Bentonville schools continue to grow
Posted on Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Daily Record photograph by Charles Fowler Misty Brown, left, and her daughter, sophomore Alissa Brown, waited for another student to go out for lunch at Bentonville High School on Monday. Students had a special 1 1 / 2 hour lunch on the first day back to school.
BENTONVILLE - More than 12, 000 students attended the first day of school in Bentonville, the district's school board learned Monday night.
The "warm body count"for the day was 12, 100, said Brad Reed, director of student services. A "warm body count"measures how many students actually showed up for school, not how many are officially enrolled in the district's system.
There are 12, 730 students officially enrolled in the district, Reed said. That doesn't mean that more than 600 students skipped the first day of school. The official enrollment includes students who attended last year and may have left the school district but who have not notified school officials. School officials drop students from their rolls once students haven't shown up for a certain amount of time at the beginning of school.
The first day's "warm body count"isn't necessarily a good measure of how many students are still in the district, either. There are often cases when, for whatever reason, some students don't attend the first day of school. Reed added that even with the 630 students who are enrolled but were not present Monday, the district still had about a 95-percent attendance rate, which would be considered a decent rate on an average school day.
Discussion about the firstday attendance turned to the district's ability to handle its growth, however many students the district ends up having by Oct. 1, the state's official enrollment reporting day. Reed said that even if the official enrollment stays closer to the 12, 100 figure, the schools will be approaching capacity.
In other school district news, the board did the following • Heard from students and parents who wanted to voice support for Jason Craft, a teacher and coach who resigned last week from Lincoln Junior High School • Approved board goals; and • Approved a policy that prohibits students from transferring out of the school district except for certain circumstances.
FEEDBACK:
Something to say about this topic? Submit a Letter to the Editor online
