By Jamie Miller
The Bryant School Board approved the purchasing of approximately 130 acres located at[more] Hill Road on highway 183. The purchase price of the land is $1.7 million and if the land passes all geological tests that have to be done, Hill Road will be the location for a new elementary school campus that will be built in accordance with the district’s 10-year facility plan.
According to a school press release, “Over the past eight years, the population of the Bryant Public School District has increased by approximately 2,000 students – unprecedented growth that experts expect to continue. Currently, the District is serving 8,000 students in 10 different schools, grades Kindergarten through 12th grade. With one elementary school already housing over 1,100 students fifth grade and below, and the others filling quickly, the additional classrooms are greatly needed. Upon completion, the new school will be the District’s eighth elementary facility.”
Officials hope to have the project complete within the next three years.
Several parents of Springhill Elementary students were present at last night’s board meeting to inform members of the board about an epidemic in the fifth grade classrooms that is rapidly affecting their children.
A mother of five approached and spoke to her concerns about “students in crisis” at Springhill Elementary. She stated that she has a fifth grade student that has been on honor roll her entire life and currently has two “Bs” and one “C.” The mother attributed the grades to missing assignments that the teacher had not graded, or that the teacher had misplaced and an overload of homework. Her daughter then approached the board and read aloud a letter that she wrote to her principal expressing her concerns about her grades.
Another mother spoke about the situation stating that her daughter went from all “As” to all failing grades in a matter of a few months. She feels that there is a breakdown in communication between teachers, parents and students. Both mothers claimed to have approached teachers and administrators about the issue, but nothing has been done to resolve it. With her daughter currently in counseling, the mother expressed concerns about the fact that her daughter is not able to enjoy having a normal childhood due to her stress about school.
After her mother showed the board examples of the nightly homework her child brings home and projects that are coming due, her daughter approached the board and spoke. Through tears, she told of how she was ashamed to take her grades home to her mother because she was embarrassed of them. After the board was dismissed to go into executive session, several board members approached the mothers and students and stated that it was their mission to get to the bottom of the situation.
At the beginning of the meeting, the Bryant Dance Team was recognized for their AAA State Championship won in November of 2010. Bus drivers of the district were also recognized due to “Love the Bus” month, which is sponsored by the American School Bus Council. A few Bryant Middle School students were also recognized for their accomplishments at the Dawson sixth grade chess tournament that was recently held at Henderson State University. The team finished second overall and Kaito Martin won first place overall.
In February’s meeting, Mark McDougal and Tait Shrum, members of the Bryant Technology Department, addressed the need for the district to update phone systems and other communication systems throughout the schools. Last night, they spoke about a pilot phone program that has been placed at Springhill Elementary, that if all goes as planned, can be implemented throughout the district. The Professional Development Room, where the school board meetings are held, was updated by the Tech Department with several big screen monitors and a new sound system. McDougal plans to return to the board in March with more updates on desktop development.
Dr. Deborah Bruick, Assistant Superintendent, introduced a pilot program with Verizon Net books. The district received 60 free net books to be placed in seve tb and eighth grade classrooms. The net books are being used to help meet the Common Core demands that are slowly being implemented. The cost of the pilot was $11,397 for the use of the net books from February through June, with 54 percent of the cost being covered by E-rate. If all goes well, this will be a system that will be considered for all upper level students in the future.
With baseball and softball season drawing near, Tom Farmer, Athletic Director, proposed purchasing new scoreboards for both sports. The current scoreboards are more than 15 years old and need maintenance work every season, he said. Sponsors such as Landers and Everett have pledged money for the scoreboards as well as Coca-Cola. The pledged money would sufficiently cover the costs of the scoreboards so the board approved the purchase.
Jay Pickering, Bryant High School Principal, gave updates on how the school year is progressing on that campus. Pickering started by giving statistics on the Ninth Grade Academy; out of 653 students, only 10 have gone to Truancy Court, there is only a 10 percent failure rate and 40 percent of the students made “A-B” honor roll. He added that prom is scheduled for April 2, the spring play “Grease” is scheduled for April 6-13, and Graduation is at Verizon Arena May 19 at 7 p.m.
