The Eureka Springs School Board got an overview of the status of the school district with the annual report to the public before the board’s monthly meeting on Monday, Oct. 9.

Superintendent Bryan Pruitt and other district officials presented information that included testing data, financials and updates on areas including federal programs, special education and gifted and talented students.

Pruitt shared that the district has received approximately $100,000 more in federal funding than expected.

“We weren’t anticipating that at all,” he said. “That actually helped us with our federal employees that we pay out of federal funds.”

The board learned that 13 percent of the students in the district receive special education instruction and that the school district saw positive data in last year’s testing results.

“With elementary, middle school and high school we were 15th in the state with our test scores,” Pruitt said, adding that the data showed Eureka Springs High School ranked ninth in the state. “That’s good data.”

A rise in tax assessments in the county has contributed to the district’s financial stability, Pruitt also reported.

“We are financially sound,” he said.

The district overview also included an update on the project to build a new dual cafeteria for elementary and middle school students. The building will feature one shared kitchen and separate dining spaces for the two schools.

Currently, meals for the middle school are prepared at the aging elementary school cafeteria and transported from campus to campus.

“We are currently waiting on SWEPCO,” Pruitt said regarding the project, which recently hit a bit of a speed bump with the need to relocate some utility lines on the property.

Future facility plans include building a new transportation and maintenance building and moving the district’s preschool to the space currently used by transportation, the superintendent said.

“That’s what our future plans are,” Pruitt said.

District officials also went over student demographic percentages, including 623 students currently enrolled, and a state-mandated bullying report was given.

“We had nine cases of bullying in the district,” Pruitt said.

During the regular monthly meeting, the board voted to approve a bid by CS Bank to continue to handle the district’s banking needs.

“It was the best bid out of bids from four different banks,” Pruitt said.

In personnel action, the board approved the hires of Hannah Rogers as an elementary paraprofessional, Miranda Cowan in food service and Hal Hicks as a bus route driver.