Rick Patrick
Greene Publishing, Inc.
The District School Board of Madison County held their regular bi-weekly meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 4. After an opening prayer and pledge to the flag, School Board Chairwoman, VeEtta Hagan asked if any amendments needed to be made to the agenda. There being none, Hagan opened the floor to public comment. There were no public comments to be made.
Next the board considered items for consent approval. These included minutes from previous meetings, GED requests, and staff trips not being paid out of general funds. These items passed unanimously.
Next, the board considered items for individual consideration. No staff trips from the general fund were discussed. Student trips out of Madison County were discussed and approved unanimously. There were two school zone transfer requests that were passed. The contract for the School Resource Officer was passed unanimously, without further discussion. This item had been the source of much discussion in the past, including whether a School Resource Officer was needed and whether or not to pay the officer when he was not at the school.
Next the board considered the addition of girl's flag football to the list of sports at Madison County High School. Superintendent Doug Brown informed the board that it would cost approximately $10,500 in initial funding to get this program started. This cost did not include supplemental pay for the coaches, which would need to be decided upon in accordance with the collective bargaining agreement. Brown informed the board that this addition could help with Title IX requirements and that a possible $7,500-$10,000 in donations could possibly be secured. For the first year, proceeds from the boy's football could be used to help subsidize girl's flag football. “I don't think there will be a problem with funding,” said Brown. The measure was passed unanimously by the board.
Next, the board considered permission to advertise the student progression plan. This passed unanimously. The first vote will take place on Tuesday, Nov 22. Then approval of job descriptions was considered. This measure was passed unanimously. Next, Superintendent Brown showed the board members how they could review data such as school demographics, grade distribution for individual teachers, as well as other items. Brown made it clear that individual student data are not available to the board members.
Next, Brown informed the board members of his desire to have an exhaustive, running list of all fund raisers being carried out by all the schools at any time. This list would be pre-approved by the Principals of each school. This would allow board members to better monitor the fund raising activities of the individual schools. No vote was needed.
Next, supplemental positions were presented and accepted with a unanimous vote. Then screened school volunteers were presented. A total of 124 volunteers were being considered. This passed unanimously. There was one personnel change to be considered. It was passed unanimously. There were no staffing table revisions. Permission to advertise non-instructional positions was passed unanimously. The board decided to have a workshop to discuss construction project updates. The board also decided to workshop how to dispose of surplus property.
The board was then presented with the Bronze level Florida Healthy School District flag by representatives from the Coordinated School Health Partnership.
There being no attorney items or other board member items, the meeting was adjourned.