September 2023

Report Card

Welcome to Arkansas

ASBA welcomed fellow school board members from Mississippi and Louisiana to Hot Springs for the Southern Region Leadership Conference July 16-18. Speakers covered a range of topics of common concern, including school security and cybersecurity. Sam Glenn, pictured here, was keynote speaker.

Training produces great board members

As we enter into uncharted waters of educational reform in Arkansas, training for board members is more critical than ever.

Arkansas state law A.C.A.§ 6-13-629 requires that all new school board members obtain a minimum of nine hours of professional development by December 31 of the year after they begin their term. All other board members must obtain six hours of professional development each calendar year.

These are the “minimum” hours required, but I would strongly suggest that you gain as much training as you can because the educational system we once knew no longer exists. With the implementation of the LEARNS act and shifting federal guidelines, there are many changes coming up, and it is imperative that we board members try to learn as much as possible regardless of what we think or feel.

The Arkansas School Boards Association offers many training opportunities on many subjects and issues that we face as board members, and it will even bring some of the trainings to you. Each fall there are two very important trainings that we as board members should attend: school finances and the legislative updates.

For newly elected board members, the first thing I would suggest you sign

by William Campbell ASBA President

up for is the New Board Member Institute. This six-hour training will prepare you to return to your district and be a functioning board member. You will gain so much knowledge meeting with a group of new people who are on your level as well as with some veteran board members.

I would also suggest that you attend the ASBA Annual Conference in December. You can attend many training sessions during the three-day event as well as spend time with board members from across the state who may have similar interests as you and your board. It is great to be able to talk to others and see that you’re not the only one dealing with these issues.

The next trainings I would suggest are offered by COSSBA, the Consortium of State School Boards Associations. As

one of the founding board members of this national group, I can attest that its trainings and programs are fully thought out and geared to boards across the nation regardless of size. At a meeting of COSSBA’s Urban Board Alliance program, I was fully engaged because the topics and issues related to my rural home district and made me feel included.

Not only will attending trainings help you and your district, but you also will be recognized by both your local board and the ASBA board for your hard work through the Boardsmanship Awards Program. Once you reach 25 hours, you will be on your way as an Outstanding Board Member, which is meant to recognize members elected before Jan. 1, 2018. Board members elected later receive a Certificate of Boardsmanship. The next levels are Master Board Member (at least 50 hours), Pinnacle Award (at least 200 hours), Platinum Award (at least 400 hours), and the President’s Award (at least 500 hours).

In closing, remember that part of being a good board member is to be properly trained, and training must come from other sources besides your own board room. Utilize the COSSBA staff or any other trainers as you may see fit, but always start with ASBA because it works for YOUR district!

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Report Card

T he J ournal of T he a rkansas s chool B oards a ssociaT ion

News and Features

10

I’ve been elected. What do I do now?

What must a new board member do when they join the board? First, know their role, their limitations, and the law. That was the basic theme at ASBA’s New Board Member Institute June 22.

14

Cover / Southern Security

Security, both physical and cyber, was among the topics at the Southern Region Leadership Conference July 16-18. The session brought roughly 575 attendees from Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi to Hot Springs.

24

Cover / AI should enhance, not replace

As artificial intelligence becomes more prevalent, how can schools take advantage of it without it taking advantage of them?

25

Cover / What now as Gen Zers enter workforce?

New teachers that are part of Generation Z are likely to change jobs, tend to dislike policies and rules, and expect their voices to be heard.

26

Cover / Ex-House speakers share tips on Ledge

If public education advocates want to influence their legislators, they should be intentional, they should be persistent, and they should start before the election. That’s according to two former Arkansas speakers of the House at the Southern Region Leadership Conference July 17.

29

Six receive ASBA scholarships

Six children of Arkansas school board members received ASBA Educational Foundation scholarships this year – the 30th consecutive year that scholarships have been granted.

12 Sam Glenn was the keynote speaker at the Southern Region Leadership Conference hosted by ASBA.

Insurance hikes due to disasters, building costs

Recently, public school districts faced a property insurance rate renewal that sent shockwaves throughout the state. A surge in property losses due to severe weather events, the unprecedented increase in construction costs, and a challenging property insurance market have significantly influenced property rates for public school districts across the state. These factors not only had an impact on the ASBA Risk Management Program but also the Arkansas Insurance Department Risk Management Division.

by Shannon Moore Risk Management Program Director

tal hail losses have exceeded $40 million. The influx of property losses influences insurance providers to assess risk and adjust property rates accordingly.

The Journal of The arkansas school Boards associaTion

Vol. 17, Number 3 September 2023

Board of Directors

Our risk management program, which provides property coverage to 170 school districts and seven educational cooperatives, experienced a renewal like no other. The program received more than a 100% rate increase. Our members’ premiums are based on what the program pays for insurance. We are not alone in this challenging property market; the effect is being felt nationally.

Large insurance companies are no longer providing coverage in several states. State Farm and Allstate insurance companies announced they would no longer write new homeowners’ policies in California. Farmers Insurance is doing the same in Florida. This is occurring due to the increased risk of natural disasters and rising construction costs.

Severe weather events, including tornadoes and hailstorms, have struck Arkansas with increasing frequency, resulting in significant property damage. Since July 2022, the ASBA Risk Management Program has incurred more than $100 million in property losses. We experienced two tornadoes, one being one of the worst in state history, a “flash freeze” event, and numerous hailstorms. The flash freeze event affected more than 50 districts. In the past, we would have a significant hail claim once every five years that would cost on average $3 million. Over the last three years, our to-

The rise in property losses is not the only factor impacting property premiums. School districts have witnessed a significant increase in construction costs. Factors such as supply chain disruptions, material shortages, and escalating labor expenses have contributed to higher costs for construction and property restoration. In response to the surge in construction costs, property values had to be adjusted, which also had an impact on the premiums.

ASBA’s Risk Management Program’s focus has always been on the welfare of districts. When we saw the escalated costs of premiums, ASBA and the state insurance program reached out to state leadership. Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders subsequently rose to meet the challenge through financial support to the school districts by funding 30% of the premium increase. We are thankful for her leadership in supporting Arkansas schools in this time of need.

Not only do the weather events in Arkansas affect the cost of property insurance for our public school districts, but national and global losses also have an impact. It has been reported that the Maui fire loss has been estimated to exceed $5.5 billion. Global events such as this will continue to be a financial risk for property reinsurance.

This is the toughest property market I have seen in my time at ASBA. Property rates have significantly trended upward, construction costs have soared, and insurance carriers are limiting the policies they will write. This is definitely a time of uncertainty in the realm of school property insurance. Regardless, ASBA will continue to do our best to be an advocate and asset to school districts.

President: William Campbell, McGehee

President-elect: Randy Hutchinson, Springdale

Vice President: Jeff Lisenby, Sheridan

Secretary-Treasurer: Doris Parham, Bearden

Past President: Rosa Bowman, Ashdown

Region 1: Travis Warren, Farmington

Region 2: Mitchell Archer, Bergman

Region 3: Joe Sheppard, Jonesboro

Region 4: Craig Frost, Clarksville

Region 5: Clint Hull, Pottsville

Region 6: Nikki King, Pangburn

Region 7: Open

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: Jerry Daniels, Warren

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 2023 by the Arkansas School Boards Association and Steve Brawner Communications. All rights reserved.

ASBA seeking presenters for Annual Conference

ASBA is planning the program for its 70th Annual Conference and is seeking presentation proposals from school district personnel, school board members, and organizations who have a focus on topics of critical interest to board members and administrators.

Presentations will be scheduled for Dec. 6-7. Sessions each will last 60 minutes.

The deadline to submit a presentation proposal is Oct. 13. Final selection of presentations will be made Oct. 27.

The conference’s theme is “Empowering Education: Navigating Change, Embracing Opportunities.”

ASBA is seeking presentations that meet the following criteria:

• Targets board members as the primary audience

• Enhances the knowledge, skills, and abilities of board members with an emphasis on improving student outcomes

• Includes a school board member as a participant in the presentation (not required but preferred)

• Demonstrates innovative ideas and solutions

Vendors are invited to offer a presentation, but the presentation must not be a commercial sales solicitation opportunity.

Session proposals must be submitted under one of the following categories:

• Student Achievement. Presentations will center around the implementation of unique practices that have a positive impact on student achievement. This category offers an opportunity for districts to celebrate their successes with a “we did it and so can you” approach.

• Governance and Leadership. This category includes facets of board leadership and governance principles including topics such as “effective governance models ethical leadership,” and the role of school boards in providing direction and oversight while fostering a positive educational culture.

• Policy and Advocacy. This category focuses on how advocacy makes a difference both in your community and in the legislative process. School boards play a vital role in advocating for education policies that support schools with ways to collaborate with policymakers and enact positive change in education regulations.

• Technology and Learning Transformation. This category will explore how technology is reshaping education. Discussion topics will include blended learning, personalized education, online resources, cybersecurity in schools, privacy, ensuring responsible technology integration, and artificial intelligence.

• Finance. Sessions in this category will show how districts allocate resources to support their mission and goals. Presentations can include solutions for better budgeting, financial issues affecting school districts, and practical advice on surviving difficult economic times.

• Legal Issues. Presentations falling into this category will focus on legal issues related to public schools including laws and regulations, best practices, ethical issues, court decisions, and legal hot topics.

• Stakeholder Involvement. Presentations will focus on strong partnerships between schools, parents, and the local community including effective communication strategies, parental involvement initiatives, and collaborative projects that enrich the educational experience.

To submit a presentation proposal, use the following link: https://www. surveymonkey.com/r/ASBA-RFP2023. Those who have questions should contact Tammie Reitenger at treitenger@ arsba.org or at 501.492.4822.

Regional meeting dates set during month of October

ASBA’s fall regional meetings have been scheduled for Oct. 2-26. This year’s theme is “LEARNS, Legal and Network.”

Board members will earn three hours of boardsmanship training credit for attending. Those who cannot attend the meeting scheduled in their specific region may attend any of the other ASBA regional meetings across the state and still receive professional development credit.

Meetings will begin at 5:30 p.m., end at 8:30 and include a meal. A $55 perperson registration fee will be charged to cover the costs of materials and dinner. To help the host district, please register at least 10 days prior to the meeting you will attend.

