks where the district is in the FMLA process, they have no answer. Going from not knowing to strong compliance with the law takes two years.

ADA accommodations discussed

The Law Seminar also featured a presentation by Missy Duke, an attorney with the Rose Law Firm, about “Navigating Reasonable Accommodations Under the Americans with Disabilities Act and Pregnant Workers Fairness Act.”

Passed in 1990, the Americans with Disabilities Act, or ADA, prohibits employers from discriminating against employees or applicants who have a disability but can perform the job’s essential functions with an accommodation. The accommodation should not create an undue hardship or a direct threat to safety. The law applies to employers with 15 or more employees. It applies to employees who have used all of their paid leave, who have used all of their FMLA leave, who are not eligible for FMLA leave, whose FMLA requests are pending or were denied, and those returning from a workers’ comp-related absence. Its definition of a disability is so broad, Duke said, that “Pretty much any medical condition can be a disability.”

The purpose of that accommodation is to assist the employee in performing their essential functions. Employers must consider if a duty is essential or merely an activity they have come to expect. If the duty requires 30 minutes a month and someone else can do it, then it’s not essential. The law requires employers to engage in an “interactive process,” so they should have conversations with their employees. The employee doesn’t have to make a specific ADA request. A request for more time that would be related to a disability is enough, and then the employer must determine if it falls under the ADA. Employers must consider what is reasonable. She said one warehouse worker requested the ability to wear headphones in order to listen to motivating, selfaffirming podcasts and messages. That’s a safety issue, so the accommodation wasn’t provided, although the employee was offered the chance to listen to the messages during break times.

Duke

Duke said the most common ADA accommodation request is not for equipment. Instead, it’s for a change to the district’s leave policies. These requests often come at the end of an employee’s paid leave or at the end of their time granted by the FMLA. Employers are only required to accommodate an employee’s disability – not a family member’s. Employers must ask if providing additional leave will foreseeably allow them to return to work to perform the job’s essential functions. There is no required amount of leave time an employer is required to grant. Each employee’s situation may be different, so employers must look at the facts of a case. Those would include an employee’s position, how much time they already have been given, and whether granting the leave would create an undue hardship.

Pregnant workers now protected

Along with the ADA, employers must comply with a related federal law, the

Pregnant Workers Fairness Act. Passed Dec. 29, 2022 without generating a lot of attention, it requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations to a worker’s known limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions, unless it would cause undue hardship to the employer. It basically extended the ADA’s protections to pregnancies, including uncomplicated ones. Before that, the ADA only covered pregnancy complications if they were also disabilities. The physical or mental condition that leads to a request can be modest, minor or episodic. An employer cannot request documentation when the need is obvious, when it has sufficient information, and when the request is for a lactation accommodation. The definition of a reasonable accommodation is the same as the ADA’s, but it says an essential function may be temporarily suspended.

“Under the ADA, disability is pretty easy to meet, and now under the Preg-

nant Workers Fairness Act, the bar is even lower,” she said.

Under the act, covered employers, including schools, cannot require an employee to accept an accommodation without discussing it with them, retaliate against an employee or deny a job or other opportunity because they have asked for accommodation, or require them to take leave if an accommodation can be provided.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has provided guidance on what accommodations are reasonable. Those include frequent breaks, letting her carry water to her desk, a schedule change, letting her stand or sit, and letting her take breaks to eat or drink.

The seminar also included a presentation about “School Board Member Statutory Ethics” led by ASBA Policy Director Lucas Harder.

Harder made a similar presentation at the ASBA-AAEA Joint Leadership Conference that is covered on page 18

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TRACY STREETER, Hamburg School District superintendent, discusses her district’s experiences with a science of reading course provided by the Arkansas Association of Educational Administrators. With her is Brinkley Superintendent Brenda Poole and Lenett Thrasher, AAEA director of learning services and operations.

Insurance forecast still not clear

ASBA-AAEA Joint Leadership Conference also covers ballot initiatives, employee contracts, safety and merit pay.

Who will be in charge of school property insurance in the future?

That was one of the unanswered questions among many answered ones at the 28th Annual ASBA-Arkansas Association of Educational Administrators Joint Leadership Conference May 7 in North Little Rock.

Dr. Tony Prothro told the in-person and virtual attendees that lawmakers have hired a national consultant to recommend how the state should proceed in the midst of rising property insurance rates. Those recommendations are expected to come by September.

Currently, ASBA brokers property insurance for more than 70% of the state’s school districts, while the state of Arkansas handles almost all of the rest.

Unfortunately, the property insurance business is getting tougher in the wake of a series of changing weather patterns and natural disasters. The tornado that destroyed much of Wynne High School in March 2023 was one of many causes for insurance rates to rise nationally and to skyrocket in Arkansas. The increase

was so large and unexpected that Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders helped districts cover 30% of the cost increase.

ASBA’s program is self-funded, which means it cannot cover disasters the size of Wynne’s in-house. For those, it purchases reinsurance from a small list of huge companies that are big enough to handle those size claims. For the past three years, Shannon Moore, ASBA’s director of risk management and workers’ compensation programs, has traveled overseas to negotiate rates with Lloyd’s of London.

It’s not certain that ASBA will continue to offer the service. Prothro said lawmakers from the beginning were interested in having a single broker with state oversight.

Prothro said that ASBA runs a selfinsured program that is very tight to capitalize on savings for schools. It would not stand in opposition if the state can create and fund a quality program where schools are able to receive substantial savings.

“We love our program and would love to keep it,” he later said. “We feel it’s the best thing, but it’s a service to schools, so if they can come up with a better service, we’re going to be all on board for that.”

Prothro also provided an update on the state’s cooperative purchasing situation. Last year, a school district was audited for using cooperative purchasing for a construction project – a common practice – rather than putting it out for bid. A partial, temporary fix in this year’s fiscal session was provided thanks to Reps. Brian Evans, R-Cabot, and Jeff Wardlaw, R-Hermitage. They shepherded an amendment through the Special Language Subcommittee of the Joint Budget Committee allowing districts to spend up to $1 million through cooperative purchasing on all construction projects combined. Districts that want to spend more will be able to send a form to an Arkansas Legislative Council subcommittee.

But the fix only applies to construction projects done from July 1, 2024, to July 1, 2025. A permanent fix will require a change in the law when the Legislature meets starting in January. Legislators have said those forms sent to the subcommittee will guide them on whether the aforementioned permanent fix is needed.

Education, FOIA on ballot?

In another session at the conference, ASBA Policy Services Director Lucas

Harder described two citizen initiative efforts for the November 2024 ballot that would affect schools. In both circumstances, supporters are collecting voter signatures to qualify before a July 5 deadline.

One of those efforts, the Arkansas Educational Rights Amendment, would make far-reaching changes to the state’s education system. Among those changes would be requiring all school recipients of state or local funds, including private schools, to meet the same standards public schools must meet as set by the Legislature and the Arkansas Department of Education. Private school students also would be required to take the same state-mandated assessments as public school students do. Schools that fail to meet those requirements would lose access to state and local funds.

The provision is a response to the LEARNS Act passed by lawmakers last year that provides families access to education freedom accounts, or

vouchers, for their children to attend private schools. It does not require those schools to meet the same standards as public schools.

The amendment would also require legislators to do the following:

– Provide for universal though not mandatory access to preschool services from age 3 to kindergarten;

– Provide for universal access to voluntary afterschool and summer programs;

– Provide assistance to children whose families are within 200% of the federal poverty line;

– Provide services that fully meet the individualized needs of students with disabilities.

The amendment also explicitly spells out in the Constitution the requirement for the state to provide students an “adequate” education that came from the Arkansas Supreme Court’s Lake View school funding decision. It includes a list of broad goals schools must achieve

to provide an adequate education.

The Legislature would be barred from amending the amendment and would be required to implement its provisions, including providing funding. The total amount of funding required to implement this ballot initiative has been a cause of concern for some.

Harder also discussed two ballot initiatives related to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) that are meant to work in tandem. The Right to Government Transparency Initiative is a proposed amendment that essentially would make the FOIA part of the Arkansas Constitution. The Arkansas Government Disclosure Act is a proposed initiated act with the force of law that would spell out how the amendment would work day to day.

The amendment creates a right to government transparency and instills government’s obligation to share information with citizens. New laws

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Board ethics law raises legal stakes

Under Act 883, board members can face prison if they ‘should have known’ they were violating standards

School board members now are subject to criminal penalties if they fail to abide by standards of conduct, regardless of whether they knew or should have known they were committing a violation.

A guilty verdict in either circumstance results in automatic removal from office and potential prison penalties and fines, ASBA Policy Director Lucas Harder told attendees of the ASBA-AAEA Joint Leadership Conference May 7. ASBA supported the law’s passage.

Under Act 883, which was passed in 2023, school board members must take the oath of office at the beginning of each term, rather than only when they are first elected or appointed. They swear to uphold the U.S. and Arkansas Constitutions along with the statutes that govern the act’s six ethical standards. Then the county clerk provides the board member a copy of those statutes, with the member signing to affirm they have been received.

This is no mere formality. Under the law, board members are subject to felony charges if they knowingly violate the law, and they are subject to misdemeanor charges if they should have known. Their signature indicates they at least should have known. In the past, they only could be prosecuted if they knowingly violated the law – a difficult charge to prove.

concerning government transparency would require a two-thirds majority vote and would have to be ratified by voters at the next election. The state could be sued for failure to comply. An immediate change could occur with 90% legislative support, but even then voters would have to vote on continuing it.

