Tag Archives: Greene County Tech

GCT participates in new testing program

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School district opts in to participate in ATLAS interim testing

Delta Digital News Service

Friday, February 16, 2024

By Shelby Russom | Contributor

PARAGOULD, ARK – The Greene County Technical School District decided to participate in a new type of optional interim testing for the 2023-2024 school year.

The new testing program, the Arkansas Teaching and Learning Assessment System (ATLAS), interim testing acts as a way to track how students are performing and how to help them improve. The system offers classroom, summative and end-of-the-year assessments for grades third through 10th.

“We opted into practicing with the interims, and I’m so glad we did because the kids will be better prepared for the summative,” said Assistant Superintendent Kodie Potter during the Feb. 15 meeting.

“We opted into practicing with the interims, and I’m so glad we did because the kids will be better prepared for the summative,”

Assistant Superintendent Kodie Potter

Caroline Schenk, district administrator of instructional programs, said this differs from any testing GCT has undergone because the testing is more difficult. Still, she said she is hopeful the students will succeed.

The science portion is the only ATLAS interim testing available since the program is still new. The tests will eventually cover multiple subjects including math, reading, writing, etc. Scheck said the district hopes to implement every interim testing as it becomes available next year. 

When given the science interim test, GCT’s students showcased skills from six points above the state average of 89 at the fifth-grade level to four points below the state average of 64 at the third-grade level. 

“We have work to do,” Schenk said. “We are not happy with being below the state average. We would like to excel, so we will keep working.”

Along with the testing, Greene County Tech will put together “gold documents.” These documents detail how well each student is doing in a particular area and include test scores and lists of teachers’ expectations for their grade level. Lead teachers can edit and refer to these forms as the year progresses to monitor each student’s performance and show other teachers what the district expects their students to understand by a certain point in their academic career.

“We are so proud of our staff, our teachers. They are working so hard, and they are knocking this out,” Schenk said. “We never dreamed we’d be as far as we are with all of this.”

Greene County Technical School District reported at the end of January 2024, its operating account had an ending cash balance of about $14.8 million, of which $868,000 remains in special projects. The district is restricting $500,000 for construction, and about $5.6 million remains in the July 22 bond proceeds fund. The current budget leaves about $7.8 million for operating.

Three cadets from GCT’s Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (JROTC) presented to the school board members detailing their organization’s 2023-2024 school year successes.

JROTC set school impact goals for the program over the next school year. The first goal was for 75% of cadets to receive at least a 2.0 GPA in regular education classes and a 3.0 GPA in the JROTC class. Deputy Corps Commander Cadet Bailee Williams said they are on track and expect to meet that goal by the end of the school year. The second goal of the program is to reach a 75% participation rate in non-mandatory activities for the 2023-2024 school year, of which they have passed with a participation rate of 97%. JROTC also wants to recruit at least 75 first-year students during their GCT Junior High School recruitment events while maintaining 70% of the corps.

Cadets from GCT give a presentation on their JROTC program on Feb. 15, 2024.

“Our unit is currently maintaining 87.5% of the corps for the upcoming spring semester,” Williams said. “We also have 80.6% of the corps expressing interest in reenrolling into JROTC next year.”

JROTC also set goals for the earning of community service hours. Currently, the unit earned 1,732 hours with an average of 17.32 hours per cadet.

Throughout the fall and spring semesters, JROTC raised $5,925 selling peanuts and bath bombs and $5,170 selling digital coupons and discount cards. JROTC will donate $700 to the family of a GCT student diagnosed with cancer and $500 to the family of an eighth grader who was involved in a car accident.

Superintendent Scott Gerrish said he appreciates the work Sgt. Scott Burlingame has put into JROTC and believes the program is worth all the effort. 

  • In the meeting, the board also:
  • Reviewed how teachers feel about the implementation of the alternate calendar and early start.
  • Approved a second read of classified and licensed personnel policies.
  • Approved incoming and outgoing student transfer petitions.
  • Approved a resolution authorizing the district to request a waiver.
  • Approved a special education data system.
  • and renewed the district’s ASBA Worker’s Compensation Trust.

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Shelby Russom

Shelby Russom is a senior in the School of Media and Journalism at Arkansas State University. She can be reached at: shelby.thompson1@smail.astate.edu

Greene County Tech district switches to alternate calendar

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GCT School Board votes to switch calendars to compensate for lost hours due to weather

Delta Digital News Service

Thursday, February 1, 2024

By Shelby Russom | Contributor

PARAGOULD, Ark. – Greene County Technical School Board approved a waiver to revise the 2023-2024 school year calendar in a special school board meeting yesterday.

            The Greene County Technical School administration recommended the school board approve a waiver from the state department allowing the district to change the school year calendar from a traditional to an alternate calendar to make up for school days lost to inclement weather.

