Berryville school nurses stay busy

Four nurses in the Berryville School District had more than 23,000 visits from students and staff during the 2024-2025 school year, a number that superintendent Owen Powell called “eye opening.”

The annual nurses report was one of a handful of reports and a list of annual approvals the board handled during a quick, 18-minute meeting of the Berryville School Board held Monday, June 16.

“We had our annual nurses report and it’s pretty eye-opening to see that report and how many kids the nurses see,” Powell said. “They get a lot of kids throughout the year, and it’s pretty amazing. They see a lot of faculty as well.”

In all, the school board was told nurses on the four campuses had 23,341 visits, Powell said.

“It’s mostly students … 95 to 96 percent is students,” he said.

In other board business, officers were re-elected for another term with Linda Winkle remaining as president, Kristi Howerton as vice president and Jeff Tanksley as secretary.

The board also received a report from Powell on the school district’s successful solar power program, which provides approximately 50 percent of the district’s electricity.

“We’ve been running on some solar for the past three years,” the superintendent said. “…We’ve saved the district $370,000, which is really good, right where we expected. … It’s doing really well for the district.”

Nine teachers are receiving merit pay from the state, the board was told. Those teachers are Kim Ferguson, Kelly Goodpaster, Kayla Sargent, Lisa Youngblood, Jamie Harris, Kristen Cole, Chelsea Curtis, Vanessa Traylor and Heather Zaloudek.

With the initiation of the LEARNS Act, the Merit Teacher Incentive Fund Program was established to “recognize and reward Arkansas’s outstanding educators,” according to the Arkansas Department of Education website. “The program’s primary goals are to retain high-performing teachers in the classrooms across the state and enhance teacher recruitment and attention in priority and critical shortage areas.”

The program provides annual bonuses of “up to $10,000 across multiple categories,” according to the ADE website.

“Teachers are chosen by the state based off three-year average outstanding growth in student performance teaching subjects in critical shortage areas and serving as mentors,” Powell said.

The board OK’d a pair of projects involving building/grounds and facilities, including a flooring project and the purchase of a desk, storage and book return for the intermediate school library.

Also approved was a Memorandum of Understanding for sign language instruction for the 2024-2025 and 2025-2026 school year, a special education service agreement, annual Microsoft license renewal and a State Educational Entity Cybersecurity Policy.

The board approved a series of personnel changes including the resignations of special education teachers Latisha Smith and Jan Rodgers, teacher/ coach Garren Wynn and special education paraprofessionals Elizabeth Waterbury, Jessica Hudec and Raven Spencer.

Hires approved included Hudec as elementary teacher, Olivia Dwyer, Spencer and Anna Nicole Toombs as intermediate teachers, Craig Purdue and Garrett Talley as middle school teachers, Dylan Kilgore as middle school teacher, ALE and coach, Jonathon Maxey as high school teacher and Kendra Turner as head girls cross country coach, Heather Weelborg and Reianaon Floyd and special education paraprofessionals and Tori McDanell as cafeteria manager.

Transfers OK’d were Edith Figueroa from middle school ESL to high school ESL, Kandra Ness from intermediate teacher to high school special education teacher, Yuliana Gonzalez from special education paraprofessional to intervention paraprofessional, Rechelle Ross from intervention paraprofessional to special education paraprofessional and Kelly Masters from special education paraprofessional to ALE paraprofessional.