South Alabamian

Clarke public schools’ enrollment virtually unchanged from last year




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For the first time in several years, Clarke County’s public school enrollment is holding steady — not growing but not declining as in past years.

The county system is projected to have 2,164 students this school year, an increase of four over last year’s 2,160.

By contrast, the 2021-22 enrollment was down about 70 from the previous year.

Carmen Rotch, the county’s chief financial officer presented the figures at the Clarke County Board of Education’s Aug. 25 meeting as the first of a two-part budget hearing necessary before the board approves the budget for the new fiscal year.

Also detailed were employee numbers for the system including teachers, administrators and staff. The number of teachers is tied to enrollment for state funding.

The student numbers are subject to change before a final “official” enrollment is determined in October.

The decline is understandable, given the continued slide of the overall population for the county.

A number of variables are at play — an older population, younger families moving out of the county and/or couples opting to have fewer children and some none at all.

See the chart above for numbers and foundation funds for individual schools.

Rotch cautioned not to try and compare foundation monies as there are a variety of variables that affect funding for each school including the number of students and teachers, the physical buildings, utilities and other factors.

The number of total employees is virtually the same, 371 with the most of those, 125, being teachers.

The system is projecting revenues of $30.2 million, including state, federal and local funds, and expenditures of $31.2 million. The bulk of the expenditures, some $14.4 million, is for instructional services.

Teachers will see an increase in funds allotted to them to purchase school supplies — from $700 to $900. Even so, at least 30 teachers did not spend their allotment last year. She said elementary teachers more often spend theirs and more using personal funds but the higher grade teachers are not as good at utilizing the money.

Asked at the end of the meeting, Rotch said that the county received an estimated $17 million in ESSER (Elementary & Secn See ondary School Emergency Relief Fund) funding because of the Covid pandemic. Approximately $5 million to $6 million of that money remains but it is already allocated. The money is not reflected in the budget.

The second budget hearing will be held at the board meeting on Monday, Sept. 12 at 4 p.m. This is a different day from the usual Thursday meetings so that the budget can be approved ahead of the beginning of the fiscal year on Oct. 1.

Supt.’s report

Superintendent Larry Bagley said the new school year is off to a good start. He thanked the cities of Grove Hill and Jackson and their chambers of commerce as well as the Grove Hill Baptist Church for providing separate breakfasts and a brunch for teachers. “All of these events were very appreciated by our folks and helped us to begin the school year on a positive note.”

Bagley said there is a strong remediation program in the schools with more than 20 retired teachers assisting students. “We have taken full advantage of ESSER funding to help students recover from what the state calls a learning loss because of Covid.”

He said he will be meeting with other superintendents soon to begin drafting a budget priority list to present to the Alabama Legislature when it convenes the first of the year. Capital improvement plans are being prepared in case there is the possibility of another bond issue from the state. “Although I am very pleased with the work being done within our facilities, there are still several inside projects we need to renovate.”

Agenda items

There were only a handful of routine agenda items to be approved including the appointment of Elissa Brown as the Central Office representative to the Sick Bank Committee, approval of a Board Policy Committee, approval of payment of the general liability/errors and omissions insurance for $1,100, approval of a field trip for the Jackson High School basketball team to Waynesboro, Miss. on Feb. 2, 2023 (Bagley said he wished everyone would submit such requests early) and the required giving of a student incident report to board members for the 2021-22 school year.

Bills of $715,315.70 and payroll of $1,896,688.63, a total of $2,612,004.33 were approved.

Personnel

The board approved the following personnel items.

Employment: Angelique Dickinson, WHMS teacher; Kathy Gaston, JHS ACCESS facilitator; Alphonza Harris, bus driver; Richard Myers, CCHS band director; Tori Posey, JIS teacher; Marilyne Richardson, GHES teacher; Janet Robinson, JHS special education aide; Eastwood Thomas, JHS history teacher; Rebecca Wallace, GHES child nutrition assistant.

Resignations: Cynthia Auld, JIS teacher (retirement); Mitzi Baugh, GHES child nutrition assistant; LaRhonda Braggs, GES special education teacher; Monica McSween, JIS teacher; Chloe Rush, GHES teacher.

Tranfers: Cara Gibson, JHS special education aide to GES special education aide; Danica Jones, fulltime psychometrist to parttime psychometrist; Keandra Smith Scott, mental health specialist to GES special education teacher.

Teams contracts: Marlon Beech, Esther Chaney- Jones, Jenny Criswell, Melassand James, Latoria McCall, Alvis Merida, Clair Newton, Bridget Odom, Will Powell, Tiffany Spencer, Crystal Tarleton, Tamiko Taylor, Joy Thomas, Benny Turberville.

FYI: An Internet definition says school psychometrists are mental health professionals who administer psychological tests to children. These tests identify learning disabilities, mental illness and other problems in school children.

All school board members were present except for Charlton “Charlie” Anderson.

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