SILOAM SPRINGS -- The School Board approved an agreement with the city for the school resource officer program during a recent meeting.
The agreement has the same contents as the previous two years with a few adjustments for staffing changes, said assistant superintendent Jody Wiggins.
Board Action
The Siloam Springs School Board also approved:
• A low bid of $149,950 from Alliant Insurance through Moss Insurance Group for property and content insurance.
• A tuition agreement with Northwest Technical Institute for the 2017-2018 school year.
• A memorandum of understanding with Northwest Arkansas Community College for concurrent college credit classes.
• Three agreements with Ozark Guidance, including a lease, a transportation services contract and a tuition agreement.
• School Board policy changes for the 2017-2018 school year.
• Bids for physical therapy services and occupational therapy for the coming school year from Vanessa McNair, Delinda Floyd, Kyle Sarratt and Alliance Ventures.
• A preliminary financial statement for the 2018-2019 school year.
• Holding School Board meetings at 5:30 p.m. in the School Board room at the middle school on the second Thursday of the month.
• The resignations of Ashton Villines, high school English teacher; Kendra Meredith, high school family consumer science teacher; Brittni George, intermediate school language arts/social studies teacher; Lukas Shoemaker, high school business teacher and soccer coach; and Tasha Duckworth, Allen Elementary School first-grade teacher.
• Hiring 12 certified teachers.
Source: Staff Report
Chris Salley, sergeant over the resource officer program, retired in May leaving one of the five resource officer positions open, Wiggins said. Police Chief Jim Wilmeth said it may take some time for the department to fill the fifth spot because the department has a number of officers with less than two years of experience with 10 new officers coming on over the next few months.
Wilmeth explained the officers working on the street need a certain level of proficiency and experience before they serve in the district. He said his department wanted to maintain the same level of service to the district and the community. Wilmeth expects to fill the fifth spot by the end of the first semester of the new school year.
"This is one of the most important missions we have," Wilmeth said. "We are very, very careful who we put into the schools because it is a very unique skill set. We don't want to give you somebody that is not fully prepared to do that yet. The other concern we have is we want to continue to provide the same level of service to the remaining community that we have a responsibility to do."
The school resource officer program is a first-line, front-line approach to keeping crime down in the rest of the community, and the relationships officers build in the schools are invaluable, Wilmeth said.
Wilmeth said he didn't foresee any staffing changes for the other four officers. Jeff Bland will take Salley's position as leader of the program. He will serve as a corporal instead of a sergeant so he can spend more time working directly with the schools and less time on administrative duties, Wilmeth said.
NW News on 06/22/2017