Board extends Powell’s contract

The Berryville School Board has given superintendent Owen Powell another stamp of approval.

At its regular monthly meeting Monday, Jan. 22, the board voted unanimously to extend Powell’s contract by one year, to June 30, 2027.

“January is the month that they do my evaluation and revisit my contract, and overall, it was a positive evaluation,” said Powell, who is in his ninth year leading the district. “We’ve got a lot of really good things going on in our school district. Of course there’s always some things that you need to work to improve, but we had a lot of discussion about all areas of the district.”

The board went into executive session at 6:38 p.m. to discuss Powell’s contract and returned at 8:03 p.m. to vote on the extension.

“We talked a lot about teaching and learning and leadership,” Powell said. “We talked about facilities and finances and had a lot of really good and healthy discussion. I feel like the board and I are really focused on continually improving the school district and at the end of the day, it’s a room full of people who just want what’s best for the kids of Berryville.” Each time the board gives Powell a vote of confidence is special, he said.

“I’ve said a lot of times: This isn’t just a job for me here. This is special to me,” Powell said. “This is my alma mater. It’s home. And I’m really, really appreciative to get that extension. It’s really special to me that the board feels like I’m doing a good job. If they didn’t they wouldn’t give that extension. So it’s kind of a pat on the back and a thumbs up, you’re doing a good job.”

In other action, the board approved a resolution to request a waiver from the state regarding the first day of classes next school year.

“I asked the board to do a resolution approving a waiver request with the state,” Powell said. “The way the law reads right now we can’t start school before Aug. 19 in the 20242025 school year.”

However, districts can apply for a waiver and start a week earlier, the superintendent said.

“That would put our start date at Aug. 12,” he said. “The 19th is a really late start and a full week later than what we normally start.”

In other personnel decisions, the board approved the hiring of Rhonda Schmitzer as a paraprofessional, Brittany Escobar as a dyslexia paraprofessional and Malissa Bain and Tiffany Tibbets as cafeteria substitutes.

MAKE-UP MINUTES INSTEAD OF DAYS?

The district has had four snow days so far this year and posted on social media last week that make-up days would be tacked on to the end of the year, putting the last day of classes at May 31.

That could be changing, Powell said Monday, Jan. 29.

“Originally, with the calendar that the came up with last year our days were just going to be added on to the end of the school year so that was the first thought and process with that and we put it out there on social media,” he said. “Since then there’s been some new developments and the state has said we can go from a traditional calendar to more of a nontraditional one and add minutes to the day to make up those days.”

Powell said he has a meeting with the district’s PPC on Tuesday, Jan. 30, to discuss options regarding adding minutes to the schedule.

“The main reason we are going to look at it is because we’re in January still and we’ve got the whole month of February and February is usually a really cold month,” he said. “There’s a good possibility we will miss more dates before the end of the school year and if we just add those on to the end of the year we’re going to be going to school in June and that’s never a good thing. It disrupts a lot of things in a school district, it affects summer school, preventative maintenance projects, all the things you need to get done in June.

“We’re going to avoid having to go to school in June at pretty much all costs.”

Powell said any recommendation from the PPC will then need to be approved by the school board.

“We’re going to look into adding some minutes on to the last quarter of the school year to make up the days we’ve missed so far,” he said.

In past years, districts could use Alternative Methods of Instruction days where students could do assignments from home and districts didn’t have to use a snow day.

AMI days, which were authorized by a 2017 state law, were popular among many districts during winter weather months and became well-known in every district during COVID-19.

Last year, districts in the county had anywhere from seven to nine AMI days because of weather, which all counted toward the mandated 178-day school year.

When the state legislature passed the LEARNS Act, a $50,000 salary minimum was enacted for all teachers with the stipulation that districts across the state would receive state money to help support those raises. However, the LEARNS Act states that for districts to be eligible for funds to implement the salary increases “a public school district shall be open for on-site, in-person instruction for at least” 178 days or 1,068 hours.

“I’ve said a lot of times: This isn’t just a job for me here. This is special to me,” Powell said. “This is my alma mater . It’s home. And I’m really, really appreciative to get that extension. It’s really special to me that the board feels like I’m doing a good job. If they didn’ t they wouldn’t give that extension. So it’s kind of a pat on the back and a thumbs up, you’re doing a good job.”

— Berryville School District superintendent Owen Powell after the district’s Board of Education extended his contract