Dates and locations are as follows:

• Region 1 – Springdale School District, Don Tyson School of Innovation, Tuesday, Oct. 10

• Region 2 – Bergman School District, Fine Arts Building, Monday, Oct. 2

• Region 3 – Pocahontas Elementary School, Tuesday, Oct. 3

• Region 4 – Greenwood School District Student Union, Monday, Oct. 9

• Region 5 – Two Rivers High School, Thursday, Oct. 5

• Region 6 – Batesville School District Administration Center, Tuesday, Oct. 17

• Region 7 – Rivercrest High School Cafeteria, Thursday, Oct. 12

• Region 8 – Mt. Vernon-Enola High School, Monday, Oct. 16

• Region 9 – Stuttgart School District, Park Avenue Elementary, Thursday, Oct. 19

• Region 10 – Lake Hamilton Middle School, Thursday, Oct. 19

• Region 11 – Sheridan High School, Monday, Oct. 23

• Region 12 – Nashville High School, Tuesday, Oct. 24

• Region 13 – Magnolia Performing Arts Center, Tuesday, Oct. 24

• Region 14 – Monticello Elementary School, Thursday, Oct. 26

Those who have questions about the meeting should contact Tammie Reitenger at treitenger@arsba.org.

Knowing their roles and focusing on their responsibilities were stressed at ASBA’s annual New Board Member Institute in Hot Springs

What must a new school board member do when they join the board? First, know their role, their limitations, and the law.

That was the basic theme at ASBA’s New Board Member Institute June 22.

Newly elected board members, along with experienced board members wanting a refresher course, and school administrators converged on the Hot Springs Convention Center. Two of the speakers were Dr. Rochelle Redus, secretary and past president of the North Little Rock School District, and her superintendent, Dr. Greg Pilewski.

Redus said she is highly invested in the North Little Rock School District as a graduate, mother of graduates, and grandmother of current students. She opened her remarks by asking attendees some basic questions about school board service.

“Are you good with working collaboratively to get things done,” she said. “My motto is, ‘Agree to disagree.’ … Do you understand your focus will be on the big picture, the vision, and not the day to day operation? That’s the big thing when you come in as a new board member. You can’t come in with your own agenda. You have to go along with the vision. If you have one specific thing that you want to target, it’s going to be a long ride for your term. You have to be open and stick to the vision. Will you actively work to inspire parents and other stakeholders in the local public schools?”

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She told attendees a school board member’s “lane” is to hire and evaluate the superintendent, inspect and improve policies, have the final say on all personnel issues, and set the district’s vision. Board members don’t try to run the schools. That’s why they pay a superintendent, who brings recommendations and explains his rationale. That includes staff hires.

“To put it bluntly, what I always told him was, ‘If you want to hire this person, can you work with him? Fine. Because if they mess up, guess what? I’m talking to you, not to them,’” she said.

Redus said hiring the superintendent is one of 10 statutory duties of a school board member. She called it “the single most important decision a school board member can make because what makes or breaks your district is the superintendent hire.”

A related duty is evaluating the superintendent annually or at least before extending his or her contract. The superintendent should know what the board’s expectations are, and those expectations should be measurable. In a sense, Pilewski is evaluated monthly because the board meets monthly. When the annual evaluation arrives, nothing is a surprise. As for other personnel, school board members ultimately employ staff and conduct hearings as the finder of fact.

Other duties include attending meetings, overseeing the district’s finances, and determining the district’s mission and direction. Pilewski had a 100-day plan when he arrived Nov. 1, 2020, and the district is still working off that. School boards

CODY KEES, a partner with Bequette Billingsley & Kees, discusses legal issues such as the Freedom of Information Act while ASBA General Counsel Jay Bequette looks on.

must follow all laws governing public schools and also must make, enforce and obey school district policies. She encouraged attendees to lead by example because people are watching.

Redus listed two other statutory duties. One is attending events and functions along with visiting schools and classrooms when students are present at least annually. Her board does it monthly. She advised having the superintendent accompany them so as not to intimidate staff members.

“Visits aren’t meant to be whiteglove inspection tours or an opportunity to roam, snoop, collect evidence, give directives or take names, because that’s what they think that you’re there for when you come in there by yourself,” she said. “They think that you’re there so you can report back and get them fired.”

Finally, Redus said school board members are statutorily required to obtain nine hours of training the year

after their election and six hours each year afterwards. This training is important because things change, and different presenters provide different perspec-

tives. It’s not hard to obtain the training with ASBA’s many offerings.

“There’s never not enough training,” she said.

Redus said school board members should always keep in mind that they represent the board. When engaging with social media, school board members should keep the tone conversational and informal. They should be approachable while still using good grammar and choosing their words carefully. They should be sensitive when discussing parents, students and district employees online. And they should not argue with people on Facebook.

“Anything that is out there in writing, it stays out there, and it will, I promise you, come back to bite you,” she said.

Pilewski said he keeps in constant communication with his board members. It’s not uncommon for him to send 1020 texts a day to them. All group texts start by saying they are for information

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West Side School District Greers Ferry, Arkansas

DR. ROCHELLE REDUS, North Little Rock School Board secretary, discusses school board roles, responsibilities and best practices.

purposes only and that board members should not reply to all. Doing so potentially is a violation of the Freedom of Information Act’s open meetings law. Providing board members with information enables them to better answer questions and prevents rumors from spreading. Each Friday by noon, each school board member gets a weekly report that includes Pilewski’s calendar for the next week. That tells them when he is free to meet. It also includes department reports, hirings, and other information. Pilewski meets monthly one-on-one with each school board member. Each month, board members visit a school for an hour where student ambassadors give them a tour of their school.

Attendees also received a report on school finances by Terri Raskiewicz, CEO of the Siloam Springs School District, who told attendees, “You set the financial goals, you establish the priorities, and you provide continuity between the years.”

She said school board members should carefully consider how they spend their district’s money. Salaries and benefits compose around 75-80% of the overall budget, while debt payments are 7-10% and utilities are 3-5%. What’s left pays

for everything else. Extra money might go to curriculum, a new school, or increasing salaries. She warned board members to add 30% when increasing a salary to pay for benefits and taxes.

Raskiewicz said school board members don’t have to be numbers experts, but they do need to be able to interpret a financial report. She warned that school district accounting is not like many other forms of accounting. A school district is “a bunch of separate checking accounts, each one with its own purpose and its own set of rules.” In fact, in Siloam Springs, the superintendent and she are responsible for 232 separate funds in eight categories: teacher salary, general fund, building fund, debt service, capital projects, federal funds, activity

AROUND EXHIBIT HALL. Top left, Becky Gosnell, left, and Leigh Ann Showalter with C.R. Crawford visit with an attendee at the New Board Member Institute. Top right, Flint Richter with Entegrity, left, speaks with an attendee. Middle left, Stacey McPherson with TIPS, right, speaks with Blytheville School Board member Billy Fair. Middle right, Jack Truemper with Stephens, center, visits with Pottsville School Board member Clint Hull. Bottom right, Steve Anderson with Strategos International, center, talks with Harry Dickens with Curriculum Associates.

funds and child nutrition. The board oversees 41 of the 232 funds in the categories of teacher salaries, the general fund, and debt service.

The conference also included a session on legal issues led by ASBA General Counsel Jay Bequette and Cody Kees, his partner at Bequette Billingsley & Kees. Kees noted, “Of all the laws to be familiar with as a board member, arguably Freedom of Information Act is the most important because it’s the one that can get you in the most trouble, for lack of a better word.”

Kees warned attendees that any record they create that’s related to school business, including a text or email, could be subject to public disclosure.

“If you just accept that on the front end, however painful that might be, that’ll save you a lot of hardship on the back end. Just be careful,” he said.

The Freedom of Information Act requires public notice of school board meetings, where most board actions

must be taken in public. There are some exceptions that can be discussed in executive session, personnel being one of them.

But even that has to be done the right way. Bequette told of one school board that had included in its superintendent contract that the superintendent could be terminated without cause if done so by Feb. 1 of the contract year. The board had a special meeting Jan. 31 and voted in executive session for termination, but it failed to come back and do it in public session as the law requires. The superintendent won in court and received a monetary award.

What happens in executive session is confidential. A board member who knowingly discloses information gained there could be guilty of a felony.

At the same time, Bequette warned attendees that whatever they discuss in executive session can later be discussed in court, so they should be careful what they say there.

“Sometimes these cases and their outcomes can turn on what the decision makers, the board, discussed in executive session,” he said.

Among the conference’s attendees was Chad Brown, a newly elected school board member from the Shirley School District and a 2001 graduate of that district. A parent with four children in the district and a wife who works as a counselor, he ran for office because he wanted to make a difference.

“I don’t want to be a person that complains about something unless I have my feet wet working with them,” he said. “I want to get in there and make a voice for the people of the community.”

Brown

Southern Security

School security – both cyber and physical - was a major topic at the Southern Region Leadership Conference in Hot Springs

School board members and superintendents from three states converged on Hot Springs July 16-18 to learn how to enhance their students’ achievement –and how to make their schools safer.

The Southern Region Leadership Conference brought together roughly 575 attendees from Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi. The annual conference rotates between each of those states. This was the first held in Arkansas since 2017 because the one in 2020 was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Next year’s conference will be July 2123 at the Beau Rivage Resort in Biloxi, Mississippi.

Tammie Reitenger, ASBA board development director, was pleased with the results.

“The 2023 ASBA Southern Region Leadership Conference in Hot Springs was a resounding success,” she said. “School board members from across the region came together to share insights and collaborate to craft a brighter future for our students. With Sam Glenn as our keynote speaker, we were reminded of the power of positive leadership and the spirit of unity. Every board member left with more than just knowledge – they left with a renewed passion to drive change in their communities. Here’s to another successful year and to the unmatched charm of Hot Springs!”

Topics included an early bird session, “Building Cyber Resilience: Safeguarding Schools Against Threats,” by Scott Anderson.

Anderson, an Air Force veteran, is executive director of the Forge Institute, a Little Rock-based nonprofit helping organizations be cyber-secure and cyberresilient. Its mantra is “Forever one step ahead.” Its Arkansas Cyber Defense Center initially worked with small businesses but has been doing pilot pro-

grams with about 20 schools along with municipalities.

