The Smackover-Norphlet School District will hold a town hall meeting tonight at 6 p.m.
The meeting will be held at the Hobgood Auditorium on the campus of Smackover High School.
SNSD Superintendent Jason Black said in a statement that the town hall’s purpose is to foster communication between the district and the parents and community members who are a part of it.
“We would like to… discuss all the great things our staff and students are doing and also get feedback from our communities as we make long range plans for the future. These discussions will include academic plans, athletics [and] extracurricular opportunities, facility updates, and other information that could help move our district forward,” Black said.
Panel introductions and an overview from the district will precede a Q&A session.
SNSD special programs director Teri Philyaw said that the town hall is open to anyone interested in the district and its plans for the future.
“We want anybody to come who has an interest in hearing about what we’re doing or plan on doing or anybody who might have input,” she said.
The discussion will not be one way, Philyaw added, and the district is open to suggestions from community members.
The district panel will consist of administrators from every school in the district - Smackover Elementary, Norphlet Middle School and Smackover High School - as well as the superintendent.
Black has indicated that the town halls will be an ongoing feature used by the district to communicate with the community.
This first meeting will serve, at least in part, to introduce the concept.
“It’s the first [town hall] we’re doing, so we’re excited to see how it will work out too,” Philyaw said.
A specially called Smackover-Norphlet School Board meeting will precede the town hall at 5:30 p.m. The topic of the meeting will be whether students will continue wearing masks in light of the COVID-19 pandemic through the remainder of the school year now that the statewide mask mandate has been lifted