The Durant Board of Education in its meeting last week voted to approve an application for sanctioning of the Flyin’ Lion Foundation as an official support organization to benefit aviation students.
The high school has an aviation lab and last year, the school district signed an agreement with Tango Flight that will allow students to build an airplane. The goal is to buy the plane once it is completed.
Beth Bean, director of curriculum for the school district, announced the formation of the non-profit Flyin’ Lion Foundation last year and last week’s vote made it a foundation that is separate from the school district.
Bean said the school district has supported aviation and that the airplane will give aviation students the opportunity to obtain a pilot license.
“Our kids are getting all of this training,” Bean said. “Aviation, once you leave high school, and apply for aviation programs in college, if you don’t already have a private pilot license, it’s very minimal that you’re going to be even accepted. So, I think at Southeastern, they have 60 spots for incoming freshmen in class this fall and out of those 60, I think there were probably over 200 applications.
“Out of the 60 that were accepted, there was only two that were accepted that they did not have their private pilot license, and those two were students from Durant because of that partnership. So, the goal is, the foundation sees that as a roadblock for our students that are very interested in aviation and one of the reasons we’re requesting for sanctioning is the amount of money in order to buy that plane and then the foundation’s purpose and our priority would be to donate that plane back for usage by students to start establishing their private pilot license.”
According to Bean, to be able to do that, it must be either under the umbrella of the school district activity fund or be a sanctioned organization.
Bean said the foundation is a separate entity from the school district, like the Athletic Booster Club. This would place the liability for the airplane on the foundation. Bean said the airplane will cost about $150,000.
Kiamichi Tech Center campus director Scott Lowrance presented the partner school service report, and he said Kiamichi Tech is serving 49 Durant High School students this school year, which is down from last year when 57 students were served.
He said they are going to work to get more Durant students taking classes at Kiamichi Tech.
“What our issue is sometimes is with the way Durant High School does it where they take their four cores in the mornings, it kind of puts a hard part on us to be able to take them all in the afternoon,” Lowrance said. “If they’re all in the morning, how do we get those classes handled in the afternoon?”
Lowrance said DHS Principal Amber Bullard is on board and has been working with them, and school counselors are as well.
“Right now, I can tell you, Durant is my main goal,” Lowrance said. “We should be at 25 percent student rate, we’re serving 10 percent.”
Superintendent Mark Moring agreed they need to grow the program to get more students enrolled at Kiamichi Tech.
“We’ve looked at different credits and course offerings, and we’ve talked about changing times and what else we can do to get kids out there,” Moring said.
He said Kiamichi Tech classes give students goals and that they can see what they’re in school to do.
The Northwest Heights Elementary School third grade team received a Roar Award for academic performance. Academic achievement measures how well schools support groups of students in being ready for the next grade, course or level, based on their performance on state summative assessments, according to a slide show presented during the meeting.
NWH third grade teachers were recognized for their academic achievements in math. According to the school district, NWH third grade had the highest site math proficiency in the district, has had a year over year increase of 11 percent when compared to 2023-2024 test scores, and in math proficiency, they are 13 points above state average.
Assistant Superintendent Kenny Chaffin presented the award.
“In honor of the hard work you guys have done, we want to give you the Roar Award,” Chaffin said.
The board approved the following bids from The Painters LLC for painting at the high school: Interior painting $171,332.00, alternate practice gym $1,932.00 and alternate competition gym $19,888.00.
Moring said The Painters was the only company that bid on the project and that they won the bid last school year.
“Last year, we did all of the academic wing,” Moring said. “This year, it’s going to be the gyms, the commons, auditorium and all that.”
The board approved a contract for Superintendent Moring for a term beginning July 1 and ending June 30, 2028. This was tabled in two prior meetings due to a board member being absent.
Contracts for the following were renewed for the 2026-2027 school year: Amber Bullard, high school principal; Josh Perrin, middle school principal; Aaron McCoy, intermediate school principal; Valerie Crabtree, George Washington principal; Taylor Downs, Northwest Heights principal; Maegan Morgan, Washington Irving principal; Lisa Whitley, Robert E. Lee principal; Torrey Gaines, high school assistant principal; Amanda Reynolds, high school assistant principal; Todd Vargas, high school dean of students; James Pratt, middle school assistant principal; Carrie Gosnell, intermediate school assistant principal; Vicky Woody, George Washington assistant principal; Mellisa Sherrer, Northwest Heights assistant principal, and Jena Jones, Washington Irving assistant principal.
The board approved the following employments: LeAnna Chaffin, Durant Schools office manager/CFO, reassignment from encumbrance clerk for the remainder of the 2025-2026 school year; Amber Pratt, Durant Schools encumbrance clerk/accounts payable, reassignment from human resources generalist for the remainder of the 2025-2026 school year; Sabrina Tynan, Durant Schools human resources generalist, reassignment from enrollment coordinator for the remainder of the school year; Corie Reiche-Watson, special education teacher at the high school; Elizabeth Ward, special education teacher assistant at the high school, and Jaiveon Gardner, assistant baseball coach at the middle school.
The board approved the following: - A 2025-2026 audit contract and engagement letter with Bledsoe, Hewett & Gullekson CPAs.
- An agreement with Interquest Detection Canines for substance awareness and detection services for the 2026-2027 school year.
- A trip by the high school and middle school choirs to attend the SW American Choral Directors Association National Honor Choir and Conference in Albuquerque, N.M.