According to Anderson, at least 89 U.S. school districts in 2022 were attacked by ransomware, where a cybercriminal holds data hostage while demanding payment. The cost of ransomware attacks on schools and colleges in the United States totaled $9.45 billion in 2022. Among the bad actors is the Vice Society, a Russian organization that targets educational institutions.

“I tell people all the time, it’s not a question of if your school’s going to get attacked. It’s just a matter of when,” he said.

One of those victims was the Little Rock School District, which was hit with a ransomware attack in 2022. It was negotiating a payout when the school board approved a settlement. The open discussion led the cybercriminals to increase their demands.

A Little Rock board member present at the early bird session told Anderson that the board was required to hold the meeting in public because of the state’s Freedom of Information Act. There is no exception in the law for school boards to discuss cybersecurity issues.

Anderson said the law needs to be amended.

DARDANELLE SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER Jerry Don Woods led a session on board governance practices.

“In the military, we do assessments, and we say, ‘Hey, there’s a vulnerability over here,’ or if you do a perimeter check on a military installation, you don’t post on Facebook that there’s a hole in the fence at mile marker five, right? You have to keep that kind of information secure,” he said.

An audience member from Louisiana said five of her district’s schools in 2019 were hacked with a ransomware demand for $2 million. The district did not pay and lost files for 2,500 employees and 20,000 students. It cost more than $2 million to rebuild the system. All employees had to reapply for work. The National Guard helped with the process. Even then, it could only rebuild as far back as it had paper copies. Now it has cyber insurance and an outside storage vendor. The state of Louisiana added cybersecurity as a discussion topic that’s exempt from its sunshine law in 2021.

Other school districts that have been hit include the Los Angeles Unified

School District, which last year was the victim of an attack by the Vice Society. The district did not pay the ransom, and a large amount of information was sold on the dark web. The Des Moines Public Schools in Iowa was attacked in January, and more than 6,700 individuals were affected. The school district did not pay the ransom and had to rebuild the files. In March, 300,000 files dating back to 1995 were stolen from the Minneapolis Public Schools. The information stolen included suicide attempt reports, sexual assault investigations, and abusive parent complaints.

One concern is how the theft of students’ personal information will affect them later. They may not even know their information was stolen for many years.

“If young people, let’s say, third or fourth grade, kids’ information gets stolen and credit cards get taken out in that student’s name or something like that, they might not know about it until they

go to apply for college when they’re 18 ... and that’s quite a while,” he said Anderson said the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency recommend that ransomware victims don’t pay the ransom. He said there’s no honor among thieves. Even if the ransom is paid, large amounts of information is often sold on the dark web. If it’s paid, the FBI does have some tracking mechanisms, but the money usually goes overseas, and there’s not much it can do.

Schools and other educational institutions can fall victim to other types of cyber attacks. In a data breach, sensitive information is copied and stolen from an organization. In 2021, attacks impacted more than 700 schools and colleges and 2.5 million records.

Likewise, schools are also threatened by phishing attacks, where a fraudster sends emails or other messages

Continued on next page

while posing as a reputable company in order to obtain personal information like a bank account number. From 2016 through 2020, the median amount of money stolen from school districts via phishing campaigns was $2 million, with $9.8 million being the largest amount.

He said bad actors are using artificial intelligence to generate emails that sound like other people. A criminal might send an email to human resources to ask them to change an account routing number for payroll. Through machine learning, AI can try to predict what password a person might use. Hackers can create algorithms that cause equipment to incorrectly identify images captured by security cameras. A gun, for example, can be transformed into an onscreen umbrella. With everything from solar panels to sensors connected, an adversary could hack into a system and control whatever he wanted to control.

“Just as quickly as you can implement technology to protect an organization, bad guys can circumvent that, and again, it’s constantly changing, and technology’s everywhere,” he said.

Another concern is insider threats by discontented individuals and others. Anderson said not enough has been invested in Arkansas’ school computer science initiative to protect schools from students who are learning to hack. One Arkansas student gained access to his school district’s solar array and made it dance for fun. In a distributed denial of service attack, the actor floods a server with internet traffic to prevent users from connecting.

Schools must understand the threats they are facing. The COVID-19 pandemic moved everything online and sped up the use of technology. During the lockdowns, many school technicians were pushing out technology they weren’t prepared for. Technicians, students and faculty all should be trained. He suggested dedicating 15-20 minutes a week to such training.

“When security is implemented within a school, physical security or cybersecurity, you’ve got to adhere to those standards,” he said.

Anderson said the level of cybersecurity enjoyed by a school often depends

on having qualified individuals on staff. Skilled technicians can detect “attack indicators,” or network activity indicating an attack is planned.

“Buying hardware or buying software is not going to solve the problem,” he said. “It’s going to be the people that are there to maintain it. It doesn’t matter who you buy your firewall from or what services you sign up for at school. If you don’t have capable people maintaining that equipment, you might as well not buy it.”

Anderson said schools have become dependent on the internet for all of their operations. As part of their planning, they should know how they would function if the network went down – a concept known in the military as “mission assurance.” He advised having exercises similar to those now done to prepare for active shooters.

“I’m not saying shut off your internet at the school for three hours, but what if you lost internet? Are you ready to continue education for at least a little while until it can be run back up?” he said.

Anderson said he tells small businesses they need to implement five to 10 things that will make them more resilient to an attack. Emails can include passwords and multifactor authentications (more than one step required for a

login, like a bank texting a user a code). Doing so deters fraudsters and encourages them to attack someone else. As the joke goes, you don’t have to outrun the bear, just your buddy.

“Most security is a burden on the user. … It’s a lot easier to walk in your house without the door locked because you don’t have to get your keys out, but it’s still important that you do it,” he said.

Cyber insurance is available, but premiums are increasing. Insurers will verify that a school district is implementing security controls. Awareness training for everyone will be a requirement. Insurers will ask who manages a school district’s firewall. Schools will have to fill out questionnaires. As attacks become more significant, insurance companies may have to be federally backed or otherwise change how they do business. While insurance will help schools respond to an attack, it won’t prevent one.

“It doesn’t allow you to be more cyber resilient as an organization,” he said. “That comes down to developing your people – developing your technicians, identifying where the school may be at risk, and then figuring out what steps you need to do to be more secure.”

Anderson said that even with 10,000 people, he could not secure Arkansas

PICK A CARD. Scott Anderson, Forge Institute executive director, left, visits with Dewitt School Board member Kenneth Graves following Anderson’s seminar about how schools can become more cybersecure.

because doing so requires a change in culture. He encouraged school boards to make cybersecurity a top priority – above purchasing new turf or a new scoreboard at the football field and above a new basketball arena.

“Maybe it’s buying a new technician that can allow the current technician to step into a cybersecurity role and protect the school from being hacked. … I just think in the military we took it seriously, right, because people’s lives depended on it,” he said. “I would hate for people to start dying before we take it seriously.”

Anderson’s early bird session covered cybersecurity at the beginning of the conference. Near the conference’s end, Vaughn Baker, president of Strategos International, presented a general session on physical security titled “Active Threat Response, a Nonlinear Approach.” Strategos provides security services and consulting to schools and other organizations.

Baker said organizations sometimes don’t train for physical security because they are in denial that an attack will happen, they believe they know how to handle an attack, or they don’t want to frighten people. For that last objection, he had a simple response: “Fear comes from having a problem without a solution.” That solution, he said, comes from being prepared.

“In a crisis, in the absence of direction from somebody who’s been trained, people will self-direct,” he said. “Guess what self-direction looks like in a crisis absent somebody who’s been trained directing them? It’s panic and chaos. People are looking for that person that knows what they’re doing to tell them what to do. And we want that person to be the people that are working with those kids each and every day.”

One aspect of human nature to overcome is normalcy bias, which is the mental state that occurs when humans face danger that leads them to minimize

or rationalize away a threat. Baker recalled the shooting that occurred in 1999 when a gunman killed seven people at the Wedgewood Baptist Church in Fort Worth for a “See You at the Pole” event. Many of the attendees at first thought it was part of a skit. One survivor thought at first he’d been shot with a paintball. At a shooting at Virginia Tech University, people thought the shooting was construction noises.

“Here’s what we know,” Baker said. “We can’t properly respond to a crisis that we don’t accept.”

How can normalcy bias be overcome? Training. Baker said when a crisis begins, everyone will be afraid. Those who are untrained will start with normalcy bias, followed by disbelief and then denial. When they finally accept that a crisis is occurring, all they can do is panic and experience helplessness. An untrained person will eventually get into the fetal position out of fear.

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“People say the highest level of human performance is your instincts,” he said. “That is not true. We do not train to reinforce our instincts. We train to overcome them.”

A trained person, he said, will accept that a crisis is occurring and will overcome their normalcy bias. This will be followed by proactive awareness, training recall, urgent response and a commitment to action. Fear becomes their motivator to do what they have trained to do.

“If our plan is simply to call 9-1-1 and wait, that’s a plan that’s not going to work,” he said. “We have to be trained.”

Baker said individuals should be trained on responding to low-probability, high-impact events that are unlikely to occur but can be tragic when they do, like a school shooting.

He said mass shootings are rarely impulsive but instead are planned. Attackers are motivated either by extremist ideologies or, in the United States, more often by a mindset where everyone is either a victim or a victimizer. The attacker believes they have been a victim their entire life, and that day they will become the victimizer. They want to set a new record for casualties. To accomplish that, they engage in a high degree

of preplanning and commitment, so schools need to do the same.

Baker said schools should move away from the “run, hide, fight” linear response model. He said Strategos had tested that theory with hundreds of people. Instructed to run away when they heard the shots, during multiple scenarios half ran toward the shots because the sounds were bouncing off the walls and they couldn’t determine where their source was.

Instead, Strategos teaches a “three out” response model: Lock out, get out, take out, and not necessarily in that order. The last refers to fighting back against the attacker. Which response to choose depends on a person’s location, relation to the threat, and the environment they find themselves in.

“And by the way, one or two, three people that are willing to fight for their lives, that’s a formidable force,” he said. “I can give you dozens of examples where people have either escaped or stopped an attack because they were willing to fight for their lives.”

