Green Forest board extends Gilmore’s contract

It only took a semester for David Gilmore to get a stamp of approval as superintendent of the Green Forest School District.

At its monthly meeting held Tuesday, Jan. 21, the Green Forest School Board voted to extend Gilmore’s contract by one year. Gilmore took over the district on July 1 last year, and his contract is now set to expire on June 30, 2028.

“Very, very happy about that,” Gilmore said of the extension.

Gilmore came to Green Forest after serving as principal of Eureka Springs High School for many years, and also spent time in the Berryville School District.

“It’s going great,” Gilmore said in December regarding his first semester. “I’ve been on a huge learning curve, but I’ve had some great local support between Mr. Powell and Mr. Pruitt from Eureka and Berryville. And I also have a mentor superintendent who was assigned to me, the Yellville-Summitt superintendent. So I’ve got some great support. Our co-op in this area is a huge support to us as well. I’ve really enjoyed it.

“I’ve been extremely happy being in Carroll County, getting to stay at home and be a part of this Carroll County community …” Getting the early support from the board was was nice, Gilmore said.

“I’m very flattered to be here,” he said. “This board is treating me very well and the community is treating me very well. I’m tickled to get a year extended on my contract.

“The board told me I was doing a good job, so I’m happy to hear that. A little continuation of great things we’re doing here at Green Forest.”

OTHER BOARD ACTION

The board received a district discipline report for the first semester, with tardies and cell phone issues some of the main points discussed, Gilmore said.

“Tardies are a big one that we’re working on,” he said. “And cell phones are a little bit of an issue. So, we’re looking at that.”

The Arkansas Department of Education has offered grant opportunities for districts to purchase pouches that lock cell phones throughout the school day. All three districts in Carroll County took a “wait and see” approach this school year before making any decisions other than sticking with phone policies already in place.

That mindset may need to be revisited in Green Forest, Gilmore said.

“I know the governor is trying to push for a cell-phone-free school environment,” he said. “At the first of the year a lot of schools were looking at those Youndr pouches. We kind of passed over it at that time just to see how it was working with other schools. I did speak to some other local schools, for example, Valley Springs. I spoke to their superintendent and they did go ahead and adopted it this year using those Youndr pouches and they said they love it. They said they’re not having any issues with cell phones whatsoever.

“So, we will probably revisit that for next year, especially with the legislation possibly changing to make sure it’s a phone-free environment.”

The board approved a Memorandum of Understanding with Ascent Therapy giving students who need to use those services another option, Gilmore said.

“We’re just expanding opportunities for our kids to have counseling services,” he said.

The board also approved the annual renewal of the district’s Microsoft 365 license.