The Pine Bluff School District board approved the purchase of 10 new buses Monday night.
Superintendent Jennifer Barbaree said at the school board meeting the district received $1.5 million in federal “covid money” to purchase the buses.
Five of the buses will be bought before the 2023-24 school year starts with the other five in the fleet by Christmas.
Barbaree added that the district has spent $92,000 this year in maintenance costs on buses. Like many districts in the state, bus drivers are scarce. The Pine Bluff school district is offering approximately a $23,000 starting salary for a bus driver. Barbaree hopes that salary schedule lures more drivers.
After Monday’s night meeting, Barbaree talked with Deltaplex about the need for the buses and drivers.
The school board also heard from Clayton Vaden with Lewis Architects Engineers, the Little Rock company that the district hired to design a new high school in Pine Bluff if a milage is approved.
Vaden showed the board two design options for the new school, which will remain at its current location on West 11th Street. Several buildings, including the McGeorge building, will be demolished because of age and inability for renovations.
One design option is for the main entrance of the school to face east toward Olive Street. The other option to keep the front of the school in its current southern location. Plans also include possible future projects like an arena, baseball field and space for more classrooms.
Vaden said that the design will incorporate safety features to protect students because “it’s just the world we live in now.”
Vaden said he would like to include the long, storied history of the Pine Bluff School District into the design. That may include a special wall highlighting state sports championships and vast collage in the lobby of the school featuring an all-inclusive history of Pine Bluff high schools.
Barbaree said she would like to see previous schools like Altheimer, Dollarway and Merrill High Schools that have been incorporated into the district over the years. Barbaree also wants input from the public about what their vision for the new school.
None of these creative plans will become reality if a millage doesn’t pass. The district received $12 million from the state for a new school, but Barbaree explained it will take much more than that.
Barbaree said that she recently worked with students to help then students to create a social media hashtag — #TheeRedZebra – to highlight accomplishments of the district and the community especially as Dollarway and Pine Bluff students unite for the first time this fall.