In addition to the early bird and general sessions, the conference included several breakout sessions. In a session titled, “When Rebel Without a Cause Meets Free Bird,” longtime Dardanelle School Board member Jerry Don Woods described several real-life scenarios where school boards have had to work through individual governance issues. In one, a second-year board member’s athletic ninth-grade son attracted the affections of a senior female drum major. The father responded by confronting the band director in the middle of class and telling him to get control of the student, who was not his daughter.

In another scenario, a first-year board member was ejected from two early-season basketball games and finally banned for the rest of the season.

Woods said that when one school board member is behaving inappropriately, other board members should express dissatisfaction to that member based on their relationship with him or her. They should inform the superintendent, but it’s not his or her job to fix the problem. The board may have to consider alternate strategies through legal counsel.

STRATEGOS PRESIDENT VAUGHN BAKER discusses how schools can better prepare for school shooters July 18 at the Southern Region Leadership Conference. Baker said untrained people’s instincts often lead them astray during a crisis, while trained people at better at handling fear.

“When you’ve got confidence and trust in a single board member being eroded, it’s going to spill over, and if you don’t act, then it’s going to reestablish what normal behavior is, and you can’t allow that to happen,” he said. “You have to maintain a high bar. You have to maintain high ethics, high degree of integrity if you’re going to serve our children. It has to be that way.”

Woods said board members can destroy their districts “in nine easy steps.” They can stop networking, promote board members with political agendas, and implement hiring practices based on board preferences. They can seek a simple majority rather than consensus by creating alignment based on self-interests, individual preferences, and agreement. They can neglect board policies and simply do what is convenient. They can create discord by eroding trust. They can violate the Freedom of Information Act or leak closed session conversations or other confidential information.

Finally, they can value anything over academic achievement.

“Folks, if academics come anywhere but first in what you’re doing, if student achievement is anywhere other than the very top of your list, then you might as well close up shop. You’ve lost,” he said.

Sam Glenn, the keynote speaker, offered a humorous and entertaining address about attitude, which he said “changes everything.” He displayed a lighthouse he had painted 20 years earlier. The light was still shining, just like actions done 20 years earlier can still transform futures today. He told the educational leaders in the audience that the light was on them.

He asked how often the attitude a person brought to a situation had made it worse. Instead, he asked, how can it make it better? He advised complaining less and complimenting more. A person has more credibility when they are looking for the good. He also encouraged

audience members to lighten up. He said he did laugh therapy with his mother when she was undergoing chemotherapy. She survived the cancer.

“There’s not a single human in this room that will ever look back on their life and wish they had laughed less,” he said. “Not a single one of you will look back and go, ‘Man, you know what would have helped my relationships? If I’d have been more uptight. I bet the people in the workplace would have liked me better.’ … By a show of hands, how many of you know somebody that you might categorize as a little bit uptight or they need maybe extra fiber? All right, keep your hands up. Look at everybody in the room that does not have their hand up. We’re talking about them.”

After pausing for prolonged audience laughter, he said, “If you didn’t raise your hand because you don’t know anybody like that, you might be the one.

Please see SOUTHERN on page 22

Family is at the heart of all we do.

which has supported new and renovated facilities in Arkansas school districts.

Building value since 1933.

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Somebody might have raised their hand because they know you.”

He told a story of a car dealership owner named Rick who gave him a free oil change in exchange for his giving a talk to employees. Rick was unusually enthusiastic, showing that leadership is not a one-size-fits-all pattern. Glenn noted that the employees didn’t need him to speak; in fact, most of the people who hire him don’t need him to speak. On the way to his office, Rick said, “Sam, I want my people to work harder on themselves than they do their job. … I’ve learned that when people become better at who they are, they become incredible at what they do.”

Perseverance pays off

The conference concluded with remarks about attitude and motivation by Steve Roberts, who was head coach at Arkansas State University for nine seasons and who previously coached at Southern Arkansas University. He now is associate executive director of the Arkansas Activities Association.

EXHIBIT HALL. Top left photo, TIPS’ Stacey McPherson visits with a conference-goer. Top right, Nabholz business development officers Nikki Courtney, left, Jonathan Adams and Brock Cline visit with conference-goers. Middle left, Steve Anderson, left, and Rodney Bardwell with Strategos International visit with a conference attendee. Middle right, Ginger Huff with American Fidelity talks with an attendee. Bottom right, Scot Morris of VS America along with Karen Russell and Ross Sawyer let a couple of conferencegoers sit in school furniture sold by the company.

Roberts said he defined perseverance as a football coach as “letting your character take over after the adrenalin is gone.” His first three years at SAU, the Muleriders were not successful. The combined record of those teams was 9-19-1. At the end of that third season, he planned to resign. As he walked through the door, he thought, “You hypocrite.” He had told his players they were close to succeeding, but he was ready to quit. The next three years, his teams were 26-5.

After coaching at Northwestern State University in Louisiana, he moved on to Arkansas State University before the 2002 season with commitments by the athletic director to invest in the program. He brought in 15 coaches and support personnel. Four months later, that athletic director left and the new one told Roberts that the university couldn’t keep its commitment. Going into his first season, ASU was ranked at the bottom of college football. One publication de-

scribed the program by saying, “Should consider dropping football.” ASU’s first game was against highly ranked Virginia Tech University. At halftime, Virginia Tech was leading, 56-0. Roberts knew he would never have a better chance to

teach perseverance. The final score was 63-7, which meant both teams scored seven points in the second half.

Roberts said after the game, the team flew back to Jonesboro, arriving at 5 a.m. Coaches brought the players in at 3 p.m. and showed them the highlight tape, emphasizing what went well. Celebrating small victories raises expectations and encourages people to want more victories, he said. The team finished the season with a record of 6-7, the most ever since it had started playing Division 1-A football.

Roberts said that when times are hard, do less.

“Too many times, we give up when the blessings are just right there,” he said. “Right there. Right there. Perseverance pays off. … When things do get tough, don’t try to come up with a new strategy all the time. Don’t try to do more. When things get tough, do this: Find out what you can do really, really well, and do it. Then build from there.”

FORMER ASU FOOTBALL COACH STEVE ROBERTS discusses attitude and persistence as the concluding speaker at the Southern Region Leadership Conference.

installing a solar array is still on your school’s summer to-do-list, it’s time to cross it off.

AI should enhance, not replace

will have to decide how to handle this delicate situation.

Jackson provided a number of policies schools should consider if they plan to use ChatGPT or similar programs.

By Mattie Brawner

Artificial intelligence, or AI, is now part of everyday life, and that includes schools.

According to Dr. Denotris Jackson, Mississippi School Boards Association (MSBA) director, these tools can be helpful for teachers. However, some policies are needed when integrating these new tools into schools.

Jackson covered the issue at the Southern Region Leadership Conference in July along with Dr. Tommye C. Henderson, MSBA’s superintendent search manager.

AI is the emulation of human intelligence processes by machines. Jackson pointed out that most people are already using AI in their everyday lives. Programs such as Siri, Alexa, and GPS are all forms of AI. Many smart phones use facial detection and recognition. Search and recommendation algorithms (how Google knows what ads you’re most likely to click on even though you’ve never looked at the item before) also use artificial intelligence.

One of the newest forms of AI, and one that is making news, is ChatGPT. Created by OpenAI in November 2022 using a process known as “unsupervised learning,” ChatGPT uses a “large language model” that can both process and generate human-like text.

AI can help teachers generate grade-level lesson plans complete with quizzes, examples, and feedback. It can assist students doing research by suggesting credible sources, analyzing text for them, and assisting in language learning.

However, there are several cautions with using ChatGPT and other programs like it. ChatGPT generates its responses from information gathered across the internet, including Wikipedia and other

sources that may not be reliable. Jackson emphasized that those using the program should be familiar with the subject so that they can review it and make sure the information it generated is correct. A fourth-grade math teacher could use ChatGPT to generate a lesson plan for teaching multiplication, and then use what is helpful. However, one would not want to use it to create a lesson plan on “special relativity” if they are not familiar with the theory. Also, the free version does not use information generated after 2021. Outside of the classroom, an attorney with the Levidow, Levidow & Oberman law firm in New York cited cases researched using ChatGPT to argue that a specific case should move forward. Six of the cases were found to be fictional.

Educators have concerns that students will use the program to cheat on tests or write research papers for them. And because ChatGPT never gives the exact same response to two different people, it is hard to catch when someone has used it. This may create a problem for teachers, especially during test-taking and when assigning papers. Taking away kids’ phones during tests could create problems with the parents, so schools

Schools must have a strong privacy and data protection policy, as well as make sure the AI application they plan to use complies with all data protection laws and regulations. Schools should have a strong online security system to protect data from unauthorized sources, data breaches, and cyber attacks – and keep it updated. Jackson mentioned schools might want to check with their insurance company to see if it covers cyber attacks. Educators should never enter private information, especially concerning students, on the program. And parents should provide consent.

School districts should offer professional development opportunities for staff and teachers to stay informed on AI’s benefits and limitations. They should provide resources and training to help integrate AI applications into their curriculum in a way that supports and enhances learning outcomes. Encouraging collaboration is important, as many other schools are already using these programs and have helpful information to share. Jackson encouraged transparency and accountability in AI application deployment by sharing information about its limitations. When considering the use of AI, school districts should provide necessary resources and support to ensure that students have access to the technology needed to utilize AI applications effectively. Offer training and support for students and staff to ensure they can use AI applications effectively and safely. She recommended a policy to monitor the impact of AI on student learning and engagement. She also encouraged receiving student feedback and making sure that the parents and the community are involved and educated on the use of AI in the classrooms.

Jackson said it is important to emphasize the responsible use of AI as a supplementary tool.

“It’s supposed to enhance what you’re doing, not replace it,” she said.

Contributing writer

As artificial intelligence becomes more prevalent, how can schools take advantage of it without it taking advantage of them?

DR. DENOTRIS JACKSON with the Mississippi School Boards Association discusses how schools can use artificial intelligence. Teachers could use it to generate a lesson plan for a subject they already understand, but not for one they don’t. One downside: Students could use it to cheat on exams and essays.

What now as Gen Zers enter workforce?

Speakers say they think fast, have short attention spans, and change jobs frequently

By Mattie Brawner Contributing writer

New teachers that are part of Generation Z are likely to change jobs, tend to dislike policies and rules, and expect their voices to be heard.

