The Scranton School District held its Annual Public Meeting in the elementary library on Wednesday, August 19, 2026, at 6:30 p.m. The purpose of the meeting was to inform patrons of the academic and fiscal status of the school district. Superintendent Toby Cook reported the overall district goal is to provide an education through guidance, leadership and support so that each student may achieve his/her maximum potential and become a useful, productive member of society.
Facilities in the district are all in working order. The preschool building has been removed in preparation for the construction of a new cafeteria building in the near future.
Our school bus fleet is in good shape, as we’ve replaced the bus that was totaled in an accident at the end of 2025 as well as added another used 2023 Blue Bird to the fleet.
Enrollment in the district at the end of the first week of class on August 14 was reported to be 441 students in grades K-12. Our enrollment held steady throughout the 2025-2026 school year, but we’re seeing a decline in enrollment from last year as we graduated a larger class than we have in kindergarten this year.
Elementary Principal, Lakaen Schluterman, reported the K-6 enrollment at 237 students. Position changes at SES include: Kendra Canada was hired to teach Third Grade ELA, Sarah Harrison moved to the First Grade Classroom, Jamie Cook is going to teach Fifth and Sixth Grade Science, Angie Harris is going to teach Fifth and Sixth Grade Math. Elementary students utilize technology in chromebooks and iPads daily in their classroom instruction. All SES teachers are designated as Arkansas Qualified for the appropriate area. We are using HQIM in Math, Phonics, and Reading in all grade levels. We adopted HQIM for Science for grades 3-6 this year. We also utilize HQIM for intervention and enrichment. ATLAS Scores for grades K-6 were released in July. Most of these grade levels show good growth. Angie Harris was recognized by the Department of Education for growth in the TOP 25%. Our District was also recognized for being in the TOP 10 in the state for increase in achievement. The latest available data released by the Arkansas Department of Education from the 2024-2025 School Report Card designated Scranton Elementary as a C School. We have not received our letter grade from our most recent testing.
Our new high school principal, Mr. Tommy Britt, reported the 7-12 enrollment is 204 students. New faculty and staff members include: Dylan Schouweiler- 7th/8th Grade ELA, Dyslexia Intervention, and Yearbook, Sam Horn- 8th Grade Math, 8th Grade Enrichment, 7th/8th Grade Tools, Quant Reasoning, ALE Math, Alg. II, and Cross-Country/Track Coach, Heather Jackson- is our 1-on-1 Paraprofessional, and Courtney McKee- ISS, Paraprofessional, helping in the Elementary as well. High school students are one-to-one with technology, each student being issued a chromebook for use at school and home. All SHS teachers are designated as Arkansas Qualified for the appropriate area.
The high school is presently offering the required 38 courses to meet state standards. Advanced Placement courses offered in person are AP Biology, AP Chemistry, and AP English Composition. We also offer up to 20 more online including: AP Calculus, AP Chemistry, AP Psychology, AP Physics, AP US History, etc.
We offer a lot of Career Technical Education Courses(CTE) both in-person and online: Accounting I & II, AR Military Service & Security(Careers), Aviation II & III, Banking & Finance I, Business Intelligence, Child Growth & Development, Criminal Justice I, Desktop Application Development, Education Technology, Exercise Science, Family & Consumer Science, Information Technology & Security, Intro to Business, Intro to Computer Science, Intro to Healthcare, Intro to Criminal Justice, Intro to Education, Life Readiness: Skills for Career & Life, Medical Terminology, National Military Service & Security, Personal Finance, and Software Development.
The distance learning lab offers classes in Spanish I, II and III, Medical Terminology, Foundations of Health Care, Human Anatomy and Physiology, Pathology, Psychology, Sociology, Tourism Industry Management, Arkansas Hospitality and Tourism, German, Financial Literacy, Visual Arts Appreciation, Computer Science Programming I, III, and III, Computer Science Cybersecurity, Introduction to Criminal Justice, Criminal Law, College and Career Readiness, Accounting, and Orientation to Teaching through Virtual Arkansas.
Also offered through the distance learning lab as part of the Virtual Arkansas concurrent credit program are: Beginning Spanish I and II, English Composition I and II, American History, World Civilization I and II, Experiencing Art, Public Speaking, College Math, College Algebra, Introduction to Biological Sciences, Personal Health and Wellness, Introduction to Education, Human Development and Learning Theories, General Psychology, Music Appreciation, Intro to Political Science, and Integrating Instructional Technology. There are 18 students participating in this program, taking a total of 9 classes. College credit is awarded from our partnering institution, Arkansas Tech University. One student is also earning Concurrent Credit from the University of the Ozarks for the 2026-2027 school year.
The Arkansas Tech Career Center allows students in the 10th-12th grades the opportunity to take concurrent credit classes at Paris or Russellville campuses. We are also partnered with University of Arkansas Community College in Morrilton to offer students concurrent courses through the Clarksville High School Career and Technical Science program. Currently, four students are enrolled in the ATCC program at Paris.
