PSB approves policy changes

By Staff, 07/26/17 9:16 AM

PRESCOTT – July’s meeting of the Prescott School board was dominated by policy changes.

The meeting began with Kathie Janes, federal programs coordinator, telling the board about changes to the district’s wellness and physical activity policy. The committee, she said, approved the changes, but the policy needed the board’s approval.

The committee will meet at least four times a year to review lunch menus based on federal guidelines and work to make sure the district stays within state and federal standards. One of the major changes is, food and drink brought from home cannot be shared by students. Students can still bring their lunch to school, but they won’t be allowed to share anything with their friends, or it could put the district out of compliance with state and federal guidelines and cause repercussions.

Janes said the Magnolia and Arkadelphia school districts have stricter policies when it comes to food brought from home. In addition, any food brought from home must be in a lunch box or something similar, and can’t be in a fast food sack with a company’s logo.

She told the board the district must do an extensive assessment of its wellness policy this year, as this must be done every three years. As part of the assessment, the district must show it’s trying to get the public involved. The board adopted this policy.

Janes also updated the board on Title IIA, saying the Arkansas Department of Education has approved the district’s application. The PSD will be receiving an estimated $43,396.16 this year, but, she added, nothing is known about the future of this program as the federal government is trying to do away with it. She said the district will receive around $10,000 in Title IV monies as well. Title I funding, she added, will have a preliminary budget of $393,906.72.

Kim Grimes, principal of Prescott Elementary School, talked about policy changes for PES and transportation. One of the main changes is not allowing students to be checked out after 2:45 p.m. This, she told the board, has been a problem with parents/guardians not wanting to wait in line and checking their child(ren) out early. This means the child(ren) are missing the last 30 minutes of class and instruction.

Robert Poole, superintendent of the PSD, said the district could file a Family In Need of Service (FINS) suit against parents who regularly check their children out of school early. He pointed out FINS in this case is based on the actions of the parents, not the students. “We want to keep students out of the court system.

In addition, she said, PES will no longer have an after-school study hall. Instead, time outs will be used for disruptive students, and the length of the time out will be determined by the severity of the infraction.

Another new policy will allow certified personnel to witness corporal punishment when it’s administered.

PES is removing AIP and replacing it with RTI, as AIP is no longer required by the ADE. Next year, she said, the state will be using the Student Success Plan and RTI.

On the topic of transportation, Grimes said there have been discipline problems on buses. Parents will get a copy of the new policy and must sign off on it. The students will also have to sign off on the policy as well. This policy will be discussed more in-depth during the open houses. There will also be assigned seating on the buses, she said.

Poole said the law allows volunteers to ride school buses and monitor behavior. However, volunteers will have to pass a background check first.

The final change is students will have to bring a note from school if they will be riding a bus other than their normal one. Grimes said in the past students would take different buses to go different places. These policy changes were also approved by the board.

Tommy Poole, Prescott High School principal, said one of the changes for PHS is a parent-teacher conference will be held before a student is punished, unless there’s a serious threat. The parent must first give their consent before a student can be sent to the office.

There’s also a change to the district’s dress code policy. Leggings will no longer be allowed, nor will tank tops or tops with spaghetti straps. In addition, no headgear of any king will be tolerated inside the building. Poole said teachers and coaches will also be required to follow these policies.

On the topic of electronic devices, he said, no head phones or ear buds will be allowed on campus as this has been a problem. Cell phones are allowed on campus, but cannot be visible or they will be confiscated. He pointed out there have been instances where students would take pictures of tests and text or email them to other students. However, teachers can use electronic devices as part of lesson plans.

In addition, all students must enter through the front doors of PHS, and retaliation of any kind will not be tolerated.

The superintendent said students can bring their phones to school, but there’s no reason for them to be out during the day as all students have a chromebook they can use to check their assignments, and they have no need to check social media or texting while at school.

The board approved these policy changes as well as those suggested by the Arkansas School Board Association and the PSD updates.

Three purchase orders were also approved by the panel. The first was for $103,221.87 to Genesis Datacom, LLC to provide surveillance equipment for the district. This is being paid for with money from the recent bond refinancing election. Poole said the original budget was $100,000 for the equipment, which will include cameras in the hallways and outside of all buildings and be fed to the Prescott Police Department. This, he added, should help cut down on vandalism. The board was informed it would take about two months to install the equipment and the company won’t disrupt school while it’s being done.

Firmin’s got the contract for school supplies for the 2017-18 school year. The amount is $19,625.59. These funds will come from Title I and NSLA programs.

New seating for the PHS auditorium will run $115,175, though the original budget was for $125,000. The new seating is being ordered and will take about 12 weeks to come in and be installed.

All products and services approved were through the state bid process and the Tips Taps program. This means the state has already done the bid process so districts don’t have to.

The board also approved of renewing the ASBA model policy service contract, which handles legal fees for all new school policies. The contract is for $2,850. Poole said the district’s other option would be to hire an attorney to make sure all policies met state requirements.

An interlocal agreement was approved between the PSD and City of Prescott to hire a second school resource officer. Each entity will pay $30,000 for both officers for their salaries and benefits.

In the superintendent’s report, Poole said 18 new students have enrolled in K-6, which is good news for the district.