These are just a few of the qualities discussed by Dr. Tommye Henderson and Dr. Denotris R. Jackson from the Mississippi School Boards Association in their early bird session at the Southern Region Leadership Conference on generational differences, and what to keep in mind when hiring and working with Gen Z.

Generation Z is typically defined as those individuals born between 1997 and 2012.

Every generation tends to be skeptical of those following it, so it’s important to train staff to understand those differences. Many teachers and board members are older baby boomers and Generation Xers, and there may be misunderstandings with millennials (born between 1981 and 1996) and Gen Z teachers and parents.

Each generation is influenced by the events that took place during their childhood. Jackson recalled taking some college students with her to church who talked about school shootings as if they were the norm, and about doing school shooting drills like she had done fire drills growing up.

“I was just listening and I thought, ‘Wow, what a different world. … We had fire drills, we’d go outside, but we never thought the building was ever going to catch on fire,” she said. “We had tornado drills, and living in our region we knew they were going to come through. … But we never thought we might die at school.”

Millennials and Gen Zers tend to not like policies and rules. As they become more prevalent at the board table, school

policies will begin to look different. Henderson said that at her church, she has noticed that the younger members participate but do not stand at the traditional times. Their attitude is, “Why stand up? I can do it sitting down.”

At a time that employee retention is an issue, millennials and Gen Zers frequently change jobs. Because they have grown up in a mostly good economy, they are not afraid to quit without another job lined up. In one study, 45% of millennials said that they would quit their job if they did not see a career path for them with the company, and more than one-third said they would quit if their employer asked them to close their social media accounts. They will quit by email or text, Dr. Jackson warned. “Ghosting” – not showing up for an

DR. TOMMYE HENDERSON with the Mississippi School Boards Association describes how Generation Z differs from older generations as Dr. Denotris Jackson looks on. Among those differences is the fact that Generation Zers grew up with the internet, social media, and the realities of school shootings.

interview or date if they decide they’re not interested – may be considered acceptable by them.

During one interview, Jackson asked the applicant why they were leaving their current job after only working there a year and a half. The applicant responded that they felt like they would grow professionally if they came to work at MSBA.

Henderson said the different generations define work differently. Millennials value their time and don’t like to work extra hours.

“If they get their work done, how do you evaluate someone who stays late and works on the weekends, against somebody who just works the work day, which is what it said in their contract?” she said.

Both millennials and Gen Zers have been included in major family decisions

during their growing up years, so they will question authority and expect their voice to be heard. They have a high self-esteem and want to start at the top. “What do you mean I can’t come in as a manager?” can sometimes be their attitude.

Gen Z members have grown up with technology and are dependent on it. They are very good at multitasking and navigating change, and they can process information quickly, but they have short attention spans.

They have grown up in a world that is more globally connected and can be more globally concerned. They like authenticity and are less likely to tolerate bullies, and that includes those on social media.

Generation Zers are known to more easily experience anxiety and depression and seem to have a harder time picking

themselves up from it, and it can often appear quickly.

Gen Zers also must learn how to interact with previous generations. Henderson’s husband learned at his job that his younger coworkers had a term for members of his generation: PIC-NIC – “problem in chair, not in computer.” They are more diverse than previous generations, and appreciate this quality in their workplaces.

“They expect the workplace to resemble their diverse world. And they will call your hand on it,” Jackson said.

Unlike Millennials, Gen Zers do not like to work at home. They find they are more distracted and prefer to come in to the office. They prefer face-to-face interaction over texting, which they have grown up with. To quote Jackson’s seventh grade granddaughter, “There are no memories associated with texting.”

Ex-House speakers share tips on Ledge

Don’t wait until the session starts to build relationships with lawmakers. When it does, be persistent, because many vie for their attention.

If public education advocates want to influence their legislators, they should be intentional, they should be persistent, and they should start before the election.

That was part of the message provided by two former Arkansas speakers of the House, Shane Broadway and Jeremy Gillam, at the Southern Region Leadership Conference July 17.

The two were well qualified to offer their thoughts. Broadway served 14 years in the House and Senate, which included a term as House speaker. He also served four years as director of the Arkansas Department of Higher Education. He now is vice president of university relations for the Arkansas State University System. Gillam served twoand-a-half terms as speaker during his eight years in the House. He now works for the University of Central Arkansas as its director of governmental affairs and external relations.

The two said being a legislator is all-consuming and hardly a part-time

FORMER SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE SHANE BROADWAY shares his thoughts on how school board members and superintendents can influence the legislative process. Now a university relations director for Arkansas State University, he rarely sends emails because he knows from experience that lawmakers get so many of them.

position. The volume of contacts legislators receive has increased exponentially. At the end of Gillam’s time in office, it was not unusual for him to receive 600 emails a day. Advocates must be intentional so they can break through that noise so that a lawmaker will answer a call or reply to an email. Constituents in their communications with them should be intentional, honest, upfront and to the point, and they should be sure to thank the legislator.

“They’re going to have hundreds of contacts in a 48-hour window, and so you’ve got to be somebody that they recognize,” Gillam said. “One of my first bits of advice would be to be intentional and to be repetitive in making those contacts to build that relationship.”

Don’t wait to build relationships

With so many people vying for a legislator’s attention, school advocates cannot wait until the legislative session begins. Broadway said Election Day happens on a Tuesday. By that Friday, lawmakers are picking committees. Then there’s Thanksgiving, orientation and Christmas, and then the session starts.

“Once they get the session started, it’s 90 miles an hour, and that train is already rolling,” he said. “So you’ve got to have what you want in front of them way before that starts. And it’s important to understand and watch what these candidates are talking about throughout

the campaign and engage them through that process. Because once you get to Election Day, it may be too late depending on the issue.”

Instead, he said, school advocates should get to know lawmakers before the election happens.

“If you’re in the midst of an election cycle, right now is your opportunity,” Broadway said. “Candidates out there are vying for your vote and are going to ask for your vote in this election cycle, and now is that opportunity. … It is about developing relationships and developing them right now, early on and often.”

Broadway encouraged audience members to ask lawmakers how best to get in touch with them. He rarely sends emails to legislators these days because he knows they are receiving hundreds from across the country and likely won’t respond unless it’s coming from their district. He encouraged emailers to include in the subject line that they are a constituent.

“You start getting emails from home or messages from home, that’s going to have more impact than anything else out there,” he said.

Gillam said lawmakers need to hear from more than just a school district’s superintendent. A legislator might believe that while a superintendent speaks for a school district, the community might not agree. Indeed, many legislators made that statement to him during

this past legislative session, which was a landmark one for education. School board members, principals and teachers should also communicate with lawmakers about important issues.

“If they’re hearing from all of you, all of a sudden that’s changing the calculus in their mind,” he said. “That’s tangible.”

Likewise, he said, community members may not agree with educators, so educators may need to do some outreach with them as well.

Broadway said that having a presence at the Capitol is important. He recalled one time when he thought a bill pertaining to nursing would go one way, and 350 nurses in white uniforms showed up wanting it to go the other way. It went their way.

The two emphasized that lawmakers consider a wide range of issues during a legislative session and may not be familiar with a particular topic related to education. Broadway said that as a legislator, he might have had five people talk to him about five separate issues from the time he started down the top of the stairs until he reached the bottom. Gillam, a berry farmer when he was elected, visited his superintendents when he was a candidate because he knew education policy was his weakest area. He encouraged audience members to be patient with their legislators if an issue doesn’t click with them the first time.

“At this point given the political landscape, given the policymaking landscape, in truth, not being engaged is not an option. … There are enough other people that are engaged, that are filling that void, so if you want to be the voice for education, you’re going to have to be engaged,” he said.

To bring education to the tops of legislators’ minds, advocates should invite lawmakers to school (politicians love having their picture made at school, Broadway said) and to school board meetings. Many would come. Gillam advised audience members to pay attention to other issues like health care because they exert budgetary pressures that compete with education.

Broadway noted that a seatmate who was not on the Education Committee would depend on him when deciding how to vote on certain bills. Educators should consider where their own lawmaker will get his or her information.

“You want to be that person that they’re going to reach out to, that they’re going to solicit, and that’s regardless of what state you’re in, is having that relationship,” he said. “Because if not, they’re going to get it from somebody else. … There’s a hundred people standing out in that hallway with their own opinion representing their own interest. So they’re going to hear it from somebody. You just want to make sure it’s you that’s one of them.”

Broadway said state education issues are part of a national dynamic. Legislators attend conferences where they learn about issues like school funding and school choice. Many bills come from national groups, and social media has changed the game when it comes to public policy. Education advocates should keep up with events in other states so they can be prepared for what might come next. He was the co-author of Arkansas’ school funding formula, so for several years he was a national speaker.

He said he had never seen a truly new idea introduced in legislation. Instead, it might be the same idea that was tried 20 years earlier and has returned because the timing is right.

“I had bills that I filed my first session that I might have passed my last session,” he said.

Arkansas’ education system has been radically transformed by the LEARNS Act. Still, much of it remains to be determined by the rules process. This can be more difficult then the legislative process to navigate because it can be hard to know when the rules will be discussed. He encouraged audience members to ask the governor’s administration to see the rules before they go through the final process. Ultimately, rules will have to be reviewed by the Arkansas Legislative Council, a large group of legislators that meets between sessions. Gillam encouraged audience members to build relationships with the bureaucracy, including Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ education staff members and officials in the Department of Education.

Broadway said the LEARNS Act is one of the most politically charged issues he’s seen since school consolidation. When he was in the Legislature, that latter issue generated the second most emails he ever received. First was when the Arkansas Razorbacks were no longer playing as many games in War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock.

But Gillam said the issue doesn’t have to remain so charged. School advocates can change the tone through their engagement.

“My advice if you’re in those kinds of situations is take charge to de-escalate the environment,” he said. “Get back to the actual policy because most of the time you can win somebody over if you can get out of the emotional state and back into the actual data-driven policy world. At least, that’s what I have found here in Arkansas. But even my friends in the other states that I’ve visited with, they’ve mentioned to me the same thing. When everybody just takes a deep breath and can get calm again, usually they can find some kind of common ground or some pathway forward that communicates.”

