VERSHAL HOGAN
MANAGING EDITOR
The Crossett School District’s Board of Education voted Monday to purchase new equipment and grant the use of facilities to alumni groups.
In equipment purchases, the board voted to purchase a new forklift.
“We do have some aging equipment in our maintenance department, and we have started the process of replacing that,” Superintendent Anthony Boykin said. “The current forklift we have is leaking fluid and it is getting old. The actual cost of getting that repaired is pretty significant. I think we would come out better ahead if we purchased a new one. The cost to repair was going to be $12,655.”
After receiving bids at the request of district maintenance supervisor Phillip Kelley, Boykin recommended the board purchase a Toyota internal combustion engine forklift that was immediately available.
The availability of the other bids ranged from 210 days to 266 weeks, Boykin said.
The board also approved the purchase of Precision 3660 towers for CMS EAST program to upgrade existing equipment.
The board likewise voted to contract with Edwards Electric Company to install wiring needed for smartboard upgrades in the elementary and middle schools.
“These are significant upgrades,” Boykin said. “With that there is some electrical work that needs to be done in order to hook these up. We discovered that after the fact, after they arrived.”
The district needs to contract with the company because it no longer has an in-house electrician, Boykin said.
In other news:
-Boykin told the board that the district had received approval from the state to move forward with renaming several wings at the high school and the track facility after educators who had served the district in the past.
Earlier this year, the board had voted to name the Crossett High School Auditorium the CT Foster Auditorium; the high school educational “B” building to Roosevelt Early Hall; and the high school educational “D” building to Stanley Cheshier Hall. Before that, the board had granted a similar request to rename the track at Yarborough Field the Coach Bobby Richardson Track.
With the state’s approval, the renaming can happen in time for the school’s homecoming activities in October. Boykin briefly discussed tentative plans for the ceremony – which will happen before the homecoming football game – and said that Richardson and Foster will be in attendance.
The superintendent said the district is also inviting family Cheshier and Early family members. Cheshier died in 1987, and Early died in 2006.
-The board voted to grant the classes of 1980 to 1982 the right to use the CHS cafeteria for a homecoming lunch. They also voted to allow the Future Farmers of America alumni the right to use the CHS grounds for an FFA fun day.
-The board voted to adopt its 2022-2023 budget and the Statement of Assurances for Programs Under the Elementary and Secondary Education ACT 1965.
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