Hope School Board

The Hope School Board met in the Administration Building on Tuesday (7-16).

In the Superintendent’s Report, Dr. Jonathan Crossley noted school will start a little less than a month from now. The Hope Public School District is one of two in the state recognized by the Secretary of Education for their innovation. The other district recognized at the yearly ADE summit was Bentonville.

The IXL and I Ready programs used by the district will be continued. Smart Data was discussed which has a $12,000 yearly fee. There were 480 log ins from the High School alone. The program can be used to pinpoint and better respond to discipline issues. The questions were raised about it being used for community service hours and it was noted this being discussed. It was also discussed in reference to health.   The program is only as good as the data put in. Students’ success plan start in 6th grade. Training for the program is free.  A motion passed to support the contract for smart data

A “No Cell Phone” pilot is being implemented across the state as cell phone addiction is causing students to be anxious and leading to increased discipline issues. The state is putting money into limiting the use. HAPS has already limited their use and this will be done at Yerger and Beryl Henry.  Limiting their use at the High School is also being considered. A school in northwest Arkansas which limited their use found a drastic reduction in discipline problems and drug use. The program will cost between $6,000 and $7,000 a year.  Concerns raised during the board meeting were said to be addressed by an article from Connecticut, outlining the program’s success at Illington Middle School.

Dr. Crossley talked about buying a bus. $80,000 is already budgeted from magnet grant funds. The rest will come from ARP money. Once the order is placed, it can take nine months to get a bus delivered to the district. The bus will cost $140,000. A motion passed to allow the purchase.

The Board went into Executive Session and after coming out of it a motion passed to accept the personnel packet as presented.