Harder said the initiated act would require schools and other public entities

LUCAS HARDER, ASBA policy director, told board members they now must take the oath of office at the beginning of each term. The county clerk will give them a copy of the law’s ethical standards, so under the law, they should know if they are violating them.

Furthermore, the act lets citizens make a complaint to the Arkansas Ethics Commission. It can investigate, levy fines, and recommend action by the prosecuting attorney. Previously, the prosecutor has been the only enforcement mechanism. With prosecutors too busy with other cases, ASBA is unaware of any school board member ever being prosecuted.

The act’s first four ethical standards were amended from previous law. They state that board members,

to immediately disclose records if possible but otherwise to do so within three business days. The current law does not require immediate disclosure. If the custodian could not comply in three days, it would have to receive authorization from a newly created FOIA Commission.

Enacted in 1967, the FOIA has always made illegal a public meeting

administrators, or employees shall not:

– Use or attempt to use their official position to secure unwarranted privileges or exemptions for themselves or others;

– Accept employment, contract, or engage in any public or professional activity that might require or induce them to disclose confidential information acquired by reason of their official position;

– Disclose confidential information gained by reason of their position, including information acquired in executive session unless that disclosure is authorized or required by law;

– Use information acquired by reason of their position for their personal gain.

Don’t punch the ref

Two other standards were added to the law and apply only to board members.

The first is what Harder called the “Don’t punch the ref rule.” It states a board member can’t behave on school grounds in a way that causes their removal, or otherwise would cause it if they were a member of the public. The other states that a board member can’t violate any criminal laws if they are on school grounds or at a school-sponsored event.

The last would include violating the Freedom of Information Act. Harder warned board members to be careful not to have an impromptu “meeting” at a ballgame when an informal discussion veers into school policy.

between two governing body members but did not specifically define what that means. The initiated act would do so by saying a public meeting is any communication between two or more voting or nonvoting members of a governing body for the purpose of exercising a responsibility on any matter where the body foreseeably could take official action. A public meeting could include

two or more formal or informal communications between a superintendent and a board member if it is used to poll members or solicit support or opposition on a matter. It is possible superintendents could no longer speak individually to board members about an upcoming meeting agenda item.

The initiated act clarifies that a public body must pay attorneys’ fees to the prevailing party. It includes a potential civil penalty of at least $1,000 to superintendents and board members who intentionally violate the FOIA. The fines would have to be paid using personal funds. In addition, the initiated act would repeal Section 3 of Act 883, which was passed in 2023. It added the following circumstances when school boards can meet in executive session: pre-litigation updates, litigation updates, superintendent contract disputes, and real property discussions. The initiated act also would repeal a section allowing school attorneys to participate in an executive session.

Changes in employee contracts

Another session described changes in employee contracts that have occurred as a result of the LEARNS Act’s repeal of the Teacher Fair Dismissal Act and the Public School Employee Fair Hearing Act. It was led by ASBA General Counsel Jay Bequette with Bequette, Billingsley & Kees P.A., and Bryant School District Director of Legal Affairs Jeremy Lasiter.

The LEARNS Act made it easier for public schools to dismiss poorly performing employees and changed some processes for doing so. Instead of an automatic renewal process, each employee must be renewed as part of a rehire list, unless they are terminated. Employees are still entitled to a hearing before the board for a termination, but the district sets the hearing time and date. It is up to the employee to choose to attend rather than the employee having to request the hearing. No longer must hearings have a court reporter or be transcribed,

and there is no longer a provision for a closed termination hearing.

Bequette said districts have different ways of handling an employee not being on a rehire list. There is no legal requirement that employees be informed. Some districts have provided written notice and included reasons for the exclusion. Some districts did not tell the employees. He believes most districts are having conversations with the employees, which is what his firm is advising.

Lasiter said that each Bryant employee who wasn’t coming back had a oneon-one meeting with the superintendent, Dr. Karen Walters. She informed them they would not be given a contract and provided them a brief letter without reasons for the exclusion. Lasiter said the district decided this was the right thing to do and could avoid potentially awkward situations when school restarts.

“We did not want that situation to happen where someone shows up to

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work, only to find out for the first time that they did not have a job there in August after a time period when they could have found other employment,” he said.

Lasiter and Bequette said that even though the LEARNS Act gives school boards more freedom not to rehire employees, some things haven’t changed. They should still rely on their superintendent. They should still allow administrators to take the same steps they have always taken when employees have performance issues. Those include meeting with the employees, putting them on an improvement plan, and documenting what happens throughout the school year. Districts must be able to demonstrate why an employee wasn’t rehired to protect themselves against a discrimination charge.

Furthermore, while soon-to-be-exemployees no longer are entitled to a hearing, it is possible that an employee could use the district’s grievance process to contest a decision. Attorney General Tim Griffin, in fact, has issued an opinion saying they can. However, Bequette said his firm’s position is that a non-rehiring is not grievable because grievances relate to a current situation, not a future one. At any rate, the elected school board makes the final decision.

Safety everyone’s responsibility

The conference included a presentation on school safety by Jerry Keefer, director of the Department of Education’s Safe Schools Unit, and AAEA Executive Director Mike Hernandez. The two had visited the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, site of the school shooting in 2018 that resulted in 17 deaths. They visited with district staff and community members and also toured the school, which had been sealed to visitors after the shooting.

Keefer, a career law enforcement officer, was a member of the Arkansas School Safety Commission that released 56 recommendations for schools to follow. He said schools have liability concerns if they don’t try to meet best practice recommendations. Schools must determine where they are vulnerable and then take steps to increase safety.

“My background as a cop tells me the harder we make things on the bad guy,

the more they’re going to work to carry out what they want to do,” he said. “So if we lock all the doors, where are we vulnerable? What about class transitions?”

He noted that under the LEARNS Act, schools must complete a comprehensive school safety assessment in collaboration with local law enforcement, fire, and emergency management officials. These are due Aug. 1. He said that in addition to physical security, schools must also think about cybersecurity. Bad guys could do something as simple as tap into a school’s HVAC system and turn up the heat. He noted that the final report from the Sandy Hook Advisory Commission in 2015 found that an active shooter had never breached a locked classroom door.

He said that school safety is everyone’s concern. All school staff and volunteers should not only have the authority to act, but also the knowledge that they can. If an adult is walking through the campus without a visitor pass, staff and volunteers should know they can inform that person that they need to check in with the office and help them to do so. School safety, he said, starts with “me.”

“Everybody has to take responsibility for it and understand that,” he said. “That goes from your parents and your volunteers all the way to y’all, to the leadership. Everybody needs to be on board, and that needs to be the expectation.”

Leaders in literacy

Five superintendents participated in a panel discussion about a yearlong training course in the science of reading being provided by the Arkansas Association of Educational Administrators. Participating superintendents in the discussion were Mandi Edwards with the Perryville School District, Brenda Poole with the Brinkley School District, Tracy Streeter with the Hamburg School District, Gary Williams with the White Hall School District, and Heidi Wilson with the East End-Bigelow School District. The session was moderated by Lenett Thrasher, AAEA director of learning services and operations.

The superintendents said the training helped them understand what they needed to do to help their students learn to read. Wilson said she had previously thought teachers at East End-Bigelow were effectively teaching phonics when she did classroom walk-throughs, but she didn’t really know what she should be looking for. Now, she can evaluate a literacy lesson.

Hamburg’s Streeter described it as similar to a college course in that it includes a book, online study, and faceto-face instruction. Now she walks the hallways with the book and sits down with it to talk literacy with classroom teachers.

“The first thing that I did was about three sentences into this book, I knew as bad as I needed this study, my building principals needed it even worse,” she said. “And so I called them in and I started sharing with them just the urgency of us all knowing more. And so since then, I’ve been able to get them enrolled and get the books for them, and we’re doing this study together.”

Teacher modules and merit pay

Another session covered the Arkansas Department of Education’s teacher value-added modules and its roster

JEREMY LASITER, Bryant School District director of legal affairs, explains how the employee contract process has changed under the LEARNS Act.

verification system. The session was presented by Sharlee Crowson, Arkansas Department of Education public school program coordinator, and Karli Saracini, assistant commissioner of educator effectiveness and licensure. The modules and the roster verification system, which are available online, are meant to demonstrate if students are growing and achieving and how much of an impact teachers are making.

The modules and roster verification system will be used in determining which teachers are eligible for the LEARNS Act’s $10 million merit pay program. Teachers will qualify based on having an annual end-of-the-year rating of “effective” or higher while also being rated according to four “buckets”: demonstrating outstanding student performance growth, teaching in a subject area experiencing a critical teacher shortage, teaching in a geographical area experiencing a critical teacher shortage, and serving as a mentor to an aspiring teacher participating in a yearlong residency.

Crowson reminded attendees that $10 million spread across 32,000 teachers statewide will not go far. Moreover, the department has not yet formulated the

rules for the application process. This year, staff members will pull reports from the buckets, with superintendents asked to verify the information.

KARLI SARACINI, Arkansas Department of Education assistant commissioner of educator effectiveness and licensure, right, and Sharlee Crowson, Arkansas Department of Education public school program coordinator, discussed the ADE’s teacher valueadded modules.

