The meeting time for school board meetings has been changed from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. on the second Thursday of the month.
The change was made at the last meeting of the board to accommodate board member Stacey Herrin in her job. It was also mentioned that the format of the agenda would most likely be changed to allow staff members not to have to attend the entire meeting, explaining that some members commute a long distance daily.
It was not announced at the meeting, but the annual contract amount for new county superintendent Dr. Toriano Holloway is $130,000 per year with a three year contract as superintendent.
Former superintendent Greg Paes had received a raise to $137,000 before his retirement, but Holloway was hired at a lesser rate than the district was paying Superintendent Paes. Paes’s salary was raised to the average of heads of like sized school districts.
Herrin reiterated her position that the community should be allowed to have input on the future of the public school in Simpson County. This comes in light of recent discussions about creating a consolidated high school.
The board heard concerns from Melanie Warren in her position as physical therapist for the school district. She reported that recently she came to the district and stated that she could do her job in 10 hours less time than she was being compensated for.
She said she was offered $4 per hour less than the starting rate was 27 years ago. She told the board that she had saved the district over $100,000 a year and did not feel that the new pay schedule that Dr. Robert Sanders, assistant superintendent for human resources, was implementing was fair. She said she had not had a raise in over 10 years.
Sanders confirmed that the pay was commensurate with the compensation that nurses are being paid, based on a teacher pay comparison.
The board agreed to review the information and to make a decision on the issue at the next meeting.
A recommendation from Nurse Judith Jones, district coordinator of student health, suggested that the board have mandatory COVID-19 testing weekly for all students participating in extra-curricular activities, specifically in football and band.
Jones stated that students who participated in those activities had a higher level of positive tests for COVID-19 as well as being identified as needing to be quarantined.
While the testing would require parental consent it may be made a requirement for participation. The board was concerned that this would be a change in policy and were not ready to make that decision until they had more statical information. The district would be reimbursed at the rate of $40 per child per test.
There is a projected short fall in funding for the new fifth grade building in Mendenhall. The shortage is $343,417.71. No one on the staff or board could identify where the funding was to come from so they made the determination that it would come from interest of 16th section interest. Which is a proper use of those funds. The reason given for the overage was because of drainage issue that were created and it was determined that it would be more prudent to correct the issue now rather than later.
The board heard an update from Magee Middle School’s Principal Tracye Pierre on improvement of benchmark scores. April Williams, high school counselor, also brief the board with their progress. Sydney Magee, Mendenhall Jr. High presented a written report to the board for their approval.
It was also discussed during the meeting that as Chromebooks met their life expectancy they would need to be replaced. That was part of the agreement that there would be plans in place to see that the district would plan and pay for the new equipment. This was not intended as a one time investment primarily because of the life-expectancy of the equipment. The district initially invested $1.6 million for the Chromebooks.
There were revisions to current handbooks discussed. A special called meeting of the board is set for June 30 at 5 p.m. to handle end of fiscal adjustments.
Joanna Maddox, director of finance, reported that the bank reconcilations are progressing and that bank reconciliation for the district for the 2019 through 2020 would be completed this month. Once the bank reconcilation is completed the audit can be done.
