Board approves scholarship guidelines, salary adjustments, chief‑of‑staff stipend, turf installation and personnel actions

The Jacksonville North Pulaski School District board unanimously approved a package of administrative and operational measures at its meeting, including formalizing scholarship guidelines, adjusting school salary indices, adding a chief-of‑staff stipend, authorizing turf installation at the middle school courtyard, and approving changes to contracted days tied to the district's alternative calendar.

Scholarship program guidelines: Dr. Elder presented proposed scholarship program guidelines the district will use to administer funds inherited when the district separated from PCSSD. The board voted to approve the guidelines so the district can submit them to the state department for the required approval and begin administering scholarship awards.

Salary-index adjustment at Jacksonville Elementary School: The board approved a proposal to increase the principal and assistant principal salary indices at Jacksonville Elementary School to align with the middle school index, citing the elementary school's larger-than-average enrollment and administrative load for that campus.

Chief-of-staff stipend: The board approved adding a $12,000 stipend to the salary schedule for a chief-of-staff role (not a new headcount). Dr. Elder described the change as a reclassification of duties for an existing employee who now handles HR, FOI requests and additional administrative responsibilities.

Facilities: The board approved installing artificial turf in the Jacksonville Middle School courtyard, with funds drawn from the building fund. District staff presented three proposals and recommended the most cost‑reasonable option. During the discussion staff referenced a start date and a finish-by date in the transcript; those dates were stated inconsistently during the meeting (the transcript references April 3 as a start and also says the turf would be "finished by April 1"). The district said work would be scheduled to avoid student disruption.

Contracted days: The board approved reductions to contracted days in five areas to reflect lessons learned after adopting an alternative calendar. Dr. Elder described the change as intended to reduce staff downtime and align workdays with the district's calendar; the transcript includes a reference to calendar numbers that was unclear in wording during the meeting and should be confirmed in written calendar documents.

Student discipline and personnel actions: The board moved into a closed session for a contested disciplinary hearing for a student (Anaya Dorn) at the student's request. After returning to open session, the board voted to modify the superintendent's recommendation: the student will be placed on homebound instruction until a seat in Horizon's facility becomes available; that motion passed unanimously. The board also upheld the superintendent's recommendations on three additional uncontested disciplinary items and approved an amended personnel report and a personnel addendum.

All motions reported in the meeting passed by unanimous vote.

What happens next: The district will submit the approved scholarship guidelines to the state department for review; the turf project will be scheduled and funded through the building fund; personnel and calendar changes will be implemented per district administrative process.