Casey resigns from Nevada School Board; driver’s ed coming

ROSSTON – There was good news for patrons of the Nevada School District as it was announced the school will be offering driver’s education next year.

This was done at the January meeting of the Nevada School Board Thursday night. Superintendent Roy McCoy told the board the district had been approved to offer driver’s ed, and now much purchase a car for the class, along with getting an instructor certified to teach it. At this time, the only place offering certification for driver’s education instruction is the University of Central Arkansas in Conway.

Once the course is in place, McCoy told the board, it will be a half credit and be offered both semesters, focusing on getting those seniors interested in first. “I think it will be popular,” he said.

There was also a bit of sad news as Jeremy Casey resigned from the board. McCoy said Casey recently got a new job that makes it difficult for him to attend board meetings. He said the board will have 30 days to find a replacement. This will be done at the February meeting on Feb. 24.

McCoy also informed the board the district is fully accredited.

McCoy, Lindsay Moss and Tonda Pennington will be going to the University of Arkansas Hope-Texarkana to discuss concurrent credits for next year. “We want to do more on college and vocational courses,” he said. “We want to offer college courses on campus using our staff.” Nevada currently offers one on-campus college course -College Algebra.

Those parents interested in using school choice to send their children to Nevada next year can do so,but must apply by May 1.

The district, McCoy said, received $51,334 in Covid money. The funds can be used to cover the costs of dealing with Covid from Feb.-June of last year. However, he added, there are a lot of restrictions on how the money can be uses. Some acceptable uses include: purchasing test supplies and cleaning supplies. At this time, he continued, the district has two people who tested positive and are in quarantine. This, he told the board, was due to their being in close contact with infected people outside of school. He added the district used two AMI days last week when Covid cases appeared as a means to get ahead of the situation.

Principal Tonda Pennington said the district has been approved for a startup grant for an animal science course that will start next year for those interested. Eighth graders finished their national testing and Valentine’s can be delivered to the school, but no glass or balloons will be allowed on buses.

The board approved a school calendar for the 2022-23 school year. There was one major change – the start date. State law now requires school start no earlier than two Mondays before Labor Day, which means school will start on Aug. 22. This will result in instructional days going to June 1. The calendar was approved by the PPC and teachers.

The board also approved the continuation of the district’s master facilities plan. No changes were made as it was agreed to continue using the existing plan.

After a brief executive session, it was announced McCoy will have a year added to his contract, giving him three full years.