001a successful contributing member of society. It is our mission to foster a culture of ownership and accountability through partnerships that create multiple pathways for success. Uh if you all will stand with or no, Mr. Moore, call the role, please. >> Colonel Smith, >> Daniel Gray >> here. Ava Coleman. >> Jill Moore here. Ron McDaniel >> present. Dina Tony >> here. >> Lauren Martin >> here. >> Laura Walker >> here. >> One. >> Okay. If you all will stand with me as we observe a moment of silence followed by the pledge. >> Please join me in the pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> All right, good evening
002everyone. Uh, first item we've got is special presentations, Jacksonville Elementary School. >> Yes. Good evening board members and audience. Um, we're going to ask Principal Miller to come and preh present an update for you on Jacksonville Elementary School. >> All right. Good evening. Good morning. It's a pleasure to be with you. And so I'm just going to share a little bit about um what some of our years look like here at Jacksonville Elementary School this year. So the first thing obviously there's quite a bit of pictures on the slide, but uh one of the primary focuses obviously we know in all of our schools is to make sure that we are working to try build a positive school culture. And [clears throat] so that starts obviously with supporting teachers, but it also starts with trying
003to make sure that we design uh things for our scholars and our families to be a part of our school community. And so uh this slide just kind of highlights a few of those things throughout the year. Um we of course u like every school have our own parent events, but we we average roughly one a month in the fall. Uh we had our fall truck retreat. Uh also our family craft night. Trying to create an opportunity for parents and students to be able to come together and to reflect on positive things that are occurring. Um also trying to make sure that we are giving students a place of belonging. So you'll see several pictures there from events uh field trips with our first and third grade scholars. um our participation in the district literacy
004night and then also uh several things like our behavior incentive at December and our our jingle jam for scholars who were showing appropriate behavior. Um you also see that we have uh a couple of our student leaders. We have a program called anchor for life that we have in several of our schools in the district and so we utilize those leaders to assist across the campus and so they were assisting in that particular picture on grandparents day which was also well attended. Uh one of the other things that we try to make sure we do to just build positive culture for our scholars is by making sure that we are incentivizing them uh in various ways. So I mentioned the behavior incentive but also uh through uh positive office referrals. That's one of the things
005where we get opportunity to be able to call home to families let them know that their scholar is doing an exceptional job and then we get to award them at our vending machine. Uh we also utilize that for our character kid which you'll see in that top right corner uh which we select those students every month trying to spotlight scholars who are making a positive uh appro a positive difference at Jackson Elementary School. Second thing obviously we want to talk about is our shift in learning through the year. And so what you're looking at here is a segment of data from our learning is required walks. This particular set of data is where uh we along with district leaders walk through all of our classrooms and we're trying to assess [snorts] what's the state of
006learning in our building. And so we did a first beginning of the year walkthrough in midfall. Um and there's three main questions that we ask amongst others. The first question is about is learning required for all students? That's simply trying to digest are we in every classroom ensuring that every student is engaged? We're not allowing someone to slip through the cracks. Um and in the fall we saw that we definitely struggled in that area where we had students who might have been disengaged, students who were uh maybe not being re-engaged or maybe there wasn't effective strategy that was ensuring that all students were participating in learning. Uh and so we were glad to see that as we moved to the middle of the year, we saw uh over a 35% increase in that um and
007to where almost 80% of our classrooms are now operating at a level that we would say, hey, we're seeing all students being engaged. Um and then that third colum is where we also continue to keep that walk up and so moving into February we were almost at uh at 80% where saw a 50% increase in that area. The second question is about our adopted HQIM resources and use. That's just important because HQIM stands for high quality instructional materials. We want to make sure that as teachers are building instruction that they're using the resources that best help us make sure that kids are at grade level. We know that when they take that atmus, it's about grade level skills. And so we want to base our instruction based off of that. Again, saw a noticeable improvement.
