The Ozark School District #14 is a public school district in western Arkansas, based in Ozark, Arkansas, serving most of northern Franklin County and a small portion of western Johnson County. The district is a member of the Western Arkansas Educational Service Cooperative, which includes districts in western Arkansas. As of 2004, the student population of the district was about 1,600. The above figure was tallied before the Altus-Denning School District merged with this district the same year, making future tallies notably higher. The district, most notably the high school, is most famous for its mascot, the Hillbilly. Patrons claim that Ozark is the only district in the Union with the Hillbilly as its mascot, though both the nickname and comparable likenesses are used by other schools. However, Ozark is the only district to use the nickname and likeness together. The assistant superintendent of the district is Bill Gossage, since 2013 a Republican member of the Arkansas House of Representatives from District 82, which includes Franklin and parts of Crawford and Madison counties.
History
On July 1, 2004 the Altus-Denning School District consolidated into the Ozark School District; the communities of Altus and Denning became parts of the Ozark district.
Statistics
Area
The district covers approximately 566.5 km², including the 40.2 km² served by Altus-Denning prior to merging in 2004. The area served is split into two areas. Most of the district covers the central, east-central, and most of the northeastern parts of Franklin County, and a small portion of Johnson County between the Jasper and Westsideschool districts. The area separated from the rest of the district by the Mulberry–Pleasant View and Huntsville school districts serves the northwest part of Franklin County around the community of Fern.
Students
As of 2004, before Altus-Denning merged with the district, the Average Daily Membership of the school district was 1600, with approximately 40-45% of students eligible for free or reduced lunches under the Federal School Lunch Program.
As of the 2008 - 2009 school year there were 1,863 students enrolled in the Ozark School district with 5 total schools and 150 classroom teachers. This gave a student/teacher ratio of 12.42. There were 11 kindergarten teachers, 67 elementary teachers, 59 secondary teachers, and 13 ungraded. The total revenue for the 2008-2009 school year amounted to $8,657 per student.
Mailing Address: 1601 Walden Drive Ozark, AR 72949
Telephone: 479-667-3464
Elgin B. Milton Elementary School
Principal: Lori Griffin Assistant Principal: Lori Griffin
Mailing Address: 1601 Walden Drive Ozark, AR 72949
Telephone: 479-667-4745
Ozark Kindergarten School
Principal: Kelly Burns
Assistant Principal: Kim Allred
Counselor: Kim Allred
Mailing Address: 700 N 12th Street Ozark, AR 72949
Telephone: 479-667-3021
Mascot and Colors
The school emblem and colors have been shared by all schools in the district. The Hillbilly, which is almost always depicted in purple overalls and armed with a shotgun, was adopted as the school emblem in 1935. Purple and gold were adopted as the school colors the same year, replacing the red and white that had been used. The mascot and colors were similar to that of what was then the College of the Ozarks, whose mascot was the Mountaineer until the 1980s. The original mascot was the Bulldogs until the 1930s when the school board voted to change it to the Hillbilly. In 2008, the high school baseball team tried to revive the original logo and colors, displaying the original "OHS" logo on their baseball hats which symbolizes a large "O" representing a baseball with an "H" in the middle symbolizing the seams on the baseball and then the letter "S".
Athletics
The school is a member school of the Arkansas Activities Association and competes in the 4A classification and is a member of District 1 as of the 2011-2012 school year. Below are the head coaches and sponsors for the different sports and clubs which are overseen by the AAA for Ozark High School.
