Forest High School is a school near Ocala, Florida, United States. It has an EMIT (engineering) program. The school's colors are green and gold and the school mascot is the Wildcat. As of 2014, it had an enrollment of some 2,058.
Forest High School moved to its current location on Maricamp Road, southeast of the city limits of Ocala, in 2005. The school was originally on Fort King Street in Ocala, at the 1959 campus of Ocala High School. Prior to 1965, the school was for white students only. In 1965, a group of 34 students from the nearby black school, Howard High School began attending. In 1969 the courts mandated the schools became fully integrated and Howard was closed. Vanguard High School was opened the same year, and the Marion County School Board put to rest the name Ocala High School.[2]
Engineering and Manufacturing Institute of Technology (EMIT)
EMIT is a four-year magnet engineering program at Forest High School. EMIT aims to teach its students engineering fundamentals to prepare them for postsecondary colleges or universities in engineering. The curriculum is heavily project-based that often includes problem-solving tasks which must be built and later presented to teachers. These projects typically cover the basics of many engineering disciplines, including civil engineering, aerospace engineering, and more.
EMIT was created from a $1.2 million Florida Department of Education grant in 1994. An application is required to be considered for admission.
Shooting
MCSO Deputy Jim Long's body-camera footage of Bouche's arrest following the shooting
On April 20, 2018, at 8:29 a.m, a 19-year-old former student went on school premises armed with a sawed-off16-gaugeWinchester Model 12pump-action shotgun, a black tactical vest, and a blue backpack full of gloves and shotgun shells.[3] The perpetrator, later identified as Sky Bouche, shot once through a classroom door and a piece of the door hit one student in the ankle. Immediately after, Bouche surrendered to the school staff. Marion County Sheriff's Office School Resource Deputy Jim Long soon arrested him and took him into custody.[4]SWAT officers swept the school afterwards in search of any weapons or explosives.
In court, Bouche stated that his reason for wanting to shoot up the school was because he figured it was the only way to get out of his violent home life.[5] Bouche also stated that he chose to do it on April 20th since it was the 19th anniversary of the Columbine High School massacre. Bouche was charged with Terrorism, Aggravated Assault with a Firearm, Culpable Negligence, Carrying a Concealed Firearm, Possession of a Firearm on School Property, Possession of a Short-Barreled Shotgun, Interference in a School Function, and Armed Trespassing on School Property. In 2021, Bouche was sentenced to 30years imprisonment, with the possibility of parole only after 25years, followed by an additional 30years of probationary release.[6] After Bouche was sentenced, he stated that he never intended to kill anyone, but wanted to "let people know there's something wrong" with him.[7]
Marion County School Board member Nancy Stacy cancelled all school gun-reform walkouts in Marion County due to the shooting.[8] Deputy Jim Long was labelled "Florida School Resource Officer Of The Year" for his involvement in arresting Bouche on June 20th, 2018.[9]