008We now almost at 90% um in all of our classrooms, we're seeing that's consistently being used. Uh and then the other piece is our grade level essential standards, the basis for rigorous learning. So when we look at what's going to move classrooms, we know that teachers can't just teach where kids are. We have to expose them to grade level standards every single day in every single class. And so we looked in the fall, we looked at our data and we also looked at this with teachers and said, "Hey, but we can only say that that's true in 40% of our classrooms." And so we were proud to see a 46% jump increase from fall to spring in our classrooms. And then obviously, as I said, that third column is us just continuing to look at
009that now monthto month, how can we see that we are making sure that the right level of instruction is happening in the classrooms? And so we were glad that we've had the opportunity to have our district leaders in those classrooms um and to that but also as an administrative team that's important for us to look at monthto month. So the go goal there is just to be able to see instruction continuing to improve across the building. So [cough] and then the third thing I just want to share uh is just about u our systems of intervention. So I mentioned in order for us to build students we know we've got to expose them to grade level standards but we also know that there are elements that they may be needing support in. And so one
010of the uh services we use in the district obviously is Lexi which you probably heard other districts talk about before. And so I just wanted to be able to spotlight this because at JS we've been able to see that when we started the year we only had 2% of our scholars who were performing above grade level when we started the year in Lexi which is all about their literacy skills and what intervention they need. And so that's now shifted to 16% of scholars uh who are performing there. We also saw a 30% change in students who are now moving into working on grade level material. So we talk about working on those literacy skills. Um this is important for us and so we we call that leveling up. Uh and so every day we have
011scholars who are leveling up and they receive certificates. When they receive a certificate they get a chance to come down and receive something from the book vending machine. And so you have a couple of scholars there who uh in third and fifth grade there who are award. It's an opportunity for us to push and encourage our scholars to continually leveling up wherever they are continuing to make growth. And we know that uh if we're seeing growth there that we're also going to see growth on the ad system for those scholars because they're filling in holes in their literacy needs. And so not just grade level essential but also how can we backfill the areas where they need support. And so that's just something that's a part of our disabled systems. And so what are our
012current focuses as we finish out the spring semester? Well, we kind of have them broken out into a couple of academic areas. First, in literacy, we're trying to make sure that all of our classrooms, we're focused on meaningful student practice. So, decoding and comprehension. Um, those are the two areas. In K2, it's going to be more so decoding. How can I make meaning, right, as I'm reading, uh, as I'm reading, how can I break down words so that way I can create meaning? Then obviously comprehension, right, which might be part vocabulary, uh it might be part just working through comprehension strategies. So that way our 35 students can perform well. Uh in math, we want to increase the use of manipulatives. So manipulatives help ground the learning, right? As students get into more abstract thinking.
013Uh so that way when they think about processes like fractions and multiplication of fractions, they can actually ground that in something they can see. So that way they can make meaning. And so that's another area where u as we work with coaches throughout the year they've said hey this is something you can focus on and then in writing writing we want to make sure that uh that we are modeling writing strategies across the grade level content areas and so our teachers are actually getting ready just this March u to be able to teach each other uh during our most our next faculty meeting where they're going to be modeling lessons for each other across each grade level um because we do believe in being a collaborative learning community and so if we see effective areas
014where that's happening we want to expose all teachers to where that's happening effective in our building with our kids. Um, and then other than that, just continue focus on culture, climate, and learning. And that's kind of how we want to continue to uh move forward this year and end the year in a strong. And so those are just a few points about what's going on at JS. And if you have any questions, I'd be happy to answer >> questions. Thank you, Mr. Miller. We appreciate you. >> All right. Uh, next item on our agenda is public comment, and I have no signups for public comment this evening. So, we will move on to legal update. And I don't think Mr. Richardson is with us. Uh, facilities update. Do we have anything to update on facilities?
