School board members considered nearly three pages of agenda items at a three-and-a-half-hour meeting last Thursday.
Chief financial officer Terri Raskiewicz reported the district had a perfect audit report during the school year that ended in June 2017.
The state Legislative Audit Committee did not report any instances of non-compliance or deficiencies in the school's accounting practices. They also did not find any problems with the school's internal controls, a common finding in smaller school districts. In addition, the school passed the Federal programs portion of the audit with flying colors, Raskiewicz reported.
Superintendent Ken Ramey said the school district has had clean audit reports for at least five years, "and a few years before that."
"I could not present a flawless audit report without giving credit to the district," Raskiewicz said. "I only get the privilege of getting to report the good news."
Raskewicz credited the hard work of school employees for the good report.
"Personally, I would like to thank everyone in this room who worked so very hard to do the right thing," Raskiewicz said. "It makes my job a lot easier, everyone is very conscientious of how money is spent, of how we document things, everybody tries to do the right thing all the time."
In other business, school board members also approved a set of new personnel policies, which included a new pay schedule that will give raises to classified and certified staff members.
Representatives of the classified and certified personnel policy committees reviewed and approved the policies before they went before the school board, according to Assistant Superintendent Jody Wiggins.
Raskiewicz reported that in the past the district has added to the base teacher salary. This year, the district is adding $25 to each step of the pay scale.
"Our employees that have been here longer will see a bigger change, than our beginning employees," she said. "We chose not to add to the bases, it's just a different way of doing it this year."
The district also added about 5 percent to each of the pay scale steps for classified employees, although some departments got a little more and others got less, Raskiewicz said.
The job title of secretary was updated to administrative assistant and the position received a 2 percent raise.
"Our secretary job duties are more than what generic secretaries do," Raskiewicz said. "They do registration, they do lunch money, they help with parents, they do attendance."
The district also gave paraprofessionals a raise to get them up to speed to what classroom aids are making in other districts this size across the state, she said.
Substitute teachers also received a raise in daily rates, but food service employees and bus drivers did not receive any raises because they benefited from a salary overhaul last year, Raskiewicz said.
In the technology department, additional pay levels were created for entry level personnel, a network architect and an assistant director, even though those positions have not yet been created. Raskiewicz said that the technology is growing and changing so quickly that there is a good chance the positions will be needed in the future.
Wiggins reported that school bus schedules have been overhauled due to the opening of the new overpass on Cheri Whitlock Avenue. Last fall bus routes and schedules were changed to avoid construction on the overpass. Starting next fall, the district will be utilizing Cheri Whitlock instead of U.S. Highway 412 to streamline pickups and drop-offs, he said.
The new routes have the advantage of avoiding the stoplights on U.S. Highway 412, the railroad tracks on Cheri Whitlock Avenue, and will also allow buses to make mostly right turns, he said.
"I think our pickup time will go smoother and quicker, and it allows our youngest kids at Northside (Elementary School) and Allen (Elementary School) a shorter period of time sitting on the bus," he said.
The school board took the following additional actions:
• Approved allowing teacher and coach Tim Rippy to teach through his preparatory period.
• Approved a bid from Alliant for building and content insurance for the coming year.
• Approved the resignation of 15 licensed employees, including Pamela Reynolds, high school Spanish teacher; Chelsea Saegert, preschool teacher; Cindy Davis, Intermediate School math interventionist; Madison Schultz, Northside Elementary School special education teacher; Wes Horton, Northside Elementary School speech language pathologist; Lois Thompson, Southside Elementary special education teacher; Marilyn Siemens, second-grade teacher; Sarah Mauney, kindergarten teacher; Stacy Irwin, Allen Elementary School counselor; Jessica Foster, Middle School teacher; Laura Macikas, kindergarten teacher; Andrew Goode, third-grade teacher; and Jamie Henderson, district technology director.
• Approved hiring Sarah Craig, middle school counselor; and Lindsay Crouch, Southside Elementary School speech language pathologist.
• Approved the transfer of two students from the Gentry School District to the Siloam Springs School District.
• Approved appointing Tamara Lane principal of Southside Elementary School.
• Approved renewing the addition of three full-time elementary teaching positions; three secondary teaching positions; and two special education teaching positions.
General News on 04/18/2018