Asked how to respond if a district’s representative is ineffective, Gillam advised finding a replacement. In the meantime, they can build relationships with legislators from neighboring districts. Broadway said they should find the person who will likely replace that legislator – for example, a House member wanting to be a senator. He encouraged audience members to consider running for the Legislature. After all, they already have a perspective on education issues along with experience and a passion for students.

Broadway said the first piece of advice he would give prospective candidates would be to get their family’s approval. Legislators face harsh criticism that can upset close family members. He believes the vast majority of people run for office for the right reasons, and he still believes politics is a noble profession. He said those were some of the best years of his life. He made friendships across Arkansas and knew that if he had a flat tire anywhere in the state, a colleague would come and help him.

Gillam said candidates should go into the process with eyes wide open in terms of the time it will take and the money it will cost. He wishes he would have known more beforehand so he could have planned more. It was his greatest professional experience, but it was difficult.

“Go into it open eyed, but go into it,” he said.

FORMER SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE JEREMY GILLAM said it’s possible to find common ground and a path forward by focusing on policy rather than emotion.

Six receive ASBA scholarships

Six children of Arkansas school board members received ASBA Educational Foundation scholarships this year – the 30th consecutive year that scholarships have been granted.

Four graduating high school seniors, one from each of the state’s congressional districts, received $2,500 scholarships, while a statewide winner received the $5,000 Marshall R. Hughes Scholarship funded by First Security Beardsley. The $2,500 J.K. Williams Memorial Scholarship goes to juniors or higher in college who are pursuing a degree in education.

The Marshall R. Hughes Scholarship winner was Zoey McGillvray, a graduate of Bald Knob High School and the niece of Bald Knob School Board member Cale McGillvray. She plans to earn a degree in choral/music education at Arkansas State University and would like to eventually earn a doctorate in order to teach at the college level. She was All State in choir and All Region in band and orchestra, and she was an Arkansas Girls State delegate and Girls State counselor.

Continued on next page

TWO ASBA EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION SCHOLARSHIP winners were, left photo, Madalyn Miller, a graduate of Salem High School and the daughter of Salem School Board member Jason Miller, and, right photo, Emma Hill, a graduate of Greenbrier High School and the daughter of Greenbrier School Board member Jennifer Hill. Pictured with both is ASBA President William Campbell.

The 1st Congressional District award winner was Madalyn Miller, a graduate of Salem High School and the daughter of Salem School Board member Jason Miller. She plans to earn a business degree from the University of Arkansas and obtain her real estate license. She graduated first in her class of 52 with a grade point average of 4.0. She graduated high school with more than 40 hours of credit from Ozarka Community College.

The 2nd Congressional District award winner was Emma Hill, a graduate of Greenbrier High School and the daughter

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of Greenbrier School Board member Jennifer Hill. She plans to study occupational therapy at Ouachita Baptist University, where she is playing volleyball on an athletic scholarship. She plans to earn her graduate degree at the University of Central Arkansas. She graduated with a 4.1 .G.P.A. and earned 40 hours of concurrent credit in high school. She was a member of the FFA parliamentary procedure state championship team.

The 3rd Congressional District winner was Courtney Roberts, a graduate of Bentonville High School and the daughter

Please see STUDENTS on page 39

OTHER SCHOLARSHIP winners included, left photo, Courtney Roberts, a graduate of Bentonville High School and the daughter of Arkansas Arts Academy School Board member Maurissa Roberts. She is pictured with her father, Sam Roberts. Right photo, the J.K. Williams Memorial Scholarship went to Kaylyn Dixon, a student at the University of Arkansas at Monticello. She is the daughter of Woodlawn School Board member Shane Dixon.

Rulings on race, religion affect schools

Two recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions may hold significant implications for public schools.

In Students for Fair Admissions v. President and Fellows of Harvard College and Students for Fair Admissions v. University of North Carolina, the Court ruled against the use of affirmative action with race being a factor in student admissions programs. Chief Justice John Roberts said the programs could not be reconciled with the Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause. In her dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor said the decision “rolls back decades of precedent and momentous progress.”

Justices Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, and Brett Kavanaugh broadly attacked affirmative action policies. Accordingly, the case could potentially impact public education, including the use of race in admissions to selective magnet schools; race-based scholarships, counseling, and recruitment efforts; and broader efforts to promote racial and ethnic diversity and equity.

The Court also unanimously found in Groff v. DeJoy that a postal worker who did not receive a religious accommodation for declining to work on Sundays was entitled to reconsideration. The Court ruled that “Title VII requires an employer that denies a religious accommodation to show that the burden of granting an accommodation would result in substantial increased costs in relation to the conduct of its particular business.” The ruling reversed a lower court finding that the employer proved that providing the accommodation would be an “undue hardship,” which had previously been defined as anything that required the employer to bear “more than a de minimis cost” to its operations.

The Court’s upcoming 2024 term will likely involve other cases with implications for public schools. In April, the 7th Circuit ruled against an Indiana teacher who had requested, based on his religious beliefs, an accommodation from the school’s policy on addressing transgender students by the names and pronouns consistent with their gender identity. The court has requested ad-

by Jay Bequette ASBA General Counsel

ditional briefing in light of the Groff decision, which heightened the standard for employers who wish to deny accommodation requests based on the “undue hardship” to the employer.

The Court will also consider whether employees can sue over job transfers under Title VII. Muldrow v. City of St. Louis involves the transfer of a police sergeant, but the case’s briefs discuss cases involving school employees. In 1998, the 10th Circuit in Denver ruled there was no adverse employment action when a district transferred a fourth grade teacher to a school farther from her home to teach second grade because she was paid the same salary and benefits. In 2016, the 3rd Circuit in Philadelphia ruled a black school security officer

transferred from a high school to a middle school did not suffer an adverse job action, despite his claims the new position was less prestigious and did not provide overtime pay. However, in 1980, the 2nd Circuit in New York City held a junior high art teacher’s transfer to an elementary school interfered with a condition of employment. (The teacher alleged sex discrimination because the district did not transfer a less-senior male art teacher.) Further, in 2000, the 11th Circuit in Atlanta let proceed a suit of a female high school principal who was transferred to a central office position because lateral transfers resulting in “a loss of prestige and responsibility” were covered by Title VII.

Most recently, a 2021 decision by the 4th Circuit in Richmond, Virginia, ruled against a middle school principal who challenged her transfer to a central office position as being motivated by racial bias. The court ruled that despite her view that the transfer was a demotion decreasing her chances for advancement, other principals had been moved to the central office without loss of prestige.

These disparate decisions indicate a Supreme Court review is likely.

EXECUTIVE SESSION

with Doris Parham

By Steve Brawner Editor

When Doris Parham starts something, she sticks with it. She’s worked in the defense industry in south Arkansas for 48 years, she and her husband have been married for 50 and last December she received her ASBA 30-Year Service Award.

Parham’s tenure on the Bearden School Board has included dismissing a superintendent who later served alongside her on the board. (They’re still friends.) The district entered into an innovative partnership with Southern Arkansas University Tech where students have been bussed to the college to earn credit. The district, along with others in the area, now is exploring creating a program with the defense industry.

Report Card sat down with her in the cafeteria where the school board meets and talked about these subjects and others. The interview continued – unexpectedly – during the photo shoot.

What got you involved in the school board in the first place?

“There was a gentleman that was on the board. He’s deceased now, but he came to my house to talk to my husband about serving on the board. I happened to open the door, and he told me why he was there.

“I said, ‘Well, I really think you’ve got the wrong person because he’s not that type of person. I know he wouldn’t want to serve on the board.’ I told him I would be interested, so we talked.

“He said, ‘OK. I’m going to present your name at the next board meeting,’ because one of the former members had

resigned, and they had needed to replace someone from my zone. And so it’s just been school board ever since. I’ve probably only had, like, two or three opponents during my 30-year tenure.”

Why did you want to be on the board?

“I’m a community-minded person. My dad always taught us, of course,

church, be busy in the church and also in your community. He always taught us to be community-minded, to want to be involved in things. I had a daughter at that time [who] was in high school when I started on the board, and I was interested in her education as well as other children’s education in the community and thought that would be a good place for me to start.”

Tell me about your childhood.

“I was raised in a little community called Princeton, Arkansas. I am nine of 12 children, and my dad was always community-minded, education-minded. Even though he only had a third grade education, he made sure that we all graduated high school, and those who wanted to go to college could go to college. My first instinct, I had four sisters that were teachers, older sisters, and I wanted to be a teacher. Dad convinced me that I was too small to do that. ‘Those kids will run over you,’ he said. [Laughs.] So I went the business route. I went to business school.”

You were raised on a farm, right?

“Raised on a farm in Princeton. It wasn’t a large farm, but we raised enough food for our family and the community. Daddy just shared with everybody. … I spent a lot of time picking peas and cucumbers and corn, and I mean, we planted everything. Peanuts, everything.”

Did you like that?

“I did not. As a matter of fact, when I left home, I said I won’t even have a flower bed when I leave home. [Laughs.] But we have a garden at our house now, and I do a lot of canning. I enjoy it now, and I guess it’s because I don’t have to do it. You know, when I was at home, I had to. Daddy said that’s what you’re going to do.”

So you went into business. What did you do?

“I started out with a secretary’s degree, and I started out working at National Old Line Insurance. I don’t know if you remember, that was in Little Rock right across from the State Capitol. It was an old insurance company. I was an underwriter, and I worked there for five years.

“I met my husband here in Bearden. He is from Bearden, so we married and I moved home and started working for BEI Defense. Worked there for 23 years. They were a defense business that made rockets, and I started there during the latter part of the Vietnam War. Then in 1996 – the government always put the contracts out for bid – BEI had lost that contract. General Dynamics won it at that time, and so they really just took the people that were in BEI that had knowledge and just moved us over to General Dynamics.

“I’ve been there now for 27 years. … I’m over materials, making sure that we get the proper materials, the buyers get the materials ordered on time, delivered on time, and it’s quality material. …

“We make rockets. I tell everybody, you can go on the internet and find a 2.75-inch rocket and find everything about it on the internet, but that’s what we make. They shoot them from the Blackhawk helicopters, and they also can be mounted with different types of warheads.”

You’ve been on the school board for 30 years. How do you stay fresh?

