Green Forest board approves internet upgrades

The Green Forest School District is planning some upgrades to its internet infrastructure.

According to superintendent Matt Summers, the project, which will be partially covered by E-rate funding the district received to improve access to information and resources through the internet and approved by the district board during its regular meeting June 20, is a necessary one.

Matt Summers

“We’re going to use some E-Rate funding to build up some infrastructure that has just clocked out,” Summers said. “We’re talking hot spots, access point switches, basically anything that takes it from our internet supplier to the devices — all of that. Many of those were end-of-life in 2017, so it was desperately needed.”

Summers said the district will be responsible for 15 percent of the total cost of the $167,933 project, or approximately $29,635. The remainder will come from the E-rate grant funding.

At the beginning of the meeting, the board elected its officers for the year, deciding to keep the existing slate. Bud Phillips will continue as president, Dianna Raye Sturtz will remain vice president, Jeff Boggs will continue as secretary, and Alechia Meador will remain dispersing officer.

In other business, the board reviewed the district’s discipline data.

“We do that twice a year,” Summers said. “We do it at the end of each semester and look at what infractions occurred and what punishments. It’s divided by grade, ethnicity, the whole nine yards.

“The purpose of that is to make sure we’re on top of bullying, whether it be in person or cyber bullying or any of those types of things.”

Summers said the Green Forest district is doing OK in that regard.

“Part of the process is reporting it and making the board aware,” Summers said. “That’s the same report we send to the state.”

The board also approved a gifted and talented camp for students, a number of fundraising requests and some testing and curriculum programs that cover credit recovery and English language arts, most of which will be paid for through funds the district received under the American Rescue Plan’s Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund.

The purchase of student supplies for the district also received the board’s approval.

“The elementary school is projecting $7,500, intermediate is projecting $4,250, the middle school’s projecting $6,800 and the high school’s projecting $7,200,” Summers said. “That’s an approximate total of $25,750.”

The cost to the district is relatively low, Summers said, but it can make a big impact on families.

“It’s not crazy numbers,” Summers said. “It’s a pretty basic list, but when our students arrive, it’ll be sitting at their desk for their use and we go from there.”

The board also gave Summers permission to hold an auction this summer.

“We would have four or five buses,” Summers said. “We will have tables, chairs, devices, things that are no lon ger in use that we need to get off our records and get off our insurance rolls. So we’ll be planning an auction and once that date is set, we will be advertising that information.”

After meeting in an executive session, the board reconvened to vote on several personnel matters, including accepting the resignations of Eric Perez as soccer coach and Spanish teacher, Mark Cockrell as special education secretary and Craig Matzenbacher as groundskeeper.

The board also approved several transfers. Shane Compton will become head golf coach, Ashley Wilson is stepping down as assistant cross country coach while Terri Harness takes over the position; Brandon Stone will be adding civics and economics to his subjects; and Lexi Meeks will be transferring to fifth-grade social studies from fifth-grade reading.

New hires approved by the board are Gary Smith as high school/middle school health and physical education teacher, assistant seventh grade, junior high and high school basketball coach and assistant baseball coach; Preston Stone as a high school science teacher and head seventh grade football coach, assistant junior high and assistant high school football coach, as well as assistant seventh grade, junior high and high school basketball coach; Dana McCutcheon as a ninthgrade English teacher; Tammy Burrow as a Spanish teacher; Mandy Meadors as a fifthgrade teacher; Tracy Penn as a fourth-grade teacher; Ashley Massengale as a first grade teacher; and Ma Char Wah as an elementary special education paraprofessional.