White Hall School District board member resigns

R.D. Johnson announced his resignation from the White Hall School District board during Tuesday’s regular board meeting, effective immediately.

Reading from a statement, Johnson stated his sister-in-law interviewed for and was offered a job at Hardin Elementary and added he didn’t feel it was fair to the district or sister-in-law to stand in the way of her hiring.

“I’m resigning with full intention of seeking reappointment to the board,” he said in closing.

Johnson, who represented Zone 2, had served on the board since 2022 as an appointee and was elected in March 2024. His term was to end in March 2029. The board accepted Johnson’s resignation unanimously.

WHSD Superintendent Gary Williams said the vacancy would be published for 30 days on the district’s website for those interested in serving the remainder of Johnson’s term. The publishing would also include steps interested candidates need to take, Williams added. “At the end of the 30 days, we’ll take those (applications) and give interested parties 5 minutes each to state why they would like to be on the board, either at a called or regular board meeting,” Williams said. “The board will make a decision from that point.”

A new board member must be appointed within 90 days, Williams said, adding the board would want to make the appointment much earlier after the 30-day opening.

DISTRICT ACCOMPLISHMENTS

The White Hall High School band received superior ratings at the Regional Marching Assessment, which the school hosted Oct. 28. Superior is the highest rating a band can receive, according to district information.

The junior high dance team received second place in pom dance routine at the Southern Spirit Competition in Morrilton on Nov. 1.

The Steppers and junior high dance team competed at the Cabot Dance Invitations Nov. 8 and competed with pom routines. The Steppers won first place in senior dance pom and junior high dance team second place in junior high dance pom. Logan Guynn received third place in the individual Hip Hop Tricks category.

Guynn is also a junior and national vice president of public relations in the Family, Career and Community Leaders of America.

At the Cyclone Invitational Cheer in Russellville on Nov. 8, the varsity and junior high cheer teams each took second place in their divisions. Zy’Riah McDonald competed in the individual Jump Off category and came in third.

White Hall fifth- and sixth-graders competed in a chess tournament at the Arkansas River Education Service Cooperative and took first place. Michael King won the individual first place. Taylor Elementary’s Gavin Breedlove, and White Hall Middle School’s Hudson Carroll and Rhett Smykla tied for second place. King and Smykla were undefeated up to round 7. Coaches include Myles Jolly, Marybeth Passmore and Tiffany Evans. The third- and fourth-grade gifted-and-talented classes won second place in the chess tournament. The White Hall chess team, coached by Ethan Fercha, won the first-place trophy.High school sophomores and juniors recently took the Preliminary SAT, or PSAT. The White Hall students’ scores were higher than average for students both in Arkansas and globally, according to the district. The White Hall average was 1071 and the average for Arkansas was 925.

Special Olympic athletes from White Hall High, White Hall Middle, and Moody and Taylor elementaries participated in the Area 9 Special Olympics bowling competition.

FCCLA State Vice President Virginia Smart, Guynn and adviser Mollie Rowe will attend the Capital Leadership Conference Nov. 15-19 in Washington, D.C. They will interview state representatives and advocate for career and technical education on Capitol Hill.

White Hall’s FCCLA competed at the Arkansas State Fair last month. Emma Ratliff and Jacob Works received first and third places, respectively, in the cooking competitions.

PERSONNEL MOVES

The district approved the resignation of sixth-grade English teacher Sheila Parent, effective Nov. 30, and the hire of Abby Heird at Hardin Elementary, effective Dec. 8.