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Thunderbirds have a story to tell

The Guy-Perkins School District was losing students until it made some changes, including adding a four-day week, an eight-man football team, and an expanded preschool. ‘We had to reclaim our story,’ said Dr. Joe Fisher, superintendent.

By Mattie Brawner Contributing writer

When Superintendent Dr. Joe Fisher first came to the Guy-Perkins School District in July 2019, the district was shrinking, and then COVID hit. At its low point, it was down to 275 students and seemed on a path to lose more. Its finances and academics were fine, so it wasn’t in danger of being consolidated. But it still reached its 3% cap for school transfers out of the district every year.

Five years later, the district is up to 319 students and has been a U.S. News and World Report Top High School the last two years.

The turnaround has been aided by a number of initiatives, including starting an eight-man football team, expanding its preschool to younger children including babies, becoming a School of Innovation and an Arkansas A+ school with an arts emphasis at the elementary level, starting a farm to table program, and adopting a four-day week with enrichment activities on the fifth day.

“When I first came in, one of the first things I started talking about is, we had to reclaim our story. …The problem was, we needed to have a story to tell,” Fisher said during a sit-down interview session with Report Card.

The district chose to tell that story in a number of ways. For one, the elemen-

tary school became a School of Innovation through the Division of Elementary and Secondary Education. The designation gave it flexibility to be more creative in helping students who are struggling in school. Also, the elementary school took the necessary steps to become a Level 1 Higher Reliability School through Marzano Resources, an education consulting group. Level 1 focuses on having a safe, supportive, and collaborative school culture. This means that students, staff, and parents feel the school environment is safe and orderly, and teachers and staff work collaboratively on common issues that affect students’ academic success.

“When people come here, we give the tour, they don’t leave. … We have kids who come who want to school choice,” Fisher said. “We say, ‘Come take the tour, and then if you want to school

PRESCHOOL STUDENT Kaspin Hunter and teacher Pam Ashworth do a sorting activity together. Guy-Perkins expanded its preschool program down to infants in part to help create a pipeline of students flowing into the district.

choice, whatever, then we’ll do whatever it takes.’ And they’re still here. … Big schools do serve their purpose, but I think small schools serve their purpose.”

The day begins with a lot of interaction between students and adults. Staff members greet students by opening their car doors and as they depart from their buses. They greet them at the doors when they enter the building, and mid-hallway before they turn to go to the cafeteria. Then there’s someone in the cafeteria. Everyone is trained to determine if something is wrong and if a student needs counseling.

“What makes us special is that family atmosphere, so you’ve had all of these people that know you and know your signs, know if you’re not walking right, if your face doesn’t look right, to intervene before you ever get to that classroom,” said Susan McKinney, principal for learning services and one of two principals who together serve the entire K-12 student body.

The day’s “soft start” begins with breakfast, a morning meeting that includes the Pledge of Allegiance, a moment of silence, and weather and announcements that were produced and recorded by students. Afterwards comes a 15-20 minute recess, and then classes start at 8:15 a.m. Administrators say research shows that movement is important, and it’s also important not to deprive students of play opportunities in the morning.

“Our day isn’t parceled out, so putting those things on the front end has a lot of benefits for our kids so when they come to the classroom, they are ready to learn,” McKinney said.

The elementary school is an Arkansas A+ school through the University of Arkansas, which encourages infusing arts into learning with the goal of engaging more students. Arkansas A+ staff members completed five days of training with Guy-Perkins staff last summer. Arts are part of the school day.

Students dance every day at lunch, and music helps serve as a cue for behavioral expectations. For example, the “Pink Panther” theme song reminds students to “sneak” through the halls quietly. The high school is in the process of becoming an Arkansas A+ school as well.

“That is part of what I really think sets Guy-Perkins apart – our commitment to student engagement on all levels through the arts,” said McKinney.

Guy-Perkins was the first district in Arkansas to receive a farm-to-table “Innovation Grant” from the Division of Career and Technical Education. The $43,820 grant allowed the district to create Thunderbird Farms, which is managed by students. Agriculture students do the farming, family and consumer sciences students do food preparation and canning, and business students manage marketing and sales. The district partnered with local farmers to teach students how to raise food. Eggs

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Guy-Perkins Thunderbirds

from the district’s chicken house are currently for sale to the general public. Next school year, the program will expand to sell plants from the greenhouse and provide herbs and vegetables to the cafeteria. One of the school’s therapists uses the garden to connect with students.

Principals

Wanting to unite both campuses, Guy-Perkins has two principals for all grades K-12, rather than separate principals for each school. Tim Barnes is the principal for student services, which deals more with student behavior and attendance, while McKinney is the principal for learning services. “But as you know, those things blend.” McKinney said.

As students move from middle school to high school, there is less uncertainty of what to expect.

“They already know Mr. Barnes. It’s not like, this is all going to be new to them. His standard of behavior is going to be the same from when they’re down here to when they’re up here,” she said.

She said the best part of having the two-principal system is that she builds relationships with all of the students.

“It’s just aligned things in such a beautiful and unique way,” she said. “I just can’t imagine doing anything different.”

Four-Day Week

The district also adopted a four-day school week after polling the community. The nearby Mayflower school district was already doing it, and Guy-Perkins patrons liked the idea.

The district chose to take Mondays off because of the number of holidays that fall on those days. But 60-70 students, about a quarter of the district’s population and most of them elementary age, attend the district’s Overtime program that day. It was started with funds from a 21st Century Community Learning Center grant. The program offers enriching learning opportunities for students who don’t have anywhere else to go. The program also targets students who are not reading on grade level. The morning begins with a literacy block followed by a STEM period. The afternoon includes “fun” options including

robotics, photography, or the option to explore the school’s “maker space.” Students make weather and announcement videos the school uses throughout the week. For high schoolers, driver’s ed is offered, along with credit recovery, hunter’s ed, voting ed, and ACT prep. Some concurrent credit classes, which the school offers free to students, run on Mondays. Teachers or students can teach just one block of time on Mondays if they wish.

As for the rest of the staff, custodians are able to do a deep clean. The Overtime program also provides a fifth day job for bus drivers, while some staff work Mondays for extra pay.

The community’s biggest concern was the school day length, especially for younger students. The day begins at 7:45 a.m. and ends at 4:15 p.m. The soft start schedule helps ensure late-coming elementary students don’t miss class time.

The district saw a decrease in both teacher and student absenteeism after it adopted the four-day week. In fact, it reduced its substitute teacher spending enough that it could give full-time teachers a bonus the first semester. Student attendance now averages 90% on any given day. Another benefit, Fisher said, is that teachers and students seem to be more focused knowing they only have four days of instruction.

“We think less is more for our kids, because the four-day week, I’ve noticed that teachers are very laser focused on teaching and learning,” he said.

A poll done at the end of the first semester showed that teachers and students were tired by the end of the day – often a 10-hour day for teachers, and 7 hours and 15 minutes for students, which is an hour longer than before. But Fisher said people would revolt if the district tried to return to five days.

McKinney said she likes the four-day week as well. Even if she feels run down on Friday, by Monday night she’s ready to go again.

“Having that minute, you know an extra day … just that three-day weekend, a little more time to rest and kind of reboot, recharge has been super beneficial. … I can’t imagine working a five-day week again,” she said.

Preschool & Early Childhood

The district was losing students at kindergarten to school choice and needed to create a pipeline, so it decided to add an early childhood center to its longtime preschool program. Sixty-four students are currently enrolled between the preschool and early childhood center, while the number of preschool jobs has increased from four to 14. Director Amber Evans said the preschool class sizes have doubled, and the students

SUSAN MCKINNEY is principal for learning services and one of two principals who together serve the entire K-12 student body.

are staying for kindergarten. By law, preschools and early childhood centers must be open a certain number of days a year. Because of the four-day week, the preschool teachers have the option of working four 10-hour days or five eight-hour days per week. Employees who have older students at the school appreciate the option.

The preschool uses The Creative Curriculum for Preschool from infants all the way up. The curriculum is based on weekly themes, such as balls. Every room is set up as a center but with ageappropriate toys. The district is implementing its kindergarten curriculum in its four-year-old classroom, which makes transitioning into kindergarten easier. The three-year-old classroom added a sound wall, a technique that was already being used in the elementary school. A sound wall is a display featuring each of the 44 sounds in the English language, along with examples of when those sounds are used. This helps

make sure the students are saying words correctly and getting the phoneme, or sound, right. McKinney said that later, when they learn the grapheme, or how to write the letter, there is already a “parking spot” in their brains for it.

Evans said that by the end of last year, all the kindergarteners were read-

ing, and everyone is on track again this year. Next year will be the first year kindergarten students will have been served by the district since before they were in preschool, and the district looks forward to seeing the results.

The preschool also uses Conscious Discipline, which the district plans to track down to babies. It encourages social-emotional learning, discipline and self-regulation. The district’s fouryear-old class was even videoed by Conscious Discipline as an exemplary classroom.

With her background as a special ed teacher, Evans notices things in little ones and can talk to the parents about getting their children into therapy at younger ages.

“We’ve all learned, all of my teachers, how to be extensions of those families, and you have to have that relationship with them. … When you become family with them, you really get to know

GUY-PERKINS was the state’s first district to receive a farm-to-table grant from the Division of Career and Technical Education. Continued

Guy-Perkins Thunderbirds

them. Then you can have those really good conversations,” she said.

