Arkadelphia Public Schools increased its budget by $1 million for the 2024 fiscal year

arkadelphian.com

The Arkadelphia Board of Education met in regular session Tuesday, Sept. 19, in the Dawson Building #3 conference room. Highlighting the agenda’s action items were consideration of the 2023-24 fiscal year budget and consideration of a trio of bids for a security system at the new Peake Elementary School campus.

2024 Budget

The school board gave unanimous approval of the 2023-24 fiscal year budget, which includes an overall increase of $1 million compared to the previous year.

The school district will be operating on a $19,797,719 budget, with an equal amount of projected revenues and expenses. The district is beginning this fiscal year with a balance of $3,467,353 in its general operating account, a figure that’s $123,255 more than the district had at the beginning of the previous year. The district’s budget in 2022-23 was $18,748,463.

The budget for the upcoming year is a balanced one that reflects a “slight” increase over last year’s local revenue, and accounts for $933,145 in state LEARNS funding. Overall, the payroll total for the upcoming year will cost the district $1,987,092 more than the previous fiscal year.

CLICK HERE to see Arkadelphia Public Schools’s budget

Elementary school security package

The board voted 5-0 to accept a $24,165 bid from the TEXarkana-based KLC Video Security to purchase and install an Access Control System for what will become Peake Elementary School.

The security package was not included in Nabholz’s construction of the new campus.

Other companies submitting bids were Encore Technology Solutions and Genesis Datacom, both Little Rock companies whose bids were higher in price. Encore offered a bid of $29,858, and Genesis offered a bid of $53,624.

In other business, the school board:

• Heard an update on the Peake Elementary School campus; an architect reported the project remains on schedule to be complete by the fall 2024 semester.

• Approved the transfer of two students, in grades 8 and 11, to the Ouachita Public School District.

• Expelled a student for one calendar year; meeting minutes do not reflect the student’s violation.

• Gave unanimous approval to part with fixed assets whose combined original value added up to more than $1 million.

• OK’d the district’s annual statement of assurance for programs under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.

Personnel report

Following a 10-minute executive session, the school board reconvened in public to approve the following employments:

Employment
Adala Jones, kindergarten paraprofessional, Perritt
Rochelle Crosby, kindergarten paraprofessional, Perritt
Yonda Holliman, kindergarten paraprofessional, Perritt

Temporary MOUs
Bus monitor
Marcus Winfrey, Javon Nash, Sheila Delamar

Literacy interventionist
Candace Williams

Goza after-school detention
Eduardo Ortiz

Saturday School
Lori Hanlon

Scorekeeper/Clock keeper
Chris Kizer, Brian Gibson, Bobby Evins, Benson Jordan, Anthony Jenkins, Preston Crowder, John Ware, Mandy Stephenson, Jonathan Klein, Ryan Ellison, Mark Coon, Jenny Coon, Paige Purifoy, Andrew Loe, Garrett Garner

Gateworker/concessions
Donna Adkins, Freda Tate, Ruthie Bridges, Donald Roe, Elaine Roe, Anderson Jones, Rebecca Jones, Jake Greenwich