Spring Hill School Board

The Spring Hill School District held its school board meeting in the Elementary Conference room on Tuesday August 15th. After the invocation, the minutes, and financial report were reviewed they were approved. Ray Beardsley from First Security was there talking to the Board. The district is required by law to provide a budget for two years and turn it into the paper. These numbers can simply be estimated.  Spring Hill currently has a millage of 41.8 and will vote on the millage although they aren’t looking for an increase.  The board reviewed the documents provided by First Security and made a motion to employ the company for a three-year contract. The motion passed.  There is a 14.9 million dollar projected budget and 14.4 million projected expenditures with 1 million going into the buildings.

The elementary and high school principals reported. The elementary school has 337 students with a total of  354 including Pre-K.

DHS came and Spring Hill received the license. The schools need to have a clear record for six months with the January evaluation being most important.

The district has moved up in rankings from 166th to 145th. The elementary has the most students the principal has ever seen.

The high school has 288 students and more could come in as paperwork is completed. The high school has improved 61 spots in ranking. Out of the 35 students in Geometry, the large majority were in high growth. In English there was a 75 % improvement.

Handbook changes were discussed with how many absences were allowed for the semester test. There is a desire to change the allowed excused absences to 5.

The district had a valedictorian who didn’t want to speak last term. There has been no requirement that they must speak. The board intends to make it obligatory.

The requirements for athletes are high with 35 credits required. The district wants to allow Algebra and Physical Science to be started in 8th grade and students receive credit for it.  The previously required test is hard. The new test is based on what students take.  The district wants to allow parents to provide documentation by email but not by text or phone calls as emails can be verified.  The school pays in advance for the students taking the AP tests. It was recommended that students be charged $100 if they don’t take the test.  For the honor society, standards are being raised for future recipients.  The district won’t put extra Chromebooks in the classroom and instead will have students assigned one each and being responsible for paying for damages.  Only 11th and 12 graders will be allowed to take college courses. This change will give 10th graders an extra year to prepare.  All AP courses should be listed as honors courses  Freshman 1 and 2 will be taught on campus.  The number of excused absences was 5 when COVID hit. Some students were out for a long time and were punished despite keeping their grades up.  Changes to the handbook for elementary level included clothing requirements and prohibition of handmade weapons. There was a motion which passed to accept all the handbook changes.

There was a motion to accept Ms. Steed’s college course.

There was a motion to approve expenditures for the kitchen.

For the 504 coordinator for the high school, a $1000 stipend was added. It is an increased duty that so far has been unfunded.

Brainstorming, a phonics program which will cost $20,470 was discussed. This figure include a week of professional development and all the materials. A grant will pay for it. A motion was made to accept which passed.

The Arkansas School Board Association premiums have increased dramatically with the new cost being $87,883.11 This is more than double the previous cost and went up because of natural disasters elsewhere. The state will contribute $13,000. The premium covers Mobile Equipment, Vehicles and Property.

There was the discussion to determine if the coverage could be obtained cheaper elsewhere with the response other districts have already looked and found they are the cheapest. There was a motion to pay which passed.

The continuation of the Renaissance Accelerated Reading program costing $7,191 was voted on. This will be reimbursed and there was a motion to continue it.

The phone service with Sky PBX went from being charged annually to monthly. There was a motion to accept which passed.

The septic system was cleaned. 18,000 gallons were pumped out at a cost of $0.35 a gallon for a total cost of $6300. The grease trap needs to be cleaned twice during the school year at a cost of $450 each time. There was a motion to accept.

The boys basketball team jerseys are up for rotation with a $9,993.61 cost. The uniforms are blue and gold. There was a motion to improve the uniforms which passed.

One of the TVs in the gym went out and it will be cheaper to replace it than fix it. There was a motion to remove it from the assets. The motion passed.

A PPC rate increase was asked about with response that there is already a policy in place.

With purchases and expenditures there will be 30 days to turn in receipts and per diem reimbursements were increased from $30 to $45. A motion was made to accept both changes which passed.

Better controls on credit cards and purchases were suggested as more people do not have an approved PO before they purchase. This complicates the accounting for money spent as amounts have to be tracked down and explained.

Whitney Elmer’s hiring for 180 days at $125 per day was approved.

The suggestion was made to change licensed personnel accounting from different categories to a single one. Instead of separating sick days from personal days they would all be counted the same. 5 unused days can rolled over to the next year.

There was a motion to accept which passed.

The meeting adjourned.