Vol. 2, No. 16
Thursday, April 23, 2020
Gurdon superintendent departing From Dispatch Reports
Gurdon’s longtime school superintendent, Allen Blackwell, will apparently soon trade in his Go-Devil purple and gold for the red and white of the Rose Bud School District’s Ramblers. The Rose Bud School District made his hiring as superintendent official at its Tuesday evening meeting. Blackwell told the Arkansas DemocratGazette in a profile published April 19 that he was leaving the 664-student Gurdon district after 11 years to become superintendent of the 845-student Rose Bud district, which serves
the rural White County town of the same name. It also serves students from northeast Faulkner County and part of Cleburne County. Blackwell did not return calls on Tuesday seeking further comment. The Democrat-Gazette quoted Blackwell as saying he’s making the move, effective July 1, because he has family in Rose Bud, including three grandchildren who live in the area. After earning his education degree from Southern Arkansas University in 1984, Blackwell started his education career in Gurdon, initially teaching agriculture. He’s originally from Hatfield, a small town
south of Mena. He earned his administration license after taking classes at Henderson State University. He left Gurdon in 1990 to teach in Fayetteville and taught at Magnolia before moving to become Bismarck High School’s principal and superintendent at the Wickes district before returning to Gurdon as schools chief in 2009. Blackwell will replace Luke Lovins as superintendent. He’s leaving to lead the nearby Bay School District. Blackwell’s annual salary as Gurdon superintendent is $95,282, according to budget documents on the Gurdon district’s website.
Year-end traditions at AHS take beating
Food Pantry chief: Needs keep growing By Bill Sutley Dispatch Editor It’s 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, and Pat Wright’s day is already off to a busy start. As director of the city’s Community Family Enrichment Center, one of her main jobs lately has been overseeing the twice-a-week disbursement of commodities and other goods from Arkadelphia’s Food Pantry at the center. As soon as she sets down one call from someone seeking food, she’s replying to another. “I’m grateful I don’t see it as a job,” says Wright, a former educator. Part of her Arkadelphia past makes her feel it’s more of a calling. As a child, she remembers Ida Feaster, the namesake of the park where the center is, and “the mother of my church” at West End Presbyterian. “To be able to do this work on property she once owned, it’s like coming full circle,” Wright said. “Our goal is just to make sure people get whet they need.” Wright and a janitor for the center are paid, but she marshals daily as many as a dozen volunteers to keep the center working at full capacity. That’s particularly important since Wright’s seeing more people coming to the Food Pantry than ever before. Last week, the center helped 210 households with food. This week, she expects that might climb to as many as 350. Since she’s been involved with such local efforts since 1997, she’s familiar with a lot of Food Pantry regulars who meet the more stringent requirements for USDA commodities. Sudden unemployment caused by the coronavirus has meant she’s seeing more new faces and families — including some who’ve never had to seek such help. While she has to follow federal
Commencement still up in the air By Bill Sutley Dispatch Editor Arkadelphia school officials and students, particularly high school seniors, continue to struggle with a growing list of year-end traditions being abandoned this year due to the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic. No decision on commencement has been announced yet by Arkadelphia High School, but many expect it to happen sometime during the summer. Several meetings have been held involving faculty, staff, students and others to discuss what form graduation might take if existing social distancing guidelines remain
See City • Page 4
in place. AHS seniors last Thursday picked up commencement caps and gowns, ordered months ago, from a Herff-Jones representative, during a drive-thru ceremony at the high school. Gurdon High School announced this week that its graduation would be held July 24 in its Charles and Anita Cabe Auditorium, with the format to be announced closer to the See Senior • Page 5
Governor wants to relax guidelines
Dispatch photo/Bill Sutley
Volunteer Vern Wright carefully ballances five pineapple boxes of food that will soon be shared with those arriving Tuesday morning for the first of the week’s two distributions. People picking up the boxes from the Arkadelphia Food Pantry in the Community Family Enrichment Cener on 23rd Street are able to remain in their vehicles, lining up behind him, for quicker service. guidelines for commodities, her local board has given her more leeway in sharing other food, including two shipments a week donated by the local Walmart and other deliveries from the Arkansas Food Bank. But records are kept of each person visiting, with each presenting a photo ID to guard against double-dipping and other issues. “My board tells me that, to feed the needy, you’ve also got to feed the greedy,” she said. Wright stays in close touch
with others in the ministry community helping the poor and others needing assistance, including Lighthouse Ministries, open from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday through Thursday on Highway 67 South; the Clark County Ecumenical Food Pantry working out of First United Methodist Church, distributing food from 3-5:30 p.m. on the third Thursday of each month; and the Evergreen Church in Gurdon, which offers foodstuffs from 3-6 p.m.
