By Joel Phelps | The Arkadelphian
Jimmy King said he hated to be the bearer of bad news before he informed school board members Tuesday that the Badger Stadium turf project wouldn’t be finished prior to kickoff of the 2022 football season.
Prior to Tuesday’s meeting, school officials had been told the field would be complete in time for the first Badgers home game on Sept. 2. But on Tuesday morning they were told otherwise. King, director of support services for Arkadelphia Public Schools, said recent rainfall put a damper on the work because of the hot mix asphalt used in the process.
King said the district is fortunate that the crews have made it this far in the process given the setback of learning the previous turf had major drainage issues underneath. That setback dealt a financial blow to the district with a $789,000 change order, bringing the overall cost to $1.6 million. He said the Helles crew should wrap up the inlay portion of the field later this week to allow the final crew to install the turf beginning Monday. “They will need 15 to 20 days to do the turf part,” King said.
The anticipated completion date is now Sept. 9, King told the school board.
Superintendent Nikki Thomas said the district received confirmation on Tuesday that Henderson State University would allow the school district to use Carpenter-Haygood Stadium for its first home game at no cost.
School board member Jeff Root took the news lightheartedly, calling the upcoming game at the newly turfed GeoSurfaces Field a “blast from the past,” referring to the years prior to Badger Stadium being built.
Board president and AHS alumnus Blake Bell also took the news in jest. Noting another report that the district plans to replace a 1989 model maintenance truck, Bell said, “Not only are we getting rid of a vehicle the year [Thomas and I] graduated, but we’re going back to playing [football where we did] the year we graduated.”
Enrollment up at Arkadelphia Schools
While the first two weeks of school will likely see some fluctuation in student numbers, there were 1,848 students enrolled in Arkadelphia Schools as of Tuesday morning, according to Thomas. The preliminary figures indicate growth within the district. This time last year there were 1,822 students enrolled; the average number of students was 1,799.
“The first 10 days of school will be telling,” Thomas said. “We’ll have some not show up or drop or leave, and we’ll have some come and enroll.”
The largest group of students this year is the freshman class, with 160 students. The second-largest class is kindergarten, with 155 students, enough to necessitate the last-minute hiring of an additional teacher at Perritt Primary School.
The smallest class this year is seventh grade, Thomas said.
Peake, Perritt to share armed officer
After approval from both the school board and Arkadelphia Board of Directors, the school district will have additional security at its campuses.
Randy Lau, a corporal with the Arkadelphia Police Department, will be assigned to Goza Middle School as its school resource officer. Lau’s post at Goza replaces that of Cpl. Jimmy Shearin, who was transferred to Peake and Perritt and will be on both of those campuses daily.
Cpl. Dewayne Ward will keep his post as SRO at Arkadelphia High School.
Other business
Thomas said the district is “getting close” to the bidding phase for construction at the new Peake Elementary School. “We’re hoping to begin construction bids in September,” she told the school board.
The board passed a set of policy updates with no discussion.
A gift agreement between the school district and AllCare Pharmacy was passed. AllCare will gift the district $86,000 to aid in the aforementioned turf project with the company retaining naming rights to the football field. The company logo will also be part of the turf. Bell noted that previous advertisers whose logos were part of the turf will now have better visibility, as their logos will be seen on the side of the field house.
There were no personnel matters to be discussed as all positions have been filled.