The Madison County School Board came together for their bi-monthly meeting on Tuesday, April 21 at 6 p.m. After amendments were made to the agenda, the board welcomed comments from the public. Citizen, Norah Jones, approached the podium with several issues to address. The first, was the issue of an unpaid medical bill. Her daughter played softball for Madison County High School in 2013. At a game in Lake City, she was injured and her nose was broken in three places. Jones's daughter had to have surgery due to the significant damage to her nose. According to Jones, after filling out the appropriate forms and providing documentation with the Superintendent and his secretary, she was assured the bill would be paid in full by the Madison School District. However it has been two years and the bill has not been paid, racking up finance charges and damaging Jones's credit-- despite visiting the Superintendent's office multiple times over the years. The board agreed the bill needed to be paid as soon as possible and made arrangements to take care of the problem. Jones's next concern was that of the poor conditions of Greenville Elementary's gym. The gym's disrepair had been addressed at the April 7 School Board meeting briefly. “I heard the gym had been repaired... however, it was a disaster once I got there,” said Jones. She handed the board members photos of the conditions of the gym, showing where the ceiling and walls were yellowed and discolored and the ceiling was leaking. Jones asserted it looked like the construction workers had merely sprayed sealant on the ceiling and little else. There were various hazards to the students and Jones remarked there was no way the allotted $80,000 for the repairs at GES was used. “I don't see $80,000 of work... what I did visualize was wrongful,” said Jones. She referred to the attempted repair as a “botched job,” imploring, “It is time to do the right thing; get off the pacifier and modify the situation correctly.” After hearing public concerns, the board voted to consent the agenda. The next item up for discussion was staff trips, which were to be voted on separately. Board member, VeEtta Hagan, expressed her concern with Chief Academic Officer, James Mills, attending one of the staff trips since his resignation will be effective soon. She suggested someone else suitable should attend in order to bring the information back to the school for its benefit, stating that, since Mr. Mills was leaving, he would take any information gained to another school district and would not be present long enough for Madison to benefit from his newly-received knowledge. Board member Karen Pickles agreed and board member, Susie Williamson, made a motion that all staff trips be approved on the condition a suitable replacement is found for Mills. Karen Pickles seconded the motion and the board unanimously voted to approve the trips. The next agenda item up for individual consideration was to address the school recognition funds for Madison County Central School -- a problem which has plagued the school board, teachers and faculty for some time now. At the April 7 meeting, the board collectively agreed to allow the School Advisory Committee (SAC) meet with faculty and staff and come to an agreement on how they want to distribute the grant money, due to the fact the Florida Department of Education (FDOE) has remained silent on the issue and reluctant to lend their advice on handling the matter. However, before the April 21 meeting, FDOE finally made contact with Superintendent Brown, stating their disproval of the board's decision and that they would be sending an alternative solution in the near future. To many faculty's dismay, the school board tabled the item in order to await further instruction from FDOE on how to properly distribute the grant money. As of press time, it was agreed that, as soon as word is received, a special workshop will be called to order and a decision will be made. Faculty, board members and the Superintendent agreed that the SAC committee along with staff and faculty, at their first or second meeting of the year, should decide on how they want funds distributed should this occasion arise in the future. (This in order to avoid confusion and meet FDOE deadlines.) The next item up for discussion was the possible resurfacing of the tennis courts at Madison County High School. Alan Androski approached the podium and informed the board of the courts' disrepair. He displayed photos which showed two-inch gaps in the court and places where weeds were growing through cracks. The pictures were taken merely days after a tennis meet. Androski mentioned that the U.S. Tennis Association would supply funding if the tennis courts were open to the public. (With first priority given to the school.) The board collectively agreed a workshop would need to be scheduled in order to come up with a possible solution. Hagan suggested it should become a joint project between the county, city and School District, since it involved public access. Next, Willie Williams, Chief Operations Officer, approached the podium and presented job description revisions for principals, assistant principals, a transition specialist and truancy officer. Board member, Bart Alford expressed his concerns for the continuous problems with truancy (illegal absences) and suggested a workshop be held with the new truancy officer to discuss their job description and possible improvements. He then made a motion to accept the job description revisions on the condition a workshop is held. “People need to know we're not playing about this,” said Alford. The revisions were accepted upon his stipulation. Afterward, Williams presented a list of screened school volunteers, personnel changes and instructional recommendations-- all were approved unanimously. Next, Superintendent Brown presented proposed student trips. The board unanimously approved all trips. Lastly, Williams, after fetching salary information at the request of Karen Pickles, asked for permission to advertise non-instructional positions, which included a new bookkeeper at MCHS and a receptionist for the district office. His request was approved unanimously.
Madison School Board: cracking down on botched jobs and truancy
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