Leah Ingram Eagle
SCBOE meetintg 8.27
SCBOE meetintg 8.27
A large crowd was in attendance at the Shelby County Board of Education meeting on Aug. 27.
After the regular meeting was adjourned, Superintendent Dr. Lewis Brooks spent time addressing the crowd, discussing several topics and answering questions.
“We recognize there's a lot of questions and concerns about traditional instruction, and our instructional team is working on helping to solve some of those issues,” Brooks said.
He said the staff has been working really hard and he knows parents want their students in school five days a week.
“I want to be clear,” he said. “That's what we want. We spend a lot of time talking about delivery of instruction, talking to doctors, public health officials and trying to analyze how this thing plays out. It has been an almost impossible situation.”
He said the shift to the cautious together phase made a week before school was because of the public health’s suggestion of keeping students 6 feet apart.
“We were primed and prepped,” Brooks said. “We were trying to prepare to start school with the 75% of students that wanted to come traditional, but in the 11th hour we had to make that change because public health said this is the standard you have to go by. I know that causes great anxiety and frustration for working parents and families. These decisions have not been made arbitrarily. I don't make those decisions unilaterally, there's a lot of discussion that goes on there's a lot of talking with my colleagues talking with other superintendents across this area. We all feel the same way.”
Brooks said he and his team are constantly analyzing data from the Shelby County School district, and that the county has shifted to the green phase of public health (low risk) which he is happy about.
“We gave ourselves four weeks to really look at this, and right now we are in week two and in all honesty, we feel like we’re seeing and in really great shape,” Brooks said. “I got the percentage positive for Shelby County Schools from our nurse this afternoon and that percentage was 0.07%. Last week it was 0.05% so that means we’re doing the right things to make sure we mitigate the spread of this disease. We are going to look at that data every single day and let everyone know when we are going to get our students back in school. We will continue to have the remote option for those who want to do that option.”
Brooks discussed the livestreaming of classes and said that although it may seem practical, there are issues with students' privacy if others can see directly into the classroom, and that it could be recorded and shared on social media.
“It is a very complicated issue when you talk about putting a video camera in a classroom,” he said. “It just doesn't work. There are privacy issues and liability issues. If we believed that was the right way to do things, we would have done that.”
Brooks said that thinking about all the things that have to be done in this unprecedented situation keep him up at night. He knows there are a lot of questions and concerns and he is working diligently to answer calls and nearly 300 emails he gets each day. We will continue to analyze the data and provide any information to you. We know how important it is for your kids to be in school and want you to know that is also what we want.”
As a leader, Brooks said he could be defiant and go against the recommendations of public health, but the moment that happens, he would be willingly neglecting what public officials are saying and this puts him and the board at a really high liability.
“These are very very different times we are dealing with and wanting to make sure we do the right thing for all our kids,” he said. “We know it's a burden, we know your frustration and we are doing the best we can with the difficult settings.
During the meeting, Brooks recognized Jim Miller, who served as the Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources who was retiring and thanked him for his service
Assistant Superintendent of Finance, John Gwin, gave his report the financial reports and received approval from the board for July expenditures.
The following items were approved by the board:
- Renewal for 54 passenger school bus for $97,189.00 from Transportation South Inc.
- Renewal for 72 passenger bus bid for $76,804.46 from Southland Transportation Group.
- A bid to Mayer Electric Supply for technology and wiring supplies for $27,097.74
- Approval for ATBE General Liability/Errors and Omissions Liability Fund Agreement
- Approval of personnel actions
- Approval of bus subs and aides
- Bid for renovations to CTEC to Battle Miller Construction
Gwin also gave a public hearing presentation of FY 2020-21 proposed budget and it will be up for approval at the next board meeting, which will take place at the Shelby County Instructional Services Center in Alabaster at 12 p.m. on Sept. 10.