From Dispatch Reports
As Clark County’s number of confirmed coronavirus positives remained at 27 for a third week, Gov. Asa Hutchinson said Wednesday that hospitals could resume nonessential out-patient procedures as soon as next Monday, April 27. The state Department of Health has issued standards for hospitals and out-patient clinics to meet to re-engage elective procedures. That was among several dates that Hutchinson announced would be used before future decisions are made on lifting restrictions regarding: • April 29: Restaurants • April 30: Gyms and indoor recreational facilities • May 1: Beauty salons and barber shops • May 4: Places of worship and larger venues Hutchinson said he has established the target dates to decide at each juncture whether the state will lift restrictions on certain other services and businesses if Arkansas continues its trend of reducing the spread of COVID-19.
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See Relax • Page 4
State OKs city schools audit; questions persist
City repeals virus-related ordinance By Bill Sutley Dispatch Editor Arkadelphia’s Board of Directors voted Tuesday to abandon its short-lived ordinance designed to help employees affected by the coronavirus. The ordinance, which kept quarantine days from being counted as sick leave, was repealed Tuesday since a federal law, adopted March 18, does virtually the same thing. “We need to follow federal law,” City Man-
Blackwell
Dispatch photo/Bill Sutley
Fire Chief Jason Hunt, right, presents firefighter Ryan Wade with his lieutenant’s patch in a brief ceremony preceding the city Board of Directors meeting, which was held in Fire Station No. 1 to assist the board in social distancing.
By Bill Sutley Dispatch Editor Arkadelphia Public Schools got a thumb’s up from the state on its annual audit, which was accepted by the city Board of Education Tuesday night, but questions surfaced regarding a “management letter” citing improper payments to two transportation employees. The two employees were identified in the audit letter as Employee A and Employee B, and no names were mentioned by the school board during its brief discussion. The board stated that the two individuals were working under 20182019 contracts as bus drivers, but the employees were paid more than the amounts allotted by their contracts in the amounts of $7,943 and $4,242. After questions were raised by
Internet boosters at Badger Stadium now allow students to park and work on assignments in the parking lot. board member Gina White, Superintendent Karla Neathery indicated that the salary of one of the employees had been adjusted by the district to compensate for the overpayment. See Board • Page 4
2 News
Thursday, April 23, 2020
Student members of OBU’s winning Business Plan team are, from left, seniors Brandon Matros of Arkadelphia, Savannah Edwards of Searcy, Olivia Brown of North Little Rock and Sheldon McCown of Nacogdoches, Texas.
OBU team wins $30,000 in business plan competition By Katie Kemp OBU News Bureau
Four Ouachita Baptist University seniors earned the top awards for undergraduates in the 20th annual Arkansas Governor’s Cup Collegiate Business Plan Competition for their plan, ImmunoSense. Ouachita seniors Olivia Brown, Savannah Edwards, Brandon Matros and Sheldon McCown and their faculty advisor, Blake Johnson, assistant professor of biology, won first place in the overall undergraduate division as well as the undergraduate innovation award. “We’ve been competing in the Governor’s Cup for 11 years, and we’ve placed in the top three several times – including third place last year and second place the year before – but this is our first year to win the undergraduate category. So we couldn’t be happier,” said Bryan McKinney, dean of Ouachita’s Hickingbotham School of Business. “And for ImmunoSense, I think this absolutely legitimizes their business plan.” More than 90 students on 38 teams from nine universities across Arkansas competed in this year’s Governor’s Cup in undergraduate and graduate divisions. The final awards were announced via livestream on Thursday, April 9. The Ouachita team won a total of $32,000 in prize money – $25,000 for the firstplace overall win in the Simmons Bank undergraduate division, $5,000 as the undergraduate team winner in the Innovate Arkansas and Winrock Automotive Innovation Division and $2,000 for the faculty advisor. ImmunoSense proposes a diagnostics company specializing in the early detection of Type 1 Diabetes via noninvasive tests. Brown is a senior biology major from North Little Rock; Edwards is a senior biomedical sciences major from Searcy, Ark.; Matros is a senior finance major from Arkadelphia; and McCown is a senior biology major from Nacogdoches, Texas. “This accomplishment is more evidence that Ouachita’s focus on high-impact learning … prepares students to compete academically at the highest level,” Ouachita President Ben Sells said. McKinney said he feels like the win will help his School of Business students see they can compete with the best. TCBY founder Frank Hickingbotham, namesake of Ouachita’s School of Business, sent the team an email of congratulations, comparing their win to a landmark 1954 sports victory. “Like Roger Bannister, when he broke the four-minute mile run, you have proven that first place can be achieved and set a standard for all to reach who follow in the years ahead,” Hickingbotham wrote. Matros, often a starting pitcher for Ouachita’s baseball team, which has been idle for nearly two months now, also understood the significance of the achievement. “This was such a great win for our team and for Ouachita,” Matros said. “Ouachita has consistently placed amazing business plans in this competition, but none of them had ever won. It is an honor to be the first team to win first place overall.” Soon after entering the Governor’s Cup Competition, the ImmunoSense team learned it had placed in the Top 12. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the team then
AHS asks athletes, teams to wait longer From Dispatch reports Arkadelphia High School has issued a Facebook reminder that AHS sports facilities remain off-limits as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. AHS sports facilities are closed to teams as well as individual student athletes, the April 16 post noted. “Failure to comply with this order from the governor and AAA (Arkansas Activities Association) could harm eligibility for future participation in sports for student-athletes,” the AHS spokesperson noted. “We understand the desire to stay active and work out, but the use of AHS facilities is prohibited at this time.”