Funding for the program originally came from COVID funding, as one grant specifically targeted expanding services for infants and toddlers. Qualifying through the state as a Level 6 Better Beginnings program makes more state funding available for families to use the daycare. The district can then collect the money.

The biggest hurdles have been playground expenses, the specs for the program, and getting the right people. The district was able to purchase much of the needed supplies from a nearby daycare that closed. It also was able to hire many of its employees. Evans was thankful for the experience they brought to the school. They basically trained the school how to run a daycare, but they also had to adjust to working in a school system.

“Because it is different from working in a daycare. … It’s not like a business as in how we altogether function. … It’s not about the money part, and people that have worked in a daycare for a long time, they’re used to it being done differently because of that,” she said.

Eight-man football

Another challenge the school was facing was losing seventh graders to other districts that had football teams.

In response, the district last year hired Coach Bobby Eubanks to start an eightman football team. Eubanks’ career includes at one time being the youngest head coach in Arkansas at age 26 while coaching for Lake Hamilton.

Eight-man football is much like the traditional 11-man game, the obvious difference being there are three fewer players on each side of the ball. Eubanks

said both the offense and defense have two fewer linemen and one fewer player in the backfield. There typically is more running than passing. The field is smaller, too – 80 yards by 40 yards, instead of the typical 100 yards by 53 1/3 yards –but it’s played on a traditional field with different markings.

The school built a weight room using weights purchased from a softball training facility for a good price. Before this, it did its weight lifting and agility drills in the “old gym.” Built in 1938 by the Works Progress Administration, the gym

PRESCHOOL STUDENTS Jiya Patterson, left, and Ezrynn Lamb play on the slide. Pictured at right are Carter Smith, left, and Dillon Ford Grimes. The district has expanded its preschool program.

looks like something out of a movie. It boasts a number of trophies, mostly basketball ones from the days of Coach John Hutchcraft, who coached the team for 40 years and won 11 state titles – six boys’ and five girls’.

The district cancelled the high school team’s planned first season this past year. It started with 10 players, but then a couple were injured and decided not to play.

The junior high had 19 players, however, and played its schedule.

“[We] had a really good junior high year, even though we got our nose bloodied every Friday night. But the interesting thing about the group of kids we had is nobody quit. … And the speed and the pace and the intensity picked up all year long. There wasn’t any backing up, and I was real proud of the group that was there. They went out every Friday night and, I mean, we took some licks,” Eubanks said with a laugh. “It was hard on the coaches, you know on our sideline.”

The program is now going into its second year, and this year will be in a conference instead of it being a club sport. The school currently doesn’t have a football field, but it has land and is planning to build one. It has already purchased stands and is working with local contractors to estimate costs. The field will have dimensions for an eight-man team but be able to expand to 11-man football eventually. For now,

the teams practice at the city park, which has soccer standards. Next year’s two high school home games will be played at Hendrix College.

It’s unclear at press time if the school will have enough players for a junior high team. Also, Eubanks has been hired as the full-time defensive coordinator at Abundant Life Christian Academy in Sherwood. Tony Varnell, baseball coach,

technology coordinator and teacher, has taken over as head coach.

Sports unify the district, which was formed by the consolidation of the Guy, Perkins, and other schools in 1929-30.

“Again, it’s that whole putting the Thunderbird shirt on,” Eubanks said. “It doesn’t matter if you’re Twin Groves or out at Quitman side, you know when people come together.”

ELKINS ACTIVITY CENTER Elkins, Arkansas

QUARTERBACK HUNTER STEPP drops back to pass for the Thunderbirds junior high football team. Guy-Perkins started an eight-man football program this past season as a way of encouraging students to stay at the district. The team played club football this past year. This upcoming year, it will play conference ball at the high school level. Photo courtesy of Guy-Perkins School District.

Electric bus grants

QUITMAN TRANSPORTATION DIRECTOR Brandon Burgener stands in front of a diesel bus. His district plans to purchase four electric buses with help from an EPA Clean School Bus Program rebate.

Three receive electric bus grants

Little Rock, Quitman and Farmington get news from EPA and now wait to follow in Danville’s footsteps

Three Arkansas school districts are slated to operate electric buses through rebates recently awarded by the Environmental Protection Agency’s 2023 Clean School Bus Program.

The largest rebate, $8.625 million, is going to First Student, a private school transportation provider, to purchase 25 buses for its Little Rock School District transportation program. Farmington will receive $1.22 million to purchase six electric buses. The Quitman School District will receive $820,000 to purchase four buses.

Batesville was awarded $365,000 to purchase one bus, but it has announced it will decline the award.

Four other Arkansas school districts previously were awarded grants to

operate electric buses. One of those, Danville, was the first Arkansas district to receive a bus.

It received a $1.09 million rebate that fully paid for two 72-passenger buses and one 15-passenger bus, which was the first to arrive. The grant also paid for most of the charging infrastructure. Superintendent Kim Foster said the district covered the remaining $28,000 expense.

The district has nine routes total and is using the minibus for an in-town route traversing narrow roads. Foster estimated that bus will travel 75 miles on a charge. The bigger buses are being used for routes on the west side of town. The buses run in the morning, charge during the day, run again in the afternoon and then charge at night.

Foster said the district spends about $250 a month to charge all three buses total. She said it spends $210 filling the tank of a single diesel bus, which it does about twice a month.

There has been a learning process, and there were a couple of times where drivers forgot to charge a bus and it ran out of power. In one case, the minibus failed to make it to Little Rock. Foster had to send her transportation director on another bus to pick up the students, while the electric bus had to be towed to a location where it could be charged. On another occasion, a driver failed to recharge a bus when it stopped in Plumerville.

“It’s kind of a trial and error to try to figure out exactly how far these buses would go,” Foster said. “It was a learning curve, but I think we’ve figured it out.”

Quitman waiting to hear more

Quitman Transportation Director Brandon Burgener does not know when the district will receive its first bus or who the manufacturer will be. In fact, he’s never seen an electric bus, let alone

driven one. He’ll be running the four diesels in the meantime. But he is excited about the opportunity nonetheless. The district had applied for a grant the previous year.

The first-year transportation director completed the paperwork with the help of Entegrity, a company that helps clients such as schools be more energy efficient. Among the questions were the number of students on the route and the length of the route. He said that it’s “a rewarding process to say what we did was worth it, and now our district gets to experience this transition.”

Now Burgener is waiting to hear about next steps. The charging infrastructure, which is part of the award, will need to be installed. A lower cost, 20-kilowatt charger can charge a bus in about eight hours. A more expensive Level 3 charger can do it in 2-2.5 hours. Burgener will have to determine which routes will be the best fit for the buses. Technicians will have to learn how to maintain them.

“There was a point where we were like, if we’re selected, we’re going to lose four diesel buses that we know what it takes to work on and the parts that need to be replaced,” he said. “It’s just, with stuff like this comes risk and reward, and we’re hoping most of it is reward.”

Farmington Superintendent Jon Laffoon said his district’s $1.22 million grant won’t fully cover the cost of the

$400,000 electric buses, plus the charging infrastructure’s $300,000 cost. He’s looking at options such as tax credits to bridge the difference. It’s possible the district could turn down the grant if the numbers don’t work, but it plans to incorporate the electric buses into its fleet.

“We’re looking at it from a standpoint of we’re in the investigative phase,” he said. “We’re excited that we got the grant. We’re very thankful that we got the grant, but we’ll have to figure out a way to make it work long-term for our district to benefit everyone.”

Laffoon said electric buses should be a good fit for Farmington, a geographically small district of only 41 square miles with good roads. Six buses would compose almost a third of the district’s 20 regular routes. He expects the buses to be cleaner, quieter and safer for students because of the lack of diesel emissions.

Help from Entegrity

Burgener said Entegrity eased the district’s concerns. It helps schools collect the information they need to apply for the rebate. It will complete a review of the bus inventory and a site review of the facility.

Parker Higgs, Entegrity Arkansas state director, said Quitman and Farmington, which it also assisted, probably won’t start running their buses on the streets until the beginning of the calendar year in 2026.

“You could get the buses faster than that, but you’ve got to have everything else in place, too,” he said. “You’ve got to have the charging infrastructure. You’ve got to get the utility to upgrade their service, which honestly can take the longest amount of time.”

This is actually the second 25-bus award given for buses that will transport students in the Little Rock School District. In January, the district received a grant for 25 special needs student buses that it will own and operate. Entegrity also helped with that application. Higgs said it is unlikely those buses will be running by fall.

Higgs said electric buses are rated for 125 miles on a single charge, but Entegrity recommends keeping routes to under 100.

“School buses actually are a great profile use type for electric vehicles because they run a consistent route every day,” he said. “On average a school bus is running about 75 miles a day, so that’s under that distance that the battery can cover, and you’re coming back usually twice a day to the bus yard and have ample authority to charge that bus and get ready for the next ride.”

Entegrity is not recommending that school districts purchase an electric bus unless they have a grant. The grant funding that Quitman and Farmington received from the EPA won’t fully cover the cost difference between a $400,000

ASBA scholarships

Six receive ASBA scholarships

Once again, children of school board members receive ASBA Foundation awards ranging from $2,500 to $5,000

Six children of Arkansas school board members recently received ASBA Educational Foundation scholarships. It was the 31st consecutive year the scholarships have been awarded.

