EVENTS >> 1-5-11

MISS GREATER JAKSONVILLE  PAGEANT SET FOR  JAN.29

The Miss Greater Jacksonville Pageant and the Miss Greater Jacksonville Outstanding Teen Pageant will be held Saturday, Jan. 29 at the Jacksonville Community Center.

The deadline to enter is Jan. 21.

Miss Greater Jacksonville contestants must be between the ages of 17 and 24.

Outstanding Teen contestants must be at least 13 years old by the date of the state pageant or no older than 17 and must not be a senior in high school.

Other contests will include baby miss for children under 18 months old; toddler miss for children between the ages of 19 and 35 months old; wee miss for 3- to 4-year-olds; tiny miss for 5- and 6-year-olds; little miss for 7- to 9-year-olds and petite miss for 10- to 12-year-olds. Each competition includes beauty with optional talent and photogenic portions. For details, call Sharon at 501-982-3898.

CABOT CHAMBER OF COMMERCE'S BANQUET IS JAN.21

Cabot Chamber of Commerce will host its annual membership banquet at 6:30 p.m. Jan. 21 at Cabot Junior High North. The guest speaker for this event will be Walt Coleman, an NFL referee. Tickets are $25 per person or $225 for a table of eight. To make a reservation, e-mail chamber@cabotcc.org or call 501-843-2136.

Awards for the chamber’s member of the year and business of the year will be presented. The chamber is accepting nominations till Jan. 7. 

SCHOOL CLOSINGS TO BE DISCUSSED

The Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce will host its next education committee meeting from 3 to 5 p.m. Monday at the community center, 5 Municipal Drive. Derek Scott, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel and director of operations for Pulaski County Special School District, will speak.

He is expected to answer questions about a proposal to realign Jacksonville/north Pulaski County schools, possibly resulting in construction of a new middle school and a new elementary school and educating ninth- and 10th-graders at North Pulaski High School and the 11th- and 12th-graders at Jacksonville High School.

The PCSSD board authorized Scott to visit communities to discuss plans to consolidate, close and build new schools.

Under the proposal, Jacksonville High School would be partially replaced with a new $45 million building. North Pulaski High School would be closed, and students would be moved to the new high school. The meeting is open to the public.

Jacksonville chamber to hold banquet Jan. 27

The Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce will hold its annual banquet at 6 p.m. Thursday, Jan 27 at the community center. For ticket information, call 501-982-1511.

UAMS offers free mammograms in Lonoke Jan. 19

The UAMS MammoVan, a mobile mammography unit operated by the University of Arkansas, will be in Lonoke Wednesday, Jan. 19 to offer mammograms for area women.

The free service will be provided at the Lonoke Community Center, 1355 W. Front St., from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. For information about the MammoVan’s schedule or to determine elligibility, call the UAMS Cancer Control Department at 800-259-8794.

 Results also will be sent to each patient’s primary-care physician. If the mammogram shows a potential abnormality, the patient will be referred for follow-up to the appropriate services.

 The unit is handicap accessible.

Classes to be held on Christian movement

First Baptist Church of Cabot will begin a 15-week course on Tuesday, Jan. 18. The program is titled “Prespectives on the World Christian Movement.” Classes will meet from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Tuesdays. Each class is taught by a different instructor. The first class is free.

For details, call Bonne Jensen at 501-941-0561, e-mail her at bonnej2000@yahoo.com, or visit www.perspectives.org.

The church is located at 204 N. Third St.

Blood drive planned Monday at Cabot Church 

A community blood drive will be held in Cabot from 1 to 7 p.m. Monday, Jan. 10 at First Baptist Church, 204 North 3rd St., room 111. For more information, call Harland Crumb 501-843-5987.

TOP STORY >> Mayor wants ’70s growth

IN SHORT: Expansion will mean better services, but critics are not convinced.

By Garrick Feldman
Leader executive editor

Jacksonville Mayor Gary Fletcher wants the city to grow again and has made it a top priority to annex 2,400 acres north of town, along with a smaller area off Hwy. 61 South.

Both city and rural residents will decide the fate of the proposal on Nov. 2.

Fletcher, who is running unopposed for re-election, said the annexation plans, along with an effort to land the state fair off Hwy. 161 South, are part of his administration’s goal to return Jacksonville to its glory days in the 1970s, when it was the fastest-growing town in Arkansas.

“Jacksonville has a lot of opportunities, but it will take money to realize them,” Fletcher said.

