Two county schools will begin seeing Sunday traffic after the Limestone County School Board voted to allow local churches to use school property for services.

The requests, which passed with a 5-1 vote, were presented as separate items at Tuesday’s board meeting. The board approved the requests, “contingent on updated fee structure as agreed to by parties of interest and signing of agreement, which may be canceled” by the school board.

Clements Baptist Church requested use of classrooms in the fifth-grade hall of Blue Springs Elementary School for Sunday morning classes, beginning Feb. 17 and continuing until Feb. 17, 2020.

Meanwhile, Lindsay Lane Baptist Church requested use of the old gym and two classrooms at Elkmont High School to start a new church. Student pastor Alan Ostrzycki said the church had been looking for somewhere to plant a church in northern Limestone County and settled on Elkmont as the “hub of the community” for that area.

“The opportunity afforded us through the high school seems to be a little greater than having a freestanding space or a store front area or something of that nature,” he told board members Tuesday.

Churchgoers would meet Sunday mornings at the school. In a letter addressed to the board, Ostrzycki said the church intended for the arrangement to be “a mutually beneficial partnership,” with the church purchasing equipment that could be used by the school and providing manpower toward routine upkeep of the Elkmont campus.

Board member Bradley Young, who represents Elkmont’s district, was the lone vote against each item, saying God “has been removed so far (from schools), it’s pathetic” but believing further discussion was necessary.

Bret McGill, chairman of the board, told The News Courier churches have previously hosted events on Limestone County Schools property, but to his knowledge, it was the first time a church was granted a contract of this length. He agreed there were still some questions that should be answered.

To that end, McGill said the agreements were “approved in theory with the caveat they’ll work together to get some language in the contract” that would not only protect the school and district but also the church, should the district have to opt out partway through.

Elkmont bike ride

Elsewhere Tuesday, Family Services Center Inc. requested the use of Elkmont’s facilities for its Spring Krusher Bike Ride, set for May 4.

The charity bike ride serves as a fundraiser for the group, which uses those funds to support counseling services. Riders will meet at the Elkmont High gym, departing from the parking lot at 8 a.m. and returning that afternoon, according to the request form.

The board approved the request.

Policy changes

The board also voted on several policy changes, including:

• Amended the vacation policy to allow regular full-time, 12-month employees to earn vacation at a rate of one day per month, with a maximum of 30 days accumulated and any time unused beyond 30 days lost. In the event of retirement, resignation or death, unused leave will be paid at a daily rate;

• Renamed LCBOE Policy 6.25 to “Jamari Terrell Williams Student Bullying Prevention Act Policy”;

• Added definitions for “hostile environment” and “threat,” replacing the term “harassment” with the term “bullying” and redefining “violence,” “threat of violence” and “intimidation” to include the actions must be unjustified;

• Changed the “Reporting, Investigation, and Complaint Resolution Procedures” to grant authorization for a principal or principal’s designee to not inform a parent or guardian of a student’s threat of suicide if the threat’s apparent cause is child abuse or other significant harm from a parent or guardian; and

• Expanded the post-accident testing portion of the “Drug and Alcohol Testing of Safety Sensitive Employees” to clarify circumstances under which a surviving driver must submit to testing and the time frames in which testing should occur.

Other business

In other business, the board:

• Approved a 21st Century Community Learning Center External Evaluator Agreement with Education & Assessment Solutions Inc. for Sugar Creek Elementary, Elkmont Elementary and Tanner Elementary at a cost of $6,000 each and Piney Chapel Elementary at a cost of $4,496, to be paid from 21st CCLC funds;

• Purchased four sets of wrenches at $3,007.50 each, one gloss black toolbox at $6,315, one set of foam material for each individual tool at $3,974.32 and related shipping costs at $402 (total cost, $22,721.32) by the Limestone County Career Technical Center with Perkins funds at no cost to the board;

• Approved LCCTC’s purchase of a precision measurement kit at a cost of $29,801.92, instructor verification kit at a cost of $1,359.46 and freight costs of $140 from Snap-on Tools (total cost, $31,301.38) using Perkins funds at no cost to the board;

• Approved the use of leverage funds to upgrade concrete pads under car lifts in the auto mechanics and diesel mechanics shops at LCCTC at a total cost not to exceed $25,000; and

• Approved East Limestone High School’s purchase of a used John Deere 8500 mower from McGregor Turf Farms at a cost of $8,900, with the cost to be split between the school’s football and soccer programs.