Nevada getting new gym floor

ROSSTON – When school resumes for the2024-25 school year arrives, it will arrive with a new gym floor at Nevada.

The Nevada School Board, at its March meeting Thursday, voted to have a new floor installed in the gym. Superintendent Roy McCoy told the board because Gym Masters is approved for state contracts the district won’t need to take bids. The contract price is $109,370. However, McCoy asked the board to approve up to $150,000 for the project for possible change orders. He pointed out the new floor will be 3.25 inches taller so the doors to the storage room and coaches office will have to be cut down accordingly. In addition, the goals will have to be raised accordingly, or replaced if they can’t be raised.

The urethane floor will be left, if possible, but there is a chance the current floor can’t be separated from the urethane floor. Construction should begin the Monday after graduation. Nevada’s graduation is May 16 and be completed in a month – if all goes according to plan. Funding for the new floor will come from the 2020 bond money for capital projects, no other school funds will be used.

The board also approved a new calendar for the 2024-25 school year. There will be some changes as the district’s application for a waiver was approved and school will start on Aug. 12 instead of Aug. 19. Teachers will come in on Aug. 1 while students are to arrive on Aug. 12. There will also be a break each month and school should end before Memorial Day, depending on the weather. In addition, the 2025 graduation will, for the first time, be held on a Monday night. Graduation next year will be May 12. This is being done as the baseball and softball teams could be in the regional and/or state playoffs and there would be a conflict if the teams make it that far.

There will be less travel for professional development next year. McCoy said fewer people will be sent to various programs, and those who go will be required to report back to others.

An Honors Trim for juniors and seniors was approved for 2025. The reason for the delay is to give the students time to raise money for the trip, which has tentatively been scheduled for Dec. 2025 and held every two years thereafter.

The board also approved hiring all licensed and classified personnel for the coming school year.

Carol Fister, principal at Nevada High School, said juniors took the ACT test this week with 100 percent participation and students are getting ready for the eclipse. The Southwest Educational Cooperative has provided glasses for the students. State testing starts April 16 with prep for the tests to be done two weeks before the tests begin.

Tonda Pennington, NES principal, said testing is being done at the elementary school as well, and next year the second grade will be doing a pilot program for testing. Students took a trip to Magnolia recently and NES has also been doing a lot of interventions of late.

Robbie Creech, transportation and building maintenance supervisor, said the school is instituting Operation Hero to replace the School Dude program. In addition, he said projects are being examined to make sure they can either be fixed or closed out.

McCoy, in the superintendent’s report, said the district will be looking to hire students again this summer, but will hire fewer than last year because most of the work will be done indoors. With the LEARNS Act, he continued, the district will need to expand into vocational programs that will be beneficial to students not going to college. He said the district will have to look into which programs would be best for Nevada students as the district can only offer three or four instead of 15 or more.