ARC of Shelby County names SCS community partner of the year

Representatives from the ARC of Shelby County were in attendance at the Oct. 21 Shelby County Board of Education meeting to present their Community Partner of the Year award to Shelby County Schools.

Shelby County Schools partner with the ARC of Shelby County to serve students with special needs. They have been a partner with the organization for many years and this year are celebrating 10 years of collaboration on Project Search. 

Project Search has successfully graduated 107 students and continues to provide students with intellectual disabilities the training and support they need to gain employment following graduation. 

A representative from the ARC of Shelby County said they are grateful to Shelby County Schools for their partnership with their employment services program to provide opportunities for assessments, internships and employment. 

Dr. Angela Walker, coordinator of instruction, addressed the board about the Teacher Leadership Academy. Walker said 50 percent of last year’s participants are already in leadership positions this year and said it is “a great effective program and a great way to grow leaders in our Shelby County family.”

Around 10 to 14 applicants are chosen from across the school district and meet six times throughout the school year. Their first meeting was held Oct. 19 and included training on leadership styles, hearing from the counseling department and reviewing data from the district. 

During their other meetings this year, the group will visit Career and Technical Education Center, the Linda Nolen Learning Center and the county’s bus shop. They will also hear from specific departments including finance, payroll, human resources, student services, gifted technology coordinators and community education. 

“We are hopeful at our last meeting we will be able to get the participants certified in mental health first aid through our counseling department,” Walker said. 

In the management report, John Gwin, Assistant Superintendent of Finance gave an update on the numbers from FY2021. The unreserved fund balance for the end of the fiscal year (which ended Sept. 30) was $34,265,356.07 (a 1.9 month reserve), which was higher than last year's numbers by 1.75%.

Gwin said the ending balances on all funds except debt services funds had increased. 

• The general excess revenues increased the balance $6.8 million; the special revenue fund that includes federal, CNP and local school funds increased $1.6 million.
• Capital projects fund had a large increase of $16 million. That included a bond that was issued last winter and money from it is still being spent. 
• Expendable trust (non-public funds) increased about $450,000

“Going over the budget for the end of the year, we saw increases, and met or exceeded our budget in all areas of revenue,” Gwin said. “We didn't spend as much with federal funds, with local funds we exceeded our expectations at $4.4 million. We budgeted to spend $199 million and we only spent $194 million, so that’s about $5 million that we didn’t have to spend.”

The overall budget was expected to spend $300 million but ended up spending $254 million.

Two new administrators were approved: Kasey Hollington will serve as the new assistant principal at Oak Mountain High School. She has 19 years of experience in education and has  currently been serving in the role of administrative assistant at OMHS.

“Thank you so much for this opportunity,” she said. “I was thinking on the drive down here that the decision I made in 2018 to move from Jefferson County to Shelby County was the best decision I've made in my career. I’m ready and I’m excited.” 

Ashley Bahr was approved to become the new principal of Helena High School. She has over 15 years of experience in education and has currently been serving at the central office as a secondary program area specialist for Shelby County Schools. She has previously served as assistant principal at Helena Middle and Helena High School. 

The board also approved: 

• A bid for a rebuild to replace what was damaged by a storm about 11 months ago. This was insured, part of the funding to replace this will from our insurance coverage. The school saw an opportunity to build back a little bit bigger for the batting cage.  Bennett Builders was awarded the bid for $193,000.
• The board approved a bid for substitute staffing services that will increase the pay rates about 19% for substitute teachers, about a $15 per day difference.

The next meeting of the Shelby County Board of Education will be Nov. 4 at 8 a.m. at SCISC in Alabaster.