ROGERS -- All of the School District's coaching positions, including those needed to implement a seventh-grade athletic program, have been filled for the coming school year.
Roger Hill, assistant superintendent for human resources, made that announcement at the School Board's meeting Tuesday. The district has processed 55 additions or changes to its coaching roster, he said.
School Board officers
The Rogers School Board on Tuesday voted unanimously to keep Kristen Cobbs as board president, Curtis Clements as vice president and Nathan Gairhan as secretary for the next 12 months in its annual election of officers, thus maintaining the same group serving since October. Cobbs has served as board president since 2015.
Source: Staff report
Sixteen teachers have been added to the district's coaching ranks. Others who already were coaching a sport have picked up additional coaching responsibilities, Hill said.
"So we're in June and all coaching positions are filled. I'm thrilled," Hill said.
He praised athletic director Keith Kilgore and the building principals for helping to make that happen.
The board voted in February to add a seventh-grade athletic program consisting of football, volleyball, cross country, basketball, track, cheer and dance starting this fall. Kilgore said earlier this year he expects nearly 700 seventh-graders to participate in a sport.
As for other areas in the district, some certified and classified positions have yet to be filled, including a math and science curriculum specialist and some teaching positions, Hill said.
"I think it's been a very good year, but any district is going to be successful or not successful by the quality of people who are working with the students," he said.
Hill was one of several administrators from different departments who addressed the board Tuesday to review the district's accomplishments during the past school year. The whole review took about an hour.
Charles Lee, assistant superintendent for general administration, began by showing an aerial photo of the construction of the district's 16th elementary school, which he said is on schedule to open in time for the 2019-20 school year.
The district is in the process of installing new security cameras at each of the schools. The cameras have been installed at Reagan Elementary and New Technology High schools. Rogers High School and Heritage High School are next in line and will have their cameras by August, Lee said.
Fencing has been installed at each of the elementary schools' playgrounds except for Jones Elementary School, which Lee said has presented "a little bit of a challenge."
Virginia Abernathy, assistant superintendent of teaching and learning, said the highlight of the past year has been the collaboration among staff members from all grade levels designing curriculum and making certain the right resources and instructional strategies are in place.
"Data has guided all of our work and all of our decisions," Abernathy said.
Also at Tuesday's meeting, the board approved a policy change allowing students who transfer into the district late in their high school careers the ability to earn honors.
A district policy until now listed among the requirements to graduate with honors, high honors or distinguished honors that a student must enroll by the beginning of junior year and be a full-time student at a Rogers high school for three of the final four semesters.
Feedback from the high school principals and registrars indicated the policy may have been tied to when there was a student ranking system and the desire to ensure students took specific courses to attain honors status. Rogers eliminated its class ranking system starting with the class of 2017.
Administrators agreed to change the policy to accommodate students who move into the district or transfer in from a charter or private school so they may be recognized for their academic achievement, Superintendent Marlin Berry said.
NW News on 06/20/2018