Linley Garrett of Booneville was the statewide recipient of the $5,000 Marshall R. Hughes Scholarship, while four graduating high school seniors, one from each of the state’s congressional districts, each received a $2,500 scholarship, They were Gracie Roberts of Harrison, Jax Andrews of Center Ridge, Caleb Guthrie of Centerton, and Layton Wallace of East End.

In addition, Melissa Clayton of Crossett, a fourth grade teacher at Crossett Elementary School, received the $2,500 J.K. Williams Memorial Scholarship. It is awarded to a student who is currently at least a junior in college pursuing a degree in education. She is pursuing a Master of Education in the Teacher Leader Program at the University of Arkansas at Monticello.

Linley Garrett of Booneville, a graduate of Booneville High School

and the daughter of Booneville School Board member Dustin Garrett, received the Marshall R. Hughes scholarship. The award is named in honor of Marshall Hughes, a First Security Beardsley vice president who died in 2020 at age 41. The scholarship was funded with an initial seed money gift of $50,000 from First Security Beardsley.

Garrett plans to attend the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith and earn a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree. In her essay, she said her calling of becoming a nurse started when she was 15, when her mother received care in the intensive care unit at the end of her life.

“This scholarship will mean way more to me than just financial aid,” she wrote in her essay. “It gives me an opportunity to continue my education and keep myself at the high standards I set for myself, all while honoring my mother’s memory every step of the way. My reasoning for becoming a nurse is a very personal one, and something I keep close to my heart. It’s driven by my mother’s endearing influence and my desire to impact people’s lives, giving them a sense of comfort.”

Garrett ranked first in her class of 75 with a 4.14 grade point average. She was on the superintendent’s honor roll;

participated in basketball, tennis, softball and track; was in the Beta Club and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes; and was the 2024 football homecoming queen.

Congressional district winners

Gracie Roberts of Harrison, a graduate of Valley Springs High School and the daughter of Valley Springs School Board member Jonathan Roberts, received the ASBA Educational Foundation scholarship for the 1st Congressional District.

Roberts ranked 17th in her class of 75 with a grade point average of 3.95. She intends to attain a degree in elementary education at Pensacola Christian College.

She has been president of Future Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA), a member of the Student Council, and a member of the yearbook staff. She completed 403 hours of community service activities, including 300 hours of Vacation Bible School at the Red Oak Baptist Church and 30 hours volunteering at the Valley Springs Food Pantry. She is certified in Microsoft Word, Powerpoint, Excel and Outlook.

“My mother is my greatest inspiration,” she wrote in her essay. “Through-

Garrett Roberts

Andrews

out my entire life my mother has worked as a preschool teacher, and the impact that she has had on the lives of children is truly inspiring. Many children don’t have anyone in their life who can be a good influence, and show them love and respect. Therefore, I have made it my goal to uplift these children through love and education.”

Jax Andrews of Center Ridge, a graduate of Nemo Vista High School and the son of Nemo Vista School Board member Jenifer Andrews, received the ASBA Educational Foundation scholarship for the 2nd Congressional District.

Andrews ranked second in his class with a grade point average of 3.95. He intends to study electrical engineering at Arkansas Tech University.

He was captain of the basketball and baseball teams, a Student Council member, vice president of his senior class, Quiz Bowl captain, and a delegate to Boys State, where he was elected to the House of Representatives. He was a member of the Beta Club, FCCLA, and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. He volunteered 60 hours as a Pee Wee basketball coach. He wrote that his robotics activities in the Gifted and Talented

program helped him appreciate the way mechanical and electrical engineering intersect.

“One of my main goals is to gain a deep understanding of electrical engineering principles and apply them to real-world problems,” he wrote in his essay.” I am fascinated by the way electricity powers our modern society and the potential it holds for innovation and progress. By studying electrical engineering, I hope to contribute to the development of sustainable energy solutions and advancements in technology.”

Continued on page 35

Guthrie Wallace

Clayton

American Fidelity

Apptegy

Arkansas Public Safety Solutions

Baldwin & Shell Construction Company

Cadence Insurance

Coryell Roofing

Entegrity

First Security Beardsley

Homeland Safety Systems, Inc.

Instructure

Jackson Brown Palculict Architects

Lumatech

Nabholz

Performance Services, Inc.

Simbli by eBoardsolutions

Stephens Inc.

Lisa Boone

Samantha Bentley

800.688.4421

lisa.boone@americanfidelity.com

Website

americanfidelity.com

501.613.0370 samantha.bentley@apptegy.com www.apptegy.com

Brianna Davis 501.837.7098 bdavis@motorolaapss.com www.motorolaapss.com

Bobby Gosser, Jr.

Bill Birch

501.374.8677 bgosser@baldwinshell.com www.baldwinshell.com

501.614.1170 bill.birch@cadenceinsurance.com

www.cadenceinsurance.com

Chris Coryell 405.392.4800 sales@coryellroofing.com coryellroofing.com

Michael Parker 800.700.1414 mparker@entegritypartners.com www.entegritypartners.com

Scott Beardsley

Mike Elliott

Heather Harling

Randall Palculict

501.978.6392 scott@fsbeardsley.com fsbeardsley.com

888.909.2261 mike@hssems.com www.homelandsafetysystems.com

800.203.6755 hharling@instructure.com instructure.com

501.664.8700 randy@jbparchitects.com www.jbparchitects.com

Chad Thornton 888.771.5341 cthornton@lumatechservice.com www.lumatechservice.com

Andrew Adlong 501.505.5800 adlong@nabholz.com nabholz.com

Will Black 501.353.2299 wblack@performanceservices.com www.performanceservices.com/ arkansas

Charlie Rigby 770.962.6844 crigby@eboardsolutions.com eboardsolutions.com

Jason Holsclaw 501.377.2474 jason.holsclaw@stephens.com www.stephens.com

The Interlocal Purchasing System (TIPS) Stacey McPherson 866.839.8477 conferences@tips-usa.com www.tips-usa.com

Exhibiting

ACE Sports

Clark Contractors, LLC

Mark Bridges 501.909.9173 mark.bridges@acesports.com

www.crcrawford.com

bhiggs@captg.com www.captg.com

kellye.neal@compass-usa.com www.chartwellsk12.com

Michael McGrew 501.868.3133 mmcgrew@clarkcontractors.net clarkcontractors.net

Cromwell Architects Engineers, Inc. Jeff Overton 501.425.9656 joverton@cromwell.com www.cromwell.com

Curriculum Associates

ESG

Forefront360, LLC

HES Facilities Management

Valecia Ootsey-Marshall 440.334.3303 VMarshall@cainc.com www.curriculumassociates.com

Jonelle Booth 479.422.8302 jbooth@energysystemsgroup.com www.energysystemsgroup.com

Jonathan Frazier 888.441.8870 info@forefront360.com www.forefront360.com

Susanna Hoskins 865.263.1905 susanna.hoskins@hes.com hes.com

Hight Jackson Associates, P.A. Liz Cox 479.464.4965 lcox@hjarch.com www.hjarch.com

Johnson Controls

JTS

K-12 Culinary Connection

KLC Video Security

Mammoth Sports Construction

McPherson & Jacobson, LLC

Modus Studio

Moser Corporation

Musco Sports Lighting

National Safety Shelters

Paragon Architecture

Progressive Technologies

SchoolEats

Rob Branscum

Robert Anderson

501.295.1050 rob.branscum@jci.com www.johnsoncontrols.com

501.227.0194 randerson@jtsfs.com jtsfs.com

Justin Mills 580.574.9567 Justin.mills@k-12culinary.com www.k-12culinaryconnection.com

Bill King

Blaise Bauer

903.792.7262 billking.klc@gmail.com klcvideosecurity.net

785.400.6136 info@mammothbuilt.com mammothbuilt.com

Pam Gaare 888.375.4814 mail@macnjake.com www.macnjake.com

Josh Siebert 479.455.5577 contact@modusstudio.com www.modusstudio.com

Matt Rains 479.636.3481 mrains@mosercorporation.com www.mosercorporation.com

Brooke Hermsen 641.676.2388 lighting@musco.com www.musco.com

Dennis Corrado 866.372.1530 info@nationalsafetyshelters.com nationalsafetyshelters.com

Brad Erwin 417.885.0002 harris@paragonarchitecture.com www.paragonarchitecture.com

Rodney Jackson 501.833.9000 rjackson@thinkprogressive.com www.thinkprogressive.com

Kellye Neal 615.443.4613 kellye.neal@compass-usa.com www.schooleatsconsulting.com

SFE - Southwest Foodservice Excellence Greg Williams 480.551.6550 greg.williams@sfellc.org www.sfellc.com

Southern Bleacher Company

Strategos International

SYN Lawn

The Playwell Group

Trane Technologies

Tri-State Floors

Van Horn Construction, Inc.

VS America

WDD Architects

Linc Darrow 940.549.0733 darrow@southernbleacher.com www.southernbleacher.com

Steve Anderson 501.617.4718 sanderson@strategosintl.com www.strategosintl.com

Paul Held 816.886.2747 pheld@synlawn.com www.synlawn.com

James Robertson 800.726.1816 james@playwellgroup.com www.playwellgroup.com

Beau Reynolds 501.392.9362 beau.reynolds@trane.com www.tranetechnologies.com

Alex Verseman 918.343.2553 akverse@tri-statefloors.com www.tri-statefloors.com

Chad Weisler 479.968.2514 cweisler@vanhornconstruction.com vanhornconstruction.com

Karina Kentsis 704.378.6500 k.kentsis@vsamerica.com www.vsamerica.com

Glen Woodruff 501.376.6681 gwoodruff@wddarchitects.com www.wddarchitects.com

WER Architects Russell Fason 501.374.5300 rfason@werarch.com werarch.com

Supporting

David H. Frieze Associates, Inc.

