PRAIRIE GROVE -- Full-time employees with Prairie Grove School District will have a merrier Christmas this year.
Prairie Grove School Board unanimously approved a one-time $1,000 bonus for all full-time employees at its Dec. 14 meeting. The total cost of the bonuses will be $308,000, according to Reba Holmes, superintendent of schools.
"Our teachers, staff and administration work tirelessly to support and educate our students," board President Casie Ruland said last week. "It is our honor to be able to give a bonus, at any opportunity that arises."
Board member William Dick spoke in favor of the bonus.
"We just felt like they were deserving of it," Dick said after the Dec. 14 meeting.
The board actually voted on the one-time bonus twice last week.
The first time the bonuses were very briefly discussed in executive session during the Dec. 14 meeting, according to Holmes, and the board voted to approve the bonuses in public session without any discussion. Holmes said she thought the across-the-board bonuses could be brought up in executive session because they are personnel related, but the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act permits executive sessions only for the purpose of considering employment, appointment, promotion, demotion, disciplining of a specific officer or employee. It does not allow private discussion of across-the-board pay increases or bonuses
The next day, Holmes said she wanted to make it right. A special meeting was called for that evening, Dec. 15, with a recommendation to approve a one-time $1,000 bonus as the only item on the agenda. The board members approved the bonuses again at this meeting, without any discussion.
Afterward, Ruland said the discussion about the bonuses in executive session was her "oversight."
She added, "We definitely want to correct that and that's why we had the meeting to make everything perfected."
In other action last week, the board approved a motion to purchase 26 additional security cameras for the high school for $26,833 from Solve for Tech.
The board approved the purchase of 19 cameras for the high school last month, and board member Shawn Shrum was interested then in how much it would cost to purchase the remainder of the security cameras needed at the high school.
"This will finish the high school this year," Shawn Witt, chief information office and security, told board members.
Witt said he does not believe the district will need to purchase Chromebooks next year, and that money can be used to pay for the cameras. Holmes said the money would come out of the building fund for now and the building fund will be reimbursed next year.
During the curriculum report, Assistant Superintendent Pete Joenks said the district has submitted an application to renew its Charter Conversion High School status for Prairie Grove High for the next five years.
The district is asking for three waivers from Arkansas state law or rules under the Arkansas Department of Education:
• Teachers are required to have a licensure code 412 to be a teacher of record for apprenticeships. The school is asking that any licensed teacher be able to fill this role.
• The ability to allow students in an apprenticeship or internship to be able to get their required hours for high school credit for that course before and after a regular school day.
• To allow teachers of certain career and technical education elective classes to have more than 30 students in a class, but no more than 40 students, as long as the teacher does not have more than 150 students during an entire school day. This would allow the high school to have some flexibility in its master schedule, Joenks said.
The board also approved a change order for the new middle school. The change order is for $10,500 to install wireless access points, intercom speakers, digital clocks, phones, door fob readers and security cameras.
For the consent agenda, the board approved hiring Paige Ayers as an elementary teacher and accepted resignations from Randi Walker with food service and Rebecca Bowling as a paraprofessional.
It approved 11 student transfers, nine students from Prairie Grove to Farmington and two students from Farmington to Prairie Grove.