Camden Fairview School District Superintendent Johnny Embry spoke to the Camden Lions Club about upcoming plans for CFSD, which include a realignment plan as well as more professional development for new teachers.
The changes Embry laid out in the plan include:Fairview Elementary School will expand to serve grades Kindergarten through third.
Ivory Primary will become Ivory Intermediate School and will serve grades four and five.
The Pope Street campus currently known as the Camden Fairview Intermediate School (CFIS) will become home to an Early Childhood Education Center and serve all Camden Fairview Pre-K students.
Additional plans for Fairview Elementary include:Adding two portable buildings to provide space for class pull-outs
Widening the car-rider pickup area to a double lane with a School Resource Officer conducting traffic.
Adding parking to the north end of the existing Pre-K playground
Adding playground equipment
Other plans for Ivory Intermediate includeComputer lab returning to use as an inside PE room
Adding ping-pong tables to existing PE room 2
Adding basketball goals to upper playground.
Additional plans for CF Early Childhood Center (CFIS) include:Adding restrooms in four classrooms
Moving playground equipment and installing new fencing
Embry said the realignment was necessary due to declining populations within the school district, but added that it would allow the district to be more efficient and expand services.
In 2003, the student population was 3,159; since that time enrollment has dropped by nearly 1,000 students
"In 2003, that is the last time we reconfigured our buildings. Today we have 2,129 students. That loss in population has been steady and it's been steady pretty much through south Arkansas. It's a reflection of economics, "Embry said.
Embry said that another factor leading to the decision was a remodeling project.
"I got to thinking, 'Why in the world would we pack everything up, box it up twice?' So that spelled it out even clearer -- it's time for us to make a change, for efficiency, for long term benefits to the school and community. We're not making cuts, were becoming more efficient so we can stay in service, " he said,.
The elementary schools have already seen a bit of change with the implementation of a new standards based report card.
"A standards based report card is a list of skills these students know," Embry explained.
Embry said that traditional A to F grade reporting did not give a clear enough picture of learning and did not focus on what areas a child needed improvement in.
"If your student made the honor roll, you thought they were ok -- A's and B's meant you're ok. That's not necessarily the case, because a B means something is missing," Embry said.
He said during the COVID-19 pandemic, a significant learning gap emerged, and at the start of of 2021, 58% of students started virtually, while by the end of the year, only 26% were learning remotely.
Other changes in the CFSD will involve more embedded professional development for staff.
Embry said 40% of teachers in Arkansas have less than three years teaching experience and 40% of those teachers are alternatively certified, meaning their degrees are in subjects other than teaching and they've earned separate teaching certifications.
He also plans on updating furniture, including desks for children at the elementary school, he said.
Additionally, the projectors in classrooms will be replaced with flat panel "smart boards" that act much like iPads.