By News Director Jared Atha
The Elk City School Board met on Monday night in regular session and formally approved the hiring of the district’s next superintendent.
Mike Sparks was approved to take the reigns as the district’s next leader during the meeting. His first day on the job will be July 1.
Sparks, who currently serves as superintendent and principal at Pioneer Public School in Chickasha, says he has always had an admiration for Elk City while he served as a coach, teacher, and eventual high school principal at Anadarko.
After graduating from Laverne High School, Sparks earned both his Bachelor and Masters in Education from Southwestern Oklahoma State University in Weatherford.
HENDERSON â Longtime Vance County high school basketball coach Wilton Baskett passed away Saturday at the age of 62, leaving behind a storied legacy that includes 402 wins, six regular season championships, six conference tournament titles and four conference Coach of the Year awards.
Vance County menâs basketball coach Chad Wilson was stunned to hear about the sudden passing of his mentor and said that he would not be in his current position without the guidance and encouragement Baskett offered when he worked with him as a player and an assistant coach.
âCoach Baskett really shaped a lot of who I am not just as a coach, but as a man,â Wilson said. âHe taught me how to carry myself and how to just be a good person in society.â
The Berryville School District is on track to save more than $450,000 after the school board voted Monday, Dec. 14, to sell a $2.6 million bond.
Board member Chad Wilson moved to adopt a resolution authorizing the issuance and delivery of the bond slated for Jan. 1, 2021, and the board unanimously agreed to do so. Superintendent Owen Powell said the bond sale was a really big deal for us, adding the bond was previously financed at 2.5 percent and the board sold it for 1.12 percent.
So well end up saving the school district $466,000 over the life of that bond, Powell said. Thats huge savings. Its a significant amount. Interest rates right now are just incredible. If you think about that for a second, 1 percent interest rate thats pretty amazing.