The Arkadelphia Board of Education met Tuesday, June 4, 2024, for agenda planning in the upstairs conference room at Dawson Building #3, 700 Clinton St. All seven members of the school board were present.
At the recommendation of Superintendent Nikki Thomas, the board voted unanimously to approve the purchase of at Peake Elementary School. Federal funding will be used for the $39,934 purchase.
The board also OK’d the $54,277 purchase of 106 at the new Peake campus. The company installing the cameras is the TEXarkana-based KLC Video Security.
As fifth grade classes will be moved to Goza Middle School, the board gave its unanimous nod to buy at the campus. The $45,540 purchase came at Thomas’s recommendation.
Personnel report
Following a 40-minute executive session, the board reconvened in public and approved the following personnel recommendations:
Employment
Certified
Amanda Harris, instructional facilitator, Peake
Chelsea Serio, elementary teacher, Peake
Ranaya Ester, special ed resource teacher, Goza
Casey Braswell, secondary history teacher, AHS
Classified
Robert Cox, full-time bus driver
Whitney Ashley, secretary/bookkeeper, Goza
Michelle Brown, building secretary/bookkeeper, Peake
Resignation
Certified
Regan Morehead, middle school art teacher, Goza
Transfer
Kayla Todd, from special ed teacher at Goza to art teacher at Goza
Superintendent’s contract
Also following the executive session, the school board approved to raise Superintendent Nikki Thomas’s salary to $145,000.
An additional $10,000 increase is on the table, under the condition that Thomas complete her doctorate by the time the one-year contract is up for renegotiation. The contract begins July 1.
Thomas was hired in 2022 to lead the school district. Her original contract included an annual salary of $140,000.