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Al Booher
TUESDAY, October 23, 2018 / Vol. 4 Issue 43 / 75 cents
$174,161 stolen from water association A longtime employee of the Bee Branch Water Association has been arrested and charged with stealing money from the association. Virginia Marlene Watson, 62, of Clinton who worked for the association as secretary for about 30 years, was fired from her position in July. Conner and Sartain CPAs of Conway con-
ducted an audit of the association’s finances during the summer. Bo Conner said auditors found checks with the signatures of the association’s current and former presidents that didn’t match other signatures. Conner said Watson appeared to have been making copies of invoices sent by other businesses to make it look like she was pay-
ing the bills, then wrote checks to herself, according to an affidavit for arrest. The audit found that the total amount missing since 2014 was $174,161.02, the affidavit states. Watson was confronted about the missing funds at a board meeting and said she knew all about it, according to the affidavit. Association board
President Richard McPhail said Watson told the board it started with a small amount of money but got out of hand and she could not repay it, the report states. McPhail said Watson was then terminated and when she got to the door, she turned around to face the board and stated that she was glad it was now out in the
open and was over, the report states. Watson has been charged with theft of property valued at over $25,000, a Class B felony; forgery II, a Class C felony; and falsifying business records, a misdemeanor. Plea and arraignment is set for Dec. 7, 2018, in Van Buren County Circuit Court.
Watson
JPs require inventories
Heading south - Geese head south as temperatures began to fall last week in this photo taken near Alread. (Photo by Robert R. Gaut)
After some discussion, the Van Buren County Quorum Court approved a resolution to require each department head to provide an inventory of everything worth more than $250. Currently, state officials audit everything with a value of $1,000 or more, and that would not change. But department heads will be required to go beyond that to cover less expensive items. Justice of the Peace Brian Tatum, who sponsored the resolution, insisted he was not picking on the sheriff’s office, but noted very little there was inventoried. He said only one computer is listed and no guns, tasers or bullet-proof vests are listed as inventory. Sheriff Randy Gurley said that was because nothing at the sheriff’s office cost more than $1,000.
Tatum said if he were to become sheriff he would want to know what the department had and that as stewards of taxpayer money, the justices of the peace should know. Another element of the resolution is that anytime an elected official leaves office there must be a complete inventory of that department by a professional auditing firm. County Clerk Pam Bradford asked if anyone knew what that would cost. The answer appeared to be no, but one JP said it would likely not be much. Bradford noted that even if it weren’t much, the county is already at the point of having to look at laying off employees and every cent counts. The vote to approve the resolution was 8-1 with JP John Bradford casting the dissenting vote.
Water system needs bids, council told Shirley’s city attorney told the council at its meeting earlier in October that before the water system changes hands it must go out for bids. The city has decided to transfer the Shirley Water System to Community Water System. Attorney Matt Gilmore told the City Council that it is the state Attorney General’s opinion that state statues must be followed and those are: (1) put the system out for bids and (2) get the required signatures of property owners in value on the required petitions. He said it would be best to amend the city
Resolution No. 201805 to outline the requirements for a prebid conference, as well as the bidding requirements of a token amount of $1 and agreement to repair and maintain the system with no unexpected rate increases. All council members in attendance agreed. Gilmore advised the council that there was no reason to further delay the process, and the city could begin getting the required petition signatures. Tim Shaw of Community Water told the council that the Shirley Water System is failing, and that CWS has already fixed more
than eight leaks and replaced several water meters even though the system does not belong to Community Water. He stated that there is a huge amount of water loss. The city was billed for 1.8 million gallons of water but only billing its customers for 500,000 gallons, which means the City Water System is paying for 1.3 million lost gallons of water. He stated that at least a third of the loss is water meter related, the rest is either because of undetected leaks or a glitch in the software billing system. Also at the meeting, Karl Trahan-True was appointed floodplain administrator.
Clinton report cards show all ‘Bs’ On October 12, 2018, the Arkansas Department of Education released the 2018 Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) Index and Accountability Reports for public viewing on My School Info, https://myschoolinfo.arkansas.gov. These reports included data from the 2017-2018 school year, including 2018 ACT Aspire results. The Clinton School District’s
2018 ESSA School Index and School Report Card ratings were: Clinton Elementary School – 74.36 (B) Clinton Junior High – 75.09 (B) Clinton High School – 70.79 (B) The Arkansas Department of Education publishes these reports annually, which provides important information about each school including test performance, gradua-
tion rate, school quality, and student success. The reports also provide information about how well schools are meeting the educational needs of special populations of students. Dr. Joe Fisher, Clinton superintendent, noted that each school in the district has been focused on using student performance data from the ACT Aspire and MAP Interim Assess-
Clinton cheerleaders didn’t let a little rain dampen their spirits Friday night. More football, Pages 8-9. (Photo by Robert R. Gaut)
ments to help determine personalized improvement plans for each student. “We are focused on making sure that each student meets their growth and achievement goals in 2018-19,” he said. Fisher noted that Clinton Junior High was 0.05 percent away from earning an “A” on this year’s report card. The ESSA School Index Report on the My School Info website provides in depth analysis of the ESSA
School Index indicators including features that allow the user to learn more about each indicator, compare the school’s progress aside other schools, understand the calculation of the indicator scores, and begin conversations with the school about partnerships for engagement in future school progress. Greater involvement from Clinton School District parents results in better outcomes for the district’s students.
Dr. Joe Fisher is focused on helping Clinton students reach goals.