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WOODLAWN - The first pieces of the framework
for the new Woodlawn High School addition were put into place last
Friday as the project shifts into the framing stage.
Superintendent Billy Williams told the Woodlawn School Board during its
regular monthly meeting Monday night that the district received four
more loads of steel on Monday and the final load was expected to be
delivered this week.
An erection crew began putting the first pieces of the framework up last
Friday.
Williams told the school board that he spoke with both the project
architect, John Sanders, and the contractor, Dayco Construction, Inc.,
about the size of the crew erecting the framework. He said he felt there
needed to be more workers involved.
“We were originally projected to have the framework up before
Thanksgiving but obviously that’s not going to happen,” he told the
board.
The next extension to the high school will add another nine or 10
classrooms to the building as well as administrative space for the
principal, counselor and nurse.
Originally, the district hoped to have the new portion of the building
completed by the end of the year but delays along the way have pushed
the completion date back into the spring.
Williams said at last month’s school board meeting that they expect it to
be completed sometime around Spring break.
While on the subject of school facilities, Williams also told the board
that it needs to make a decision soon on some of the other facility
projects on the agenda for the district that the state has already
approved.
The state has already approved Woodlawn’s plan to build a 4,500 square
foot addition to the kindergarten-elementary building that will
essentially tie the existing kindergarten complex to the elementary
building by creating space for two additional classrooms, a conference
room and administrative offices. The addition is also being designed to
create a “front” for the elementary building.
Woodlawn was also approved for building a new vocational-agriculture
building, but those plans have been put on hold due to budget
constraints.
Williams said Monday that the district needs to act on the project soon
especially in light of some new policies being put in place by the
Arkansas Department of Education that regulate how it will fund school
projects.
Both the high school addition and the new wing for the elementary
building were approved for partnership funding by the state under the
“wealth index” factor. The wealth index dictated how much the state
would support a school construction project based on a formula using a
number of socio-economic factors involving the school district.
Woodlawn had a wealth index of about 67 percent, which means the state
would pay 67 percent of the cost of any facilities project that was
pre-approved by the state.
Williams explained to the board Monday night that the state is now using
the wealth index as just one of three factors for granting construction
funds.
He said the new policy takes into account each district’s growth in
student enrollment, wealth index and facilities condition when approving
money for new construction projects.
Williams expressed his concerns that the growth factor will be
detrimental to schools like Woodlawn and the rest of Southeast Arkansas
where enrollment figures are either holding steady or falling.
“From the outside looking in, it looks like the wealthy districts are
getting wealthier,” he said.
Board member David Stover said he did not think it was fair to schools in
south and east Arkansas since those are the two areas facing the most
difficult economic situations.
“They’re penalizing us because we’re (as a region) poor and don’t have
the money to do it,” he said.
Stover said he was also concerned that this policy will make it even more
difficult for smaller schools to keep pace with the new regulations that
will in turn lead to more schools having to consolidate.
Stover said school boards and administrators in south and east Arkansas
need to tell their legislators what is happening to make sure they
understand what is at stake. Stover went as far as to ask Williams if he
could invite some of the local legislators to a meeting with the school
board about the issue.
Williams also pointed out later in Monday’s meeting that some school
district’s are getting ready to challenge the state’s “School Choice”
policy.
Under that policy, Arkansas public school students can attend other
public schools as long as the transfer does not upset the racial balance
of the two districts in question. That balance is dictated by the state.
Williams said those opposed to the current policy are challenging that
racial component.
Williams explained this subject came to light when one school district
discovered that more than 100 of the students living within its district
boundaries were attending other public schools. Since schools receive
about $5,700 per student, that means the school was losing well over a
half-million dollars in revenue each year.
Williams said he expects the issue to become a major topic of
conversation in the next General Assembly that convenes in January.
“There will be a lot of lobbying going on to do away with school choice
or leave it as it is,” he said.
Also during Monday’s meeting, the Woodlawn School Board:
• Postponed voting on a new personnel policy for certified staff until
the December school board meeting. The proposed policy blends the
district’s own personnel policy with the model policy issued by the
Arkansas School Boards Association. The personnel policy committee has
been working on the consolidated policy for months and presented its
final draft to the school board Monday night. The model policy, which is
used by several school districts, is updated regularly by the ASBA to
help districts keep up with the latest changes in state laws and
regulations. The district’s personnel policy had some policies that were
different or were not part of the model policy. The combined policy was
about 100 pages long. Board President Larry Reynolds suggested the board
look over the combined policy before the December meeting and take a
vote on it then.
• Approved a budget of $3,016 for the 2009 baseball season, down from
$3,519.35 last season. The budget includes funding for three tournaments
and one overnight trip.
• Approved the district’s declaration to participate in the registered
volunteer coaches program again this year. |
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