Raymond James

Paul Frieze 501.922.9704 paulfrieze7@gmail.com

David Fortenberry 877.447.8672 David.fortenberry@raynmondjames.com www.raymondjames.com

ASBA scholarships

Caleb Guthrie of Centerton, a graduate of Bentonville West High School and the son of Bentonville School Board member Becky Guthrie, received the ASBA Educational Foundation scholarship for the 3rd Congressional District.

Guthrie graduated with a 4.15 grade point average and was an AP Scholar with Distinction. He hopes to attend a small college with the help of a swimming scholarship and pursue a business degree with an emphasis in finance. He was the Bentonville West High School swim and dive team captain in 2022-23 and swam with the NWAA Sharks Club Swim Team. He has been a volunteer coach for 12-and-under swimmers at swim meets, and he plans to continue coaching part-time upon graduation.

“I have been swimming competitively for ten years with the NWAA Sharks,” he wrote. “As long as I can remember, it has been my goal to swim at the collegiate level. Even while taking eleven Advanced Placement classes, being involved in high school extracurricular activities, and internships, I have committed to swimming between 17-22 hours a week.”

He also participated in Model United Nations, was a member of the Bentonville Schools Student Advisory Board, and was a teen volunteer at the Bentonville Public Library.

Layton Wallace of East End, a graduate of Sheridan High School and the son of Sheridan School Board member

Clarissa Wallace, received the ASBA Educational Foundation scholarship for the 4th Congressional District.

Wallace was ranked 73rd in his class of 278. He intends to study public administration at the University of Central Arkansas.

He was president of his class the past three years and was a member of the football and track teams. He has been active in Grace Church and Serve-inthe-Streets Mission, an organization that serves the homeless on Friday nights.

“I go into homeless camps to meet the homeless where they are and to serve the basic needs of the people by serving them with a hot meal, providing them with clothing and toiletry items they requested the week prior, and mainly to visit and get to know them,” he wrote. “I have to stay focused on what is going on around me, remain disciplined to stay on task, be knowledgeable of resources to share, be skilled at starting conversations, and disciplined enough to know that although I want to eradicate homelessness and poverty, I am helping one person at a time in my corner of the world.”

J.K. Williams Scholarship

The J.K. Williams Memorial Scholarship goes to a student who is currently at least a junior in college pursuing a degree in education. It is given in honor of J.K. Williams, a longtime educator and former ASBA executive director. A

committee assigned by the ASBA Board of Directors reviews scholarship applications and determines awardees.

This year’s winner is Melissa Clayton of Crossett, a fourth grade teacher at Crossett Elementary School who is pursuing a Master of Education in the Teacher Leader Program at the University of Arkansas at Monticello. She is the daughter of Crossett School Board member Jenny Allen.

Clayton, a married mother of two college students, has been teaching in the Crossett School District since 2010. She has taught kindergarten, second grade and fourth grade. She is a member of the Teacher Center Committee through the Southeast Arkansas Educational Cooperative and is a past member of the Leadership Team at Crossett Elementary School.

Her career in education began with her working as a cafeteria worker and bus aide before becoming an instructional assistant. She eventually decided to return to college and obtain her education degree, serving with AmeriCorps while she attended school.

“I am from a long line of educators,” she wrote in her essay. “My grandparents were elementary, high school, and college teachers. My mom worked for our district for 32 years and now serves on the Crossett School Board. My brother and his wife are also educators. I have always known this is what I was called to do with my life.”

Designing For Your Home Team

EXECUTIVE SESSION

with Robyn Roach

By Steve Brawner Editor

Robyn Roach started serving on the Judsonia School Board because he thought it would be interesting. It turns out that it’s kept his interest for more than 40 years.

Roach, 76, received ASBA’s 40-Year Award at the Annual Conference in December and continues to serve. In fact, he’s in the first year of a five-year term. Along the way, he has presided over the consolidation of Judsonia with Kensett and Griffithville into the Riverview School District, located in Searcy. He says everyone got along fine before the consolidation and still does.

Roach made his living by co-owning a tool and die company, American Tool and Machining Company. He raised cattle until a few years ago. And of course, he remains on the Riverview School Board, a job he loves.

Report Card sat down with Roach to talk about his school board service, his work background, and what he likes about raising cattle.

So you started out on the Judsonia School Board.

“Yes, I was definitely on the Judsonia School Board. My dad was on the school board for a while, and he got off. I was pretty young. I thought, ‘That sounds interesting to me,’ and I ran for the school board. I’ve never been beaten.”

Did you follow him?

“Pretty close. Pretty close. Within a year, I’d say.”

How did the consolidation with Kensett and Griffithville go?

“All the school boards came together. We talked. It was almost a hundred percent agreement. We knew that at some point in time, we’d be forced to consolidate to make the school larger. The state started saying you’ve got to be so big. We paid pretty close attention to that. But they were already good people.”

You were involved at the beginning of the consolidation process. Was it hard to do that knowing that you were from Judsonia?

“No. I figured that we could all get along pretty well. I knew a lot of the people that were on the other boards. Griffithville, I knew a couple there, but we ended up with a seven-person board. We had 15 for a couple of months.”

Were there any kind of issues with that, or did everybody do what they felt like they had to do?

“Pretty much. The only problem we thought we might have was we were fierce competitors. There might be a problem with something like that. Never was. We’re across the river from Kensett and have never had any major problems. By the way, (fellow Riverview School Board member) Keith Baker was on the Kensett board, and he’s a very good friend of mine.”

Why did y’all choose to locate here?

“When you’ve got two districts, actually three – the major two were Kensett and Judsonia – it felt better to be here between each district about the same distance if somebody needed to travel here, and it worked out well. I never heard very many comments at all about the consolidation. It was the best thing we’ve ever done, I guarantee you.”

How did you pay for the buildings? Where did the money come from for that?

“Everywhere. We had a couple of small millage increases. Not much. Not much at all. But through everything else, like the money that comes through the state, we just used everything we could.”

Did you have to work with the Searcy School District to move here?

“No, we did not. We get along very well with Searcy. I’ve got a lot of friends there and know a lot of people that have been there that are there now. We tried to get White County Central School to consolidate with us, and they didn’t want to. I wish that they would have. They’ve got an excellent school. They’re a small school just north of here a little bit, but they’re a very good school system.”

How much competition do you have here?

“With the school systems, as such? I would say virtually none. Naturally, Searcy likes to pull some students from us. We like to pull some from them, and we do sometimes. We don’t go out and try to do that at all. We don’t mess with anybody’s teachers. On the other hand, they don’t mess with ours. But if somebody were going to improve themselves and they could make a move, I’m all for them. That’s not a problem at all.”

Then there’s Harding Academy.

“I know a lot of people there. I’m a member of the Church of Christ, so I see a lot of the people. They’re an excellent school, very good school.”

So there is competition, but it sounds like everybody’s getting along, so it’s all OK?

“We get along very well. We’ve never, as far as I can remember, had any

MAUMELLE HIGH SCHOOL NEW TEAM ROOM

MAUMELLE, AR

major battles at all. I’ve learned how to deal with people a lot better than I used to, and my business helped that. When I called on customers, I was really shy. I finally got to doing it all over the state. We’ve done work for people all over the state, but I got over my shyness.”

Tell me about your career path.

“I was raised on a farm, a small 40acre farm. I learned to work there, for sure. My first job was with a construction company. We were building a big Baptist church at Morrilton. They had a partition they had to fill in, and it was walled up, so they had to fill it in with dirt, and then they had to put gravel in it. They did the gravel out on the ground right near the frame. My job was, I was a flunky: Do this; do that. But that gravel, they came in there and dumped it out. I had what I call a half scoop shovel. For hours, we had a conveyor. I sat there and did that. I was in pretty good shape for a while. It was stuff like that.

“Then I went to work for, it was Remington Rand when I started, a factory that built cash registers and adding machines, and now they build hydraulic valves. It’s changed a lot. I went to work there as a box boy. I carried parts back and forth to the different places where they needed them to be for them to run production on the parts. Then I set up the presses – big stamping presses that stamped out the parts or blanked them

“All the school boards came together. We talked. It was almost a hundred percent agreement. We knew that at some point in time, we’d be forced to consolidate to make the school larger. The state started saying you’ve got to be so big. We paid pretty close attention to that. But they were already good people.

”

out, whatever. Anyway, they had stuff that had to be changed over, and I did stuff like that. I did everything I could. There was an opening in the tool and die shop there, and I asked them if I could apply for it. Yes. I got the job, and I got the job because they knew I could change all the stuff over, or part of it. I could do a lot before I actually went in there.

“So, years went on. I think I worked there for over 10 years. They changed over. When they changed over, a lot of people got laid off.

