The lone vote for not accepting Bryant’s resignation Monday night was that of board president Michael Williams who said before the vote, “We'll now have to formally accept Mrs. Bryant's resignation as the last board meeting. It was passed, but the vote was one to four, so now I'll entertain a motion to sadly accept Superintendent Bryant’s recommendation.”  The ayes were in the 4-1 majority with Williams not joining in.

After the meeting, when asked her reasons for resigning, Bryant said “I'm doing it for I have family obligations, so my parents, they've had some more recent medical issues.”  While she will be remaining in the post until the end of the fall semester, she said she will not be continuing on in any capacity with the Prescott School District after that.

This followed a meeting that began with one public comment by Brenda Smith, currently an counselor at Prescott Elementary and a 15-year veteran with the district.  She used her three minutes to address matters raised in public comments in the August regular meeting. 

“One comment of concern was the ratio of coaches and players on current football teams. I understand that at that time the statement was made that each coach was responsible for more than the recommended number of players. Since that time, the issue seems to have been resolved, and currently the ratio for all teams is less than 15 based on the rosters that I have,” Smith said. 

Turning to the subject of the accelerated reading program being ended, Smith said it had been stopped in 2021 for lack of funds but has been reinstated for this school year.  Concerning complaints about classes necessary for college acceptance not being taught, Smith said Chemistry is offered on campus and 38 students are taking it.  Smith said Calculus was offered last year, but no students enrolled and the class has the same status this year.

Addressing a comment made from a speaker who said she did not know Bryant, Smith said Bryant “worked for the past for five years as the district school and academic improvement supervisor and the Federal Programs Director.” Smith continued, “She worked directly with each campus and their staff. She also worked closely with the previous superintendent. She had the opportunity to see all the wonderful things that occurred at Prescott and all the things that may need to be revised. To me, the appointment to the superintendent position for her was logical, because of the information and experience she had gained with those five years that she had worked in the Prescott School District administration. I appreciate Ms. Bryant and the Prescott School Board for making decisions that they feel are best for our most important priority, students.”

The next item was a report from Bryant on the recently reported letter grades on individual public schools released recently by the Arkansas Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. She said the elementary school earned an A, which she attributed to hard work and predicted “we’re going to keep it up.” 

On the other hand, Bryant said, “Our junior high has a letter grade of D. We know what areas we need to work on. We did rank 68th in the state on our math growth. So that's a positive area.”

The high school’s rating Bryant also commented on. “I know our administrators are already working with our high school which earned a C.  There is lots of green [positive indicators] on that report card.”  Readiness and graduation rates were areas the high school excelled in, Bryant said.

Board member Kathie James offered a comment in response, urging Prescott Junior High staff not to lose heart because the four-year age group that attends junior high can be challenging. “If you've ever been in junior high, or ever taught in junior high, or ever visited, I'm sure you could ask Miss [Haleigh] Glass, [Junior High Counselor] and Mr. [Jeffrey] Burton, [Junior High Principal] the teachers, and they would tell you, it is challenging at times, but they are very fascinating at that age. They are just wonderful group of students. But you never know.”

In the superintendent’s report, Bryant gave numbers for enrollment.  The total is 867, including pre-K, which numbers 48.  Elementary enrollment stands at 287, down four from last month.  Junior high is 265, up two; high school is 268, up one.

Next Bryant reported on extracurricular activities.  Girls’ golf placed third at the 3A tournament. In Cross-Country, the junior high team has 12 members; high school, two.  They competed at meets at Ouachita Baptist and Southern Arkansas Universities.  A meet will take place October 4th and then, on the 25th, there will be a district meet.  The Prescott Cheerleaders had four chosen as All-Americans. “The Prescott band marched at Ouachita Baptist University on the 20th. The Junior High football [team] is currently undefeated. Senior High football is three wins, one loss,” Bryant said.

Drug testing results for the 180 athletes only found eight positives for drug use a result that correlates with the rate of false positives.  Athletic Director Colby Tillman said the test detects marijuana, opioids, opiates, amphetamines, Delta 8 and 9 and CBD, a marijuana derivative often used for pain.

In the next item, Elizabeth Lawrence, the district’s bookkeeper as well as payroll and benefits administrator, presented a comprehensive report, accompanied with projected charts and graphs, on the 2025-2026 budget.  Among the key points:

·       Revenues will total about $7.9 million.

·       State foundation revenue will be down because of a decrease in student enrollment. This year’s revenue of $5.2 million from this source is down $85,000 from last year.

·       Alternative Learning Environments funding from the state is also down because of reduced enrollment. The total revenue stands at $78,000 this year, down almost $7,000.

·       Education Savings Account revenue is $719,000, down $23,000 from last year.

·       Enhanced transportation revenue is trending up, reaching $33,000 this year.

·       Funds received from county taxes are up this year, in part because property values went up by $4 million.  Of the total property tax allotted to schools, 85 percent is typically collected on time. This would result in $2.5 million for Prescott Public Schools. Forty percent of the total goes to debt service, with the rest to the operating budget.

·       The $380,000 left after budgeting expenses and debt service for the school year Lawrence recommended be placed in the district’s building fund.  Maintenance and replacement costs would be deducted from this budget, but at least $300,000 would remain at year’s end.

·       Total expenditures are required to total $7.9 million.

In other business, the board voted to accept a six-year masterplan.

After about two hours of an executive session, the board members came back at about 9:15 p.m.  They accepted by unanimous voice votes the recommendations of Bryant to hire a preschool paraprofessional and a technology assistant before accepting Bryant’s resignation.  After that vote, the meeting adjourned.