Enrollment down in PSD, board told new buses needed

PRESCOTT – Enrollment in the Prescott School District is down from the start of school.

The Prescott School Board was informed 29 students have transferred out of the district in the last month, leaving the student population at 923. This breaks down to 313 in Prescott Elementary, 314 in Prescott Junior High School and 296 in Prescott High School.

Mike Williams was installed as a new member of the board, replacing Patricia Blake, who stepped down. Williams will run for the office in the next election.

The board was informed Kathy Bobo, a 1975 graduate of PHS, donated $500 to the PHS art department. According to Robert Poole, superintendent, Bobo was in the program during her four years at PHS and enjoyed it so much she wanted to give back and said she’ll give $500 a year for four years. The money is to be used for art supplies.

Fred Davis, transportation director for the district, informed the board the district’s bus fleet is aging and the board will need to start thinking about replacing older buses. He said some are 1998 models, and the last five buses the district bought were 2014 models, which have 2012 chassis. The district, he said, took receipt of these buses in 2013.

He talked about a program with the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) called Go Red. Under this program, districts can receive 25 percent of the cost of a new bus, but must destroy the bus being replaced, showing proof. The program is based on emissions and the ADEQ wants older buses off the roads.

New buses, Davis said, run about $100,000 each. The application process will be available in November with the grants awarded in December. He told the board the application isn’t difficult, but is detailed. He added, for $100,000 the buses would be 72-passenger models with air conditioning.

Questions were raised about putting dash cameras on the buses. Poole reminded the board putting cameras on all buses is part of the district’s security plan under the recent new millage increase.

Davis said he’s gotten bids on camera systems for buses. The cameras in question, he told the panel, have a 160 degree view with four cameras in the bus literally showing everything. He said cameras can be purchased that show how fast the bus is being driven, and pretty much everything the driver does, but these cost more.

The district, he continued, has 14 buses in its fleet and he’d like to keep this number as 14 buses will hold around 1,000 students in an emergency situation. The buses are always kept at least half full of gas or diesel so they can get at least 200 miles away if necessary.

Davis also talked about the monitor program, saying five people have been trained and are qualified to be bus monitors. This, he added, isn’t enough for all buses, so the monitors are rotated. The drivers, he told the board, love the program and can focus on driving.

In other business, Donna Corosa was named director of the district’s surrogate parent program, and JoBeth Glass was named as the disbursing officer for the board, with Ryan Harvey the alternate. The disbursing officer is responsible for signing checks with the superintendent. However, all this is done electronically, with the signature uploaded to a computer and used as needed.

The board approved all statements of assurances. Basically this states the district is complying with all state and federal guidelines as required. It also approved the minority teacher recruitment plan, and was told of the difficulties in recruiting minorities.

The district’s annual report to the public will be Oct. 8, while the regular school board meeting is set for Oct. 29. Ray Beardsley will be on hand at the Oct. 29 meeting to have the district sign off on bond documents from the millage election.