PRAIRIE GROVE -- Prairie Grove School Board was busy in June with two special meetings and its regular meeting June 15.
On June 4, board members approved a bid for $211,620 from Franklin & Son to re-roof Prairie Grove Intermediate School.
At that same meeting, the board voted to hire five teachers: Rob Seal, fifth grade science; Holley Shinn, elementary art; Kelsey Tibbit, second grade; Darla Winters, second grade and Brandy Carte, elementary special education. The board also hired David Kellogg as assistant superintendent that evening and accepted the resignation of baseball coach/teacher Mitch Cameron and primary teacher Amelia Foster.
The June 8 special meeting was called with only one item on the agenda and that was to hire Chris Mileham to replace Cameron as head baseball coach and teacher.
At its regular June meeting, the school board approved a recommendation to hire William Dixon as director of maintenance and transportation. Dixon already was serving as transportation director and in March was given the responsibilities of maintenance director on a trial basis.
Allen Williams, superintendent of schools, said Dixon has proven he can do both jobs, noting that in some ways, the maintenance department is running more efficiently.
"William is very organized and that probably is his strong suit," Williams told school board members. "He's a worker, full of energy and doesn't waste time."
Williams' salary for 2015-16 will be $57,658. He will receive a $1,500 increase when he completes a Certified Facilities Director Certification program offered through Arkansas School Plant Management Association.
Williams gave an update on the plan to use a third-party company to manage the district's food service program.
The school board, in May, approved a proposal from Aramark to manage all school cafeterias, effective July 1. This proposal has now been approved by Arkansas Department of Education's Child Nutrition Unit. Williams told board members several details relating to employees are being worked out and a signed contract must be submitted to the education department by a June 26 deadline for final state approval.
Aramark, using 2013-14 information on number of employees and number of meals served, submitted a proposal that guaranteed it could save the district $43,000. Three companies submitted bids and Aramark came out of top, based on nine critieria considered by a school committee.
In personnel action at the regular meeting, the board hired four food service employees and two teachers, Jacqueline White for secondary special education and Amy Bronson for alternative learning environment.
Board members also approved a recommendation to change the stipends for volleyball coaches. Stipend for volleyball senior head coach will be $1,500; volleyball senior assistant coach, $750; volleyball junior head coach, $1,000; volleyball junior assistant coach, $750; and $400 for volleyball 7th grade coach. The seventh grade stipend will only be paid if the school plays a schedule against other schools.
General News on 07/01/2015