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Board approves calendar, employee-leave policy, math curriculum purchases and safety technology; several procurement items cleared
Summary
The board voted to adopt the 2025–26 calendar B, update employee leave policy (Policy 3.8) to 12 days, approve multi-year purchases of math curriculum and several safety and procurement items including liability insurance and visitor-management licenses.
At its meeting the Pine Bluff School District board approved a series of governance and procurement items: the 2025–2026 academic calendar (calendar B), a change to employee leave policy (Policy 3.8), purchases for math curriculum and professional development, liability insurance and safety-technology purchases funded from a prior safety grant.
Votes and approvals at a glance (as recorded in the meeting):
- Calendar B for the 2025–26 district calendar — Motion to approve calendar B was made and seconded; the board approved the calendar by voice vote.
- Policy 3.8 (Employee Leave) — The board approved an amendment that consolidates employee sick and personal leave into a single 12-day leave bank (changing practices that previously provided 10 sick days and 2 personal days). Motion to approve was made, seconded and approved by voice vote.
- I-Ready and Envision math curricula and related materials/professional development — The board approved a three-year I-Ready purchase for K–9 mathematics (including professional development and manipulatives) and a purchase for Envision secondary materials (geometry and algebra II). District staff noted a quantity error in the Envision quote and requested authorization to increase the purchase up to $70,000 total to cover the correct number of educator copies; the board approved the curricula purchase with that authorization.
- KMS legal-liability insurance (Cadence insurance via Arkansas School Board Association bid) — Approved; staff noted the price was roughly $300 less than last year.
- Safety grant expenditures (Stevens Radio Service radios and boosters, Baldwin & Shell locks and Progressive Technology visitor-management 3-year license and labels) — The board approved purchases to use remaining safety grant funds to buy additional radios, boosters, locks and a longer visitor-management license for every campus. Staff said the extra Progressive Technology licenses and labels pushed the bundle over the district $25,000 approval threshold, so this required board approval.
- Purchase service agreement for off-duty police officers (SRO coverage) — The board approved continuing a purchase-service agreement for an off-duty police officer who provides daily campus support at the high school and traffic support at Southwood; staff said this particular officer’s hourly utilization will cause the spending on that contract to exceed staff-level approval thresholds and therefore required board approval.
Procedural notes: most motions were made with brief discussion, a number of items were seconded and approved by voice vote. Where quotes or item quantities were incorrect in packet materials (Envision educator copies), staff provided corrected figures and asked for approval up to a stated cap rather than reprinting the full corrected quote.
No contested votes or roll-call tallies were given in the minutes beyond the chair’s verbal call for ayes and nays.
