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During the June 9 Shelby County Board of Education virtual meeting, Dr. Lewis Brooks recognized several individuals in the school district as Journey Shapers.
“We have been dealing with unprecedented times, and there are a lot of people to thank for all they’ve been able to do with our school system,” Brooks said. “
- Beth Fuller, School Improvement/Federal Programs Program Specialist, and her husband Darryl Fuller have been continuing to work with Alabama Childhood Food Solutions (ACFS) in Sylacauga and have provided meals for kids and families all over the county.
- ”Lindsey Brand works in the federal programs office as well and I’m in awe of work they continue to do to help families during this difficult time,” Brooks said.
- Jay Peoples, High School Coordinator for all the high school principals was recognized for his efforts to make graduation ceremonies special for the class of 2020. Dr. Brooks said he had been dealing with pneumonia and wasn’t able to attend the ceremonies, but watched them via livestream. “I appreciate Jay Peoples for the way he led this group of principals to make it all work,” he said.
The board approved one amended financial policy for expenditures, which would allow the Superintendent or his designee to spend funds budgeted for operations without prior Board approval unless the expenditure involves an amount in excess of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) for personal services contracts. Any capital project requires board approval, and also Chief School Financial Officer will review expenditures on a monthly basis and present system-wide expenditures to the Board at regularly scheduled meetings.
Two new board policies were approved. First, all bank accounts will be reconciled on a monthly basis, by the Chief School Financial Officer as well as school bookkeepers. School principals will review and approve all local school accounts. Second, the Chief School Financial Office will review revenue on a monthly basis and present local revenue analysis to the Board at regularly scheduled meetings.
The Board also adopted a new policy for supervision of low risk juvenile sex offenders. Pursuant to Annalyn’s Law, all school systems are required to have new policy to allow for supervision and monitoring of any low risk juvenile sex offenders who may be enrolled in the local schools.
“Procedures have been developed and what we plan to do at back to school meetings is train all administrators on the guidelines necessary for us to be able to do this,” said Melissa Youngblood, Assistant Superintendent of Administration and Student Services. “It’s all about a safe school environment for the students and staff. We feel good with what we’ve developed...and feel like we have a good plan in place.”
The 2020-21 Shelby County Schools Code of Conduct and Attendance Manual was approved. Revisions include:
- Sweatpants and athletic pants will be allowed
- Redefining assault as an attack that is one-sided, causes bodily injury and requires a police report
- Added taser to the list of possession of dangerous devices
- Remove definition of sexual harassment
- Revise wording of threat to an expression (verbal or written) of intent to do harm or act out violently against oneself or others. The principal or the school system may impose additional measures that are reasonably calculated to prevent a recurrence of the violation before returning to regular classes
- Addition of information regarding field trips to include they are considered a privilege and students can be denied the opportunity to participate in a school sponsored field trip if safety is a concern due to the student’s behavior in the school setting. The principal may request the parent/legal guardian attend the field trip and if they are unable, the principal may deny participation and school attendance will be expected.
- Add vaping to items not allowed on school buses
- Revised the medication procedures summary
- Omit the Alabama Department of Public Health Immunization Form inspection section. Onsite audits by the state are no longer conducted
Brooke Dunham was named as the new Assistant Principal at Helena Elementary School. She was previously the music teacher at Chelsea Park Elementary. She will join new principal Mary Anderson, who was also previously at Chelsea Park Elementary.
David Calhoun, Assistant Superintendent of Operations, discussed the change order at re-roofing at Chelsea Middle and Calera Intermediate School. With an extra $58,000 built into the contract, after replacements were made, the balance decreased by $28,705. The unused portion of the allowance will be returned to the board.
The Board also approved additions and alterations to Vincent Middle/High school Gym Lobby. The project was already built in the budget for this current fiscal year.
“This is one of the older buildings, and when it was built it met the, but as time has moved on it does not,” Calhoun said. “The restrooms and gym lobby are not handicap accessible. The biggest portion of the project is to devote effort and energy to expanding space in restrooms to make them handicap accessible. Renovations will also include remodeling the concession areas. Of the four contractors that expressed interest, Wyatt Contractors came in as the lowest responsive bidder at $379,000.
The next Shelby County Board Meeting will be held on June 25 at 5 p.m. at the Shelby County Instructional Services Center in Alabaster.
