By JOEL PHELPS | arkadelphian.com
In a followup to a recent address regarding the school mascot at Peake Elementary School, Arkadelphia Public Schools administration gave a public response Tuesday, saying a solution is under way.
The Peake Alumni Foundation and Buffaloes Foundation want visible homage to the Buffalo mascot displayed at Peake Elementary School. Instead, the newly built campus displays a sizable Badger logo on its facade.
RELATED: District incorporates facets of school history at new Peake campus
During an Oct. 1 meeting, school board member Kenneth Harris requested that administration meet with both foundations in order to find a compromise.
At Tuesday’s meeting, Superintendent Nikki Thomas said she and Harris had since met with representatives of both organizations and heard their recommendations.
“We are certainly open to those [recommendations], and I am checking on those on my end,” said Thomas, who did not publicly disclose what recommendations had been made. She added that more meetings will be held in coming weeks.
“We are committed to finding an amicable resolution to this, and we left last week’s meeting with the first step in that process.”
School board member Ida Tramble, herself a member of the Peake Alumni Foundation, pointed out that the recent meeting did not include a Peake Alumni representative. Board members Matt Johnson and Blake Bell said future discussion should include elected leaders of both groups.
“The discussion is ongoing,” Bell said. “It has the full attention of the board and staff.”
The school board then moved on to other business, which included the approval of the purchase of classroom textbooks for health class. The board heard that administration is considering the option of leasing school buses. It was also noted that federal funding has become harder to come by since pre-Covid funding has been depleted.
The board also accepted Goza teacher Kenneth Helms’s intent to retire, effective Dec. 18, 2024.
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