PHOTO: (DeKalb County Alabama Schools)

By Marla Jones, Reporter

The DeKalb County Board of Education held its regularly scheduled meeting last Thursday, March 22, 2018. The Board heard several presentations regarding the new buses and property tax renewals.

Transportation Supervisor Keith Atchley updated the Board on new cameras to increase safety surveillance, digital mobile radios, and GPS on all new buses in the county. The Board approved the purchase of eleven 72 passenger buses at a cost of $77,707.00 and one 54 passenger, handicap-accessible bus at $95,251.95. According to District 4 Board Member Matt Sharp, the County has 120 bus routes that run daily. The state will pay ten percent of the cost of a new bus each year and there are currently twenty extra buses available for extracurricular routes and for use during maintenance.

Superintendent Jason Barnett spoke on the renewal of the education property tax that the Commission will put on the ballot in June. Dr. Barnett also presented the 2018-2019 DeKalb County Schools calendar for approval (calendar can be found on our website).

During the meeting, the board also:

• Approved bids for fiber insulation
• Approved retirement for Sid Parker, a Geraldine High School bus driver; Marilyn Monroe, Geraldine High School secretary; and Belinda Tillery, secondary math teacher at Collinsville High School.
• Approved a resignation for Monica Goodwin, paraprofessional at Fyffe Special Service Center
• Approved Michael Freeman for volunteer coach of Plainview High School softball
• Approved contracts for Whitney Tinker, homebound; SunDown Services, janitorial services; April Hart, Felicia Mayfield, Tara Pickers, and Bris Torres, all migrant enrichment teachers; Isaac Dismuke, conversational English/Spanish; Donna Poe, CNP worker; Jayce Erwin, computer tech; and Angie Gattis, clerical worker in technology
• Approved leave of absences to Amy Robertson, Amber White, Sandra Hubbard, Erin Brown, Jimmy Shelton, Meagan Ramage, Kimberly Crider, Samuel McKinney, Linda Thacker, and Nicole Green
• Approved transfers for Erica Harper from Asst. Secretary to High School Secretary at Geraldine and Rebecca Griffin from Itinerant Diagnostician to Psychometrist at the Annex
• Approved placements to Michaela White to Secondary English Language Arts Teacher at Crossville High School and Megan Gilbert to Secondary Math Teacher at Collinsville High School

The next DeKalb County Board of Education meeting will be on April 19, 2018 at 5pm, with a work session beginning at 4pm.