By Louie Graves
News-Leader staff
When their 30-minute executive session was over, Monday night, members of the Mineral Springs School Board took about five minutes to make two significant hires for the coming school year.
To fill the spot being vacated by Superintendent Curtis Turner, the board voted to hire Thelma Forte, a Texarkana, Ark., school administrator.
A familiar figure will be on the football sidelines for the MS Hornets in the fall. Following the superintendent vote, the board voted unanimously to hire David Bennett, who has been head coach at Prescott, his native Dierks, and for the past year, at Horatio.
Superintendent Forte will have a two-year contract. Following the meeting, she was described for the newspaper as a “great hire” by board president Williams Dixon. Board member Mike Erwin echoed Dixon’s enthusiasm, saying that Forte is a native Arkansan and is a “nationally known educator.”
Both votes were unanimous. The whole board was present, but Turner was away with a basketball team. Present were board members Dixon, Erwin, Sheila Jackson, Jamie Jackson, Dorothy Vaughn, Zemeria Newton and Ray Hawkins.
In the past month and a half, the MS board has had several meetings to consider filling the positions.
