MENA ASSISTANT SUPERINTENDENT RETIRES

By: Sam Jordan

(MENA) The Mena School District met on Thursday night, March 14th at the Administration Building in downtown Mena and accepted the resignation of Assistant Superintendent Jeannie Smith. Smith was actually given a final opportunity of rescinding her impending retirement from the district. This is Smith’s second stint in that position. Smith will be replaced by Paulette Sherrer, who’s position will be combined to the title of Assistant Superintendent & Federal Programs Coordinator. Thus, saving the district much needed money. Mena School Superintendent Benny Weston commended the work that Smith has done for the district.

There were other changes in the administrative structure within the district. The high school principal, Shane Torix; will be promoted to the new title of Administrator of School Support Services. Torix will be replaced by the high school principal at Arkadelphia, David Maxwell. Maxwell has been the high school principal at Arkadelphia for the last ten years.

According to Weston, there may be other cost-saving moves in the near future. Weston added that “where the district can save money, and still do the work for less” he is all for it.

The board received comments and discussed the huge success of how the Louise Durham Elementary School has evolved. Superintendent Weston stated that a local community organization, The Mena Lions Club, recently toured the facility and was astounded at the technological breakthroughs that the building has to offer. According to Weston, the school is a “state of the art” building that should serve the needs of the district for many years to come. A showpiece that the community can be proud of.”

The Polk County Virtual Academy was also a topic of discussion. The Virtual Academy allows for students to attend via an online program, instead of the typical “brick and mortar” way, that most people have done.

This type of educational setting is reserved for home school students or for other circumstances. Assistant Superintendent Jeannie Smith stated that there were 25 students that started the school year out. Currently, there are 13 students enrolled in the pilot program.

The program has seen a few obstacles in the roll out of the program. The curriculum studies are more rigorous than in the classroom. The district may want to take a look at the setup at a later date to make some refinements.

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Jeri Pearson

Jeri is the News Director for Pulse Multi-Media and Editor of The Polk County Pulse. She has 10 years of experience in community focused journalism and has won multiple press association awards.

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