By DON FLETCHER
News Staff Writer
The Escambia County Board of Education, during a 24-minute meeting held May 18 — one of the board’s shortest sessions in recent memory — approved a revision to a revised salary schedule that was approved last week, tabled a pending police amendment and hired two new administrators.
Superintendent Michele McClung reported in her “District good news report,” that officials had placed yard signs at the homes of each of the Top 10 seniors from each county high school, designating the student’s place among his classmates. Also, similar signs were placed in the yards of juniors who met the standards for all parts of the ACT.
“We put yard signs from Atmore to the other side of Brewton,” the superintendent said. “We honored 99 students — the top 10 at Escambia County High (ECHS), Flomaton High and W.S. Neal High. We congratulated them, wanted our community to know a Top-10 student lived where they lived.
“Then, every junior who benchmarked on all areas of the Act (69 of them), has a sign saying, ‘this kid benchmarked the ACT.’ We’re proud to put those signs out and hope to motivate students across our county to get their sign next year.”
Prior to approving a list of recommended personnel actions, the board heard from Chief Schools Financial Officer Rochelle Richardson that the school system’s unreserved fund balance on April 30 was $12,668,466.83. That is equivalent to 3.33 months of operating reserve.
“We’re still due money from the state and feds,” the CSFO explained. “We have $2.7 million in reimbursable COVID relief expenditures for which we spent local funds.”
After McClung reported that county schools “have an additional $9 million left in Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds that have to be spent by September 2024,” Richardson pointed out that lots of salaries (McClung estimated $6 million) will come out of that.
Also during the May 18 meeting, the five board members present (District 1’s Kevin Hoomes and District 6’s Sherry Digmon were unable to attend.):
*approved a revision to the recently revised salary schedule to account for a bus aide that will be required for a special needs student who will attend summer school.
*tabled a revised Wellness Policy for 30 days, which is board protocol.
The superintendent then introduced Ashley Mosley, former assistant principal at Flomaton High School, who becomes the school system’s Supervisor of Federal Programs, and Monica Bondurant, from Pace High School in Santa Rosa County, Fla., as the system’s new Work-based Learning Coordinator.
Finally, Board Chair Danny Benjamin (District 2) asked the board to meet in special session at 4:30 p.m. on June 1, at the Central Office in Brewton. The regular June meeting will take place at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, June 29, also in Brewton.
After the meeting, Deputy of Operations Shawn Goolsby said the board had opened bids for the new athletic fieldhouse that is to be built at ECHS.
“We’re waiting to present them to the board,” he said.