            The waiver would allow the district to count the instructional minutes on the first day of school, Aug. 14, 2023, and count to the end of the calendar school year, May 24, 2024. The district has already been gathering extra instructional minutes throughout the school year but could not bank those minutes under a traditional calendar. Currently, the high school banks 365 instructional minutes daily, five minutes over the daily minimum. With the alternate calendar, the district can bank those extra five minutes a day and put them towards covering for inclement weather.

            “By approving this waiver, we’ve banked enough time that out of the three snow days we missed this year, we can take two off and only be needing to make up one snow day,” GCT’s Supt. Scott Gerrish said.

“By approving this waiver, we’ve banked enough time that out of the three snow days we missed this year, we can take two off and only be needing to make up one snow day,”

GCT’s Supt. Scott Gerrish

            The board voted to approve the waiver, which will remedy the school’s inability to use alternative methods of instruction, or AMI, days, due to the Arkansas Learns Act. The approval of this will mean the school now expects students to attend school Feb. 19, 2024, making up for instructional time lost during inclement weather. The school plans to announce the change through social media as early as Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. Going forward, the state will expect the school board to revote on the alternate calendar each school year. President of the school board Tim Roswell said since there are no longer AMI days, banking extra instructional hours seems like the most logical way to make up for lost time and keep students from having to attend school in the last week of May 2024.

            After time spent in executive session, the school board voted to suspend the expulsion of a student for the remainder of the 2023-2024 school year for breaking rule 10 of the GCT Junior High Handbook. Rule 10 prohibits students from possessing, receiving, huffing/inhaling or dispensing a controlled substance.

            According to Tony Boyd, assistant principal of GCT Junior High School, he caught the student in question with a controlled substance Jan. 19. Once Boyd and the Student Resource Officer on duty confiscated the substance and had it tested, the substance came back positive for Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). The Junior High School recommended the school board consider the student for suspended expulsion. Boyd said alternative school for one semester may be the best option for the student.

“I think that is going to be his best avenue. He deserves to at least have that shot,” Boyd said.

            Suspended expulsion allows the student to still attend school but in a location of the school board’s choice. This option will stand as long as both the student and guardian comply with the rules set for suspended expulsion, which may include but are not limited to receiving school-based mental health counseling services, referral to Narcotics Anonymous or Alcoholics Anonymous programs, drug testing, passing classes and so on.       

             Christi Sims, GCT administrative assistant, said, “Not all schools do the suspended expulsion. It’s just something we do to give our students another chance.”

            The guardian of the student initially intended to read an apology letter the student wrote to the school board but was unable to attend the meeting due to personal reasons.

           In other business:

  • The board read the first revisions of Licensed and Classified Personnel Policies, which did not require the board to take action.
  • The board also approved an annual trip to St. Louis, Missouri, for GCT’s gifted and talented program, PACE.
  • The board approved outgoing student transfer petitions and a personnel list.

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Shelby Russom

Shelby Russom is a senior in the School of Media and Journalism at Arkansas State University. She can be reached at shelby.thompson1@smail.astate.edu

NOTE: Feature Photo of Greene County Tech School Board meeting by Shelby Russom.

PLWC Helps Paragould Students Start Year

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Kristie Ford, counselor of Paragoulds Baldwin Elementary School, reacts to the donated supplies. PLWC's Volunteerism Committee makes an annual donation of backpacks and food for local children in need. (Photo by Kimberely Blackburn)

Kristie Ford, counselor of Paragoulds Baldwin Elementary School, reacts to the donated supplies. PLWC’s Volunteerism Committee makes an annual donation of backpacks and food for local children in need. (Photo by Kimberely Blackburn)

by Todd Kelley
Community Journalist

   The Paragould Light Water and Cable (PLWC) Company’s Volunteerism committee provided food and school supplies donated by employees to help area students start the 2016 school year.

   PLWC’s Environmental Services manager Lisa Ellington along with committee members Michael Sims and Greg Adams delivered 108 backpacks and various food items to both Greene County Tech and Paragould School Districts. The items will be dispersed among all students in the district; from kindergarten through 12th grade.

   Greene County Tech Junior High social worker Leslie Stallcup said the teacher-referral process allows targeted help on an as-needed basis. The process allows students and parents to receive the food and school supplies they need, in a way that minimizes the possible discomfort that parents and students may feel.

   “We feed a family and it helps eliminate some of the child’s stress. Kids have enough stress as it is, and you learn better when you are focused on learning,” Stallcup said.

   Ellington said the PLWC Volunteerism Committee has many projects that help feed the hungry. Projects include feeding children in local schools, helping people with meals during the holidays, and helping others in general.

   “It is important that everyone know that the committee is made up of company employees. We receive our funding directly from them, and they set the pace for our charity work. Although more community involvement would be welcome,” Ellington said.

   Anyone interested in volunteering or donating should contact Ellington at(870) 239-7700.