competed in the first round of the competition with a remote presentation on March 19, followed by another on March 20 in the final round of the overall competition and as one of three finalists in the innovation division. “Thankfully, due to the hard working team at the Arkansas Capital Corporation, these presentations still took place despite the virus, and our team was able to present remotely from Arkansas, Texas and Florida,” McCown said. “All four of us agree that entering these business plan competitions has been one of the most beneficial and memorable experiences of our senior year.” Each year, the Governor's Cup is presented by Arkansas Capital Corp. of Little Rock and encourages student entrepreneurs from around Arkansas to build a business plan that brings a competitive product to market. Team members are required to have management positions in the company, and teams are judged according to the identification of problems in the marketplace, how they will solve them, demonstrations of customer discovery, identification of potential competitors and possible risks to the business, among other things. Before entering the Governor’s Cup Competition, the ImmunoSense team first presented its plan in fall 2019 during the 11th annual OBU Business Plan Competition, which is modeled after the Governor’s Cup. There, the team placed first and received a $4,000 cash prize. The OBU Business Plan Competition, hosted by the Hickingbotham School of Business, encourages Ouachita students of all majors to submit their ideas and business proposals for cash prizes. “We began our competition with a desire to elevate the importance of entrepreneurship across campus,” McKinney said. “That’s exactly what happened this year with ImmunoSense. They were a team of science students advised by a biology professor, and then they integrated a senior finance student to assist with the business elements of the plan.” According to McCown, the idea for the ImmunoSense business plan was a result of an assignment in histology class “where our professor and advisor, Dr. Blake Johnson, encouraged us to design a product or service that could improve the diagnostic process for a disease or other health care issue.” “Having a solid grasp on the scientific and technical components needed to propel their product, the team then began focusing on the business-related items necessary to launch their product,” Johnson said. “This victory highlights the need for emerging technologies across difficult-to-diagnose disorders, while also proving that classroom concepts can lead to successful business applications that are capable of instilling a spirit of entrepreneurship among the next generation of business leaders.” Sells praised the work by students and Johnson. “Given the times in which we live, it’s noteworthy that the Ouachita team combines business and science students with a focus on public health,” Sells said. “I’m so proud of our students and Dr. Johnson.” For more information, contact McKinney at mckinneyb@obu.edu or 870-2455513.
