School board considers, table salary issues

Members of the Piggott School board conducted a lengthy executive session Monday night on proposed changes to the district salary schedule, but later tabled the matter until June. The board also accepted bids on several projects, discussed contracting the services of Subteach USA and handled several personnel matters.

In the absence of board president Robert Jackson, vice president Neil Morgan opened the meeting. The remaining members of the board were on hand, along with key administrative staff and several teachers.

The discussion on the salary schedule apparently was prompted by the proposed hiring of John Wellman as an instructor for one of the Virtual School classrooms and by the forthcoming increase in the federal minimum wage. At issue is how much personnel will be paid for work outside the classroom, which is based on a multiplier that takes into account the minimum wage.

After an executive session that lasted about 50 minutes, the board reconvened and voted to table the matter until June on a vote of 4-0.

The board did vote to hire Veleda Langley as a sixth grade teacher for the coming year, at the recommendation of principal Leean Mann and Superintendent Ed Winberry. The board also accepted the resignation of Johnna Murray as a paraprofessional at kindergarten, as she has secured her teaching certification.

Board members also heard an impassioned plea from PES teacher Billie Plunk concerning the staffing at the elementary campus. Plunk urged the board members to maintain at least four teachers per class for grades three through six in an effort to continue to be able to departmentalize various subjects. Plunk told the board that cutting the number of teachers to three in any given class will cause test scores to suffer and would force instructors to teach courses of which they may be unfamiliar.

Current plans call for four instructors in all but the fifth grade, and due to class size, the fifth grade had been earmarked for three teachers for the coming school year. According to records, the cost of providing one teacher for a school year is about $50,000. Board members thanked Plunk for her input and took the matter under advisement.

In other business the board:

* approved the renewal of therapy services for the coming year with the same company that has been handling them in the past.

* approved the bid by B&R Mechanical of Piggott for 11 heating and air conditioning units at a cost of $31,705.

* accepted the low bid on anti-virus and security protection from Walin Data for $3,948, and the renewal of the Novell license agreement at a cost of $4,500.

* approved the transfer of five students from the Rector district to Piggott under the school choice measure.

* discussed and approved the board governance and operations section of the district policy manual in an effort to streamline the document and bring it in compliance with Arkansas School Board Association guidelines.

* heard an update from Penny Veal on the business department and the outstanding accomplishments this year by the members of the FBLA.

* voted to allow Winberry to have the bell system at the high school repaired.

The board members also considered a proposal by Subteach USA to provide the local district with substitute teachers at a small fee. Morgan offered a motion to enter into contract with the company, at the recommendation of Winberry, but the matter died for lack of a second.