015>> No, sir. >> Right on. District reports. Dr. Ella, do you have a report for us? >> I do. Just just a few things to note. Um, this past several weeks have been busy with parent engagement. um events. Uh most recently, we held our Black History program last week. Uh so our scholars, staff members, and parents were able to witness uh the great efforts that our scholars and uh staff have put together to showcase and remember uh the historical moments in our history. So wanted to u show share that and appreciate all those who put that together. I know Mrs. Chisa Williams spearheaded it, but she had a great team and so I just wanted to make sure we highlight that. Also, the middle school will be hosting their Steam uh academy parent meeting uh
016to provide more information to uh the parents on what themmies will look like uh next year. And in addition to that, I will give you um a update. Thanks to Miss Williams, Terry Williams, we were connected with national the national math and science initiative. Actually, I was connected twice. Uh Miss Terry Williams and then my wife uh also uh connected me to Jeremy Anderson. And so, we are actually in the final stages of receiving a steam steam grant from the National Math and Science Initiative to support the professional development and resources that uh we will need at the middle school. So um so we're looking forward to having that partnership with them as we move forward with themies at the middle school. We also hosted community literacy night uh which was very successful. The district
017team along with our all of our schools and community partners were out and promoting literacy uh and the impact that literacy has uh on every aspect of our lives. And in fact uh this is read across America week uh hence my shirt. Uh and so we encourage everyone >> [snorts] >> uh to read to a young person or have that young person read to you as we motivate and uh bring awareness to the impact of literacy. And so we wanted to uh make sure we uh point that out. And lastly, I wanted to mention about the great success the athletic team. We've had great successes all year long with our athletic groups. Uh but notably um for our third year of having a wrestling program, we've had three state medalists. And so uh two seniors
018and one junior. In fact, our junior Leila uh placed second place. So she was state runner up. And so, uh, definitely wanted to highlight, uh, those young people and our coaches and, uh, director of athletics, coach Hickin Botham, for having the thought of having, um, a wrestling program to engage our young people. So, that includes my report. >> Very good, sir. Thank you. Any questions on that? >> Any PPC reports this evening? All right. Next item we have is a consent agenda. We've got the minutes from the February 2nd regular meeting, the February 20th special board meeting, our assistant superintendence reports, and also the financial report. Is there anything that needs to be pulled down for discussion? If not, I'd entertain a motion to approve as presented. >> So move. >> Second. >> Got a
019motion and a second. All those in favor say I. I. >> Any opposed? That passes unanimously. Next, we've got the approval of the Jacksonville North Pilaski School District scholarship program guidelines and administration. Dr. >> So, board members and audience, this has been u an ongoing work uh since we've been a district. Um when we separated from PCSSD, we inherited a good thing and this is a good thing. we inherited scholarship funds, but the side that in addition to that, we didn't inherit the stipulations and the guidelines to accompany that. And so, in order for us to not get an audit binding, um we have to make sure we have protocols in place. And that's what you have before you after uh hopefully we get a favorable approval tonight and then we'll send uh the results
020to the state department to get their approval so that we can continue or start as a new district giving out these scholarship funds that we have in our activity fund. And so the uh recommendation is to approve the scholarship program guidelines and administration of those funds as outlined in your packet. All right. Any questions, discussion, thoughts? If not, I would entertain a motion. >> I make make a motion to approve. >> Second. >> And a motion and a second to approve the recommendation. >> One thing, >> I think we misspelled Jim Johnson. >> He may have known as John Johnson at one time, but >> do we know that? We'll we'll make that correction. >> Thank you. >> Yes, sir. All right. All those in favor say I. Any opposed? >> All right. That passes
021unanimously. >> Real quickly, I just want to know um can we make sure that we post information that people want to donate to those scholarships? Um because we do take donations. >> We do. and and we have some scholarships already listed and so we'll make sure we list these once these are approved and then send out mass messages or information uh to all the parents and scholars. >> Okay. Uh do we have a list for alumni um or could we put out something if they want to give back to some of those scholarships? We we don't have a list of alumni, but we can use our social media outlets to to send that out and we can also share with some of our community partners who may know some alumni, too. So, >> yeah, I
