The Madison County District School Board met Tuesday, August 4 at 6 p.m. The meeting was called to order by Chairman Kenny Hall and the agenda was approved. To kick off the meeting, Karen Pickles motioned to approve the School Improvement Fund, contracted with Jerri Ann Webb for Behavioral Services and GED Requests, seconded by Susie Williamson. Next, the code of student conduct for 2015-2016 became open for public comment. The first concern brought up by many parents was the availability of the code of conduct. “How can we input if it isn't published?,” one woman asked. “We assume that everyone has access to technology, and that's just not the case,” another parent remarked. “A lot of people don't have access to technology to go online and see documents.” “We should make these documents accessible to everyone who wants one,” VeEtta Hagan declared. “We will have a special meeting to approve the code of student conduct next Tuesday,” said Chairman Kenny Hall. “Following that, we will have an executive session.” The meeting will be held at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, August 11. There will be physical copies of the student dress code policy available at this special workshop. Until then, the public hearing for the student code of conduct will remain open for discussion to insure that everyone understands the dress code. The dress code policy for the school year 2015-2016 is khaki pants, dark pants, dark jeans and solid-colored shirts without “stripes or logos, unless it's a school logo.” The dress code policy also prohibited straps and see-through sheer pieces of clothing. “Two years ago when we had the dress code issue, we had a board meeting and the direction we had was to do a survey,” said Brown.
“The survey suggested we do away with uniforms and allow the students to wear jeans.” After the approval of the special workshop and dress code conduct, the next thing brought to attention was the Student Improvement Grant (SIG) for Madison County Central School. Felecia Moss took the floor. Moss presented budgets for year two and announced that a new regional executive director, Melissa Ramsey, will be joining the staff. Kenny Hall asked about the stipends for additional teachers that participate in curriculum development. Felecia Moss spoke enthusiastically about the development. “We had another set this week,” said Moss. “The teachers have been working diligently. It's been very productive.” After the update on SIG, the Board approved the motion for the part-time custodian position from five hours to six hours a day at DJJ. The next item on the agenda for individual consideration was the change of administration status for the Dean of Students to become Principal. This change of status was motioned by Hagan and seconded by Karen Pickles. All five board members supported this motion. Kenny Hall brought the discussion forward by addressing personnel changes. Willie Williams announced that there were two instructional recommendations at DJJ, four instructional recommendations at Madison County Central School and two instructional recommendations at Madison County High School. Williams also reported that there are 39 substitute teachers available to work at the schools. Madison County High School still has vacancies needing to be filled. “We have one teaching position remaining open at the high school,” said Brown. “We still have a speech therapist position opened and advertised.” Brown also announced a need for several cafeteria positions and two teaching positions to be filled at Madison County Central. Greenville also has vacancies. “With 186 students, it's not right,” said board member Bart Alford. “It takes time to fill all of those positions,” Williams remarked. Susie Williamson motioned to approve the advertising of non-instructional positions, and this motion was approved by all board members. Brown then reported the construction project updates. “I encourage all of you to go take a look at it,” said Brown. “It's coming along really well.” Brown proceeded to express his uncertainty about the cafeteria construction's completion. “I'm not one-hundred percent certain that the cafeteria will be completed for the first week of school,” said Brown. “That is due to some of the flooring coming from the manufacturer later than anticipated.”
Brown also added that the manufacturer is doing everything they can to get supplies needed and the cafeteria is expected to be ready for week two of school. Because of construction in the portables, Open House will not be held at the high school; grade level meetings will be held the first week of school for grades nine through 12. To finish off the District School Board meeting, Superintendent Brown congratulated Madison County kindergarten teacher Ceola Graham, one of the five 2016 finalists for teacher of the year in Florida. Graham attended the Florida Department of Education/Macy's Gala in Orlando on July 10. While she did not win the title of teacher of the year, Ceola received a $5,000 prize, a $500 Macy's gift card and a generous grant donation of $1,000 to Madison County Central School. Brown presented the video nomination that played at the Macy's Gala. The room echoed with laughter and endearing “aww's” as the video played. “I learned a lot about how to be a leader and how to go into my team and have a growth mindset,” Ceola Graham said. Graham believes teaching children to take risks and go out of their comfort zones will guarantee them success. “Macy's put emphasis on education and not many companies do that,” said Brown. Superintendent Brown also announced at the end of the meeting that free school supplies will be given out at Open House at Madison County Central School. The Open House will be held for three days for different grades: Pre-K to 2nd grade: Wednesday, August 12 from 5:30-7:30 p.m. 3rd to 5th grade: Thursday, August 13 from 5:30-7:30 p.m. 6th to 8th grade: Friday, August 14 from 5:30-7:30 p.m.
[inpost_fancy thumb_width="200" thumb_height="200" post_id="3395" thumb_margin_left="0" thumb_margin_bottom="0" thumb_border_radius="2" thumb_shadow="0 1px 4px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2)" id="" random="0" group="0" border="" show_in_popup="0" album_cover="" album_cover_width="200" album_cover_height="200" popup_width="800" popup_max_height="600" popup_title="Gallery" type="fancy" sc_id="sc1438889163372"]
1. Greene Publishing, Inc. Photo By Selina Iglesias, August 5, 2015. The Madison County District School Board members show their smiles after a productive and informative meeting on Tuesday, August 4. Pictured, from left to right, are: Kenny Hall, VeEtta Hagan, Karen Pickles, Bart Alford and Susie Williamson.