When business prospects look at a Google map of the city, he said, they realize there’s no place to build except in less-traveled areas such as Marshall Road between Main Street and the air base.
While many rural residents are against annexation because they don’t want to live in town, Fletcher said in an interview this week that the area near the air base is where the city should grow.

The annexed area would bring the city about $1.5 million in annual revenues, which would provide services not only to the affected area but also would pay for better, more up-to-date services for all residents, he said.

Fletcher mentioned a digital 911 emergency-communications network to replace the city’s antiquated system, which would cost $1.9 million. An automated garbage system would reduce manpower, which would reduce payroll and workers’ compensation costs.

He wants to see new homes built there and encourage new businesses such as national restaurant chains to move in.

“We’re hypersensitive to the needs of the people in the proposed annexed area,” the mayor said.

A committee is considering letting residents there keep their rural lifestyle — barns and horses and hunting and leaf burning.

But, he said, referring to the vociferous critics of annexation, “The loud ones often get the attention.”

Terry Weatherford is one of the rural residents who has spoken out quietly against the annexation plans.

He calls the proposal “a force-march situation” since rural residents are outnumbered 10-1 and have little chance of winning at the ballot box.

Weatherford says he has no problem with Jacksonville annexing the corridor along Hwy. 67/167, which “would solve Jacksonville’s revenue problems” since that’s where most of the businesses are located. “But leave the rest of us alone.”

Weatherford says the rest of the area is rural and much of it is in a floodplain.

“There are drainage issues,” he said. “Six hundred acres are in swamp land.

“Jacksonville hasn’t told us what it would cost to build a fire station,” he continued, “and provide police protection.”

People in the area are rural types set in their ways.

“There are seven and eight cars on some properties,” he said. “What will the city do with them?”
Fletcher said a group called Soaring Opportunities for Jacksonville has been formed to promote the annexation. Former Rep. Pat Bond is the group’s treasurer.

“This election is about the future of Jacksonville,” Fletcher said. “This election is about what people want Jacksonville to look like in five years. Jacksonville has a chance to excel in this recession. Most cities are playing it safe. We don’t want to be stagnant.”

“It excites me when people come to Jacksonville,” the mayor said.

He said 7,000 people visit the Memphis Flea Market in the old Walmart. Thousands more go to the gun and knife shows. More events are planned there.

“This is a time to grow,” Fletcher said. “Momentum dictates everything. This is a golden opportunity for our people.”

TOP STORY >> Budget is $69.3M for Cabot schools

IN SHORT: District has $6.1 million surplus, will spend nearly $2 million more.

By Joan McCoy
Leader staff writer

The Cabot School Board approved a $69.3 million operating budget for the 2010-2011 school year Tuesday night, up from $67.4 million last year.

The budget includes an anticipated carryover of $6.1 million to start the 2011-2012 school year. Tina Wiley, district comptroller, said the carryover is important because the first money from the state doesn’t come in until the end of August and the district needs money for salaries and other expenses until then.

The budget does not yet include anything for salary increases, although Dr. Tony Thurman, school superintendent, said those are coming.

“We are still waiting on first-quarter enrollment numbers to be final so that we can have a more accurate estimate of our growth funding. This funding amount will have a major bearing on the amount of raises that we can provide for staff,” Thurman said.

Wiley said for the past two years, the district has given pay raises that added $1,000 to the base pay of all teachers. Classified staff such as custodians and cafeteria workers received pay increases of 30 cents an hour for an overall increase of $378 to $600, depending upon hours worked.

The eight-page budget the board passed was not broken down to show expenditures such as individual salaries. However, in response to questions from The Leader, Wiley said Thurman is paid $155,000 not counting benefits. Starting teachers are paid $37,475 and teachers with master’s degrees plus 12 hours with 26 years of experience are paid $58,695.

A pie graph in the budget shows that 67 percent of the school district’s income is from the state and 33 percent is local money.

On the expenditure side, 51 percent goes to certified salaries, 14 percent to classified salaries and 16 percent to benefits which means 81 percent of the budget is for personnel. The balance pays utilities and services at 4 percent, supplies at 9 percent, equipment at 2 percent and debt payments at 4 percent.

“Since the majority of our expense is in salaries, it helps very little to try to keep costs down by cutting down on supplies,” Wiley said.

In addition to salaries, the budget includes $7 million for maintenance and operation and $3.3 million for transportation. The district now runs 90 bus routes and more could be added.

