School board expels Arkadelphia student for handgun violation

By JOEL PHELPS | The Arkadelphian

An Arkadelphia High School student was formally expelled Tuesday following a unanimous vote by the school board.

Identified as Student #2223-C, the Arkadelphia Board of Education took no time in discussing the expulsion before taking a vote. Superintendent Nikki Thomas said the student had a firearm in a personal vehicle parked at the high school parking lot. It was her recommendation to expel the student for one calendar year beginning April 4 — the date of the offense — and ending on April 3, 2024, with academic services provided to the student.

The student’s parents waived a hearing. School board president Blake Bell motioned for the expulsion, followed by a second from Kenneth Harris Jr. and a unanimous show of hands in favor of the expulsion.

In other business, the board gave unanimous approval to purchase a new maintenance truck that somehow never was delivered by the manufacturer. Jimmy King, director of support services, explained to the board that the order he placed for a new truck, for reasons unknown, was rejected by the manufacturer. The board in November had budgeted $55,000 for the purchase of a 2023 Chevrolet Silverado 2500HD and found one through a bid from Southwest Auto Group for $48,240. The last King heard, the manufacturer was no longer making that model and the district could resubmit a bid for a 2024 model. Unsatisfied with that, King directed a search for a ’23 model, and a crew cab model was located in Louisiana for $53,895.

Personnel: 4 teachers resign, 4 transfer

Following an executive session that lasted 48 minutes, the school board reconvened in public and approved the following personnel recommendations:

Resignations
Hayley Cole, special education teacher, Peake
Josiah Elmore, 5th grade teacher, Peake
Maria Fields-Chism, English teacher, AHS
Deana Miller, 3rd grade teacher, Peake
Robert Burton, bus driver

Transfers
Brandi Cotton, elementary GT teacher
Anita Malcom, middle school teacher, Goza
Tricia Serviss, counselor clerk/registrar, AHS
Kristin Cloninger, marketing education teacher, AHS

Reassignments
Stacy Goza, AHS secretary II
Haley Loy, Goza secretary II