Jennifer Barbaree has been granted a one-year extension on her contract with the Pine Bluff School District.
The district board unanimously granted Barbaree the extension through June 30, 2029, following an executive session during Monday’s meeting.
Barbaree has led the district since January 2023.
“We have a great superintendent,” Board President Sederick Charles Rice said. “We’re trying to keep our superintendent. I’m excited just to be part of this process. I just want the community to know, truth be told, we are board members. We have some special tasks and special duties, but leadership comes from the top, and the superintendent runs the day-to-day operations of the school. So, we have to be mindful of that. When you’ve got a good leader, it makes our job very, very easy as board members.”
Barbaree said she would like the PBSD to accomplish academic achievement for all students. The district has come under public scrutiny after receiving a grade of F from the Arkansas Division of Education and Secondary Education last fall under its accountability formula, but Barbaree, district faculty and students have spoken publicly to the state Education Board about the academic programs and the steps the district is taking toward improving its letter grade.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
“The goal is that all of our students leave this district as productive citizens, good parents that can read, and that choose to either be enlisted, enrolled in college or they’re doing something in the workforce, so I’m excited about that,” Barbaree said.
Achievement on the state assessment, growth of all students, growth of those in the lowest quartile and success-ready graduation rates are among the indicators in the Arkansas school ratings.
“The goal, for sure, is a hefty task to make sure that we are moving in the right direction every day,” Barbaree said.
“I would like to make sure we have specific systems in place so that, no matter who the leadership is, we will never fail again.”
Barbaree is paid $180,000 per year, according to her most recent contract, which took effect last July and was to expire June 30, 2028.
“What we wanted to do — and this is by ASBA (Arkansas School Boards Association) standards — is to make sure we have a superintendent for a three-year contract,” Rice said.
“Now, once the superintendent serves one of those years, now you’re at two. Essentially, when we extended the contract, we were extending it back to three. So, we’ve had extensive training from ASBA about that.”
DRESS CODE UPDATED
Taking a recommendation from the district Personnel Policy Committees, the board approved the update of the dress code for licensed employees.
The update, Barbaree said, ensured that piercings are permitted as long they are not distracting to the educational environment. Policy 3.22 in the certified employee handbook previously stated: “Body piercings, other than in ears, should not be worn when performing one’s duty as an employee of the district. Gauge or plug-style earrings are not permitted. Employees are expected to avoid displaying conspicuous body art.”
This paragraph is eliminated from the updated version. “We do have some other types of piercings, so they wanted to make sure that we were in compliance all the way around,” Barbaree said.
SHOWING STRIPES
Three elementary students were awarded Showing Our Stripes awards from Barbaree for showing self-discipline as the highest performers on all parts of the Arkansas Teaching, Learning and Assessment System battery: sixth-grader Erin Love and fifth-graders Skylar Perry and Ali Hossain.
Essay winners about students’ desires to help the PBSD improve its academic standing, as Barbaree described during the board meeting, were honored. They are listed in order of first and second places:
Third grade — Kobe Hinton and Cortlynn Reed of Southwood Elementary.
Fourth grade — Payton Luster and Caleb Ruff of 34th Avenue Elementary.
Fifth grade — Tyler Williams of 34th Avenue and Sunjai Allen of Southwood.
Sixth grade — London McDowell of Southwood and Kingston Conyer of Broadmoor Elementary.
Ninth grade — Caleb Christmas and Rickell Thompson of Pine Bluff Junior High Ninth Grade Academy.
Pine Bluff High School — Kashes Imani and Joven Hamlet.
Staff members from Southwood Elementary were honored as well: Kina Glass Green and Tonneisha Reynolds as mentor teachers, Deyonna Penister for providing support to a second-grade class that had lost its teacher and Dorothy Henley for making sure all EL (formerly Expeditionary Learning) scholars receive minutes weekly.
Community members were honored, including: Sharon Carroll, PTO president; Annette Goins, a music classroom substitute; Larry Gragg and Wesley United Methodist Church, which provides weekly backpack meals for scholars; and Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity Inc., which sponsors staff and students with school supplies.
PERSONNEL
The district accepted resignations from health aide La Toya Holmes and custodian Velda Boyce.