August 9, 2022 at 5:30 PM - Board of Education Work Session

Rationale:  Dr. Duke went over the latest enrollment numbers at this point with the board, since they are ever-changing. He explained that he would send a updated chart on Friday so that they could compare numbers between this meeting and Friday. 

Jimmy Richardson asked if, once the numbers settle, Dr. Duke could provide an enrollment chart showing how close we were to our projections for this year.   

There was more discussion regarding enrollment.  Mr. Ballard also asked at what point will we need to build another school. Amanda Moore asked about the students that were rezoned.  She would like to know how many of those students actually went to their newly rezoned school.

Rationale:  Maria Johnson, the new Director of Human Resources and Educator Effectiveness presented an HR report to the board.  The board received a copy.  The report gave them information on new hire demographics, new hire by location, exit interview data, end of the year resignations, terms, retirees, and end of the year transfers.

Mrs. Johnson also added that every certified position has been filled. She explained that principals have more involvement in the hiring process now.  She told the board that she and her team are in the process of hiring more substitute teachers now.

There was discussion regarding partnerships with universities to help with the teacher shortage.

Mr. Ballard asked if we have a mechanism for people wanting to make more money.  Mrs. Johnson explained that we are working to provide more leadership opportunities for our teachers.

Mr. Settles praised the HR team, Mrs. Johnson, and Mr. Ringstaff for a job well done in filling all teaching positions.

Dr. Duke celebrated in the fact that we have three teachers that have received huge honors recently, one is a State TOY finalist, one received the Presidential Award for Math and Science, and one Milken Award winner.

There was discussion regarding the new library law and the fact that teachers have to catalog their classroom libraries. Elizabeth Taylor explained that the law was unclear, but her legal opinion was that this new law did apply to classroom libraries.  She said that school districts should receive more direction by December 1. Dr. Duke added that the message to teachers is not to stress over cataloging their books until we receive more guidance.
 

Rationale:  Dr. Duke presented a PowerPoint that explained the State of the Schools. 
He talked about the impact of COVID on our scores, and the fact that we still had gains because our instruction team was stellar and provided intense and strategic professional development for our teachers.

Dr. Duke presented snapshots of Math, ELA, and Science scores.

He talked about the reading curriculum and told the board that we are seeing 7-10 point gains in schools that have used this curriculum for several years.

Dr. Duke went over the Instructional Priorities with the board and touched on chronic absenteeism. He told the board that we will be re-launching the Everyday Matters campaign soon.

He talked about the new truancy program that will soon be in place that Ms. Taylor and Mr. Joe Marlin are implementing that should help with chronic absenteeism. Dr. Duke added that he hoped this would take some workload off of the principals.

Dr. Duke ended this portion of the meeting with the fact that we are celebrating our proficiency gains even during COVID.

Rationale:  Dr. Chris George is working on the strategic plan dashboard and this will be shared with the board at the January work session.

Rationale:  Ralph Ringstaff and Larry Willeford went over the Capital Improvement Plan with the board. They provided the board with a plan for 2022-2027. This plan provided information on upcoming projects and when these projects will take place. 

Chair Campbell asked about the bus garage and where we were with that. The plans for the bus garage are expected in 2024.  Dr. Duke explained that we have the money earmarked, but the city has said no building at this time. He said that we are also looking for an existing vacant building.  Dr. Duke said that he is continuing to work with the city on this, and it is still on the list.

There was more discussion regarding when we would need to build a new school.  Dr. Duke said that the worst case scenario would be 2026, but we would need to open in 2025. He said that we have a huge first step in that we already have the land to build on.

 

Rationale:  This portion of the meeting was closed to the public.  Sgt. Hayley Shannon, Mr. Ringstaff, and Christopher Young went over the safety procedures for our school district.

Rationale:  Dr. Duke told the board that if they have feedback on the Capital Improvement Plan to please let him know before the vote on August 23.

He also reminded the board that if they have anyone to nominate for the Hall of Fame, please do so before the deadline of August 15.

The meeting adjourned at 8:27 p.m.