Durant Schools Superintendent Mark Moring presented enrollment numbers for this year during a meeting last week of the board of education.
Moring said 3,869 students were enrolled as of Sept. 9.
“So, that’s inching up there to the 3,900 mark,” Moring said.
Moring also spoke about the Jobs for America’s Graduates (JAG) grant the school district received for the high school.
“It’s a multi-year model leadership program designed to help students successfully graduate and transition into the workforce and/or post-secondary education,” Moring said. “JAG delivers a competency driven curriculum that prepares students for successful futures through leadership, employer engagement, field development and project-based learning.”
According to Moring, there are eight criteria for the program and a student has to qualify for five of them to be a part of the program.
The grant is for three years and Moring hopes to have someone hired for the position by January.
Thomas Seidel of Mid-Plains Construction presented an update on the new agriculture building under construction at Durant High School.
He said workers have been hanging sheet rock and plywood inside the building. Concrete for a sidewalk to connect the new building to the existing building has been poured.
“All and all, everything is going well,” Seidel said. “I don’t have any issues or anything.”
The building is expected to be finished in December.
Moring became superintendent in July after the retirement of Duane Merideth and he spoke during an interview after the school board meeting.
“Homecoming week was awesome,” Moring said. “It was my first homecoming. The parade was really cool. It was kind of chilly and rainy and we still had what I thought was a great turnout and I haven’t seen any other parade besides that one, but our community is so supportive or our school and we had 27 contestants at homecoming. All of those student organizations were represented and it went off without hitch. I know the game lasted a little bit longer than everyone wanted, so it cut into the dance, but it all went well.”
When Moring was first on the job, he said the experience was like “drinking water from a fire hose” because he was taking in so much information. He said things have since slowed down a little bit as he has settled into the position.
“My head’s above water now,” Moring said. “I’m getting to know the lay of the land and continuing to get to know and meet all of the awesome people, so I’m definitely feeling much more comfortable than I was a month or two ago.”
Moring spoke of the security in the school district which is a constant concern.
“Our school security is topnotch because of the community,” he said. “We had eight SROs (school resource officers) at the games. We’ve done all of our drills. The police have access to our cameras and our buildings. You always want to take stock in what you’re doing to see if you can get better and we can but our security has been great.
“You’ve got to prepare for everything and for every situation and we try to, but sometimes it’s tough. Our law enforcement community here in Durant, from the city, to the county the highway patrol to the Choctaw Nation to Southeastern’s police department, have all reached out to the school, and they just kind of cradle the school and help protect us and ask anything that we need. They’ve all been super helpful.”
The school district has five paid SROs through the sheriff’s office and other officers volunteer.
“Any law enforcement gets in the game free and they’re there as well,” Moring said. “Security is our top priority, safety and security and it shows. I’m not used to such a fantastic law enforcement presence that we have in Durant.”
Also during the school board meeting, board members approved the following new hires: Heather Lynn, special education teacher assistant at DIS; Amber Woods, special education teacher assistant at GW; Zoey Shelton, special education teacher assistant at WI; Zackery Sampson, transportation employee, and Elizabeth San Millan, teacher assistant at REL.
Employment of the following reading interventionists was approved: Shawn Cress, Sharon Ledbetter and Laurie Robertson, NWH; Nancy Johnson, Ellen Marcy, Sheri Cavender and Kara Conner, GW, and Laura Clark, Mary Wingfield and Juanita Daniel, WI.