Arkadelphia Dispatch
Henderson State University’s office of the Arkansas Small Business and Technology Development Center is offering four more webinars featuring information to help small businesses struggling with the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. (Two others were held earlier.) All of the sessions are being offered at no cost. For more information and to sign up, visit https://asbtdc.ecenterdirect.com/events/. The upcoming events are: • Thursday, April 23, Strategic Partnerships: Non-Profits, ForProfits, and Recovering from COVID-19. • Tuesday, April 28, Leading a Team From Your Living Room. • Wednesday, April 29, Rebuild Your Business. • Thursday, April 30, You Can Design Your Own Social Graphics … For Real The HSU Small Business and Technology Development Center is funded in part by the U.S. Small Business Administration through a partnership with the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and HSU’s School of Business. For more information, call 870-230-5184. >>> <<< Perritt Primary School, 1900 Walnut St., will host the Arkadelphia Public School District’s Kindergarten Spring Roundup from 8 a.m.-6 p.m. Wednesday, April 22 at the school gym. Students entering kindergarten in Arkadelphia schools next fall should attend with parents or guardians. Applications for kindergarten will be available before then in the Perritt office. Parents will be assigned slots for attendance at the roundup and should bring a copy of the child’s official birth certificate, Social Security card, immunization record and a record of a well-child visit since May 1, 2019. For more information, call 870-403-3583. >>> <<< Organizers of the Fordyce on the Cottonbelt Festival, scheduled from April 19-25 about an hour east of Arkadelphia, have decided to postpone this year’s event, including the Friday, April 24 concert by Grammy Award-winner and Blues Hall of Fame honoree Bobby Rush. For more information, check for festival updates at https://fordyceonthecottonbeltfestival.com. >>> <<< Members of the Dobyville Cemetery Association, overseeing a cemetery in the Okolona area, normally meet the last Sunday in April, which will be April 26 this year, but the COVID-19 pandemic has cause the association to cancel its 2020 meeting. Memorials and-or donations may be mailed to Frances McGill, Treasurer, Dobyville Cemetery Association, 14300 Chenal Parkway 7001, Little Rock, Ark. 72211. >>> <<< Arkadelphia Bands had planned to host its first-ever Mattress Sale Fundraiser from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, April 18 at AHS, 401 High School Road, but that’s now postponed to Aug. 1. The fundraising sale will feature brands such as Simmons, Beautyrest and more, with on-site mattresses priced up to 50% below retail. >>> <<< Mena plans to stage its 45th annual Queen Wilhelmina Rod Run on Aug. 28-29 as 200 street rods and hot rods descend on the town. The two-day event features a street dance and three chance for entrants to put their cars through their paces. For more information, visit https://www.queenwilhelminarodrun.com/. >>> Ongoing <<< Alcoholics Anonymous holds two meetings a week in Arkadelphia. The meetings are open to anyone interested in AA’s program of recovery. The Arkadelphia Group meets at 7 p.m. Tuesdays in the Sturgis Building at North 9th and Caddo streets. For more information on the Arkadelphia Group meetings, call 870-403-3001. The U-Turn Group meets at 7 p.m. Thursdays on the front, upper level of Park Hill Baptist Church, 3163 Hollywood Road. For information on that group’s meetings, call 870-230-2975 or 870-260-9277. >>> <<< Al-Anon meetings, designed to help family and friends affected by alcohol, are held three days a week in the Arkadelphia area: • Tuesday, 7 p.m., Sturgis Building, corner of 9th and Caddo. 870-403-2019 • Thursday, 6:30 p.m., Park Hill Baptist Church. 870-230-1954 • Friday, noon, Clark County Library, 609 Caddo St., side door. 512-750-2292
Arkadelphia Dispatch
Thursday, April 23, 2020
Baptist Health classes online Special to the Dispatch L I T T L E ROCK – Bapt ist Health has added several more online classes to help Arkansans address health concerns from the safety of their own homes and maintain social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic. New synchronous classes, with participants meeting at assigned times, include: • Aim for a Healthy Weight Program: Six-week program led by a registered dietician. Classes are held from 5:30-6:30 p.m. Tuesdays beginning May 5. • Diabetes Empowerment Education Program. DEEP classes are held from 10:30-11:30 a.m. every Friday until May 22. • Chronic Kidney Disease Classes. Offered from 1-2 p.m. on the third Monday of each month until July 20. • “Know It, Control It” Blood Pressure Education Program. Classes are held from 11:00 a.m.12:30 p.m. beginning Thursday, April 23, and meeting every other Thursday until June 11. For more information or to register for the available classes, contact Baptist Health Community Outreach at 501-202-1540. Upon registration, participants will be given instructions on how to join and can log in from a desktop computer with a camera and microphone or use the camera on their mobile device.
Dispatch photo/Bill Sutley
Jerod Bason replaces a sign at the corner of Pine and 16th streets on Tuesday as the company prepared to complete Phase 1 of the city’s Street Department effort to replace older worn signs with new signs with enhanced reflectivity among the major streets within Arkadelphia.
