NSD applying for waiver for earlier start

By Staff, 12/1/17 9:26 AM

ROSSTON – Nevada School will be applying for a waiver to allow the district to start school earlier than usual.

The law states schools can’t begin until the week with a Monday and Aug. 19. However, this would put the start of school on Aug. 20 next year, which would have the school year end in June 2018, something the district would rather avoid.

Because the district’s district learning partner will be starting a week earlier the Arkansas Department of Education (ADE) can grant waivers for an earlier start date. The Nevada School Board, at its November meeting Thursday night, voted to seek a waiver. If approved, the start of the school year will be either Aug. 13 or 14.

Principal Michael Odom told the board the school is working to meet all state requirements and has been focused on improving students’ vocabulary at Nevada Elementary. Instead of hammering words and definitions into students during classes, he said the district is being innovative and has a “word wall” in the cafeteria with words and their definitions. There are also weekly on-line vocabulary competitions, which allows all students to participate.

Along with vocabulary, the school is also focusing on math, as there are weaknesses in this area, as there are in most other schools in the state.

Nevada High School students are participating in a stock market game using “fake” money to “buy and sell” actual stock. The students got in a hole early, but have since rallied and are currently in first place in the region out of 60 schools. If NHS can hold its lead, it will go to the state competition in January.

He told the board the districts actual ACT scores have gone up between 1.5 and 2.5 points per category as well as for the composite score. This, he said, puts the students above remediation and is “huge”.

Dates to remember, he said, are Dec. 12 when the district can see the reading fair, which will either be in the foyer or library. The holiday music program will be Dec. 14 at 9 a.m., and on Dec. 18 students who have earned it will get a reward trip to Pizza Hut.

Finals will be Dec. 18-20, with Dec. 21 a test make up day. During finals week, school will dismiss at 1:30 p.m.

Superintendent Rick McAfee said 85 percent of freshmen in the nation are at the remedial level for math and English. The district, he said, is using new methods to improve math and language arts scores, with the effort paying off with the increased ACT scored.

The district underwent a facilities inspection, which took two hours, and had only three findings, all minor. Things such as screws missing and carts being too close to intake vents.

There are new things on the horizon, he said, as the NSD, next Spring, will look at a “no zero” plan. Under this plan students will be allowed to turn in their assignments late and get credit for their work. Under this policy, students are encouraged to complete their assignments, and teachers aren’t allowed to give grades of “zero”. This, he said, came from the district’s Professional Learning Community, which has other ideas in mind to be instituted. Some of the plans, McAfee said, teachers won’t like, but change can be difficult and it’s time to make changes as teachers are here for the students.

Tax collections were down initially, he said, from the October payment, but could be larger in December from the November collections. He gave the board some bad news, saying a boiler went down earlier Thursday and may have to be replaced. Replacing a boiler could run between $25,000 and $40,000, but, as the district doesn’t use much hot water, it may look into going tankless.

Two resignations were accepted after an executive session. One was the middle school Social Studies teacher, and the other a kindergarten teacher. Both positions will be advertised. The board also discussed the superintendent’s evaluation and was told the forms they’ll need will be mailed out to them, with the evaluation to be done at the December meeting on Dec. 19.