The carryover for 2009-2010 was 8.1 percent of the total budget. The anticipated carryover this year is 8.8 percent. Thurman said the state doesn’t require a specific carryover but likes to see between 6 and 10 percent. In 2007, the carryover was down to 4.8 percent. But it has been increasing ever since and now it is well within the acceptable range.

TOP STORY >> Going digital, despite critics

IN SHORT: Although much maligned, PCSSD relies on new technology for efficiency.

By John Hofheimer
Leader senior staff writer

Accurate tracking of district assets, including textbooks, good communication between administrators, board members and patrons, and transparency are among the many challenges facing Supt. Charles Hopson’s new administration at Pulaski County Special School District.

Hopson believes that technology can help address those issues. Toward that end, he brought Derrick Brown with him from Portland, Ore., as his chief technology officer to help make informed choices on technology.

Brown says he’s already found efficiencies in technology—some of which will require initial investment—which may save the district money in the long run.

iPads For BOARD

Hopson is seldom seen without his Apple iPad, and now the district has purchased 20 iPads—that’s $12,580—one for each school board member and one for each member of his cabinet.
The iPads are blocked from importing and running recreational or other applications (apps) such as iTunes and games.

What they will do is allow school board members and administrators to get and send e-mail to each other and to parents and other patrons, and to track those e-mails.

A parent complaining about a leaky classroom roof can e-mail his or her board member who can forward that email to Col. Derek Scott, who is executive director of operations, Brown explained.
Through new school board specific eBOARDsolutions, all also will have searchable access to minutes of the school board meetings, school policies, the school calendar and other documents, Brown said.

“The iPads will have email capability and real-time availability,” he said. “The biggest advantage is to the patrons.”

The board members, administrators and cabinet members receiving the iPads must sign a two-page user guideline.

The district had purchased laptop computers for the board members and cabinet members, but some board members don’t have access to high-speed Internet at home and because in the past board members Mildred Tatum and Gwen Williams had run up hundreds of dollars worth of use and roaming fees on Blackberry-type phones the district paid for, a district policy prohibits paying for board member smartphones.

Brown said the iPads cost $629 each with a $15 a month data fee. The iPads will work both on wireless Internet signals, or where there is none, on cellular phone signals, which are pretty much everywhere.

The previously purchased laptops will replace the next laptops that would have been purchased for general use in the district.

The iPads should connect automatically with the wireless Internet at the PCSSD Central Office, which is where the board meetings are held. “Phone calls are great,” Brown said, “but where is the documentation? All our board members go to our schools. If they see something in their schools, they have a tool in their hand to report problems. Send an email. It’s traceable and trackable.”

BOOKS V. iPads?

The teachers’ union and their allies are critical of the purchase of iPads at a time when the district has only recently emerged from fiscal distress and when not all students have all the books they need.

Students will have the necessary textbooks soon, according to Communications Director Deborah Roush. “It’s not a financial issue,” she said, but rather an issue of reorganization and communication.

For instance, some schools may not have enough eighth-grade math books, while others may have stacks of excess in the storage room. That’s exactly the kind of thing that can be better tracked with the use of iPads or through computer programs, Roush said Monday.

“We have a (data base) inventory system for the libraries,” Brown said. “We can scan books in and out. It’s a logistical challenge, but we can do that with the textbooks,” he said.

It will require district personnel and volunteers in the near future to go room-by-room and closet-by-closet throughout the district and log the number of books available and where they are.

DIGITAL COMMITTMENT

Before Hopson was hired, the district already had purchased Web-based digital school board communication software and laptop computers with which to use it, but now that Hopson has his team in place, board members are being trained to use both the iPad and the new dedicated school board software, Brown said Tuesday.

“In March the board decided to go green,” Brown said. “They wanted to go away from the thick binder (of monthly board meeting agenda books) and they purchased eBOARDsolutions.”

So the board already had committed to a first-year licensing fee of $24,325 to allow the digital communication, plus a one-year renewal option for $6,000, Brown said.

“Right now, we can’t print enough (inch-thick agenda books) for everyone,” Brown said. “How do we run a district of this magnitude—a $250 million business?”

“I ask myself, ‘How do I best meet the needs of the superintendent and the board?’” Brown said. “I’m asking the process questions. How do we do what we say we’re going to do? Let’s get all the right stakeholders around the table and let’s figure the total cost of ownership. How does it affect teaching and learning or keeping information up to date?”