“Training. I tell our younger board members, you’ve got to attend these trainings because things are changing every day. Procedures and policies are changing every day, so you’ve got to get your training to stay abreast of what’s going on.”

If you do that, do you stay as fresh as you were when you started?

“I feel like I’m staying fresher now because I’m more cognizant of the things that are different, changes that are going on. ...

“I’m ready to do it some more. Matter of fact, my last election, I only won by four votes.”

Why such a close election?

“I didn’t get out and campaign. I felt like if my constituents knew me for 27, 29 years that you know what I do and what I stand for. She was a younger person, and I’m sure she went out and got the younger voters.”

You’d have been OK with losing?

“I would have been OK with losing. I would have even helped her, you know, given her some pointers.”

One of your first big tests was you dismissed a superintendent. What can you tell me about that?

Continued on next page

“ ”

You have to learn to adapt to a lot of different things. The world changes. Education changes. Things change throughout life, and you just have to learn to adapt to those many changes.

“Well, he had been employed here for many years – probably 30 years or more. It was an ugly thing. We had a boardroom full of people that were for him and a boardroom full of people that wanted us to get rid of him, but we felt like he had run his tenure. You know, he was a good guy. Matter of fact, we’re friends.”

Today?

“Today. Matter of fact, he served on the board for a while.”

So you had voted him off and then you were sitting beside him and are friends? That is pretty big of both of you. How’d that happen?

“It has to do with your faith. Our Scripture tells us that we should love everybody. You know, I love him. There were some of the things I didn’t agree with, but I had nothing against him.”

How’d you all go about getting a new one?

“There was a lot of searching, and we didn’t just hire the first person that came out. We interviewed probably eight or 10 guys before we chose another one. And we were really looking for someone that is budget-minded. You’ve got to have someone that knows how to track your budget, knows how to run school.”

And you’re business-minded.

“Exactly. I tell everybody that we’re one of the well-kept, best secrets around in southern Arkansas. Small schools, you’re seeing them disappear a lot. But to me, when you’re trying to pack 25 or 30 kids in a room, somebody’s going to get lost in the shuffle. A kid’s not going to get what they need because we don’t all learn at the same pace. I may know my ABCs through G. Well, Sally over here knows all of hers, but I need a little help because I didn’t have that at home. So the thinking is, let’s just get these

kids educated and make sure that the education they have will take them far, take them out of Bearden if they want to go out of Bearden. My daughter’s lived for two years in Austria, and nobody would have ever thought somebody from Bearden, Arkansas [would do that]. But she was an entertainer, and she got the opportunity to go and entertain in Austria for two years. She loved it.”

Is your school growing?

“We are growing a little. Not by leaps and bounds, but we are growing. If you get five new students, I look at that as like, yeah, we are growing.”

Bearden High years ago partnered with SAU Tech to provide students opportunities to earn college credit. Can you tell me about what you did?

“Well, first, our superintendent brought it to us. He brought it to the board to see what we thought about it, and we just thought that was a fantastic thing that my kid can go to school from the 11th and 12th grade, then go to Tech, and when he graduates, he can have 12 or 14 hours toward his degree. We just thought that was a wonderful thing. And I don’t have to pay for it? What parent would not want that for their child?”

Tell me about your new program with the defense industry.

“SAU Tech has not come up with the curriculum yet. We’ve kind of laid it out through the defense businesses what we need. You’ve got to learn how to read different measuring tools. Just know how to go in a company and do an interview. We had, like, eight kids that did interviews this fall with Lockheed, and they offered them jobs and scholarships to attend college.”

They were students here?

“Students here, and they not only were at Bearden school, they asked several other schools to send them so many students. We sent them about eight, and I believe they offered five of them jobs. When they graduated high school, they had jobs that started paying $17-plus an hour.”

Did the defense companies get together and say what they needed?

“The schools got together first, and then we contacted the defense businesses and told them what we were trying to do, or what we wanted to do, and we wanted them to help us come up with a curriculum.”

What is the timeline for the program?

“We’re hoping to get it off the ground this coming school term.”

Would they go to the plants and intern there?

“Lockheed did have them there, the ones that they asked us to send. They brought them to the plant and took them on a tour to let them see exactly what went on there.”

What do you see as being the future of Bearden schools?

“To me, the future of Bearden schools is growth. Growth. I think if we can grow, get our numbers up, get our [state] grade up, I feel like we have the faculty to do that. We have a great staff here. Get our students excited about learning. I think we’ll just be a little jewel here in southern Arkansas.”

What do you do for fun?

“Play with my two grandboys. I have two grandboys, nine years old and one year old.”

Aren’t you glad you came home?

“I am. I enjoy the area. I love Bearden. My daughter always [is saying], ‘Mama, y’all need to leave and come to Bryant.’ Nah. We’re going to stay where we are.”

And then you could travel if you want to.

“Yeah. Well, I still work. [Laughs.] I’m not planning on retiring from work any time soon. People ask me, ‘Why don’t you retire?’ Why? I’m not a traveling person. I’m going to go to Bryant, to Arkadelphia where my kids, grandkids are, and that’s about it.”

Editor’s note: The rest of this article includes comments that arose over the course of the photography shoot.

You don’t look 70. What’s your secret?

“To God be the glory is what I tell everybody. Be kind to people. Loving. Just be a good person. He’ll take care of you.”

If we were standing next to each other and someone asked who was older, I’m 54, and I guarantee you they would say it was me.

“[Laughs.] Well, that’s what my daughter says. She said, ‘Mama, everybody thinks that I’m the mama and you’re the daughter.’ [Laughs.] But no. I’ve lived a pretty decent life. I never drank. I never smoked. I just took care of myself.”

Tell me where you went to school.

“I went to school, started out at J.E. Wallace in Fordyce. It was a black school there in Fordyce. We integrated my senior year to Fordyce High School.”

How did you feel about your education at the segregated school?

“I felt good about it. I felt like we were getting the attention that we needed, and we were taught a lot of things that coming from a very rural area we had never seen or heard about. I even took a Spanish course coming up, and back in those days, that was kind of unheard of. But we had a great education from J.E. Wallace.”

And then you integrated your senior year …

“My second semester of my senior year when we went to Fordyce High. Matter of fact, we had bought class rings from J.E. Wallace. We had purchased our caps and gowns, which our colors were black and gold, and the Fordyce High School’s are red and white. So there was a mixture there at graduation that day.”

Did you all just as soon stay where you were?

“We would have, but we just did what we were told to do. And they had already started integrating before the full integration. There were a few black students that had already migrated to Fordyce High.”

What lessons do you think you learned from those experiences that you have applied to your school board service?

“Well, that you have to learn to adapt to a lot of different things. The world changes. Education changes. Things change throughout life, and you just have to learn to adapt to those many changes.”

It sounds like you had a pretty good dad.

“I did have a very good dad. He was interested not only in his kids but all the kids in the community. He worked with the 4-H program helping kids learn different things about animals, about different things. He just loved working with children to make sure that the children got their education.”

You were telling me earlier about his longevity.

“Yes, he lived to be 96 years old. He was still driving at the age of 92, and we decided that it was time for him to stop. But he didn’t put up a fight about it. He gave over his keys, and wherever he needed to go, he had enough children that if he wanted to go somewhere, we all took turns taking him wherever he needed to go. … He outlived three wives – my mom and two stepmothers. His last marriage, he was 80 years old and he had a big church wedding. [Laughs.] Drove away in a limo. [Laughs.]”

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

All-Clean helps Wynne recover from spring tornado

All-Clean USA has helped the Wynne School District recover from the tornado that destroyed most of its high school and damaged its intermediate school.

All-Clean General Manager Jerry Stanfill said the district contacted the restoration company after the storm to secure contents. All-Clean later mitigated an intermediate school wing where debris and water had intruded by drying the contents and ensuring there were no mold issues. It has mitigated the high school library and will work at the intermediate library. It worked with content adjusters to sort through containers and equipment that school personnel were trying to salvage or dispose of.

For more information about AllClean, go to allcleanusa.com or call 860.360.3473. Operators are available to take phone calls 24-7.

Hight Jackson designing Rogers school renovation

Rogers Public Schools is undertaking a complete renovation of Oakdale Middle School, originally constructed in 1974, with the help of the Hight Jackson architecture firm. The design includes an updated exterior and full renovation of interior spaces, creating a new administration suite, new cafeteria, new gymnasium, and updating the media center. Construction is due to begin in December, with completion of the project in October 2025.

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

M3 Services’ Lake Hamilton grad cleans Superdome

Haydn Yancey, a recent graduate of Lake Hamilton High School, in July cleaned the HVAC systems in the historic Caesars Superdome in New Orleans along with technician Ben McDonald and Jean Mouton, co-founder of M3 Services. They restored equipment to an energy-efficient, high-functioning condition through enzymatic cleaning.

M3 Services specializes in energy reduction for facilities large and small, and can take advantage of utility companies’ incentives to reduce the customer’s fees to low or no cost. They specialize in helping school districts with these programs, and are pleased to also give back to the school district’s communities by hiring their recent grads as well.

For more information about M3 Services, go to m3svs.com or call 501.991.4822.

American Fidelity can help schools with SECURE Act 2.0

The SECURE Act 2.0, passed in 2022, updated the previously passed SECURE Act to make retirement savings more accessible and dependable, and to create a more robust retirement system.

According to American Fidelity, changes for 2023 include, among others, allowing employees to designate their vested matching and nonelective contributions as post-tax Roth contributions under 401(k), 403(b) or governmental 457(b) plans. Changes occurring in 2024 include allowing employers to treat student loan payments as elective deferrals under 401(k), 403(b) or 457(b) plans. Further changes come in 2025.

Employers should speak with their plan administrators and legal advisors about what policy changes they should consider. For more information about this subject, go to https://americanfidelity.com/support/annuities/secure-2-0/.

For more information about employee benefits, go to americanfidelity.com or call 800.688.4421.

Architecture Plus designs VoAg barn building for Alma

Architecture Plus, Inc. designed a VoAg animal barn building to meet the needs of the Alma School District’s growing VoAg and animal science program. The 14,425-square-foot steel truss building has concrete masonry unit interior walls with brick veneer, prefinished wood look metal wall panels, and prefinished standing seam metal roof, all contributing to a durable, almost maintenance-free building. The building has five indoor cattle pens with access to outdoor pens. There also are pens for smaller animals such as pigs and goats. Support spaces include a wet lab, tack and equipment room, and animal wash area. The building’s onsite location allows easy access for trucks and trailers and safe unloading areas for animals.

