The Limestone County School Board approved several items of business during a Tuesday night meeting, including a financial report from the district’s new chief school financial officer.

According to Kimberly Hubbard, February was a “level month.”

Currently, the the school board is five months into the 2018 fiscal year budget and total revenues from all sources sits at $32.99 million, or 44 percent. Expenditures are at $28.1 million, or 43 percent, which is one percent over where it should be, a thin margin that Hubbard said is “okay.”

According to February’s financial reports, the board still does not have one-month’s worth of operating expenses in reserve. State law requires school districts to keep at least one month of operating funds in its budget. During last month’s school board meeting, Kim McPherson, a certified public accountant and school financial expert with the Alabama Association of School Boards, suggested the board take out a line of credit. She outlined a scenario where not having enough in reserve could become a problem.

“If the state pays you one day late, none of your people are going to get paid that day,” McPherson said. “There’s not enough to cover payroll if the state is late in making payments. I’ve seen it happen in the past. I want employee payrolls to be secure.”

Hubbard said the board would consider applying for a line of credit at a future meeting, adding that “we are tightening everything up and working toward increasing that fund balance.”

“We are reviewing all expenditures to ensure they are necessary,” she said. “It’s hard to forecast when we will reach our one-month reserve because there are too many variables. However, the additional tax revenue associated with the construction of Toyota-Mazda and related industries will certainly help attain this goal.”

Personnel actions

The transfer of Amy Bates, a sixth grade math teacher at Tanner High School to Sugar Creek Elementary was approved by the school board. As previously reported, The News Courier obtained a video in which an unnamed Tanner student secretly used a cell phone to record Bates as she played for her students a recording of a contentious conversation that took place between her and the school’s principal, Louis Gordon. During the course of the video, she called Gordon “unprofessional, a joke and a waste of money.” Gordon has since been placed on paid administrative leave pending an investigation into 21 grievances filed against him by Tanner staff members.

The transfer of Tanner custodian Tina White to Johnson Elementary was also approved. White has worked at Tanner since 2005 and was named Tanner Support Staff Member of the Year in 2017.

On Wednesday, she replaced Dennis Hodges who worked as a custodian at Johnson Elementary. Hodges, in turn, replaced White at Tanner.

Curriculum report

Brad Lewis, executive director of curriculum and instruction, updated the board on the A+ College Ready programs in the schools.

According to its website, A+ College ready “works to dramatically increase the number of students in Alabama taking advanced placement courses in math, science, English and social studies, earning qualifying scores on AP exams and attending and succeeding in college. It also works to expand computer science principles to prepare more students for 21st century careers.”

Lewis happily reported that all six of the high schools in Limestone County now have an A+ College Ready program. Tanner and Clements will adopt A+ College Ready as a pilot program for the 2018-2019 school year, whereas East Limestone, West Limestone and Elkmont have been doing the program for three years.

The longer a school has had the program the more AP classes they have. For example West Limestone, East Limestone and Elkmont offer eight AP courses each, while Clements will only offer two this coming school year — AP U.S. history and AP government and politics. Tanner will offer AP U.S. history in the fall.

Lewis said that the addition of more AP classes into county schools will not interfere with the district’s already thriving dual-enrollment program.

“We want to have a balance between the two,” Lewis said. “Dual-enrollment meets the needs of some students, AP classes meet the needs of others.”

In fact, Lewis is hoping to add a dual enrollment physics course to the county’s curriculum soon.

In order for a school to offer AP course work, teachers must be willing to do professional development to prepare for the rigors of teaching AP-level courses one week during the summer and a few weeks in the fall.

“Not everyone is willing,” Lewis said. “But we have found a number of teachers who are.”

Starting this fall, students enrolled at the Limestone County Career Technical Center will be able to take AP computer science.

Lewis said guidance counselors and school principals have been doing a “great job’” getting the word out about the availability of AP classes, but would like to use social media more.

Ardmore High School

The board voted to approve several improvements at Ardmore High School, including the purchase of 491 lockers from Locker Pro for $65,960, restroom renovations for $1.2 million, and the abatement of vinyl composition floor tile in preparation for an upcoming renovation project. The combined total is $1.4 million, which is about $50,000 less than what the district expected to spend.

Recognitions

Elementary and high school Scholars Bowl students were recognized by the board during the Tuesday meeting. Blue Springs Elementary and West Limestone came out on top, winning first place in their respective age groups. Sawyer Williams, a student at Sugar Creek, was the highest scorer at the elementary level. At the secondary level, Cole Hogan, student at Ardmore High School, was named top scorer.

Addie Mae Taylor, a fifth-grade student at Sugar Creek, was also recognized as the winner of a statewide Missing Children’s Day Poster contest. Her poster will represent Alabama at the National Missing Children’s Day in May.