Green Forest board OKs additional bus route

Some buses will be a little less crowded in the upcoming school year for students in the Green Forest School District.

The Green Forest school board recently approved adding an additional bus route, which should help alleviate crowding, according to district superintendent David Gilmore.

“A lot of our in-town routes were very, very crowded and to the max in capacity,” Gilmore said. “So, we’ve added one additional in-town bus route, which should help as far as transporting the kids this school year.”

Overcrowding on buses that pick up and take home students who live in the city limits has been an issue for the past couple of years, according to Gilmore.

“These town routes have gotten pretty packed over the last couple of years and we wanted to make sure we had a plan to accommodate those needs,” he said. “In the future, we may look at restructuring some of our routes and putting some of those students on routes as they leave town, but with just short notice we wanted to make sure we had everything in place before school started and have a way for those students to be able to get home safely and not have overcrowding on our buses.”

The board decided to wait to decide if the district will implement a new policy where students will put cell phones in locked Yondr pouches during the school day.

The neoprene pouches produced by the company Yondr have been gaining popularity with school districts across the state and country.

“The board tabled the Yondr pouches for the moment,” Gilmore said. “The board wants to collect some more information. We sent a survey out to our parents and it was about 50-50 with them slightly leaning toward using the Yondr phone pouches.

“But, the board wants to get more input on it from the teachers.”

If implemented, students would put their cell phones in the pouch each day as they arrive at school. Once inside, the pouch is locked and students will keep the locked phone with them throughout the day. Students would then unlock the pouch as they leave each day.

The board also approved the hiring of Tiffany James as the new college and career adviser, which was made possible through a three-year grant the district was awarded.

“Our high school principal, Adam Wade, and Jonie Standlee, one of the high school counselors, applied for the grant,” Gilmore said. “This position will specifically work with our high school seniors and help them get in touch and figure out pathways they may want moving forward, whether they’re going to college or they’re going to a trade school, things like that.”

The board also selected Rodney Hayhurst to fill the remaining term of the vacant Zone 3 seat.

The seat came open when Jeff Boggs moved to a different part of the district and was approved to switch to the Zone 4 seat after the resignation of former board member John Bailey. The remainder of the term expires next year.