School Choice plan adds nine students to Berryville campus

BERRYVILLE -- The Berryville School District will be gaining nine students following a mid-year transfer shuffle that took place when the Berryville Board of Education met Dec. 21 and approved 21 requests as presented.

A total of 15 students are transferring to Berryville and six are leaving.

It is all part of the School Choice plan, in which the Berryville School District participates -- but limits transfers to summer and Christmas breaks.

Following approval of this batch of requests, the district will be gaining the most students from Green Forest schools where 10 have asked to make the switch.

Three are transferring from Eureka Springs, one from Huntsville and another from Kingston.

The district's loss of six represents the three who are transferring to Kingston and another three to Green Forest.

Athletic policies were addressed on two fronts. One pertained to a letter from the Arkansas Activities Association that placed the high school football program on warning status because of an eligibility requirements violation. The AAA dispatched the letter after Berryville reported the violation when it was discovered that a player had failed to meet academic requirements while participating.

Board members also discussed a request from Shiloh Christian asking that Berryville play its junior high teams in 4A-1 Conference sports for 2010-12. The board decided to leave its policy as is -- and not play Shiloh Christian junior high teams.

An effort to change the district's ban on out-of-state bus travel was initially approved but that vote was later rescinded.

The ban on out-of-state bus travel was initially enacted based on Superintendent Dr. Randy Byrd's recommendation, who said there were liability concerns once a bus crosses the state line. With the board's latest action, the ban will remain.

However, the pay schedule for those driving activity buses was upped when the board agreed to add $10 an hour for time worked past eight hours -- if the driver was not involved in the activity.

Personnel

When dealing with personnel issues, the board okayed the termination of custodian Melissa Davis, who was arrested and jailed in November for her alleged role as an accomplice in a murder.

Her husband Evin Davis reportedly killed Berryville native Chris Helmlinger and buried his body in a shallow grave behind the trailer park where the couple lived.

In other personnel business, the board voted to accept the retirement of choir director Judy Bohannon and special ed staffer Janice Mulch, effective at the end the of their current contacts.

Hired beginning with the spring semester was Laura Hudgens for speech and drama, and Michael West for English. Chrystal Thompson was hired for math beginning with the fall 2010 semester.

Renea Doss was hired as a bus driver, a maternity request submitted by fourth grade teacher Cori Archer was approved, and the board accepted the resignation of cafeteria worker Linda Curry.

Other

In other business, the board approved:

* purchasing the School Board Legal Liability Policy from Bancorp South Insurance Services, Inc., instead of its current provider;

* continuing forward with the progress of replacing the current telephone system and other technology equipment following a presentation by Allied Technology representatives;

* a request by High School Principal Randall Betts to add an EAST program to the curriculum;

* a Publications, Video, Internet Consent and Release Agreement that parents must sign for the child's name, picture, etc. to be shared with the general public;

* a professional development plan for the 2010-11 school year;

* the purchase of fuel from Tri Lakes Petroleum, low bidder, for $2.0955 per gallon for diesel fuel;

* the pursuit of district accreditation through Advanc Ed, formerly known as North Central Accreditation;

* A Race To The Top program as presented; and,

* additions to the substitute list -- Renee Allison, Lisa Coates, Maggie Davidson, Michelle Johnson, Jane Schmitz and Keri Wilson.