ROGERS -- The School District's enrollment was 15,233 on the first day of school Monday, about 250 more than it was on last year's first day, according to Superintendent Marlin Berry.
"That is a floating number. It's going to change," Berry told the School Board during its meeting Tuesday.
School districts record their official enrollment figures for each year on Oct. 1. That number was 15,077 for Rogers last year and 15,027 in 2014.
District officials earlier this year projected enrollment would be 15,177 this school year and 15,552 in 2020.
Berry, now in his second month as Rogers' superintendent, said the district had a "very positive" start to the school year Monday. He complimented staff members on their good work and good attitudes.
"It's been a very exciting start for us," he said.
Assistant superintendents Virginia Abernathy and Charles Lee also gave brief reports on the start of the school year.
The board approved a list of personnel changes, highlighted by the hiring of Layne Bass as an assistant principal at Kirksey Middle School.
Bass is joining Kirksey after 11 years with the Springdale School District, where she most recently served as a school improvement specialist and instructional facilitator at Har-Ber High School. She earned a master's degree in educational leadership from Arkansas State University in 2015.
Brian Jackson, president of Hight Jackson Associates and a Rogers graduate, informed the board about the Mountie Hall of Fame ceremony, which will be held before Rogers High School's homecoming game next month.
The ceremony will be at the school at 5 p.m. Sept. 16. Five inductees are being honored this year, including the 1936 Rogers High School football team, which went undefeated.
"That's a really neat story there. A lot of those guys went on to fight in war," Jackson said. "They're our first team to be inducted."
Tickets aren't required for the event.
In other business, the board approved renewing a contract with Preferred Family Healthcare, which provides mental and behavioral health services to some Rogers students in grades eight through 12. The district will pay the provider $35 per day, the same rate as last year.
NW News on 08/17/2016