LINDEN &8212; After first serving as assistant superintendent and interim superintendent for the last several months, Scott Collier was officially named superintendent for Linden City Schools at their board meeting Monday night.

Since Collier has taken the helm, he has helped get new technology initiatives into the classroom including having laptops for all of the advanced placement students at Linden High School. Collier has also helped get the system on track financially by working toward one month&8217;s operating costs put into the reserve fund.

At last month&8217;s board meeting, Collier and his staff were in the process of applying for a series of grant funds for different projects in the system. One pertinent project, according to Collier, is getting some aid to make much-needed repairs to the LHS gym.

After hearing back from the grant agency, Collier said the system was awarded $155,000 to partially fund the project. Other grant awards include $30,000 for the technology initiative and $30,000 for some construction work at the Marengo County Technology Center.

After these announcements, the board approved for review a proposed student cell phone and electronic device policy. Some of the key components of the policy address the times and places for cell phone use on school premises.

According to Collier, the new policy would allow students to have cell phones, but they would only be allowed to use them before the first bell of the day and after the last bell of the day. For extracurricular activities, the policy requests students ask prior permission for use from their coach or sponsor.

For other electronic devices, such as MP3 players, Collier said the policy requests students ask prior permission to use the item in the classroom or in extra curricular activities.

In other business, the board approved the 2008-2009 school calendar.