022think that'd be great. >> Thank you. >> All right. Next item on the agenda, we've got approve an adjustment to the JEES salary index. >> Yes. uh board members and audience, as we move forward with uh supporting our schools uh that have an F rating, we would like to look at individual needs for those particular uh settings uh JES, JMS, and uh as we move JHS forward as well from a D uh to a higher grade level. And so one of the things that these uh the staff, the team at the district has really looked at is that JES is an individual school. It's it's an elementary school, but it's not like our other three uh with the number of students. It's actually almost twice the size of the other elementary schools. And so they
023it has its own set of needs and uh complexities. And so we wanted to make sure in order to get the right administration to lead the effort in school improvement with the amount of load that they have with the number of students and staff members. We wanted to present to you all the proposal of increasing the uh principal and assistant principal salary that is uh equal to the middle school since uh there's only about 100 to 150 uh difference in the number of students from the middle school to JES. And so the recommendation is to provide that increase for the administration um to align um with the middle school administrator salary index. >> All right. Questions? Are there any other um ideas that have been discussed as far along with that? Maybe possibly adding >>
024So adding administration administrator. No. So, we looked at that at the need. We've talked about adding additional instructional support. When we look at the instructional facilitator role with working with students and teachers and building that capacity, uh we wanted to make sure that we add the right positions. And so, the discussion has been more so on the instructional support side versus another administrator. >> Okay. >> Go ahead. Dr. Walker, did you want to add? I would just add that we are also and I've got to say this with Dr. Owens a teacher on special assignment with a strong focus on curriculum as he has stated. >> Okay. Any other questions? Discussion. >> All right. Do I hear a motion? >> So move. >> Second. >> Motion and a second. Any other discussion? All those in
025favor say I. I. >> Any opposed? That passes unanimously. All right. uh approval for adding chief of staff stipen to salary schedule in the amount of $12,000. >> Yes. Uh board members, um two things to as a disclaimer. Uh as you would know, when we first started the district, we had a chief of staff uh that was Miss Phyllis Stewart, and she worked alongside the assistant soups um and our superintendent in making uh the decisions and carrying out the uh daytoday operations. And so the second thing is that when um the executive assistant position came available, uh we combined two positions. Uh Stephanie's former position with as an HR specialist and our executive assistant. And in doing so, and Stephanie of course you all know has done a tremendous job, great job, but we've shifted
026a lot of more work back on um Mrs. Logan. And so she's actually not only running HR, but she's also taken care of a lot of personnel and a lot of uh administrative policy works uh as well as uh taking lead on our FOI request. And so the recommendation to you is to approve not only that uh sal that stipen, but also the name change. So we we're not adding a new position. We're just moving it uh based on that uh stipen. And so she will be the chief of staff and will still oversee HR but the additional duties as well. >> All right. Any questions, discussion? >> Make a motion to approve the superintendent's recommendation. >> Second. >> Motion in a second. Any other discussion? All in favor say I. Any opposed? That passes
027unanimously. Thank you very much. All right. Install turf in the Jacksonville Middle School courtyard. >> Yes. So, if you have not been to the courtyard or if you don't have young people at the middle school or talked to the uh staff, you you haven't heard the ends in the house, the negatives about what that courtyard looks like, especially on a rainy day. So the grass that was once there is no longer grass. It's mesh from the underlying where the grass was, which is a hazard and uh and now mud when it rains. And so just want to give you that update. And that's where imagine almost 900 kids going back and forth. And so to have a space for our young people to go um during lunchtime and before school and after school, we wanted
028to present to you uh Mr. Lester put together three proposals and we would want to go with the most reasonable one and that's outlined here before you but to replace the uh the courtyard with turf so that it's more conducive for our young people and safer uh for them as well. So the recommendation is to approve the installation of the turf uh at the courtyard at Jacksonville Middle School. The funds will come from a building fund and we definitely have that in there to move forward with that. >> All right. Any questions on that? How long will that take and when will that happen? >> April 3rd. Supposed to be fixed April 3rd. They call talk to them today and they're going to be they requested weekends and we're going to allow that. >> Okay.