State cancels land auctions Special to the Dispatch
LITTLE ROCK – Commissioner of State Lands Tommy Land announced Monday that the 2020 tax auction season has been canceled due to the continuing spread of COVID-19. The next auction for Clark County property will be May 13, 2021. “Our office must meet certain statutory requirements to conduct tax auctions,” Land said. “Since we are uncertain how long the pandemic will last, we are currently unable to carry out those requirements at this time.” Properties that were scheduled to be offered at auction this year will be offered in 2021. The office’s public auctions routinely draw crowds — the curious as well as serious buyers — that would have made social distancing problematic this year. “Due to increasing concerns about public health, and in an abundance of caution, we have canceled all travel until further notice,” Land said. More than 100 parcels of property in
Clark County had been among those scheduled for auction in 2020 — a now-canceled event set for May 20 in the Dawson Education Cooperative in downtown Arkadelphia. For seven months each year beginning in April, up until this year, buyers had the opportunity to purchase tax-delinquent lands at public auctions across Arkansas. Bidding begins at the amount of taxes, penalties and interest — often just a few hundred dollars. The commissioner of state lands is tasked with selling taxdelinquent real estate after county tax collectors certify to the state when a property’s taxes are delinquent by two years. The COSL holds that property for two more years while attempting to collect delinquent taxes. Certified notices are sent to any “interested party” — those with a connection to the land — that the COSL state office can locate. In the fifth year, the state agency offered the property at public
auction. The agency had been offering Clark County property where taxes hadn’t been paid since 2015. If a property sells at auction, the owner has 10 business days to redeem it by paying the delinquent amount. If that happens, COSL refunds the buyer’s money. (All winning bids must be paid in full at the auction, with the first $100 of each parcel paid in cash.) If it doesn’t happen, the state issues a limited warranty deed to the buyer. The owner also has 90 days to file litigation against the COSL office to overturn the sale. For example, if the owner or an interested party did not receive notification of the sale, they can file litigation. If it is found that COSL did not comply with notice requirements, the sale could be overturned, and COSL would refund the buyer’s money. At the end of the 90-day litigation period,
the buyer can work with a title company or real estate attorney to “quiet the title.” This is necessary if the buyer plans to purchase title insurance or borrow money against the property. It’s important to prepare before going to a tax auction, COSL experts advised in an earlier news release. Research begins on the agency’s website, www. cosl.org, in the Public Auction Catalog, which would normally list available parcels as well as the full auction schedule. Property details are temporarily missing now. Would-be buyers note the sale numbers of desired parcels because COSL won’t announce addresses or parcel numbers. The legal description and parcel number will help you locate the individual parcel. Research this to verify the property actually exists — technological or typographical errors do happen.
News 3
Easter 2020 memorable for Gurdon By Sherry Kelley Gurdon Mayor Easter is a memorable day for people. This past Easter was no exception. Going to a drive-in church service was a new experience. Others in town heard their church's message from their cell phones. It was different, but still it was very good to be able to attend. Thank you to all the pastors and staff that made the experience possible for us. That evening, my family watched "Jesus Christ Superstar" on television. I don't know if that is your cup of tea, however we were really enjoying it. We knew some weather was on the way and, mid-show, I looked out my back porch window. I observed a particularly dark cloud as the rain approached. As it neared, the wind kicked up and we all went to the hallway. The wind was fierce for 10 to 15 minutes, and we heard things hitting the house and roof. When it subsided, we went out and saw trees down as the fireman arrived at city hall. The police and street department joined in to begin the clearing of roadways. A huge oak tree flattened the front half of a trailer house on Maple Street. The family had just moved to the rear of the home minutes earlier. No one was injured. The city was without power for about 72 hours. Many residents lost all the food in their freezers and refrigerators. It was a struggle just to stay warm as the temperatures dipped into the 40's and upper 30's overnight. The town was quiet except
for the sound of chain saws and generators. I didn't even hear the birds that had been so active before the storm. Everyone was glad when the power was restored. Throughout these several days, we had some very good help from a wide range of people. I have a long list of thank-you cards to write — a very long list. What a great chore. To have the need to write dozens of cards of thanks and send letters commending exceptional kindness, commitment and cooperation to superiors. The simple words "thank you" seem to lack the appreciation and gratefulness that I feel, but thank you nonetheless. The City of Arkadelphia, Arkansas Rural Water, Entergy, Ferrellgas, Pilgreen Electric, and the Gurdon Police, Fire, Water and Street Departments are just a few of the entities with special employees who went out of their way to help the people of our community. So now we are back to our new normal. Our citizens are wearing masks and practicing social distancing. The Gurdon School buses are delivering lunches to children home from school. Parents and guardians are helping them with homework. Storm clean up continues. Many of the birds have returned. While the number of coronavirus cases is still rising in the state of Arkansas, we are managing to adapt pretty well. Thank you to every person who is carefully making their way through this pandemic. But don't expect a card. I already have a long list.
