PRAIRIE GROVE -- Prairie Grove School District had 1,817 students show up the first day of school, reported Superintendent Allen Williams at the School Board meeting last week.
This compares to 1,800 "warm bodies" for the first day of school 2013. Williams said he expects attendance numbers will level off in a couple weeks, adding he does not expect the school to have a large growth of new students this year.
Williams said he met with teachers prior to the first day of school and administrators talked about going "back to the basics." Staff discussed the district's mission and values.
One of the district's goals is to improve the graduation rate so that all students graduate and are prepared to leave Prairie Grove for college, a job and to become good citizens.
Williams said one new requirement is that the administration will expect all teachers district-wide to attend graduation each year.
"If we are going to get these kids to graduate, it's important for all our teachers to be at the ceremony," Williams said. "I think that would be neat. I think it would be a neat tradition to start."
One idea, Williams said, is to have all teachers come into the Commencement Ceremony together and then be seated. Williams said the feedback from teachers about this has been positive.
The Board approved the district's 2014-15 budget, which projects $14.8 million in revenues, including $5.1 million from property taxes and $8.9 million in state money.
Expenses include $7.1 million for certified salaries, $3 million for instructional and pupil support, almost $2 million for operations and maintenance and $1.5 million in debt payments. Total projected expenditures are $14.9 million.
Williams said the district will receive more revenues this year because of the 6-mill tax increase approved by voters for a construction bond issue and expenditures will increase due to debt payments on the bond issue.
Williams recognized Dustin Seaton, gifted and talented coordinator, for being named to the Governor's Advisory Council for Gifted and Talented Education. Seaton said being named to the council is a great honor.
He also recognized the high school for being named to the Top 20 high schools in the state according to the Washington Post and its 2013 list of America's Most Challenging High Schools. Prairie Grove is No. 20 on the list. The list is determined by looking at the number of Advanced Placement tests given by a school and dividing it by the number of seniors who graduated that year. The top 20 list includes five other schools in northwest Arkansas.
General News on 08/27/2014