CHAFFEE SCHOOLS GET NEW CHIEF

Arnold Bell will be Chaffee School District's superintendent for the next two years, replacing Bob Biggs, who resigned in the spring.

Bell has been acting superintendent this year and formerly was superintendent in Sikeston for three years. He has said his goals for Chaffee schools included financial stability and improved test scores and instruction.

He saw the district through a financial squeeze at the beginning of the school year, when the board reduced staff positions and otherwise tightened the district's budget to increase fund reserves. The completion of a building project at the high school last year accounted for low fund balances.

The Chaffee Board of Education voted this month on Bell's contract.