029So, it'll be done over the weekend. Won't disrupt students and Okay. No, they're going to be working there during the the day, too. But we'll have that all participated. >> How long will this How long will it be down for students? >> It's supposed to be finished by April. >> When will they start? [clears throat] >> Uh, soon as it's approved. Okay. >> All right. Do I hear a motion? >> So move. >> Second. >> Motion and a second. Any other discussion? Did I already do that? Am I already doing that? >> All those in favor say I. >> I. >> Any opposed? That passes unanimously. All right. Uh contract reductions. >> Yes. So a couple years ago we moved from the required 178 days and to the 168 minutes which is the alternative calendar
030that and which is one of the options that DESIE at the Arkansas Department of Education gives uh to school districts. And so with moving that, we've definitely learned some lessons, lessons learned. And our goal was to keep a lot of our staff members at their uh contracted day number of days like before uh the we shifted to the alternative calendar. But with doing that, we realized that we had some uh downtime. So even through professional development, the training and uh just making sure uh the schools and buses and everything is prepped, uh our staff members still had some downtime. So Mr. Lester met with our PPC and our directors and we've come with their proposal before you to reduce those particular areas those positions down to accommodate uh the new schedule alternative calendar which also
031will have a positive impact on our finances as well and and we won't just have people sitting around the buildings or the offices. So, the recommendation is to approve the new contracted days for those uh five areas. >> All right. Questions? I hear a motion. >> So, move. >> Second. >> Get a motion and a second. Any other discussion? All those in favor say I. >> I. >> Any opposed? >> All right. That passes unanimously. Uh, next we've got student disciplinary action. I think we have one contested hearing. Is that correct? >> Yes, sir. >> That's correct. Let's go ahead and move into that. Um, Miss Tippet, Miss Vicky Tippet, are you present? >> Yes, sir. >> Okay. Um, the law provides that the hearing will be held in open session unless requested by the
032student or parent to be closed. If the hearing is open, anyone, including the press, may be present. If the hearing is closed, only those who are involved in the conduct of this recommendation and hearing may be present. Do you wish this hearing to be open or closed to the public? >> Closed. Okay. >> So, uh, the hearing is not open to the public. So, all those not required to be present for the hearing will need to leave the room. So, if you could exit to the hallway or the waiting area over there and we will turn the live stream off as well. And you can come forward please ma'am. All right, we are Mr. Martin. Are we good? Okay, we're back in open session. Um, do I hear uh regarding the expulsion hearing of Mia
033Dorne? Do I hear a motion? make a motion that we uh modify the superintendent's recommendation to homebound until a seat in Horizon's facility becomes available for dor. >> All right, I've got a motion. Do I hear a second? >> Second. >> Motion in a second. Any other discussion? All those in favor say I. >> I. >> Any opposed? All right, that passes unanimously. Thank you'all very much. >> Thank you. All right. Next, we've got a uh >> three more unopposed in our packets. >> So, board members, if you will, uh those are in your uh on your iPads. If you'll open those up and take a look, we will. [snorts] >> I think I just found it. I found it. I had it earlier. >> [snorts] >> Great job. Do I hear a motion? >>
034Got a motion and a second to uphold the superintendent's recommendations on those three. Any other discussion? All those in favor say I. I. >> Any opposed? >> That passes unanimously. All right. Next, we've got a an addendum uh for personnel before us uh to add to the agenda. So, do I hear a motion to approve the agenda? >> Second. >> Motion and a second. All those in favor say I. >> I. Any opposed? >> All right. Next, we have the personnel agenda before us and any discussion on personnel would need to be held in executive session. So, I know there is some questions there. So, we will move into executive session. All right, we are back in open session. I lost my agenda. All right, we've got Personnel report as amended. Do I hear a
035mot? Do I hear a motion? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Got a motion and a second to approve as presented. All those in favor say I. >> Any opposed? >> That passes unanimously. Uh we've got some upcoming events. March 23rd through the 27th is spring break. April 18th, uh JHS car show from 8:00 a.m. to 2 pm. Uh, April the 21st at 5:30 p.m. the JNPSD employee rec recognition and retirement ceremony at Jacksonville Community Center. April 22nd, we've got our Special Olympics at JHS as the host. Anything else that's not on here? >> Yes, sir. >> President uh Gray and board members, I just want to take this time to introduce Mrs. Denise Smith, our new principal of uh starting next school year for Bobby G. Lester Elementary School. So, welcome [applause] Mr. Smith.
036And um and this is a transition because Dr. Young has received a promotion to assistant superintendent. Unfortunately, it's in another district, but we definitely want to congratulate him on his uh job advancement as well. So, we're looking forward to this new transition. >> Outstanding. Welcome, >> Mr. McDaniel. Do you have anything to add? >> Make a motion we adjourn. >> Amen. >> All right, we are adjourned. Y'all have a great evening. Oh