Berryville board moves $1.1M to district building fund

The Berryville School District’s building fund grew a by a substantial amount after the district board approved a transfer of funds from its general budget during the board’s regular meeting on July 18.

Superintendent Owen Powell described the transfer — which totaled approximately $1.1 million —as “big news.”

Owen Powell

“We did a really good job with the budget and our expenditures this past year,” Powell said, “and we were able to put that money into our building fund, which we’re going to need because we’re going to be building a building real soon.”

The board learned in December that the district’s initial plans to construct the new facility had been approved by the state Department of Education Facilities Division and that the district would be able to use up to $1 million of funding received under the American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief to help cover the cost.

Right now, the Berryville district has two preschool classes housed in portable buildings. In December, Powell said the district had made a promise tied to its most recent millage increase to move all students out of portable buildings, calling the move “a perfect opportunity for us to do that.”

“I would say we’re probably six months out from breaking ground on that,” Powell said last week. “And then, of course, once you break ground, we’re probably looking at about a year or a year and a half before we get it finished.”

Powell said the design of the new building — approximately 5,000 square feet with six classrooms — has already been completed.

“We have to send that off to the Department of Education Facilities Division, and they go through the design and all the specifications and they approve it or send it back,” Powell said. “Once you get approval through them, that’s when you start sending it out to bid and you actually find out how much it cost to build and everything. That’s where we’re at right now.

“It’s with the Department of Education and we’re waiting on their approval for the plans an specs.”

The board also voted to raise its meal prices by 25 cents “pretty much across the board,” Powell said, adding that the increase was based off a recommendation from the Arkansas Department of Education.

“All of our meal prices, breakfast and lunch,” Powell said. “That’s something that we really don’t like to do, but just with the prices and cost of everything going up like they are, it’s just something we have to do.”

School lunches at Berryville, like most public schools in the state, have been free for all students the past two years during the pandemic, but that practice is coming to an end.

“It’s kind of a double whammy there,” Powell said. “Nobody had to pay for two years and now they have to start paying for it and we have to raise them, too.”

On the plus side, Powell said there have been no changes to qualifications for the free and reduced lunch programs and encouraged parents to either drop by the school or visit the district’s website to fill out the form to see if they qualify.

“Hopefully, a lot of our families that think they might have a chance to qualify, we really need them to get those forms filled out and turned in,” Powell said. “That would really help a lot of our families.”

In new business, the board also approved the district’s recent fuel purchase, something Powell said represented a significant increase in expenditures.

“Fuel is just outrageous right now,” Powell said. “It’s probably more than tripled in cost. There’s times when we will get a load of fuel and it might be right at $10,000 and now it’s over $30,000.”

Powell said the district typically purchases around 10,000 gallons of diesel and approximately 2,000 gallons of gasoline, which represents an approximately twomonth supply.

“When fuel prices are halfway normal, we’d look to spend $10,000 to $13,000,” Powell said. “This last one as almost $32,000. Everything is really high and all schools are going to feel it.”

In other business, the board approved a number of fundraisers for various organizations including the annual mattress sale by the band boosters, a high school cheerleaders car wash and a long list from the Future Business Leaders of America that included the group’s fall festival, swap meet and Mini & Me Date Night.

The board also voted to approve an out-of-state trip by FBLA members and CTE students to head to Silver Dollar City in Branson to pick up Krispy Kreme donuts as part of another fundraiser, along with a business etiquette dinner.

The board also voted to approve a partnership with Northwest Arkansas Medical Center to provide a fulltime certified athletic trainer to serve the district’s student athletes.

After meeting in an executive session to discuss personnel matters, the board accepted a number of resignations, hires and transfer requests, including the resignation of high school choir director Benjamin Winn.

Winn, who recently led the BHS Encore Choir to district and state competitions and shepherded them through an unprecedented performance at Carnegie Hall in New York, announced his resignation on the choir’s Facebook page on July 18.

“To my students, know that you are my proudest achievement during my time with Berryville,” wrote Winn, a Springdale native in his eighth year as a music teacher. “You met every challenge that I threw your way with enthusiasm and professionalism and have surpassed every expectation I ever had.

“Through your hard work, you have become amazing vocalists. I ask that you take the lessons that we have learned together and become the people that this world needs.”

Winn, who was named the Region 6 Senior High Director of the Year in November, will be accepting a position with the Springdale school district. He said the decision to step down at Berryville wasn’t an easy one.

“Know that this decision to depart, was not easily made,” Winn wrote. “I hope as you grow older, you’ll understand that sometimes difficult decisions must be made in our lives.

“However, know without any doubt that Mr. Winn is always in your corner, always.”

Other resignations included Cindy Finstrom as an elementary special education teacher and Marjorie Dean as a middle school ESL teacher.

New hires approved by the board were Rechelle Ross as a special education paraprofessional; Keeley Arnold, Deidre Powell and Trista Reed as cafeteria substitutes; Leslie Falk and Jordan Phariss as kindergarten teachers; Timothy Vantuyl as a career development and keyboarding teacher; Eryn McCaslin as a middle school literacy teacher and Michilene Goloway as a long-term substitute for middle school ESL.

Approved transfers were Amanda Pittman from intermediate paraprofessional to high school/middle school migrant paraprofessional, Kelley Deatherage from cafeteria to special education paraprofessional, Jill Schowe from seventh-grade literacy to eighth-grade literacy and Audrey Ramirez from elementary to high school special education.

The board’s next meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m., Monday, Aug. 15, in the district boardroom.