Three teachers, paraprofessional resign from PW Elementary School

The Palestine-Wheatley School Board met in regular session last week where the board approved the resignation of three teachers and a paraprofessional. The board also heard student updates from principals and passed a budget to replace the roof over a walk-in cooler and freezer on the elementary campus. Board members Dustin Lee and Hannah Baskins were absent. Following an approximately 30-minute executive session to discuss personnel, members of the board reconvened and accepted the resignations of third grade teacher Regan Martin, fourth grade teacher Tate Lawson, sixth grade teacher Lynn Gore and paraprofessional Dorinda Conley. PW School District Superintendent Ryan Halbert issued a letter to elementary school parents to address the recent departure of the three teachers. In the letter, Halbert said he was unable to publicly share any information with parents until after the board finalized the resignations. "I was aware that resignations were a possibility for some time, but as a district, we explored every possible option to allow these teachers to remain on staff," said Halbert. "As superintendent, I could not publicly share anything until we had official, board-approved resignations. That approval was finalized at the board meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 18." According to Halbert, two substitutes have been put in place and a certified teacher has been employed to fill a position at the elementary. "The staffing changes are not yet fully finalized," said Halbert. "We have been working carefully to put the best possible plan in place for our students before making a public announcement. At this time, we currently have two highly qualified substitutes in classrooms, both of whom are pursuing a program to become fully-licensed teachers. We have hired an additional certified teacher, who will begin soon and we are actively working to fill the remaining positions with high-quality candidates." Halbert stated that more information will be provided following the Thanksgiving break. "Our intention has been to provide families with a complete, accurate update after Thanksgiving break once every detail is secured," said Halbert. "Sharing changing or incomplete information sooner would have caused unnecessary confusion and we want to ensure our communication is clear, accurate and helpful. Thank you for your patience, understanding and continued support of our staff and students during this transition. As always, our commitment remains to provide a safe, consistent and high-quality learning environment for every child." In other business, high school principal Dustin Dearman noted that ninth grade student Caden Chism recently finished eighth overall in a Quiz Bowl competition in Fort Smith. "The student we want to recognize is freshman Caden Chism with our Quiz Bowl program," said Dearman. "He finished eighth overall as an individual at a tournament they held in Fort Smith. This is against a lot of 6A, 5A and even 4A schools like Little Rock Central, schools in Fort Smith and up in to Northwest Arkansas. We are really proud of him and all of our academic competition teams. Our senior high team did really well to place last week in Marion. Robotics is picking up as well. Mr. Trimble with Junior High Quiz Bowl and Mrs. Vaughn with Senior High Quiz Bowl and Robotics are doing a fantastic job." Elementary Principal Tiffany Caldwell told board members about a recent writing competition held in honor of Veterans Day. "Fourth grade had a writing competition for the city's Veterans Day program," said Caldwell. “Beckett Flowers won and he was going to come read his essay tonight, but he can't because he gave it to a veteran at the Veterans Day program. How precious is that? That was a fun little thing for us." According to Halbert, a walk-in cooler and freezer on the elementary campus is in need of repair or replacement. "I submitted the damage to our walk-in cooler and freezer," said Halbert. "I don't have an exact date, but it is between 40 and 50 years old. I spoke with the people who came out and looked at it. We can replace the whole thing or we can replace the roof. After speaking to the technician, replacing the roof seems like the way we want to go. We are waiting for a quote back from one person, but you have a quote in your packet from one of our vendors." Halbert said that he would recommend the board pass a budget of $30,000 to have the roof replaced to fix the current issue. "A quote for replacing the roof is around $23,000," said Halbert. "To replace the whole thing, it would be in the ballpark of $100,000. The technician seems to think that we would get five or 10 more years out of it if we get a new roof. That is what we have. We do want to give it a little wiggle room if they find things they didn't expect. It is my recommendation that we pass a budget to replace the roof on the walk-in cooler and freezer in the amount of $30,000." The board unanimously passed Halbert’s recommendation

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