Redistricting approved by NSD

By Staff, 10/22/21 10:30 AM

ROSSTON – It didn’t take long for the Nevada School Board to approve a map changing the districts for board members at the October meeting Thursday night.

The change was minor, primarily affecting the Bodcaw district as 14 people were moved to the Laneburg district. The board approved a resolution adopting the new district map.

Because of the rezoning, the board also had to decide when school board elections would be held. They were told the elections could be held in May or November. Changing to May, they were told by Superintendent Roy McCoy, would require a policy change, leaving the election in November would take no action. The board opted to keep the elections in November.

The meeting began with the rotation of officers. Nevada’s board rotates positions each year instead of having the board elect officers. For the next year, David Barr will be the board president, with Brandon Rhodes tabbed the vice president and Chris Fore the secretary.

Tonda Pennington, principal, updated the board on what’s going on. She said intervention for Nevada Elementary Students is going well as the students are showing improvements. Because of the improvement in the younger students, the intervention will be incorporated in the third grade soon. She told the board kindergarten students recently went to Logoly State Park and had fun. Sixth grade students, she continued, have been learning lab safety and had to do skits concerning it.

On the high school side, basketball season is starting, and students in the FFA were recently awarded. Members of the student council and National Honor Society have started charity events, including a canned food drive. Red Ribbon Week will be recognized next week.

McCoy, in his report, said Nevada wasn’t selected to be in the pilot Covid program. However, though the district isn’t part of the pilot program, it will still be participating in it, with the test kits having been ordered which will allow students to be tested daily, if needed. McCoy said there are no positives or quarantines in the districts, and there have been no problems since the district went mask optional.

The board was informed Jason Holsclaw will be at the December meeting for board training.

The panel, following Arkansas School Board Association policy, approved raising the amount the district could spend without taking bids. The amount was $20,000, but has been increased by the ASBA and state to $21,604.

Two students will be allowed to transfer out of the Nevada district to Prescott. This won’t really make any difference as the students were already attending school in Prescott when the family moved into the Nevada district.

McCoy introduced a new idea for Nevada seniors who are able to stay on the honor roll throughout their high school careers. He said in other district’s he’s worked, students who did this were allowed to raise money for a trip to New York in DEcember. With the students raising the money, it won’t cost the district anything. This year’s seniors were given the option of taking a trip in the Spring, but chose not to as they wouldn’t have enough time to raise the needed funds.