Hope School Board

The Superintendent’s Report was next. A partial list of those recognized includes, from Clinton Primary, Adrian Arroyo, Sofia Leon, Madeline Hawthorne, Tamez Rodgers, Warren Hawthorne. Carlos Hernandez, Alisha Searcy, Mr. Clarke, Maelee Clarke, and parents Kaitlyn Harrison, Ella Lafferty, Trey Hoglund.  From ABC, students Aria Potts and Karson Brown, teachers Jackie Whitney, Yasmin Juanes, and Estefani Leyva as well as parents Jherrod Dixon, Lakin Cortes and Kirsten Shavers. The Picket Fence and Hebrews 11 were recognized for their help.

For the agri building update it was noted work is projected to be complete by middle November. Despite HVAC being delayed to October, the project is still on target as well as being still within the budget. Because it’s within the budget there are plans to fill in holes in as well.

For Kinco project agreements the board voted in three separate motions to accept the project for the Yerger Gym, the Animal Barn and the Yerger Courtyard Project.

There were three bid options presented to upgrade the superintendent’s vehicle which is a 2015 model and has 164,000 miles on it. All of the proposed vehicles have seven seats. The vehicles looked at are 2023 models. Dr. Crossley said he was fine driving the vehicle but understood the concerns about increased maintenance coming with age. The concern was raised about not wanting to wait until the vehicle gave out. With a Board member abstaining from voting until a schedule of teacher and driver salaries is provided and the rest of the board being split on a motion to approve the purchase of one of the options, the motion was tabled.

The next topic was the Agri FFA field trip with Mr. McCrary. The trip is for a national convention in Indianapolis with participating students from all 50 states. National colleges, trade schools and big ag companies will all be there. John Deere had a million dollar combine that students were able to sit in last time. This trip will expose students to different types of farming than are present in southwest Arkansas.  Kevin Wenzer and Temple Grandin will be present. Temple Grandin is a brilliant, world-renowned speaker and teacher. Hotel rooms will cost $880.31 for each participant. The trip will be 692 miles one way. The estimated cost is $2,000 for fuel. Registration is $85 per person making the total registration cost $760 for 9 people. A trip to the Ag History Museum at a reduced cost of $9 each was suggested and students are requesting the rodeo at $35 each. There is a plan to visit Conner Prairie as part of the trip. The group will leave at 4 AM on October 22nd and arrive that night at 6 PM. There will be stops every four hours during the trip. While the cost for the trip was technically under the amount where approval was required by the Board, Mr. McCrary wanted to bring it before the board. Mr. McCrary is a bus driver himself and so will be driving the students. Board member Hoglund asked if the students were contributing financially. It was noted they are contributing and the students have raised $2,000.  Hoglund made a motion that the district provide the funds with Mr. Henry taking care of the transportation details. The motion passed. Mrs. Dickinson stressed she wants the students to see Temple Grandin. There was concern the hotels are so expensive. While Mr. McCrary said because of safety concerns it would be impractical for them to check out, see her, and then return to Hope.  This would cause the students to not arrive in Hope until midnight.

There will be a school board election in May of 2025 for the seat currently held by Janus Milus.

There was an update on Special Education The district is lacking a third SPED teacher for the high school after one of the teachers had to return to the Philippines. Hoglund expressed his concern about insufficient staffing in all of the schools for SPED. This section was information only.

There was an update on the American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Funds. $600,000 is remaining to the school which should be spent on science and headphones.

The board addressed some personnel matters.  There were multiple student hearings and then the meeting adjourned.