By Patric Flannigan
The Camden Fairview School Board held its monthly meeting on Tuesday, where they heard updates on projects and discussed several that are planned for the future.
Representatives from East Harding Construction shared updates on the re-roofing of the Fairview Elementary School. The board was pleased to hear that the construction was under budget and that the delivery of materials has been timely. The project is slated to be complete by Aug. 15.
Next on the agenda was a presentation regarding BX3 Team Training. CF’s Pam Turner, FES Assistant Principal Garrett Whitley and Ivory Primer Principal Fred Lilly II explained the purpose of the group. BX3 is a state-wide initiative that focuses on the capacity building of behavior teams within school districts in Arkansas. The initiative calls for members of the district that serve in certain capacities, such as a counselor or an administrator. CF signed up for BX3 three years ago and is now looking to expand and add more employees of the district so they can better relate to the students.
Turner explained that the main goal of BX3 is finding out better ways to improve student behavior by digging deeper into what may be causing them to act out. She said that one of the main things that the group has learned during the training is that a lot of times it’s the team members that need to make a change to help a student’s behavior, not necessarily the student.
CFSD President Eddie Ray Moore stressed them importance of the the BX3 team members being relatable to the students.
“Sounds like a good program,” Moore said. “If we can meet it head on I believe it would resolve some of the issues that we’re having.”
CFMS Principal Cara Bowie then made a recommendation to extend the literacy block to the 7th and 8th grade. She shared that the idea had been on her mind for a couple of years and explained that the law requires for reading instruction through 6th grade, but afterwards it becomes an elective. She said that there is a total of about 28 students in 7th and 8th grade that are participating in it as an elective. Bowie noted that reading comprehension can be a stumbling block and a leading cause of behavioral issues among the students because they act out when they feel they are unable to read and comprehend well.
“With reading being so important, I’m sure that we can figure out a way for them to participate (in extra curricular activities) after school. I don’t want to take the fun and extra curricular things that they want to be involved in away from them, but we also need to focus on what’s important. If you’re struggling in reading, the most important thing is not out there on the field or on the court, it’s in the classroom,” she said.
Moore said that he felt Bowie’s presentation deserved an applause and agreed. He added that he would love to see the students win a state championship in every sport, but it wouldn’t matter if they OVERSET FOLLOWS:couldn’t read.
The School Board then heard presentations from incoming Superintendent Johnny Embry. After making a recommendation to continue with K-12 Culinary for the next year, he spoke about K-5 transitional classes. He said that the pandemic impacted everyone, but because Arkansas had a lot of its students back for face-to-face instruction, they are ahead of a lot of states. Embry said there were some schools around the nation that only met with its students once a week and a lot of other schools where the majority of there students were virtual. He added that the Arkansas Deputy Commissioner of Education cautioned the state that it was not a time for retention but for acceleration.
“You’re going to have a second grader walk in to Ivory next year that was in Kindergarten for a semester and a couple of months,” Embry explained. “What we are trying to do is set up transition classes where we can identify specific student needs. That can be math, reading and even social engagement.”
CF Superintendent Fred Lilly added that there are 400 kids interested in doing summer school camp which would help students get back in the habit of face to face instruction and develop their social skills.
Embry then talked about summer painting projects for Cardinals Stadium, the Multipurpose Building, Coleman Stadium and Fairview Elementary Gazebo and made a recommendation regarding the CFMS Gym. He said that football stadium’s paint has faded and that the multipurpose building hasn’t been painted since it was built in 2002. The same could be said about the Gazebo.
“What we’re trying to do is change the climate,” Embry said. “The culture of a building can take a long time to change. Climate, you can feel it when you walk in. When you drive by that building you see that fresh coat of paint and it looks good.”
Embry said the gym at the CFMS was built in 1967 and the floor has been waxed for over 30 years. The bleachers aren’t up to Arkansas Department of Health code and some of them are broken. The new bleachers would be designed to sit 672 people which is more than the population of students and teachers at the school. They would be similar to the bleachers on the visitors side at the CFHS and come accompanied with hand rails. The floor would be stripped down to the wood with new lines painted for volleyball and other basketball.
“They can still use it for P.E., but it’ll look brand new,” Embry concluded.
The School board approved all of the projects.
Embry also discussed purchasing score boards for football, basketball and softball. He explained that all of the score boards are old and have functionality issues. Embry said that he would talk to the surrounding banks and Lilly added that he would get with the school board about a timeline, noting that football season is only three months away.