The Smackover-Norphlet School Board voted Tuesday for a reorganization plan that 144 out of 199 people surveyed supported.
The board voted four to one to have kindergarten through fourth grade at Smackover and fifth grade through eighth grade at Norphlet, with the high school remaining the same. The plan also includes moving the Smackover Preschool to the Norphlet campus, which would allow more space to increase the number of students attending the school.
Reorganizing of the district first came up over the summer as the board looked at trying to issue teacher raises which passed with a charge that the district follow through on ways to reduce costs in other places.
The personnel policy committee had a total of 22 recommendations for ways to make the schools more efficient in general with most related to cutting costs. Part of the reorganization would lead to needing five fewer elementary teachers than the district currently has.
Curriculum Director Jennifer Lee said during the public input meeting two weeks ago that with the district’s rate of turn over, it’s likely this would be achievable by not refilling teaching positions and potentially moving current teachers to different grade levels.
One of the concerns board members heard from the public, and was also reflected in the survey results Lee said, was the idea that the fifth graders would end up isolated on the Norphlet campus because they would be in a different building than the sixth through eighth graders.
Damon Goodwin, the board member from Norphlet, was the only one to vote against the reorganization plan.
“That’s my only issue with having fifth grade in the building over there, that they’re going to feel like they’re on an island on their own. That’s the only drawback to the whole plan,” Goodwin said. “I know what the teachers are asking for, I know what the patrons are asking for. I’ve talked to parents that (are concerned about) having that one grade in that building on their own even through we’re going to incorporate them as much as possible. You don’t have any peers to look up to, you don’t have any siblings below you to guide so you are basically on an island. That worries a lot of parents.”
Lee and Superintendent John Gross talked about the idea of trying to have the fifth graders help the preschool students to serve as leaders to them. Lee also said the district is looking to set up mentorship programs for the fifth graders so that they can have a mentor through the year.
Lee said the goal is to avoid that isolation as much as possible by having them take lunch and do activities with the sixth graders when possible. Lee also spoke on the idea of setting up a transitional year for the fifth graders where they can adjust to the difference between elementary and middle school.
“When I was in seventh grade, North Little Rock had a seventh grade school,” Lee said. “They had 13-14 elementary schools, but they brought all the seventh graders together. Every seventh grader went to Central Jr. High. The glory of that year was that every seventh grader was new to this spot. These teachers made this such a special year. Those seventh grade teachers knew what seventh graders were like, they knew what seventh graders were going through. They made activities specific to us. It was probably the best school year of my life.
“In my mind as we are going to be trying to design a program for fifth graders, I am going to be remembering that year and that is my commitment to you. I will remember that year and I am going to try to look at what we can do to make such a unique environment for those fifth graders. We want to make a transition year.”
Gross said to the board that the district would like to be able to leave things the way that they are, but that isn’t realistic while trying to “keep our head above water for very long.”
“Just looking at our bottom line, we’ve got to do something,” Chris Long, board member from Smackover, said. “If this will save us some money, I know it’s an emotional issue, I know that. We have to look out for both the emotion and the fiscal. We’ve got to be fiscally responsible.”
Michael Shine may be reached at 870-862-6611 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter and like him on Facebook @MichaelAZShine for updates on Union County school news.