Arkadelphia Dispatch 812 Clinton St., Suite B Arkadelphia, Ark. 71923 Editor: Bill Sutley ArkadelphiaDispatch@gmail.com
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4 News
Thursday, April 23, 2020
Relax
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“We are moving in the right direction,” Hutchin- April 1 drive-thru testing clinic that they staged outside Ouachita Baptist University’s Cliff Harris son said. “I am encouraged with the trends we are Stadium. Of the 51 people tested, only one indiseeing. If we stay on target, our desire and intent vidual tested positive, and five more persons were is to start lifting restrictions. But we’re going to be quarantined by their doctors for showwatching the data every day. We’re going signs or symptoms although the ing to take it a step at a time.” results were eventually negative. Critics have suggested that Arkansas Additional local testing remains needed to go the normal number of available at Caddo Valley Baptist days for a quarantine, 14, without seeHealth Medical Clinic, where patients ing any new COVID-19 deaths before can receive drive-through screening. relaxing some of the restrictions aimed Call 870-245-2198 to schedule an apat stemming its spread. pointment for the drive-thru clinic. The number of coronavirus posiBaptist Health Medical Centertives, as well as the number of deaths, in Arkadelphia continues to offer its has risen every day in Arkansas since Home Delivered Meals Program to March 24. On Wednesday, the total provide convenience to those in need. stood at 2,276 cases reported and 42 For more information about delivery deaths. There remains no confirmed options, pricing and payment assiscoronavirus deaths in Clark County. Hutchinson tance, call 870-245-1205. Clark County retains its status as a Both Gurdon Public School District higher-than-normal per-capita county and Arkadelphia Public School District for COVID-19 at 121, but the county’s have continued to feed students despite the school now sixth in terms of incidence, trailing Lincoln closure. These services are available by pick up or (3,249 per 100,000), Jefferson (192), Cleburne delivery on bus routes. Buses will run Monday and (281), St. Francis (251) and Crittenden (147). Thursday mornings. Pickup remains an option at “Even if we do decide to lift restrictions on certhe elementary and primary campuses. tain industries after May 4, I want to emphasize Another home care resource is ARChoices, availthat they will remain under Phase One guidelines able through the Arkansas Department of Human that call for masks, social distancing and limits on Services. It provides home delivered meals, adult the size of gatherings,” Hutchinson said Wedneshealth services and more for those with disabilities day. or senior citizens over 65 who meet certain eligibilMeanwhile, Clark County has begun to receive more personal protective equipment aimed at help- ity requirements. Call 866-801-3435 to see if you qualify. ing first responders. Local officials also announced the results of an
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ever, the other employee was no longer employed by the district. The letter noted that Employee A’s contract was for bus driving services, but the employee didn’t drive a bus route; rather, the employee was paid $13,287 for bus shop general labor without a contract. In the case of Employee B, it was noted that person was absent from work 42 days during the year, with 27 of these days charged as sick leave. During an interview with state auditors, the employee acknowledged that 14 of those days were improperly charged as sick leave while Employee B was performing duties for another employer. “I don’t think there’s recourse of going and getting money back from them when they performed the work,” board attorney Ed McCorkle said during the board’s virtual meeting using Zoom teleconferencing. “When you get an audit finding like this, you make a correction— you promise, `I’ll never do it again’ — but I don’t think we’re going to have a lot of luck getting someone to repay money if they actually provided the service we paid them for.” McCorkle indicated he would look into the matter further. In other discussion, the school board heard Neathery open bids from three private companies that might be considered for outsourcing the district’s food service. She noted that the two companies doing most of this kind of contract work in Arkansas are Chartwell and Aramark. “Chartwell has 20 counties, and Aramark has 21, so they’re about neck and neck,” Neathery told the board. She said she hoped to have a recommendation ready to present to the board by its next meeting on Tuesday, May 5. She said she planned to create a committee to consider the vendors proposals, as well as food. The school board also approved updates to its classified personnel policies designed to bring the school district in line with recommendations made by the Arkansas School Board Association. One revision proposed by
A volunteer delivers food to a family on a city schools bus route. board president Casey Motl also won unanimous approval — prohibiting district employees from using their school emails for political campaigning or similar political action. At the recommendation of longtime school board member Kenneth Harris, the administration agreed to also seek to create an identical policy for certified personnel, such as teachers, in addition to classified, or nonteaching personnel. In further discussion, Neathery told the board that using the district’s school bus drivers to make meal deliveries has gotten off to a good start and would continue until the end of school. “Our kids seem to really enjoy that, and our people do as well,” Neathery said. “We will evaluate how it’s going at the end of the week.” She also said that students seem to be getting comfortable with “alternative methods of instruction,” better known as AMI, which students have been forced into since school were closed statewide in mid-March as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. For younger grades, most AMI lessons are delivered via the state’s public broadcasting stations, but teachers also do a limited amount of online work with older children and provide access
Arkadelphia Dispatch
to paper copies for students who have limited access to the Internet or a working computer. Neathery noted that the district’s technology department had recently adjusted wi-fi boosters serving Badger Stadium so that they’re now throwing their signal into the parking lot between Arkadelphia High School and Goza Middle School. That way, older students can park in the lot and use their laptops or other devices to connect to the AMI wireless network that requires no password. The network does retain the child-protection provisions of all Internet access throughout the district, restricting access to certain sites. After a brief personnel discussion in closed, executive session, the board approved several personnel moves recommended by Neathery, including the temporary hiring of Jason Minchew for technology work from April 20-Aug. 7 and accepting the resignations of school nurse Aubrey Eldridge (effective June 8), AHS science teacher Amy Morris (June 1) and AHS-Goza Middle School choir director Maria Pinkerton Richardson (June 1). The board also accepted intentto-retire notices from AHS math teacher Kay Hyde (June 1) and AHS science teacher Betsy Smith (June 30).
