PRAIRIE GROVE -- The Prairie Grove School Board recently approved the boundaries for its five school district zones for the May 24, 2022, school election.
The board passed a resolution that states it is the intent of the board to divide the school district into five single-member district zones. The resolution authorizes Superintendent Reba Holmes to submit the zone plan and map to the Washington County Board of Election Commission for final approval.
From the election commission, the district zones go to the Washington County Clerk's office for its staff to make necessary precinct and voter changes for the school election.
Prairie Grove School District is having to change the way its voters elect School Board members next year because the 2020 census shows it now has at least a 10% minority population. A 1993 state law says a school district cannot elect all its board members in at-large elections if the total population has more than a 10% minority.
Currently, all seven board members are elected at-large by district voters.
According to census figures, Prairie Grove School District has a population of 12,655 people and of those, 17.6% are minority. The state defines minority as anyone who is Hispanic or Latino, Black or African American, American Indian, Asian or Pacific Islander.
Northwest Arkansas Regional Planning Commission provided four different zoning maps for the board to consider. Holmes recommended Plan 4 as the zoning map.
The population and minority ratio for the district's five zones are as follows:
• Zone 1, population of 2,485, with 18% minority. Board member Shawn Shrum presently lives in this zone.
• Zone 2, population of 2,589, with 21% minority. Board member J.C. Dobbs presently lives in this zone.
• Zone 3, 2,497, population of 2,497, with 16% minority. Board member Whitney Bryant currently lives in this zone.
• Zone 4, population of 2,636 with 17% minority. Board member Bart Orr lives in this zone.
• Zone 5, population of 2,448, with 16% minority. Board member Matt Hargis lives in this zone.
The board voted at its Aug. 17 meeting to have five board members elected by zone and two board members elected at-large. Zoned board members must live in their zones and are only elected by voters in those zones. At-large members can live anywhere in the school district, with all registered voters given the opportunity to vote on those positions.
The seats held by board members Casie Ruland and William Dick were randomly selected to be the at-large positions.
Holmes said one question still remains about the May 2022 school election. As the law is written, all five zoned positions would be up for election in May. She said there is some discussion about the Legislature making changes to the law so that everyone does not have to run in May.
For example, she said a position that only has one year left in its five-year term may be the only position that would be on the ballot. Holmes said this would prevent the situation of a board with almost all new members being elected to serve in May.
The filing period for the May 24, 2022, school election is Feb. 22-March 1.
In other action Oct. 19, the board approved the purchase of a Verkada Security Camera System with 53 cameras for the new middle school for $53,966.
Shawn Witt, chief information office and security, said the technology department looked at three systems. Verkada had the second highest price, but Witt recommended it because he believed it has the best value.
Witt said he and Ray Ruland, technology director, have been using the system as a demo for more than a year and are very impressed with it.
Footage from the district's cameras is used on a weekly basis for a variety of reasons, Witt said. As an example, he said footage may be used for concerns including bullying, vaping, vandalism and fights.
The Verkada system gives the district the ability to search for key images, such as a specific vehicle, instead of having to look through all of the footage trying to find that vehicle, Witt said.
In addition, it will allow the district to send a link to the school resource officers for a specific camera. The link would be available for a certain time period.
Another feature, Witt said, is that the system has an app, and cameras can be accessed through the app on a phone to see if something is going on.
Information is stored locally but also is uploaded to the cloud, Witt said.
In other news, the board:
• Approved a bid of $40,392 from Franklin and Son for a new bus barn roof and wood truss repair.
• Accepted the resignation of art teacher Leslie Cogburn and paraprofessional Stephanie Beeks and approved hiring Keith Huskisson as a paraprofessional and bus driver and Gordon Sears as a special education paraprofessional.
• Agreed to add long-term pay for school nurses with a current Registered Nurse license. After day 30, the pay increases to $35.16 per hour, including benefits, and is retroactive to the long-term nurse's first day.