The Facilities and Transportation Board of the Arkansas Department of Education approved an additional $89 per square foot to its partnership funding with the Watson Chapel School District toward a new high school.
The school district faced a surge in construction costs, even with the passage of a millage increase from 34.1 to 39.8 last August to cover its share in the cost of a project that has expanded from 92,500 square feet to 106,000, with the addition of a mandated safe room. The estimate, depending on whether the district will install 1,800 seats to turn its physical education gymnasium into a competitive arena, ranges from $38,825,650 to $40,158,100.
Watson Chapel will receive $21 million through its state partnership funding and combine that with $8 million through local millage funding, $4 million through second-lien bonds and $6 million from its district building fund to total $39 million toward the project.
"That put us right there," WCSD Superintendent Tom Wilson said. "If we get some more funding, we'll be able to do the gym, which we want a competitive gym for the kids. I think it's important to have the competitive gym at the high school, and I think that will help out everything."
The present gym opened with the current high school in 1977.
Wilson learned about the funding increase during his visit to the Facilities and Transportation Board in Little Rock on Monday morning. He shared details about the funding during the WCSD board's regular meeting that evening.
Wilson had hoped state legislators would have allocated between $285 and $300 per square foot, which would have been an $85 to $100 increase from what the Education Department approved the WCSD for in December 2021. Monday's announcement came more than a month after state House Bill 1254, which would have raised the state's funding rate from $200 to at least $275 per square foot, failed in the Senate.
Wilson said the new high school, which will replace the 78-year-old junior high school campus, is expected to open in the fall of 2025.
With the replacement of the junior high school, the district will operate four campuses starting in the 2023-24 school year. Wilson revealed a finalized reconfiguration of campuses:
Students in prekindergarten, kindergarten and grade 1 will attend Edgewood Elementary.
Students in grades 2-5 will attend Coleman Elementary, with second graders in the present fourth-grade wing, third- and fourth-graders in the present fifth-grade wing and fifth graders in the present sixth-grade wing.
Students in grades 6-8 will attend the L.L. Owen campus, with sixth graders in the pre-K building and seventh- and eighth-graders in the other wings. A potential name change for the campus has not been announced. This alignment would allow transportation between the high school and Owen campus to accommodate seventh- and eighth-graders for Algebra 1, Junior ROTC, band, other activities and athletics.
Students in grade 9 will join grades 10-12 at Watson Chapel High.
One reason for the high school project Wilson indicated is to try and stop the ongoing drop in the district's enrollment. Wilson said 161 seniors will graduate from Watson Chapel High tonight, while only 81 students were enrolled in kindergarten.
According to School Choice information Wilson mentioned, 38 students have indicated they will transfer to the WCSD for next school year, while 97 are leaving.
"A lot of that has to do with violence in the schools," Wilson said. "We're really working hard on that. We're getting more intervention programs. Mrs. Kerri [McNeal] is working with us on that. We feel like we're going to do a lot of intervention coming up and find out what's wrong and why are we having stuff like that happen."
The new high school will include an enclosed courtyard to keep students safe when they are outdoors, Wilson said.
STUDENT ID'd IN MLK PARK SHOOTING
Wilson confirmed the 16-year-old shot to death early Sunday at Martin Luther King Park on Jaycee Drive was a Watson Chapel High student, Tyler Thornton, 16. A moment of silence was held in Tyler's honor at the beginning of Monday's board meeting.
School officials provided counseling to students who needed it, Wilson said. A balloon release was also held in Tyler's memory Monday afternoon.
"We wanted to definitely show we love him," Wilson said. "It's sad. It's a tragedy. We don't want anyone else getting involved."
Police, who typically do not name deceased minors in homicides, have released limited details into the shooting. Thornton died at Jefferson Regional Medical Center, and a second victim in the incident was listed in stable condition as of Sunday morning. Two others received non-life-threatening injuries and were treated at the hospital as well.
Police have not indicated a motive for the shooting.
"I feel like it's a community problem, and we've got to deal with it," Wilson said. "We've got to get into the community and discover what the root of the problem is. Once we discover what we can do, we can take care of it. I can't tell you how important that is for us to get into the community and find out what the problems are, and then get some solutions going."
WILDCAT WARRIORS
Valedictorian Giselle Arreola and salutatorian April Hernandez were honored as the district's Wildcat Warriors for May. They will deliver their speeches during Watson Chapel High's graduation ceremony, which starts at 7 p.m. tonight at the Pine Bluff Convention Center. All attendees are encouraged to arrive early to go through security checkpoints.
Elementary behavior interventionist Tanesha Curl and first-grade teachers Anna Miller, Jimmie Jones, Lori Jones, Leslie Medlock, Stephanie Hayslip and Clydine Davis were named district Employees of the Month. The first-grade teachers worked together in a professional learning community and reviewed students' data to make sure they are reading on grade level, according to Assistant Superintendent LaDonna Spain.
"If a student was provided intervention, it didn't have to be that student's teacher doing the intervention," Spain said. "They were seen working as a team and lifting each other up."
PERSONNEL MOVES
The district accepted a retirement letter from administrative assistant Barbara Hawkins and resignation letters from elementary teachers Selena Branch and Crystal McKinley, counselor LaShona Crater, secondary teacher and cheer coach Jadaci Henderson, dyslexia coordinator Tristen Imler and secondary teacher Gloria Martin-Berry.
Elementary behavior interventionist Tanesha Curl, center, was named Watson Chapel School District Employee of the Month for May. Curl is pictured with Superintendent Tom Wilson and assistant principal LaDonna Spain. (Pine Bluff Commercial/I.C. Murrell)
First-grade teachers at Edgewood Elementary were among Watson Chapel School District Employees of the Month for May. The teachers are, in no particular order: Anna Miller, Jimmie Jones, Lori Jones, Leslie Medlock, Stephanie Hayslip and Clydine Davis. (Pine Bluff Commercial/I.C. Murrell)
Watson Chapel School District Superintendent Tom Wilson details school reconfiguration information during a board meeting Monday, as board President Donnie Hartsfield listens. (Pine Bluff Commercial/I.C. Murrell)