BENTONVILLE -- The School Board on Monday unanimously approved a new attendance zone map to take effect when the next elementary school opens in fall 2019.
Tanya Sharp, director of student services, summarized the tweaks administrators made to the map since the board's last meeting.
Calendars Set
The Bentonville School Board on Monday approved calendars for the 2018-19 and 2019-20 academic years. For the 2018-19 school year, the first semester will run Aug. 13-Dec. 21 with a three-day break in October and a full week off for Thanksgiving. The second semester runs Jan. 8-May 24 with spring break falling March 18-22.
Source: Staff Report
That included keeping 81 students at Thomas Jefferson Elementary School who had been identified for a move to R.E. Baker Elementary School. Officials also were able to increase from 74 to 132 the number of Bella Vista students who will move from Jefferson to Cooper Elementary School, Bella Vista's only school.
One of the School District's objectives was to include as many Bella Vista families in Cooper as possible.
Administrators also reworked a portion of the district's east side where some families currently zoned for Apple Glen Elementary would transfer to Jones or Baker elementary schools. Instead, the Baker students will be left where they are and the Apple Glen students will go to Baker instead of Jones.
That will leave Jones Elementary School very small -- with about 419 students compared to its current 631 students -- but Sharp said, "We are OK with that."
About a quarter of students in kindergarten through third grade will be impacted by the zoning change, according to Sharp. The change is necessary because of the new elementary school being built on Haxton Road in the southern part of the district. Elementary school is the only level being rezoned at this time.
The last time the district rezoned was for last school year when elementary and middle school boundaries were redesigned in anticipation of Osage Creek Elementary and Creekside Middle schools opening.
Superintendent Debbie Jones said after Monday's meeting the district is committed to rezoning as little as possible. If a neighborhood was affected by the last rezoning, the district tried not to affect that neighborhood this time around.
The district last week hosted a public forum on rezoning that was attended by only about 15 people.
Two people spoke about rezoning during time allotted for public comment Monday. One was a parent who wasn't clear on whether the rezoning affected her neighborhood; another was Sarah DeWitt, a parent and district employee, who said rezoning isn't something that should be feared.
DeWitt said her two sons both have been through rezoning multiple times. They are doing fine academically and they are happy, she said.
"I just want to make sure you understand, as the board, that our kids are going through this just fine and they are absolutely being successful," DeWitt said.
In other business, the board unanimously approved proceeding with seventh-grade athletics starting next school year.
The district will offer for seventh grade what it offers for eighth grade -- football, basketball, volleyball, cross country, track, cheer and dance. The seventh-grade athletic period will replace a student's physical education credit.
All coaches will be certified coaches through the Arkansas Activities Association. The move won't require additional personnel, but the district will pay $21,750 more in stipends, according to Scott Passmore, athletic director.
The Bentonville Athletic Booster Club has agreed to pay for the startup cost of equipment and uniforms, which shouldn't exceed $50,000, he said.
The Rogers and Fayetteville school districts also are considering implementing seventh-grade sports. Springdale has offered it for two years.
The board also approved buying about three-quarters of an acre connected to the property at 1602 S.E. J St. for $151,000.
The purchase will connect the Student Services and Gateway buildings on Southeast 14th Street to the Tiger Athletic Complex on Southeast J Street. Gateway is the the district's alternative learning environment program for high-schoolers.
Administrators said a road connecting the two facilities could be built, enhancing access to the Student Services and Gateway buildings. The only access to that property is from the north, near the intersection of 14th and J streets, which is difficult to navigate for drivers, according to Janet Schwanhausser, finance director.
The purchase gives the district the flexibility to consider other facility options involving those two buildings, Schwanhausser said.
NW News on 12/19/2017