Watson Chapel School District second graders showed remarkable improvement in reading skills, Superintendent Keith McGee said Monday.
Based on recent performance in Unite for Literacy, a tutoring program for second-graders, Watson Chapel students at that grade level have grown to where they are reading on grade level. That is important ahead of the mandate in the Arkansas LEARNS Act of 2023 that any third-grade student not reading on grade level by the 2025-26 school year will not be promoted.
“We saw so much growth in students growing all the way from elementary to 10th graders in terms of kids just moving from one grade level,” McGee said. “We started in the fall and there weren’t a lot of Level 4s. We had some Level 4s in math and ELA (English language arts), and that’s just a plus.”
“In the second grade, we had some students reading on kindergarten (level),” McGee told board members at Monday’s regular board meeting.
Watson Chapel students also grew in many subjects from Level 1 to Level 4 based on recent performance on interim tests for the Arkansas Teaching and Learning Assessment System, or ATLAS, battery each Arkansas public-school student takes in the spring.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
The new scoring standards for ATLAS were revealed last October, with Level 1 indicating a student demonstrated limited understanding of a subject based on state academic standards and Level 4 indicating a student demonstrated advanced knowledge.
McGee said he would go more into depth on the students’ recent test performances at April’s board meeting but attributes the performance to the staff being intentional on teaching state standards and using high-quality instructional material to teach students at grade level.
TWICE-A-MONTH PAY
Watson Chapel certified and classified staff members will be paid twice per month starting in the 2025-26 school year. McGee said the move was the right thing to do, although the district is involved in major capital projects such as building a new high school to open in time for the 2026-27 school year and will soon repair HVAC units at the present high school.
“We know and recognize all of our staff deserve more money, but we also know we’re trying to be good stewards of our financial resources,” McGee said. “This is going to take time to get those things really lined up, so we want to act in good faith. … We understand, but we’ve got to be strategic.”
Assistant Superintendent Aleta Posey said the certified Personnel Policy Committee has worked on three different pay scales and additional duties with regard to stipends, as the district looks to identify savings due to a loss of students in the district. The WCSD fell from 1,725 students in 2023-24 to 1,552 this school year, according to data from the Arkansas Department of Education.
McGee indicated he would like the district to save up to $1.6 million, based on the loss of foundation funding per student the WCSD can expect. The district is also establishing a cycle of renewals for high-quality instructional materials rather than renewing all materials during the same school year as a saving procedure.
WHEN TO INVOLVE LAW ENFORCEMENT
The board approved an addendum to the student handbook calling for the involvement of law enforcement in violations of the district’s drugs-and-alcohol and gangs-and-gang activity policies.
The addendum will read: “Violation of this policy may result in disciplinary action up to and including expulsion. Additionally, violations must be reported to the local law enforcement agency.”
Presently, the district has policies that spell out involvement of law enforcement consequently under student discipline, student assault or battery and weapons or dangerous instruments.
“Even if law enforcement comes, they may not act upon it, but they may give the school a number to where they’ve taken a report on whatever the incident was and, in some events, they may end up apprehending the student,” Posey said.
CONSTRUCTION UPDATE
Baldwin & Shell project manager Roger King said the construction company has received permission from the city of Pine Bluff to remove 14 trees that would otherwise interfere with construction of the new high school. The WCSD board authorized the removal for $22,500, which will fit into the construction budget, King said.
A top-out ceremony for the new high school is scheduled for March 18.
King also indicated a Baldwin & Shell worker who suffered a serious fall last month while working on the high school construction is doing “a lot better” and has no paralysis, but faces a “long, long road” in his recovery. King did not specify how the fall occurred.
The worker has been moved to a long-term rehab facility in Georgia to learn how to walk and talk again, King said.
“We’d appreciate you continuing to pray for him and his family,” King said. “I know he greatly appreciates the thoughts and prayers.”
PERSONNEL MOVES
The district has received a letter of resignation from special education director Suzette Anderson, as well as letters of either resignation or retirement effective the last day of school for custodian Doris Davis, teacher Mary Johnson, special education teacher Deborah Linsy and counselor Dina Smith.