WOODLAWN - Former Woodlawn High School Principal Jeff Wylie has been hired to serve as the interim principal of Woodlawn Elementary in order to give the school district more time to find a permanent replacement for Heather Cox, who resigned from the position after one year on the job.The Woodlawn School Board accepted Cox's resignation and also approved hiring Wylie to serve as the interim elementary principal through the fall semester.Superintendent Dr. Kevin Hancock explained that finding principal candidates this time of year can be very difficult since many possible prospects have already signed contracts for the upcoming 2024-25 school year. He said the plan is to have Wylie serve as the interim principal through the fall semester before assessing where the district is at in its search for a new elementary principal.Wylie served as Woodlawn High School principal for 16 years before retiring at the conclusion of the 2020-21 school year. He still resides within the Woodlawn School District."It's better for the district to have someone that knows the district," Hancock said of hiring Wylie for the interim post.Cox was hired last May to succeed Barbara Varnell, who resigned after two years on the job. Prior to taking the job at Woodlawn, Cox was FLEX administrator for Arkansas Virtual Academy, which is a full-time online public school for kindergarten through 12th grades. Elementary Cell Phone UseAfter some discussion, the school board approved the latest revisions to the Woodlawn Elementary student handbook as recommended by the handbook committee. The change that drew the most discussion from the school board concerned the use of cell phones by students in the elementary school.Hancock, reading from notes submitted by the committee, said the recommended policy was that no cell phones will be allowed at the school, and that they must remain in the student's backpack at all times. Boar...
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