Hope Schools Hold Meeting On 5 Year Plan
The Hope Public Schools and Hope School board held a meeting on the district’s 5 year plan Monday at Hempstead Hall. In the meeting, Superintendent Dr. Jonathon Crossley started with 4 pictures that represent student experiences in the district and stated in the next five years they will work to improve the student experiences.
Dr. Crossley said there were many aspects to running a school district and the need for significant investment of people outside the district.
The statement was made that the district is a bilingual one but doesn’t do a good enough job in reaching out to the Hispanic community.
The question was asked when the future started and answered that it “starts now”.
Dr. Crossley showed an image with the goal of the Hope School District being the premier choice for preK -12th grade. With the district’s cradle to career pathways, ALL students will experience hands-on individualized learning opportunities throughout their educational journey led by highly qualified, eager teachers who are second to none.
A slide was shown with 5 things that will be the district hopes will be true in the future – the first three are already true – cradle to college/career, Hope Education Foundation and the Magnet Grant. The missing two elements are support for world class staff and facilities upgrades.
The district aims that all students will graduate with either an associates degree or trade certified. The statement was made that this was not a possibility but a reality. The schools wills will work to ensure that the students are prepared to work.
Out of COVID came the awareness of social needs that were not being met so the district hired 2 social workers last year and will hire 3 home school advisors. The statement was made that $1 invested in pre-k is equivalent $7 invested at the other end.
Dr. Crossley noted traditional education was like a boomerang that the students leave and there is the hope they come back prepared. If they stay, there is the desire for them to be prepared as well.
The goal is to make sure every teacher, administrator, every employee is fully certified. While this sounds easy in practice it is not necessarily the case around the country.
Dr. Crossley talked about how hard his mother had to work, as a teacher with more than one job, for him to get an education and said this shouldn’t be the case here. The pay will be increased to attract and retain highly qualified teachers and help will be provided to teachers so that they can become fully certified. The goal is to be 100% certified by 2024-2025.
With the issue of millage, Dr. Crossley stated the district is currently 200th out of 225 and the millage hasn’t been increased for 35 years. It is 4 mills under the state average. The next conversation will have more about the millage.
Dr. Crossley stated many of the district’s buildings are older and they need to be upgraded. If the district wants good programs such as band, the community must invest in it. The goals include facility upgrades, investing in children, making sure all employees make a living wage and making sure the district is the best place in the ARKLATEX region.
The meeting went on to explain how millage works, stating it is a tax but also an investment. The rates at which property taxes would be increased was shown as well as stating the average tax rate for the community.
The meeting went on to address funds that had already been raised – scholarship funds ($330,000) – and what the eventual goal was $5,000,000.
For the Magnet Fair that just took place there were students not currently in the district that were interested in the schools here.
School Board Member Bubba Powers then spoke saying he had made many speeches and talked about his graduation 51 years ago from Hope High School and that he was born here and would die here. He stated things have changed a lot since he graduated and he had to learn to adapt as well.
Powers mentioned the dreams of a fellow meal companion who convinced him to dream big about the future of the district. He stated the district is going to ask big things and stated he is committed – nobody likes taxes but it is for the lifeblood of the system.
Powers continued on stating it was time to give the students what they deserved. It was talked about the eagerness of the students at Yerger to learn and the need to create excellence on the outside as well as the inside to draw people there. The statement was made that children are at school more than at home – so the need to make school a home.
Dr. Linda Clarke then spoke about her daughter being a federal judge and noting she came from Hope and mentioned another federal judge who came from Hope. She talked about the former president and the governors who came from Hope. Dr. Clark said people are asking what is in our water and that we need to raise our heads up and take pride in who we are
Laura Graves spoke next saying that nobody In the district woke up with the intent to ruin somebody else’s day and instead woke up to make somebody’s day better.
Dr Crossley ended the session with a thank you to the audience for attending.