Nearly two months after the Ozark Mountain School Board voted to combine the district’s three high schools, their decision has been approved by the state. During a meeting on Thursday, the Arkansas State Board of Education voted unanimously to accept the district’s proposal to close the seventh through 12th grade classes at the Bruno-Pyatt campus in Eros and at the St. Joe campus.
Ozark Mountain Superintendent Jeff Lewis says the school board voted in its December session to move all of the district’s junior high and high school students to the Western Grove campus by a count of 4-3. All three campuses will keep their classes in kindergarten through sixth grade open.
The Ozark Mountain School District has been in existence since 2004. The former Bruno-Pyatt, St. Joe and Western Grove school districts combined after the state of Arkansas passed a law stating public school districts with a student population of less than 350 students in kindergarten through 12th grade must consolidate their administrations with another district. All three campuses have kept their elementary and high schools open since then with the administration office located at St. Joe.
Lewis says the Western Grove campus has the space to add more students in seventh through 12th grades. He recently told KTLO, Classic Hits and The Boot News the district is planning to apply for partnership funding with the state of Arkansas next year. If the funding is approved, voters in the district would then be asked to decide on a millage increase for the construction of a new K-12 campus in a location that best fits the district.
The change will take effect at the beginning of the 2023-2024 school year.
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