ager Gary Brinkley told the board. “I ask you to repeal that so there’s no question about what our policy is.” The federal Families First Coronavirus Response Act requires certain employers to provide employees with paid sick leave or expanded family and medical leave for specified reasons related to COVID-19, through Dec. 31, 2020. Generally, the act provides that employees are eligible for two weeks of paid sick leave at the employee’s regular rate of pay where the employee is unable to work because the employee is quarantined or experiencing symptoms or is caring for someone else. Arkadelphia approved its ordinance a day before the federal law was enacted. “It was good that you passed this legislation as we have five people who needed this protection as they either tested positive or were quarantined until their results were confirmed,” City Manager Gary Brinkley told the city board. In other action, the city board accepted a $30,000 grant that the city’s Dexter Florence Memorial Airport was offered by the federal government because of the CARES Act pumping stimulus funds into local governments as well as other entities. That’s needed, Airport Manager Mike Sellers said, because one of the few areas where the airport makes money is by selling aircraft fuel. The coronavirus pandemic has put a damper on private air traffic and, the local airport has been particularly affected because of the forced grounding of flights by Henderson State University’s Aviation program, which keeps several planes at the airport and buys fuel there. In related action, the city board approved the purchase of a 60-inch Worldlawn King Cobra mower for airport use at a cost of $8,414.99 from 2 Strokes Saw and Small Engine on 7th Street. Although Worldlawn’s a newer brand than bids received offering two other mowers, Sellers said he preferred the new mower after conducting research into its construction and durability. It was also the lowest of three local bids. The city had hoped to keep its existing 60inch zero-turn mower operating another year, but Brinkley said he and Sellers recommended its replacement after spending $600 on parts to keep the other mower operating over the past year. In other action, the city board unanimously voted to authorize the
shredding of a wide range of older documents found recently on the town hall’s littleused third floor. Items to be destroyed after being open for examination another month include: • Bank invoices from 1966-2010. • Bank statements from 1997-2011. • Audio-video of meetings from 19982018 • Payroll records from 2000-2008 • Bids from 20022016. • Ledgers from 19952009. • Personnel records (terminated) FROM 1998-2003. The affidavit approved by the board Tuesday night called for the posting of this list on the front door of Town Hall as a precursor to their destruction on may 22. Anyone who wishes to view any of the listed documents may do so by calling 870-246-9864 and setting up an appointment with City Clerk Jessica Davis. Those interested in viewing documents must do so at Town Hall, 700 Clay St. City directors delayed action on accepting a bid that would have approved a slurry bid for resurfacing several streets. Directors wondered if the cost of the oil-based work couldn’t be lower, given the rapidly falling price of a barrel of oil. In response to a query by board member Roland Gosey, City Manager said he would put on next month’s agenda a resolution that would have the city take its first steps toward filling the board seat vacated by the death of longtime Ward 4 director Joann Nelson. For the second consecutive meeting, the board moved its deliberations to a Fire Station I bay, where members of the board could practice social distancing. “When we’re meeting in this environment, it’s not really conducive to have (Ward 4 applicants) come in here wanting to shake hands,” Brinkley said. “I thought we would do it after we moved back to Town Hall.” But Brinkley agreed to put the call for candidates from the ward on the next agenda as a first step. The city usually offers about a month for applicants to step forward. Brinkley and board members expressed gratitude to the response displayed by city crews to the Easter evening thunderstorm that downed close to 200 trees across the county. Cleanup involved not only fire and police crews but also street and sanitation workers.
