Berryville Pre-K building to be ready for next school year

A new Berryville School District ABC Pre-K building under construction is on pace to be completed by the start of the 2024-2025 school year and will give students a modern learning environment.

It will also help the district finally get rid of an eyesore, according to superintendent Owen Powell.

After getting the OK from the school board at its regular monthly meeting held Monday, April 15, portable classrooms that have been adjacent to Berryville Elementary School for more than 20 years will finally be removed one way or another, Powell said.

“We are very glad that we get to get rid of our portal classrooms that are out there,” Powell said. “They’re kind of an eyesore. We’ve been wanting to do that for quite some time, so we’re glad to do that.”

The board voted to give Powell permission to try to sell the portable buildings.

“The first step is we’re going to try to sell them, and I don’t know for sure if that will have much interest or not, but the first goal is to sell,” the superintendent said. “If there’s not any interest with that, we will just have to pay somebody to remove them.”

The portable classrooms have always been used for Pre-K students to his knowledge, Powell said.

“They’ve been there a long time,” he said. “They weren’t supposed to be there that long, but you have to have a place for to go. We’ve been working on this Pre-K building for the last year and it’s going to be ready so I’m glad to get rid of the portables.”

OTHER ITEMS

The April 15 meeting started with board member reorganization with Lina Winkle voted in as the new board president, Kristi Howerton as vice president and Jeff Tanksley as secretary.

After the reorganization, the board approved many expenditures.

Furniture for the high school student center was approved for $12,524 and new band uniforms were OK’d for $75,823, Powell said, adding that a band member modeled the new uniform being requested.

“The uniforms they’re in now are over 10 years old and that’s pretty typical of what you get out of a band uniform and then it’s time to buy a new set and that’s where we’re at,” he said. “They’re expensive but they will last a long time.”

The board approved spending $49,074 on a security camera system at the new Pre-K campus and also OK’d $11,950 for the annual cost of offering Virtual Arkansas classes, primarily for high school students.

“That’s just a yearly thing we do every year,” Powell said of the virtual offerings.

Spyglass, a company that audits district services such as Windstream, Cox and Verizon, found an additional $18,120 the district can save annually, Powell said.

“The deal with them is they do the audit and whatever they find we pay them a one-time fee for that and then it’s saving in our pocket,” he said.

A fuel purchase was approved that will cost the district $18,875 to help replenish a 5,000-gallon regular fuel tank and a 20,000 gallon diesel tank, something the district has to do every two to three months, Powell said, adding, “we have to purchase fuel to keep all of our buses and up and running.”

A flood last year damaged science lab cabinets at the middle school and the board approved repairs that are almost complete at a cost of $138,675.

“That will be reimbursed by the insurance company,” Powell said.

And with the end of the school year nearing, the annual summer school budget was OK’d at $241,915.

“That will be mainly for salaries, fuel for buses and food for students,” the superintendent said. “That’s a district-wide total.”

ATHLETIC HALL OF FAME

In what Powell called “a big deal,” the board approved establishing a Berryville Athletics Hall of Fame.

“I think it’s going to be a really fun deal,” he said. “The purpose is really to recognize and honor former athletes and coaches and teams and just try to reconnect alumni to the school and community. I think it’s going to be really a fun thing for our school, our alumni and our community.

PERSONNEL APPROVALS

Hires approved for the 2024-2025 school year included elementary teachers Regan Harrison, Autumn Blodget and Maya Lechtenberger, middle school teachers and coaches Baylea Smith and Jarrett Ray, special education supervisor Crystal Fancher, special education paraprofessionals Megan Neal, Grace Jones and Karen Gracy and substitute nurse Margarita Harrison.

Resignations approved include elementary teacher Yolanda Cash, intermediate teacher Emily Dignan, middle school special education teacher Melissa Baker, intermediate secretary Carla Bailey, paraprofessional Brittany Williams, special education paraprofessionals Whitney Miller and Gladys Arrizon, special education paraprofessional and bus driver Jane Fancher, bus drivers Auston Crow and Beck Morse and nurse Kristy Hulse.

Transfers OK’d were Jennifer Mc-Cullough from second grade teacher to librarian, Brittany Latting from second grade ICM to elementary special education teacher, Holly Dubuque from second grade teacher to kindergarten teacher, April Noel from firstgrade ICM teacher to second-grade ICM teacher, Lauren Robinette from elementary teacher to third grade teacher, Carol Hines from fifth grade teacher to ALE, Renee Correll from ALE to fourth grade teacher, Ciera Woodruff from middle school special education to high school special education and Kendra Backs from middle school nurse to high school nurse.