PRINTER/COPIER STANDARDIZATION

“We’re doing printer/copier assessment,” he said. “We have printing capabilities in all our offices, but it’s a hodgepodge. They each had a budget and bought what they thought they needed. The toner runs out and there’s no money in the budget. Or it breaks.

“We’ve pulled in two global venders to determine the needs. Then we’ll send out requests for proposals. We want a plan that is sustainable and standardized.”

Brown said they did that for 87 schools in the Portland district from which he and Hopson came.
Right now, the district has several different makes and types of printers spread across the district, each taking its own kind of ink cartridges and service and repair.

Computers, printers and other such things will likely be bought under state purchasing agreements.

“We want to know the total cost of ownership and the return on investment. Venders will bring information back to us.”

Brown is putting all administrators and employees with district-owned and paid cell phones on the same plan with the same company.

“We did an assessment with (Chief Financial Officer Anita Farver) and found a considerable amount of roaming charges. Every phone wasn’t on the same plan. With Verizon, we’re consolidating our phones, deciding who needed phones, and we are reducing costs by about $15,000 annually,” Brown said.

eBOARDsolutions software, once in use, will allow district personnel to pull together agenda packets and supporting information much more quickly.

The public and the board can more quickly find historical information without requiring time and effort of school personnel.

TOP STORY >> Hopson upbeat after years of strife

IN SHORT: Superintendent says he can work with new board members and union,
as well as legislators who want accountability.

By Garrick Feldman and John Hofheimer
Leader staff writers

With the election this week of two union-backed school board members, the Pulaski County Special School District Board is likely to rescind its illegal decision to oust the teachers union as collective bargaining agent for the teachers at its next meeting on Oct. 12.

But freshly minted Superintendent Charles Hopson, in an interview with The Leader, says he anticipates no problems working with the unions.

Hopson says he wants an open and transparent administration and toward that end has been meeting with teachers in each board zone, writing a column for the district’s webpage and meeting with representatives of the teachers union.

In the exclusive interview Thursday, Hopson also said the next new school “has to be in the Jacksonville area,” perhaps at Little Rock Air Force Base to replace the decrepit but high-achieving Arnold Drive Elementary School, as well as nearby Tolleson Elementary.

“We can’t keep doing things the way things have been done in the past and expect a different outcome,” Hopson said.

He promised to end the cycle of “inertia and complacency” and make improvements throughout the district.

PCSSD has been losing students for decades, has struggled financially and has failed to meet state standards, but Hopson is promising a turnaround.

“We have a long way to go and a short time to get there,” he acknowledged.

“The district has the potential to be a leader in the state for setting world-class standards,” the superintendent said.

“This district was the largest and wealthiest and most progressive in the state until 1989, when I left Northwood Middle School. It was a new school, one of the most modern in the state. I visited it recently and was stunned how neglected it is. It doesn’t need to be that way.”

WELCOMES OVERSIGHT

Hopson said he welcomes what is likely to be a prolonged period of oversight by the state Bureau of Legislative Audit, in light of the district’s poor history of record keeping, financial management and other issues.

The Bureau of Legislative Audit earlier this year discovered the unauthorized purchase, theft and sale of about $439,000 worth of school property, thousands of dollars in improper travel reimbursement of current school board members Gwen Williams and Mildred Tatum, overpayment of former Supt. James Sharpe and poor oversight of other financial matters.

As a direct result of that, the state Board of Education “pre-warned” the Pulaski County Special School District that it could be headed again for fiscal distress.

“I can see why the public would be outraged by these expenditures,” Hopson said.

NEW BOARD

Gloria Lawrence of Sher-wood and Tom Stuthard of Jacksonville, both supported by the Pulaski Association of Classroom Teachers and the Pulaski Association of Support Staff replaced union opponents Charlie Wood and Danny Gililland.

Both Lawrence and Stuthard said they were very clear about their roles as policy makers, Hopson said.

“Both were very supportive of the direction we’re taking the district,” he added, and “have a very positive reaction toward the appointments I’ve made.”

Despite recent hires of well-paid non-educators such as Chief Technology Officer Derrick Brown and Chief Operations Officer Col. Derek Scott, Hopson said he believes he’s cut the administrative salary-budget line by about $100,000 by combining and eliminating some jobs.
He said their expertise is already saving the district money.