“My business partner, Wayne Weaver, and I talked. He said, ‘You want to try to put in a tool and die shop?’ I said, ‘Yes. Doggone right.’ So we worked two jobs about 16 hours a day for probably six months or so, and when we started getting quite a bit of business, we just dropped out. Never looked back. I learned from that. I had never gone and asked people (for their business). We worked in factories mostly and did their tooling that makes parts and stuff. We’ve got the specialty equipment, too, that’ll actually do the function, make parts, bend them or whatever, pierce holes in them. We just kept going. I think we had 25 people when we sold the business. They made us an offer, actually some people I know very well. I was raised up with them. We sold it to them.”

And you retired?

“Yes. Kinda sorta. … I have a small farm, and I had cows during most of the time. I did that for a while.”

What was the name of your company?

“American Tool and Machining Company. It’s still here in Searcy.”

Did you spend most of your time in sales, or were you actually doing a lot of the hands-on work, too?

“Both. Sales, we’d get on the phone. We’d go see people in different areas, too. Searcy didn’t have enough to totally keep us running. We worked out of state. We went to Jonesboro a lot. I’ve got a really good friend over there. He’s got a big tool and die shop. We’d compete with him, but we were always friends. It seemed like we were on the phone probably half the day. We’d order parts. Anything we needed, we did it ourselves – myself and my business partner, and things worked well.”

You went to Foothills Technical Vocational Technical School, now Arkansas State University - Beebe. What did you study there?

“They actually called it machine shop. That’s running lathes, mills and stuff like that. Tool and die, you actually have a lot more hands on. We worked in tolerances that were very, very close. Like a sheet of paper that’s three-thousandths of an inch thick, we’d work down into the tenths. We learned

to do that. I think it’s good for the kids to learn that. If they want to be a welder, go to technical school. Be a welder. I was there the first year it opened. The machines they had for us, some of it was pretty old. I’m not saying anything bad about that at all. I painted machines for I think the first two or three months there before they got everything up and running. I also took drafting there later on.”

You started off on a farm. What was on the farm?

“Well, cows.”

And you still have cows. “I do not. I had about 75 head of cows is all.”

What have you learned from raising cattle?

“I think being able to raise something and know how to handle it right, know how to feed them right, know how to, just the general operations, that helps you. You raise the prices on them, try to keep them healthy, very healthy. I’ll tell you a really quick story. I’ve got a son-in-law that works for a guy close to Pocahontas. He’s got 800 head of cows. He farms 18,000 acres of row crop. Unbelievable. … But no, I just loved it. The only thing I had a problem was I bailed the hay and everything, cut and bailed it. The old bailer, it would jam up, and that was a lot of fun when it was a hundred degrees trying to dig all that out of there.”

What did you enjoy most and find the most rewarding about raising cattle?

“Actually, you want to make a little bit of money, OK? But just the whole part of it. I loved it all. And I did the manual work, cleaning all the stalls in the barn out. We used to have a big old … what they called a seed fork. You can go in there and just scoop up cow manure. We did all that. Kept me in pretty good shape.”

So you enjoyed scooping up cow manure.

“[Laughs.] Yes.”

Did you enjoy the dirty work of working with cows?

“Cows, working on the equipment if I needed to, I just enjoyed the whole deal. I never had any problem working. Maybe when my dad was after me here and there.”

Riverview started a football team 10 or 15 years ago. What led to that?

“Well, there were a lot of kids that wanted to play football, so you try to do everything you can do to help them. And we’ve done fair. The last couple of years, our football team’s kind of been down, but it’s all worked out well. We’ve got a weight room in the campus there, and we’ve got a gym, too. Two gyms, actually. One that they actually play ball on. One they practice on, that facility there.”

How hard was it to get the team started?

“Not hard at all.”

Well, football is expensive and you’ve got to hire a bunch of people and buy a bunch of stuff and build a field.

“Never had any problem. Not at all.”

Why is that?

“Well, because we had very good superintendents. Most of our superintendents have been very good. They knew how to handle the money. Naturally, the superintendent, like in the school board meeting last night, the agenda came from him. Same way then. It’s never changed.”

You’ve been doing this for 40 years. “Mmm-hmm. This is my 40th year.”

Did you intend to stay 40 years?

“The closer I got to it, the more I wanted to do it. I actually got a five-year term. This is the first year of my fiveyear term. I want to make it through it, and that actually depends on my wife’s health, and mine.”

Why did you keep coming back?

“Because I love it. I love being on the school board. Seeing progress. All of our campuses are fairly new.”

What do you love most about serving on the board?

“You meet a lot of different people. I know pretty much all the teachers on all the campuses on a first-name basis. … Super nice people. They do a good job. I like dealing with stuff that we need to do, we need to take care of. I like stuff like that. I like to see construction going on. I’ve got a brother who works for Nabholz. He’s doing a building out at White County Central now. But just to

see progress, and I hope that we’re all able to do more. Very much so.”

What do you think you offer the school board?

“Well, the biggest thing I would say right now is I get along with people very well. I also can, if I had to, just tell what I think they need to be doing, but that would have to be somebody higher up. We don’t deal directly with the teachers as such. Naturally, the superintendent does it. I like to see kids learn at the football field, going other places to get an education, but I just love people.”

Do you like the activities of a school board member? Do you like school board meetings?

“I love them. We had one last night. … As such, we don’t have many problems as far as staff and stuff. Kids’ discipline, not much at all. I just like to see what some of the kids turn out to be when they get out.”

So you’re not going for 50?

“No. [Laughs.] Do you know how old I am? Guess.”

I’m going to say 72.

“Six. Seventy-six. My wife will be 77 the 10th of next month. I always tell people I married an older lady, you know.”

Note: Executive Session is edited for length, style and clarity.

Nabholz constructs White Hall center for performing arts

The goal of every school district is to empower students to pursue any career path they choose. By expanding the range of tools at their disposal, students can explore opportunities that were previously unavailable.

White Hall School District recently partnered with Nabholz to construct a new performing arts center for students at White Hall High School. The updated, modern facility offers students a dedicated space to hone their skills in theater, stagecraft, band, and choir. In addition, the 1,250-seat theater allows arts students to showcase their work before other students, faculty, and the community.

White Hall High School’s performing arts center is one of many such facilities constructed in Arkansas K-12 schools to provide more opportunities for the arts and set the next generation up for success.

For more information about Nabholz, visit nabholz.com.

Architecture Plus designs Prairie Grove activity center

Architecture Plus, Inc. is helping Prairie Grove School District meet its student needs with a new 54,560-squarefoot field house and activity center.

The center will be located adjacent to both the football and softball field, which allows easy access for both boys and girls sports. The largest area of the center is the 40-yard artificial turf practice facility, which can be used for football, baseball and softball practice. The center’s exterior appearance of brick and colorful metal wall panels continues the design palette used by Architecture Plus at the district’s two-year-old middle school. The center also features a weight room and sports training room.

For more information about Architecture Plus, Inc.’s K-12 projects, contact Craig Boone at craig@archplusinc.net or visit its website at archplusinc.net.

Concord installs National Safety Shelters saferooms

National Safety Shelters has installed 46 mini-saferooms in all the Concord School District’s classrooms after 86% of taxpayers voted for a millage increase to fund the installation. The saferooms provide dual-purpose protection from both active shooters and tornadoes.

Parent and teacher Amy Baker said, “When our community was told the primary expense would be for safety shelters for our kids, it wasn’t even a discussion. It was, that’s awesome! How soon can the shelters get here?”

Concord joins a growing list of districts opting for mini-saferooms to keep students and staff safe during life-threatening events. Quitman, Lawrence County, Danville, Pangburn, White County, and Ouachita River school districts are among them. Several additional districts are planning projects in 2024-25.

The mini-saferooms are a preferable alternative to large FEMA safe rooms because, located in each classroom, they

offer immediate protection from both tornadoes and active shooters at about one-third the cost. Plus, they take up less than 5% of classroom space, require no construction and can be installed over three to four weekends.

More information can be found at www.nationalsafetyshelters.com or by calling 772.672.3331.

Utah administrator describes help by American Fidelity

A short interview with Zane Woolstenhulme, a business administrator for Ogden Schools in Utah, provides an inside look at the value the district has found with American Fidelity.

“One of the challenges we’ve always had is getting face to face with employees to educate on our benefits,” he said. “I saw an opportunity with American Fidelity to bring on an education partner who could get to know our program and then meet individually with employees to explain all the benefits available. No one else does that for us. The whole process of educating is very key to managing costs.”

Visit https://americanfidelity.com/ blog/stories/manage-costs-with-education/ to read the full interview. For more information about Fidelity, go to americanfidelity.com.

Hight Jackson Associates of Rogers is completing the design for a new 1,400-

seat basketball and volleyball arena for Paragould High School.

The pre-engineered metal building has a conventional steel structure at the entrance with the potential for large glass at the entry lobby. Paragould school colors are integrated with the architecture and arena style seating. The building has six varsity locker rooms with two visitor locker rooms and athletic training equipment for varsity athletes. The facility is expected to be completed in September 2025.

For more information about Hight Jackson, call 479.464.4965 or go to www.hjarch.com

M3 Services pros on other side of table at Draft Day

M3 Services’ employees Haydn Yancey, Hunter Wells, and Westin Maddox strolled into the Lake Hamilton High Wolf Arena on Draft Day just like they did in 2023 as graduating seniors. But this time, they were on the other side of the table representing M3 Services at the regional hiring event organized by the Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce’s Be Pro Be Proud program.

