At the end of a two-hour-long executive session Monday night, members of the Henryetta Education Association (HEA) and Henryetta Education Support Association (HESA) and the school did not reach an agreement.
While no details about the agreement were given, board member David Molet said there, “needs to be more discussion with the administration on some items.” He said some things within the proposed agreement needed to be clarified.
No date was given when that would be brought back to the board.
Much of the discussion during the regular meeting dealt with the start of the new school year but the board wanted to acknowledge a past member.
James Williams, who had served on the board for nearly 15 years, was presented a crystal plaque recognizing his service to the school system. That presentation was met with applause from the board members.
In other business, the board approved naming Scott Belcher as an adjunct teacher for one section of seventh grade math. Superintendent Dwayne Noble said he is certified in science, history and health and physical education. He also has classes in the high school.
Also in personnel action, board members approved the Aug. 8 resignation of Ty Pilgrim
At the start of the school year last Thursday, students were met by Mace, the therapy dog in training. “The first day of school is always traumatic,” said middle school principal Jayme Matlock. “Mace was like a security blanket.
With the therapy dog addition to the school, board members gave their nod for a new policy dealing with it. “This is not lengthy but it addresses everything we know that could come up,” said Noble. “We will review it next year to see if changes are needed.” As part of that policy, teachers can submit requests to have the dog come to the class or, in the event of a traumatic situation, the students can be brought to the dog.
Students needed extra credits in order to graduate will now be able to get help through online work. That decision was approved Monday night reducing the problem with students unable to achieve enough credits to meet graduation requirements. High school counselor Kira Hardgrave said the students would be looked at on a case by case basis and would be limited to 19 to 21 credit hours.
Principals Roger Williams, Matlock and Bunyan Johnson said the start of the new year went well with students acclimating to the schedules. Johnson held meeting with parents and students over the student handbooks and felt everyone was fine with those requirements.