Arkadelphia Dispatch
News 5
Thursday, April 23, 2020
Food Continued from page 1
Freshly prepared food boxes, above, wait inside the cool food pantry of the Community Family Enrichment Center Tuesday as volunteer Julius Ussery, above right, brings out more boxes for arriving cars. Herbert Allison, right, loads a box of food into the back of a pickup. Dispatch photos/Bill Sutley
Senior Continued from page 1
ceremony. For AHS seniors, the ceremony perhaps only second to graduation is the Arkadelphia Promise Academic Signing Day, traditionally held on the final day of classes for seniors. On Tuesday, the executive director of the Arkadelphia Promise, Jason Jones, announced that the ceremony will be canceled this year. “We are very disappointed to not be able to hold our annual signing day event,” Jones said in an announcement. “It has been a big part of our graduating seniors' last day on campus for many years. We are so proud of the class of 2020 and the way they have handled this strange spring semester. We wish them well and look forward to watching them go on to do great things.” The important thing to note, of course, is that, while there will be no signing day, Arkadelphia Promise scholarships still will be awarded to qualifying seniors who apply. Thanks to the city’s unique scholarship program, about 95 percent of graduating
seniors will qualify for tuition assistance in everything from enrollment at Ivy League schools to help with cosmetology or welding certifications. Southern Bancorp and the Ross Foundation started the scholarship program in 2010, based on the El Dorado Promise, which was formed in 2007. And that was based on a similar program in Kalamazoo, Mich. To be eligible to receive the scholarship, students must accept the Arkansas Academic Challenge Scholarship, better known as the lottery scholarship. Arkadelphia Promise will pay for the difference in tuition and funds contributed by the Academic Challenge Scholarship, up to the cost of tuition at Arkansas’ public colleges and universities. Students must also maintain a 2.5 cumulative grade-point average in high school or score a 19 or higher on the ACT, and apply for two scholarships, not including federal, state or Arkadelphia Promise scholarships. For students attending accredited public or private colleges or universities outside of Arkansas, the Arkadelphia Promise scholarship will pay up to the same amount it would have paid had the student attended an Arkansas institution.
on Tuesdays. Normally, this time of year, she might be able to get some volunteer help from such unlikely sources as the Henderson State University football team and county jail inmates. But those are sources of help that the coronavirus pandemic has screeched to a halt. Fortunately, she’s got the community roots to usually find volunteers when she needs them. On Tuesday, the first of two days for Food Pantry disbursements, business was brisk, with as many as eight vehicles lined up at a time to go through the process in the parking lot beside the center. Volunteer Ingrid Williams operates the clipboard, taking down information on each Arkadelphia seniors who still need to turn in Arkadelphia Promise scholarship applications are being asked to submit them to Jones in May when students will be asked to return laptop computers. “There are enough things like graduation that are such uncertainties that I didn’t feel good adding one more event with tons of people to the calendar,” Jones said of the annual ceremony featuring students wearing shirts from the schools they plan to attend. “There are going to be so many other events taking place. Our event doesn’t have to happen. We’re trying to err on the side of caution. The scholarship program is still intact.” For more information on Arkadelphia Promise, call Jones at 870-403-2965. Other cancellations this spring that AHS students are enduring include: • All spring sports, as well as Quiz Bowl competition. • Prom, originally set for last weekend. • Boys State and Girls State. • Band competitions, concerts and a traditional Disney World trip. • And a wide range of academic ceremonies designed to recognize top students this year.
Wright
visitor — some of whom come to pick up food for more than one household. Other volunteers then load a pineapple box full of groceries ranging from fresh tomatoes to longer lasting items such as cereal into the backseats of the cars or the back beds of the many pickups. “If they say they need it, we say ‘fine’ and move on,” Wright said. She’s also not beyond letting someone from the western edge of Dallas County participate in Clark County’s food distributions even though,
technically, they’re probably expected to make the longer trip to the Fordyce area. Just when volunteers begin to run low on pineapple boxes full of food, more magically arrives from the back door of the center. Inside, in a large room that’s a bit cooler to keep food fresh, other volunteers are divvying up the 10 pallets of food that arrived Tuesday morning from the Arkansas Food Bank. That will help them be ready for the next big day of distribution, on Wednesday. The center operates as a 501(c)3 nonprofit, holding four fundraisers a year. Individual donations and regular support from some local churches are also essential she said. Anyone caring to make a donation can drop it by or mail it to Community Family Enrichment Center, P.O. Box 582, Arkadelphia, AR 71923.
Motl wins Quiz Bowl Scholarship Special to the Dispatch An Arkadelphia High School senior, Sydney Motl, will receive one of two Friends of Quiz Bowl Scholarships in recognition of her participation and an essay on how Quiz Bowl has affected her life. The $1,500 scholarship check would have been awarded Saturday, April 18 on Arkansas’ PBS stations, but the pandemic caused this year’s championships to be canceled. The other recipient of the scholarship is Madeline Bottoms of Sacred Heart High School in Morrilton. The Friends of Quiz Bowl Memorial Scholarship was established by the Arkansas Governor’s Quiz Bowl Association in the spring of 2014. The scholarship was established to honor and memorialize Quiz Bowl participants who have died while they were in high school or soon after graduating from high school. The scholarship provides college financial aid to seniors who are participating in AGQBA-sanctioned Quiz Bowl events during the current school year.