Students in Benton may have returned to school at the end of almost a week’s worth of rain, but spirits in school were high.
“Everybody is kind of ready to get back into a routine,” Benton Grade School Principal Tammy McCollum said. There is an estimated 1,200 students in attendance at the school, with numbers possibly changing after the first few weeks of school. Students in kindergarten through fourth grade are housed in one wing of the school, while fifth grade through eighth grade are located in the other wing.
On the first day of school, students learned the rules of the classroom and school, including how to walk quietly in the hallway. Students went through a regular series of rotations between subjects, which included a first day in the gymnasium for some students. In the 5-8 wing of the school, students have gym class with a gym teacher, while in the K-4 wing, students have gym with their classroom teacher.
Construction is ongoing at Benton Grade School, according to Superintendent Dr. Jay Goble. In the fall of 2015, construction began on a multi-purpose facility that would serve as a gymnasium and performing arts center for students on both sides of the school. Construction was supposed to be completed this month, but work has been delayed due to multiple factors, including weather. According to Goble, the district hopes to have access to the facility in time for basketball season, which begins in November.
McCollum expressed her hopes for the upcoming school year, saying, “I want it to be a positive school year, where they can come to school and enjoy it, and feel safe.”
“I think we have a great staff, and they work well with the students and the parents, and they provide a good education,” McCollum said.
Providing an education to students during a financially uncertain time for the state has “been a concern for the past five or six years,” according to Goble. Concerns for financing come from proration, which deals with proportional distribution of funds. “There’s always a concern, when the state is fiscally precarious as ours currently is, there are always concerns,” Goble said. According to Goble, the district has been told that full funding will be received, and as a result, the district will operate and budget for full-funding.
