News
BOE discusses projects, programs
By Peggy Blackburn - Managing Editor
Email this story |
Print this story
The Elmore County Board of Education’s annual rotation of meeting in each community in the county began Monday evening, with the panel convening at Stanhope Elmore High School.
Principal Susan Jones talked the first semester's activities and accomplishments.
“We’re excited about what’s going on here at Stanhope Elmore,” she said.
Included in Jones’ discussion of the school’s first semester were:
• The Stanhope JROTC received the highest formal inspection score of any high school in Alabama.
• The art of 17 students were displayed at the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, and the work of one was purchased by the MMFA.
• The school has received AP grant awards and will be able to add AP calculus and AP literature to the curriculum.
• Stanhope’s Youth in Government program is thriving, and students involved in the project will spearhead an Elmore County Youth in Government program.
Jones said plans for the second semester include:
• Expansion of coordinated programs. A speakers bureau, career day, career fair, site visits, lunch lectures and job fair are anticipated.
• Continuation of a cadet teacher program where high school students work with classroom teacher at Coosada Elementary on the Alabama Reading Initiative.
• Establishment of a Future Teachers of America program.
• Conducting ACT preparatory sessions at Stanhope, which are open to any student in the Elmore County School System. The school will also begin serving as an ACT test site.
• Students broadcasting on a local radio station in conjunction with a mass media class.
“We stay busy all of the time - athletically, academically and artistically,” Jones said. “There’s a lot going on and I’m really proud of our staff and students.”
Maintenance Supervisor Joe Roberts provided an update to board members, and reported incidents of frozen and burnt pipes at the Wetumpka High field house and at Robinson Springs School.
Bruce Christian, construction consultant, offered updates on larger projects. He said:
• The new Stanhope Elmore parking lot and baseball field are nearing completion. Dugouts and the concession/pressbox building are not yet complete.
• Site work on the new Stanhope gymnasium is scheduled to be finished about Feb. 1, with a groundbreaking set for Feb. 21.
• Work on the SEHS football field expansion is under way. Demolition has begun, and construction should take place from February through May.
• A preliminary design for an addition to the Stanhope library is pending board approval.
• Design work continues on the bus maintenance shed at Coosada Elementary School.
• Site work is ongoing at the new Airport Road Intermediate School. A groundbreaking is scheduled for Feb. 21.
• Construction of a storage annex at Holtville High is 75 percent complete.
• Conversion of the old HHS auditorium to a library is complete, and a ribbon cutting is set for Feb. 11.
• Renovation of the old Holtville library to classrooms is also finished, with a ribbon cutting planned for Feb. 11.
• A classroom addition at Holtville Middle School was completed in December, and a ribbon cutting will be held Feb. 11.
• Work on the conversion of Wetumpka Intermediate to Wetumpka Middle is set to begin in February, and a groundbreaking ceremony is scheduled for March 3.
• A new gymnasium at Wetumpka High is pending board approval of the preliminary design.
• Site work for the new Redland Road School is 90 percent complete. Construction is slated to start in February, with a groundbreaking Feb. 7.
• Plans are under way to convert the old Elmore County High School bandroom into a technology classroom.
• The new curriculum building on the grounds of the central office complex is expected to be finished in February or March.
The board also acted on several bids, including:
• Accepted the low bid from CannDauSon Construction - $3,137,336 plus an alternate of $3,851 (architectural brick pattern) - for new SEHS gym.
“The base bid came in about $225,000 below the architect’s estimate,” said Christian. “The base bid didn’t include bleachers, athletic equipment such as backboards or any other furnishings. Estimated cost of equipment, etc. is approximately $250,000.”
• Accepted the low bid from Lighting Systems for electrical work in new SEHS baseball locker room/dugout - $8,428.22.
• Accepted the low bid from CannDauSon for plumbing of SEHS baseball locker room/ dugout - $27,000.
• Rejected a bid of $27,000 for heat and air for the Stanhope baseball locker room/dugout and accepted a negotiated bid of $16,989 from Phil Dennis.
David Sanders, representing the Alabama Power Foundation, was also on hand to accept appreciation and recognition for the group’s contribution to the system’s art program. The foundation donated materials for 88 frames to encase prints that are used in art studies.
“We have five prints at each school, and I am rotating those every two months,” said Susan Gill, the system’s art specialist.
“I’d like you all to know how proud I am of the arts program in the county,” said Sanders. “The Foundation is proud to be a part of this.”
Elizabeth Watson, a sixth-grader at Eclectic Middle School, presented a birdhouse of her design and creation to Sanders and to Superintendent Jeff Langham.
But all the news at the meeting wasn’t pleasant.
Parent Vergia Brown appealed to the board to review an incident that occurred on a bus in he Millbrook area earlier this school year. Brown said a fight instigated by two girls who attacked a third, resulted in punishment for the victim but not the assailants.
“The casualties in this situation are many. There are no winners and very few survivors,” said Brown. “You’re setting up the children who received no punishment for worse punishment later in their life.”
In an unrelated situation, board members voted during a special called meeting before the regular session to terminate the contract of bus driver Tyron Goodman, a non-probationary employee.
The meeting ended with an executive session in which attorney Julian McPhillips addressed the board. McPhillips attended to represent his clients, Michael and Vicki Akins.
Both of the Akins are employed by the board, and believe their daughter, Michelle, was treated unfairly when she was not selected as a member of the varsity softball team although the sophomore athlete had played on the varsity squad last year as a freshman.
Since the discussion involved the good name and character of individuals, it was closed to all but the participants.
