Durant School Board members recognized 84 years of service Monday night at Durant Middle School.

Teacher of the Year candidates from each of the six Durant schools attended the meeting and were presented with bells sitting on personalized wooden stands. The following teachers were recognized:

— Melissa Lilley, Durant High School, English, Humanities and Academic Team, 26 years, all at DHS

— Lori McCoy, Durant High School, special education, PAL, 16 years, 14 at DHS

— Alisha Ridenour, Durant Middle School, math, five years, two at DMS

— Amy Jamison, Durant Intermediate School, special education, five years, all at DIS

— Kim Kapchinsky, Northwest Heights, kindergarten, 18 years, all at NWH

— Pamela Rutherford, Robert E. Lee, kindergarten, three years, all at REL

— Tamara Fryer, Washington Irving, kindergarten, 11 years, six at WI

Following the presentation, the board recessed for a reception honoring the special guests and their families.

The board also heard several presentations. Jeff Hammock and Lori Smith with the Gear Up parent group, Parent Leadership Academy, shared information they received at a recent six-day leadership seminar in the Oklahoma City area. The two speakers and Dee Ann Haworth, who was not present at the meeting, attended the event.

Hammock, who is the president of Vision Bank, said the goal of the six-day academy was to brainstorm how technology can be brought to science and how groups can support their local school systems.

“The state is very in tune with helping education,” Hammock said.

Hammock said he would like to see more students who take the Plan and ACT tests meet college benchmarks in 2010. Last year, Durant students were close, but did not meet the college benchmarks, which are set by the state.

He said the PLA would like to provide faculty in the science department with teaching tools that will further improve their teaching. They would also like more parents to get involved in the school system and increase parents’ knowledge about test scores and how to evaluate them.

Smith said the Gear Up group would like to donate $3,000 to get internet into the science wing at DHS. Although a new high school is being built, this would help current students and future DMS students who would move into that building after the new structure’s completion.

Richard Crump, principal of architects Claycomb & Associates, gave an update on the new high school.

He said the project is “off and running.” The building pad is about 80 percent complete and workers are surveying the foundation. This month, grating will continue and rigs will start appearing. Utilities could be placed at the end of the month. Workers will also be able to make some concrete on site.

The new high school could be complete by mid-May 2011, best-case scenario, Crump said.

Superintendent Jason Simeroth presented the district’s test scores. He complimented the students and teachers for their amazing work, adding that they faced higher target scores, or the score required to be proficient. In third through eighth-grade math, all of the scores were above the state’s average, and reading scores were at or above the averages.

“It’s not really a fair game with a moving target,” Simeroth said, but Durant schools scored very well.

In other business, Assistant Superintendent Duane Merideth said the school has just finished a 10-year contract with the Coca-Cola Company for drink vending machines. He recommended approving the Dr. Pepper Snapple Group as the new provider. The board approved the measure.

The board also approved 13 construction contracts via Steele & Freeman, construction manager, for the new high school project.

School board members also approved an anonymous donation of $2,800 to purchase 20 complete basketball uniforms for the eighth-grade boys’ basketball team. They also approved an out-of-state trip for the high school boys’ and girls’ soccer teams. They will compete in a tournament March 4-6, 2010, at Fayetteville, Ark. Funding will come from activity monies and booster club support.

The school board approved the resignation of Mike Lawson, the PE teacher at WI, who is retiring effective May 31, 2010, and Kim Lawson, a paraprofessional and support personnel at DHS.

The board approved the hiring of Joy Phillips and Mary Schoolcraft for the child nutrition program for the remainder of the 2009-2010 school year. Phillips will replace Crystal Teaster at DHS, and Schoolcraft will replace Ruth Ann Goolsby at WI.