For more information, visit archplusinc.net.

Baldwin & Shell constructs UCA performing arts hall

Baldwin & Shell Construction Company recently completed the Windgate Center for Fine and Performing Arts at

the University of Central Arkansas. The 114,000-square-foot facility situated at the corner of Donaghey Avenue and Bruce Street holds a concert hall, a percussion suite, a recital hall, a photography studio, a 190-seat black box theater, rehearsal and design spaces, classrooms and other amenities.

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

Southern Tire Mart recycles 1.9 million used tires in 2022

Southern Tire Mart is committed to not only serving schools but also to reducing the environmental impact of its business on Arkansas. STM operates retread plants in West Memphis and Little Rock. In 2022, STM recycled 1,858,501 used tires by retreading them with Bandag. This process saved more than 27 million gallons of oil, saved enough energy to power more than 48 million homes in one day, and saved more than 77 million pounds of tire waste from landfills in 2022.

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

For questions about K-12 construction, contact Leigh Ann Showalter at lshowalter@crcrawford.com. For more information about the company, go to www.crcrawford.com

McPherson & Jacobson conducts 1,000 ‘super’ searches

McPherson & Jacobson, L.L.C. has conducted more than 1,000 national superintendent searches for school boards since 1991. In Arkansas, McPherson & Jacobson’s Arkansas-based consultants have conducted more than 75 superintendent searches for districts ranging from 400 to 26,000 students. The Arkansas consultants will personalize the search for the board.

Contact McPherson & Jacobson at mail@macnjake.com or 888.375.4814. For more information, go to www.macnjake.com.

TIPS implements Marketplace system for eProcurement

The 140,000-square-foot building’s main and central areas will be used for public spaces. The dining space and collaboration stairs will compose the student hub. The central connection wing will have shared spaces and services, while the three-story classroom wing is replicating the newest building, the Junior Academy. Phase I will construct the high school and then demolish the old one. Phase II will connect back to the Junior Academy, and Phase III will develop the soccer field and tennis courts at the old high school site.

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

C.R. Crawford does Highland’s middle, elementary renovations

Transformations greet students at Highland School District’s middle school and Cherokee Elementary School, thanks to C.R. Crawford. The middle school has a new food storage building, its gymnasium HVAC system was upgraded, and the cafeteria was expanded and renovated. The elementary school has upgraded safety and security; new flooring, ceilings, and lighting; a modernized kitchen; fresh and welcoming cafeteria entrance; and an enriched and expanded dining area.

The Interlocal Purchasing System (TIPS) is implementing TIPS Marketplace, a one-stop-shop eProcurement system that TIPS members can use to facilitate and streamline the electronic purchasing process. The TIPS Marketplace, powered by EqualLevel©, will facilitate vendor/contract discovery, evaluation, request for information/quote, and order processing between TIPS members and TIPS awarded vendors. The Marketplace allows members to order from multiple vendors from one site, knowing that the contracts they are purchasing from have been awarded through a competitive bid.

The marketplace is available at shop. tips-usa.com/tips/login. To learn more about TIPS, go to www.tips-usa.com

French Architects designs Hot Springs World Class High

Hot Springs World Class High School, designed by French Architects, is under construction.

Johnson Controls helps Clinton get $1.5m energy grant

Johnson Controls is helping the Clinton School District administer a $1.5 million Renew America’s Schools grant from the U.S. Department of Energy that will help it increase its energy efficiency and reduce its energy costs.

Clinton was one of 24 school districts out of more than 1,000 preliminary requests to receive the grant.

Rob Branscum, an Arkansas-based director of business development with Johnson Controls, said the company’s national grants team helped the district complete the preliminary application and then the final version. The district learned it had been accepted in June.

The project is now in the development phase. Johnson Controls is helping plan for infrastructure improvements including lighting systems, energy

management controls, HVAC, building weatherization, and solar power. There could also be a curriculum piece.

For more information, contact Branscum at 501.295.1050, or go to www. johnsoncontrols.com.

Stephens helps boards attain school finance training

Stephens can assist school board members with obtaining their required professional development hours. Arkansas law generally requires that school board members obtain up to six hours of certified professional development on topics related to school operations.

The Arkansas School Boards Association 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 for boards 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. For more information about Stephens, go to www.stephens. com

VS America partners with schools on agile learning spaces

VS America continues to partner with schools around the U.S. on professional development and the creation of dynamic, ergonomic learning spaces. VS recently completed the Quick Start Guide for Rockford Public Schools – a playbook and professional development program for their school system.

“This is a comprehensive toolbox for empowering teaching and learning through the creation of agile, adaptable, 21st century learning spaces,” said Jill

Ackers, director of education for VS. “We worked with teachers and students to create a model and playbook to support them.”

“While VS continues to set the standard for innovative, agile learning spaces, this new tool helps local educators take a guided and supported deep dive into the why, what, and how of creating agile classrooms,” said Scot Morris, VS regional manager.

To learn more about VS, visit vsamerica.com

Strategos Int’l is highlighted at Southern Region

Strategos International was highlighted during a dinner gathering of executive directors at the Southern Region Leadership Conference in Hot Springs July 18. The event sparked conversations about school safety and security, paving the way for future collaborations.

At the conference, Vaughn Baker, Strategos International’s president, presented “Active Threat Response, A Nonlinear Approach” as a speaker.

For more information about Strategos, go to www.strategosintl. com or contact Steve Anderson at 501.617.4718.

Arkansas Public Safety Solutions installs weapons detectors at Hot Springs

Arkansas Public Safety Solutions has completed its installation of Motorola Avigilon Concealed Weapons Detection technology powered by Evolv at the Hot Springs School District.

The touchless screening technology uses advanced digital sensors and artificial intelligence to quickly screen individuals for weapons. Greenbrier was the first Arkansas district to install it.

Arkansas Public Safety Solutions, a Little Rock-based system integrator, is focused on the K-12 market and has 85 years of public safety system design, integration, and service experience.

For more information, go to www. motorolaapss.com

WER Architects designs new arena for Monticello High

WER Architects, in association with Odom Architecture, recently completed designing the Monticello High School 52,000-square-foot Billie Arena and high school entry. The arena, which broke ground this summer, will seat 1,900, enough to host state basketball tournaments. It will contain senior and junior varsity locker rooms, visitor locker rooms and coaches’ offices, and a hospitality suite with team film room. The project also includes a secured entry for the high school with administration offices and drop off canopy that creates an updated look.

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

Entegrity: Act now for solar benefits

School districts are running out of time to receive the maximum financial benefits for solar energy projects, Entegrity says.

Act 278 imposes net metering and financing restrictions that reduce the value of solar energy entering the utility grid, thus reducing the financial payback of solar projects for schools. New customers connected to the grid before

Ackers

Baker

Oct. 1, 2024, will be grandfathered in and will continue to receive one-to-one compensation at retail rates through 2040. However, this does not account for installation time. To ensure their project meets this deadline, Entegrity advises customers to be under contract by the end of 2023.

To learn more, contact Entegrity at info@entegritypartners.com or visit www.entegritypartners.com.

Nabholz helps

Fayetteville build wellness center

The goal of every school district is to empower students to pursue any career path they choose. By expanding the range of available courses and supplemental programming, students can explore opportunities.

Fayetteville School District partnered with Nabholz to construct an innovative wellness and academic center for students at Fayetteville High School with this exact objective in mind. This facility will offer students unique opportunities through classes in leadership and service, broadcasting, sports medicine, career and technical education, and health and wellness. Further, it will provide dedicated spaces for practicing various activities such as band, baseball, cross country, cheer, dance, football, golf, soccer, and swimming and diving.

This facility sets an example as the first of its kind in the state, with the hope of encouraging other schools to follow suit.

For more information about Nabholz, visit nabholz.com

Continued from page 30

of Arkansas Arts Academy School Board member Maurissa Roberts. She plans to earn a biology degree at Spelman College in Atlanta. She was active in her school’s debate team, bowling team and theater and received the Bentonville High School Distinguished Citizen Award. She was vice president of the Northwest Arkansas chapter of Jack and Jill of North America and was Central Region teen secretary.

The 4th Congressional District winner was Calvin Haynes, a graduate of Hope High School and the son of Hope School Board member Linda Haynes. He plans to earn a double major in sports analytics and sports and recreation management at Harding University. He graduated with a 4.0 grade point average, earning an associate of arts general education degree from the University of Arkansas at Hope-Texarkana. He was a member of the National Honor Society and the Quiz Bowl team, and played on the Hope High golf and baseball teams. He also was a radio announcer for Hope football games from the eighth grade through his senior year.

The J.K. Williams Memorial Scholarship went to Kaylyn Dixon, a student at the University of Arkansas at Monticello pursuing a degree in K-6 education. She plans to earn a master’s degree and would like to teach the first grade. She is the daughter of Shane Dixon, a member of the Woodlawn School Board. She graduated with honors with a 3.52 G.P.A. from Woodlawn High School in

It’s About the Kids!

May 2021. As a high school senior, she was All State in softball and basketball, was secretary of the Student Council, and was a member of the FBLA and Beta Club.

An Exhibiting Member of ASBA, McPherson & Jacobson has been assisting Arkansas School Districts with SUPERINTENDENT

THE MARSHALL HUGHES SCHOLARSHIP WINNER was Zoey McGillvray, a graduate of Bald Knob High School, top photo. She is the niece of Bald Knob School Board member Cale McGillvray. Bottom photo, the 4th Congressional District winner was Calvin Haynes, a graduate of Hope High School and the son of Hope School Board member Linda Haynes.

WE BUILD

SPACES THAT HELP STUDENTS EXCEL

The Fort Smith Public School District hired Nabholz to renovate Darby Middle School with a particularly challenging schedule: complete a 14-month job in 12 months. This was accomplished by communication and dedication to innovative solutions. Updates were made to existing classrooms, administration offices, utilities, a fire suppression system, and more. Our team worked closely with the owner to identify and avoid conflicts with district events to minimize impact on students and faculty.