He said Brown and Scott are experienced experts in their fields and will make the district better and more efficient. “The success rests with people I bring in that will support the vision I have for this district,” Hopson said.

FACILITES PROFESSIONAL

Scott is retired career Air Force officer with years of experience overseeing the maintenance and construction of facilities.

Since he was hired this summer, he’s been assessing district facilities and directing repairs and maintenance. He’s expected to save the district a lot of money in the future serving as construction manager on new construction, Hopson has said.

And the schools would not be in the sorry condition they are if attention had been paid to them throughout the years.

Hopson said instruction needed to drive school design.

Technology not only drives instructional matters, but helps track district finances, according to Hopson. He said Brown had already saved the district thousands of dollars even while purchasing iPads for board members and administrators to use.

He said in the future, teacher and administrator evaluations could be done and filed online, as well as state assessments.

Hopson wants to explore other ideas, such as selling sponsorships for sports stadiums.
When the district needed 50 additional buses, instead of purchasing them for about $4 million to $5 million, the district leased them for $300,000.

Most of those buses were necessary because the board agreed to change the bell schedule for the secondary schools.

HOPSON’S VISION

My vision is “for every student to leave prepared to enter a rigorous post-secondary experience and to be able to compete at a world-class level,” he said.

To achieve that, it may be necessary to lengthen the school day or even the school year, ideas guaranteed to be unpopular with the unions and many parents.

“We have the shortest school day and year of any first-world country,” he said.

Regarding a new school for Jacksonville—a decision ultimately in the board’s bailiwick—Hopson said Arnold Drive managed to be one of the three best schools in the state while operating in a rundown building.

“People don’t understand some of the great things happening despite challenges with the facilities,” he said.

That school is located on the Air Force base, and the Air Force has offered land for a new school.
But he said when the time comes, he would invite Jacksonville residents to help make that decision.

Promising future

“This is a district with great promise,” the superintendent said. “You can see the promise of what it can be.”

PCSSD is where Portland was 15 years ago, Hopson said, promising to make the same kind of progress here as in his previous job. “It’s been an adreneline rush. I look forward to going to work,” Hopson said.

TOP STORY >> Cabot, Beebe National Merit semifinalists

By JOAN McCOY
Leader staff writer

Eleven high school seniors from Cabot and one from Beebe are among the 144 Arkansas seniors recently named National Merit Scholarship semifinalists.

The 11 students from Cabot and one from Beebe are among 16,000 who scored high enough to be named semifinalists. The designation makes the students eligible for about 8,400 National Merit Scholarships worth $36 million.

In Arkansas, only Little Rock with 42 and Fayetteville with 18 had more National Merit semifinalists than Cabot. Conway had 12, but one was a home-schooled student.

The semifinalists from Cabot are Layne M. Bernardo, Alyssa C. Cantrell, Anthony B. Cardillo, William D. Carman, Jeffrey L. Graham, William J. Otter, Carson T. Patterson, Bradley R. Puder, Kevan T. Sharp, Hayden D. Summerhill and Kaitlyn N. Thomas.

The semifinalist from Beebe is Bernard R. Smith.

Dr. Belinda Shook, superintendent of Beebe Schools, said this week that she had been Smith’s elementary principal.

“I always knew Bernard was a smart kid,” Shook said. “We’re proud of him.”

Carla Choate, a counselor at Beebe High School, said she is completing paperwork to help meet eligibility requirements for Smith to become a National Merit scholar.

“This is fairly unusual,” Choate said. “We don’t have one every year.”

Melissa Elliott, director of gifted and AP programs at Cabot, says a rigorous curriculum beginning in middle school combined with opportunities for students to prepare for high-stakes tests is the secret to Cabot’s success.

“The semifinalists are the highest-scoring students for each state, and they represent less than 1 percent of the nation’s high school juniors,” Elliott said.

“We ranked third in the state this year with our 11 semifinalists,” she said. “The insistence on a rigorous curriculum throughout the district is perhaps the most important and direct factor in our success.

“Our district is cognizant of the necessary components needed to achieve higher scores, and we are doing everything possible to ensure that students who desire to improve their scores have every opportunity to do so.

“Though high-stake exams are most often associated with our secondary schools, the foundation starts in our elementary schools and is reinforced at our middle-level buildings by staff that have high expectations for students and instill a work ethic required for them to be successful,” she said.

Last year, about 1.5 million high school juniors became part of the scholarship program by taking the 2009 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test.