The high school continues to work on improving math and literacy scores. The district has purchased IXL for ELA/Math to supplement instruction. Students also receive one on one assistance and interventions for ELA/Reading with Mrs. Bateman. Students are pulled from non-core subject classes to receive additional help. Also, many more students will receive extra interventions for Math and ELA from our teachers teaching our Tools and Enrichment Classes. These courses are used to focus on standards our students struggle with to help them grow moving forward.
The latest available data released by the Arkansas Department of Education from the 2024-2025 School Report Card designated Scranton High School as a C School. The school was listed as having the following: Attendance Rate was 93.02%, Graduation Rate was 97.2%, and Dropout Rate was 0%.
The Scranton Opportunity School is starting its seventeenth year and is our alternative learning program. Mrs. Megan Gibson is the lead SOS teacher. Four students graduated from the program last year, and we currently have eleven students in the program. All students are making adequate progress towards graduation requirements. In addition to academic goals, students are working on having better attendance, social and emotional skills, and career possibilities are explored as well.
Mrs. Stephanie Canada is our Gifted and Talented teacher. She reported that 84 identified students in grades 3 -12 are being served. Students may be nominated for the program by faculty/staff, parents, community members, peers, or they can nominate themselves. General nominations are received any time during the year but are especially encouraged during September and April. The students are identified on the basis of specific and consistent criteria in several areas which can indicate giftedness as outlined in the local definition. This includes above average intellectual ability, creative thinking ability, high achievement, and task commitment or motivation. No single criterion or cut-off score may be used to exclude a student from identification and placement. Referral forms are available on our school website or by contacting the GT coordinator.
Services offered by our gifted and talented program:
High School (9th-12th) - Served through concurrent credit, secondary content, Advanced Placement courses.
Middle School (7th-8th) - Served through secondary content classes. Teachers of all core content classes have received training in providing differentiation for gifted and talented students.
Elementary (3rd -6th) - Participate in a “pull-out” program for 150 minutes of direct instruction per week provided by the GT teacher/coordinator.
Elementary Enrichment (K-2nd) - Served through 40 minutes of whole-group enrichment each week. These classes take place in the GT resource room and are led by the GT teacher/coordinator.
Community Awareness/Communication - A Gifted and Talented link is on our District’s web page (referral documents, rules and regulations, Q & A section, and all district policies and procedures are available). Gifted and Talented Facebook page: Provides an opportunity to broadcast news and information to students, parents and community members. Promotes our school’s Gifted and Talented Program.
The Parental Involvement Program is facilitated by Mrs. Greta Strobel at the elementary school and Ms. Laura Simpson at the high school. Each school plans activities to get more parents involved in the education of their child. Both schools held Open House this year on August 6, 2026, along with seventh grade orientation. Both schools hold Parent Teacher Conferences two times each year, once in the fall and another in the spring. Elementary is hosting our fourth annual Halloween trunk-or-treat on October 31st. Grandparents Day is November 20th at the elementary. We will be hosting a Touch a Truck event on Oct. 1st.. This will allow students to view, touch, and learn about emergency response, recreational, and commercial vehicles. The elementary school hosts a literacy night, Write about Christmas, inviting parents to come see what their child is learning. It is scheduled for December 2025. The high school is having a series of guest speakers from parents and others throughout the community to come into classrooms and share their expertise as it pertains to lessons students are learning. Each teacher will have at least one guest speaker come to their classroom this year. If they are unable to come in person, recordings will be made so their knowledge and experience can still be shared with students. There will be a K-12 art exhibit in the spring online. The parents and community will be invited to see the students' art projects from throughout the year. Grades and attendance are recorded electronically in e-school. Parents have access to HAC which allows them to access the child's grade, attendance, progress reports, and final grades. The school uses an automated phone messaging system to keep parents informed of important announcements and events. The Scranton School District utilizes Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and a school app to keep parents updated, share pictures, and notification of activities going on around the school. We are able to push notifications to parents for the most important events.
All five school board members received the professional development as required by A.C.A. 6-13-629. Current board members include Adam Fritsche, President; Ryan Rogers, Vice President; Larry Joe Koch, Secretary; and members Harold Scott Chatelain and Josh Terry.
The district facilities include fourteen buildings and several storage buildings and ground improvements (covered walkways, fencing) totaling $20,213,325. The contents of the buildings are valued and insured for $4,083,536. The district property insurance is handled by the Office of Property Risk through the State of Arkansas. The Arkansas School Boards Association continues to cover our vehicles and mobile equipment.
Director of Federal Programs is Mrs. Lakaen Schluterman. The district receives federal funds in Title I, Title II-A, Title VI-Reap, Title IV Student Support and Academic Enrichment. The full amount received is budgeted each year to supplement our educational process.
The district is financially sound at this time. We have no revolving loan debt. The district currently has two bonds. The last audit for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2025, had no findings. The district has been fortunate enough to transfer funds over the last several years to the building fund, maintaining a steady net legal balance. The net legal balance on June 30, 2026 was $623,573.68 Our building fund balance was $2,635,044.34. We are continuing to maintain a steady net legal balance between $600,000 to $650,000. The budgeting process for this school year is getting underway. We expect our balance to maintain around the $620,000 mark. Our building fund will be utilized to pay for the new cafeteria project coming up.
Superintendent, Mr. Toby Cook, took public comment on the state of the school as well as on the facilities master plan.