NEVC School Board Considers Van Purchase

By Johannes Brann

The September meeting of the Northeast Vernon County (NEVC) R-1 School Board quickly moved through a seven item agenda with short reports from administrators. On hand were board members David Bruce, Connie Gerster, Heath Brown, Scott Pritchett and Delisa Harms; absent were Tisha Bailey and Bobby Burney. Also present were Board Secretary, Nicole Waters, R-1 District Superintendent Christy Jones and Rachel Scrivener, the district’s agriculture teacher and FFA Advisor.

“We are definitely in need of another 10-passenger van and with Dodge and Nissan being the only makers of such at this time; I found a brand new Dodge in Virginia for the price of $73,700. Because we have saved up our transportation funds for several years, we have the money for such a purchase on hand and will need to do so sometime in the near future,” said Jones.

After some discussion, the board agreed upon the need but tabled the purchase for now, asking Jones to investigate the vehicle identification numbers of the possible purchases and bring back other requested information to the October board meeting.

Scrivener reviewed the October 21-24 trip by six FFA students plus herself driving a van as they join the Sheldon R-VIII FFA Advisor and students for a trip to the national FFA convention and tours of Churchill Downs, the Louisville Slugger (baseball bat) museum and factory and a horse farm in Louisville, Kentucky. Total cost will be between $3,300 and $3,600. Due to increases in convention costs, a fee may be charged to students depending on fall FFA fundraising.

The state requires school boards to give final approval of bus routes and the R-1 board gave its “thumbs up” after reviewing the students and directions of the north and south bus routes.

In quick succession, the board gave its approval to having the district adopt the state model as the local compliance plan for special education. It adopted a revised board policy to comply with new state laws on discrimination (particularly antisemitism) and access in academics and sports. The board also adopted the same plan it has used for several years to identify and work on literacy, especially with elementary students. Called the “Star Literacy Program”, district test scores show it has consistently brought up reading and test scores in significant ways.

While for many years, there had been two staff sponsors for the Junior Class, for the last two years, a parent has been the co-worker with a school teacher. The board re-authorized the second staff position; each is paid $1,150 per school year.

The principal reports as given by Jones each began with enrollment and attendance figures. There are 64 students at the high school and 80 in the elementary for a total of 144. This past summer saw an unusually high number switch from NEVC R-I to Nevada R-V. The superintendent reported on her concerns for the direction of school funding, especially for small-enrollment districts.

Said board member Pritchett, “Can we do better? Sure and we’re working hard on that. But if we were forced to merge with say Rich Hill R-IV or El Dorado R-II and you as a parent had a question or concern, the board member wouldn’t know you and the administration wouldn’t have time for you. I think local schools with local control really matters!”