Ahead of its regular meeting on Monday, Oct. 10, the Eureka Springs school district delivered its annual “Report to the Public.”

Superintendent Bryan Pruitt said the yearly report is an important way to let parents and guardians know exactly what their children are working on in school.

“We do that every year in October,” Pruitt said. “We cover our test data, we talk about federal programs, special education — all those categorical things that we do here at the district.”

Pruitt added that enrollment in the Eureka Springs district stands at 635 students and the district’s three schools are all accredited.

Another topic addressed during the report was the district’s plan to build a new kitchen and cafeteria building between the elementary school and the middle school.

The new building, which will feature a kitchen flanked by two cafeterias, one for the middle school and one for the elementary, will eliminate the need for staff to transport food from the existing kitchen in the elementary school to the middle school, something that can be problematic in bad weather.

The project was first announced in January, when the district updated its master plan.

Pruitt also delivered the bullying report.

“Each year, it’s required that you give a bullying report to the board,” Pruitt said. “We had 20 cases of bullying, mainly middle school students.”

Pruitt said the district takes reports of bullying seriously, even though the number of incidents is relatively low.

“Those are something that we always take seriously and investigate immediately,” Pruitt said. “We don’t want anyone to feel bullied or like they’re not wanted here.

“Luckily, it’s not a big issue. That’s what I told our board, that our students here are very receptive — just like most kids in Carroll County — they’re real receptive to others that move in.

“I can’t guarantee somebody’s not going to be bullied, but it’s not out of control.”

Pruitt said the report also included an update on the funds the district received through the American Rescue Plan and the Elementary & Secondary School Emergency Relief program.

“Basically, we’ll have those all spent in December,” Pruitt said. “We’ll finish that up with our HVAC program, where we’re putting new HVAC systems in the elementary and middle school. That’ll finish that up.”

During the regular meeting, the board voted to increase the district’s contribution to the employee health plan, raising that amount to $465 a month per employee.

Pruitt said that increase would essentially make the insurance free for single employees without a family.

“If they have the medium-range insurance, it’s free to them,” Pruitt said. “Of course, if they have their family or a spouse added on, they’ll have to pay more.”

Pruitt said Eureka Springs is one of the only districts inArkansas that make that level of contribution.

In personnel matters, the board accepted the resignation of Stephen Crewse as a computer technician and hired Kevin Garland as his replacement.

The board’s next meeting is scheduled for 5 p.m., Monday, Nov. 14, at the district administration office.