EROS — When the Ozark Mountain School District met last January it was decided not to consider transitioning the district away from the Bruno-Pyatt Elementary School until October, after the start of the 2025-2026 school year. But at the end of the board meeting held Thursday, July 24, board member Andy McCutcheon said he wanted to pick up the tabled discussion where it had been left off. It will continue on Aug. 6 with public involvement.
With the start of the new school year just a few weeks away, the board was given an update on enrollment.
Superintendent Jess Knapp said Western Grove Elementary school had 158 students with Ozark Mountain High School also at Western Grove having 246 students enrolled. The elementary school in St. Joe has an enrollment currently of 87 students and Bruno-Pyatt Elementary at Eros has 15 students enrolled.
A survey of Bruno-Pyatt parents showed that four students would transfer to Western Grove and seven to would go to St. Joe. The others would transfer to other schools.
McCutcheon said he knows there are feelings involved in making this decision. He experienced it personally recalling his school days as a student at Snowball when that school closed. He graduated from Witts Springs school which also was later closed. "I know the feeling and what communities go through."
He broke down Bruno-Pyatt school's enrollment by grade noting some have only one student. "I also feel for those kids because there's not a lot of social development there. There's not a lot of interaction with kids their age to expand and develop those citizenry skills we talk about."
McCutcheon said he hoped he would see growth in enrollment when the situation at the school became more publicly known, but it has not happened.
"I hate it. I honestly do," McCutcheon said. "I think if we continue down this road we are doing these kids a disservice."
He called on the board to come up with some options as to what can be done and try to mitigate this as best as it can. "I wish we could have done this sooner. I really do."
After a lengthy discussion, with board members voicing their concerns including: The need for the district to be frugal with its resources, the valuable asset the school and its facilities are to the community, and the time involved in relocating students and staff, it was unanimously agreed the decision that will eventually have to be made needs to be as transparent as possible. McCutcheon also emphasized the decision is the board's, not the superintendent's.
As far as a timeline involved with classes beginning shortly, Knapp said it could be nine weeks, a semester or longer. In order to close the school the district would have to file a petition with the state board of education. It probably would not act on the petition until September at the earliest.
To iron out the details of a plan the board agreed to hold a special meeting at the Bruno-Pyatt Elementary School at 6 p.m.,Wednesday, Aug. 6. The public is urged to attend.