Their success story was a highlight of the workforce development efforts Draft Day promotes. The two-day networking event connects employers and high school students, resulting in placements within the firms. M3 Services was recognized in a special introductory ceremony with school and community leaders. Local press showcased the trio of hires.

M3 Services helps clients improve air quality and energy efficiency. For more information, go to m3svs.com or call 501.991.4822.

WDD Architects designs three PCSSD additions

WDD Architects designed three new additions to the Pulaski County Special School District’s Mills University Studies High School that will be completed in the fall of 2025.

Those include: an academic addition with 10 traditional and open collaborative classrooms; a 2,500-seat arena featuring storm shelter, locker rooms, weight room, training room, student store, concessions, and JROTC drill space; and a softball field and grandstand with lighting, press area, bathrooms and concessions.

WDD Architects worked with Consolidated Construction and Kinco Constructors on the construction. For more information, visit wddarchitects.com.

Cromwell designs K-8 academy for Little Rock school

Cromwell did the architecture and engineering design work for the Dr. Marian G. Lacey K-8 Academy, which will be opening fall of 2024 for the Little Rock School District.

The school will support 1,500 students with 84 classrooms, four maker spaces, a music and art wing, and both a cafetorium and gymnasium capable of supporting the entire school population.

The building has a multitude of modern features including spaces for group learning, hands-on instruction, a tornado shelter, and a multitude of security enhancements.

Learn more at www.cromwell.com.

Baldwin & Shell building Lee County teacher duplexes

A national trend of using teacher housing as a recruitment and retention tool has arrived in Arkansas. In February, Lee County School District officials celebrated the groundbreaking for construction of four duplexes at a former Marianna elementary school site. Baldwin & Shell was selected by Lee County School District to complete this work, and will do so by summer of 2024.

For more information about Baldwin & Shell, go to www.baldwinshell.com

Southern Tire Mart keeps Bergman buses on campus

Southern Tire Mart is teaming up with the Bergman School District Transportation Department to improve operational readiness and safety. The Bergman School District has started a tire dismounting/mounting program with the help of Southern Tire Mart that will keep the district supplied with maintained tires and wheels. The new program will eliminate the need for the Bergman School District to take buses off campus for tire replacements. This will allow fleet mechanics to concentrate on core maintenance and reduce the need for additional shop equipment.

For more information, go to stmtires. com or call 877.786.4681.

C.R. Crawford gets Excellence award for Elkins High gym

C.R. Crawford received the Excellence in Construction award at the recent ABC Arkansas awards banquet for its work as construction manager on the Elkins High School gymnasium.

District superintendent Jeremy Mangrum placed a high value on quality execution, timely completion, budget adherence, and creating a competitionlevel space. The gymnasium creates a collegiate-level game experience while also providing a multi-faceted space for the school and community. The 43,535-square-foot, standalone building combines current advancements in aesthetics, technology, and equipment with visual elements to pay tribute to the history and community that contributed to the basketball program and facility.

For more information, contact Leigh Ann Showalter at lshowalter@crcrawford.com or Jordan Ligon at jligon@ crcrawford.com, or go to www.crcrawford.com.

White County Central classrooms designed by Modus

Construction is well underway at White County Central School District’s new seventh and eighth grade classroom facility and dining hall.

The Fayetteville-based architecture firm Modus Studio designed the

25,000-square-foot classroom building to provide an optimal learning environment. It maximizes natural light in each classroom and corridor by using large storefront windows and roof monitors. Modus’ interior design team focused on acoustical dampening, ensuring an environment conducive to focused learning and enjoyable dining. Construction will be completed in early 2025.

For more information about Modus Studio, go www.modusstudio.com or call 479.455.5577.

WER Architects designs athletic facilities statewide

WER Architects has worked with school districts across the state to design athletic facilities of all sizes and for all needs. The new Warren High School Arena opened this season, as well as the new Fayetteville High School Sports, Wellness and Academics Center, pictured above. The WER team has worked with Jacksonville North Pulaski on its 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 not only state-of-the-art equipment but also filling the spaces with daylight and graphics.

For more information about WER Architects, go to www.werarch.com

Stephens can help school boards with required training

Stephens can assist board members with obtaining their required profes-

sional development hours. Arkansas law generally requires that school board members obtain up to six hours (up to nine hours for new board members) of certified professional development on topics related to school operations.

ASBA has deemed Stephens’ financial advisors as certified ASBA trainers who are able to provide up to four hours of school finance training annually toward ASBA’s Boardsmanship Awards Program. Normally held in the evening or on a weekend, this free training workshop will address topics ranging from state and local funding revenue sources to debt financing of capital projects.

This type of workshop can be particularly useful if a board is considering how to finance future capital projects.

To learn more about how Stephens can assist your district, contact Michael McBryde of Stephens Public Finance at 501.377.2641 or go to www.stephens. com/public-finance

Entegrity can help schools upgrade to LED sports lights

Entegrity, a leading provider in energy savings performance contracting, solar, sustainability, building services, and lighting solutions, offers an easy and cost-effective way to upgrade LED sports lighting using existing infrastructure.

LED lighting systems enhance campus visibility, ensure consistent brightness, and reduce flickering, all of which boosts safety and security. These lights also offer a longer operational lifespan, cutting down on maintenance costs and frequency of bulb replacements.

Additional advantages include instant on/off functionality, dimming and control options, fewer hazardous materials, and reduced light pollution. Entegrity’s retrofitting method allows for the inte-

gration of smart technologies, enabling remote control, monitoring, and automation.

Entegrity provides comprehensive assessments, full turn-key installations, and staff training, with the flexibility to work around school schedules.

For more information, contact Entegrity or visit its website at www.entegritypartners.com.

ARBuy Marketplace statewide contracts help schools save

Unlock unparalleled advantages for your school district or education agency through ARBuy Marketplace’s statewide contracts. This innovative platform empowers informed, efficient, and budget-friendly procurement, benefiting students and staff. Embrace ARBuy’s contracts to streamline processes, save time, and enhance accountability.

Electric

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electric bus and a traditional $150,000 diesel. The funding also will have to apply to the cost of the charging infrastructure. But the districts are eligible for another $40,000 in tax credits and another 30% for the charging infrastructure.

Higgs said electric buses do have advantages over diesels. The fleets will save thousands of dollars annually in fueling costs. Electric buses should require less maintenance than diesels because they have fewer moving parts. They don’t require oil changes or aftertreatment systems. However, they do require technicians to learn new maintenance practices. Some driver training will be needed.

“It’s kind of anecdotal, but we’ve heard a lot of reports from drivers that say the kids are actually more wellbehaved on electric buses,” Higgs said.

Collaboration promotes community and resource sharing, while negotiated prices ensure cost-effectiveness. Join forces statewide to secure favorable terms and discounts.

Visit arbuy.info now to revolutionize your procurement approach.

French Architects designs Kirby gym that seats 900

Kirby School District is constructing a new gymnasium designed by French Architects that will seat 900 persons and includes a new lobby, concessions, restrooms, locker rooms, and hospitality.

“And that is because there’s no engine for them to shout over, and so the noise level is significantly lower, and now they’re afraid if they are acting up or saying something that they shouldn’t, that the driver can more easily hear it.”

Lots of EPA money still available

Across the country, the Clean School Bus program is providing nearly $900 million in rebates to purchase more than 3,400 school buses in roughly 530 districts. Ninety-two percent of the buses will be electric. So far, the EPA has awarded almost $3 billion to pay for roughly 8,500 bus replacements at more than 1,000 schools.

Selections so far announced this round will provide funds to school districts in 47 states and Washington, D.C., as well as several federally recognized tribes and U.S. territories. School districts in low-income, rural, and tribal communities compose roughly 45 percent of the selected projects, and these will receive about 67 percent of the funding.

This facility also includes a new classroom wing adding three new classrooms – a music/band room, a computer room, and a career educational space. The district will be able to use this new facility in the coming 2024-25 school year.

For more information about French Architects, email David French at david@frencharchitects.net, or check out the firm’s Facebook page

TIPS can help districts get ahead with purchases

Now that the school year has come to a close, TIPS Purchasing Cooperative can help school districts with any purchases needed for the summer or to get ahead for the next semester. School districts become a TIPS member today to save time and money in their procurement process.

For TIPS inquiries, contact Stacey McPherson at stacey.mcpherson@tipsusa.com or at 870.565.6178. For more information, go to www.tips-usa.com.

The program was created by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law passed in 2021. It authorized $1.2 trillion for transportation and infrastructure spending, including $5 billion to purchase electric, propane and compressed natural gas buses.

The EPA is still reviewing applications and may make additional awards. It also will make selections through additional rounds of funding and through other programs.

“There’s still $2 billion for more grants,” Higgs said. “That money is already allocated to the EPA, and so we’re trying to help Arkansas schools get as much of that as possible.”

The agency is accepting applications for additional rounds of funding and for other programs. Those include the 2024 Clean Heavy-Duty Vehicles Grant Program, which is accepting applications until the end of the day on July 25. The EPA is offering up to $932 million in that program and anticipates that roughly 70% will help pay for zeroemission Class 6 or 7 school buses.

converting spaces to help districts adapt

Nabholz is proud to have served our people, clients, and communities for the past 75 years. In that time, we’ve completed projects of all types and sizes for school districts — delivering high quality work to fulfill our client’s vision and needs.

Greenbrier School District, High School Classroom Conversion