VIDEO: DeKalb County Board of Education accepts bids for new buses

PHOTO: Dr. Jason Barnett and members of the DeKalb County Board of Education review a principal's contract during this month's meeting. (Tyler Pruett | Southern Torch)

By Tyler Pruett, Managing Editor

tyler@southerntorch.com

RAINSVILLE, Ala. — On Thursday night, the DeKalb County Board of Education held it's regular March meeting. The board accepted bids for new buses, recognized an outstanding teacher, and approved retirements, resignations, and placements.

One of the first orders of business was to recognize a teacher from Valley Head, who was not only named the DeKalb County Teacher of the Year, but also won the state award for Family and Consumer Sciences.

"Mrs. Barbara Neel and her husband Mike are with us Mrs. Barbara Neel, in addition to being named the DeKalb County Teacher of the Year, she also won the State Family and Consumer Science Teacher of the year award," said Superintendent Dr. Jason Barnett.

Valley Head Principal Bill Monroe was also in attendance to recognize Mrs. Neel for this remarkable achievement.

"She is a wonderful teacher. I should also say that her students are the reason she won this award, and that's probably true. But as educators we know that our students are a reflection of us," said Monroe.

"She has wonderful students because she's a wonderful teacher," he added.

Members of the DeKalb County Board of Education with award-winning Valley Head Teacher Barbara Neel. (Tyler Pruett | Southern Torch)

The board also moved to accept a bid for 10, 72 passenger buses for $76,455.00 per bus from Transportation South, which Barnett pointed was about $3000 cheaper than last year. The board also accepted a bid for a single, 54 passenger bus, also from Transportation South.

Principal contracts were also renewed for Bill Monroe at Valley Head and Donny Jones at Collinsville. Both contracts are for three years, through June 30, 2020.

During the Superintendent's comments, Dr. Jason Barnett discussed renting a property on Highway 75 in Rainsville to be a physical location for the School's Virtual Learning program. The board will consider the idea and decide by the next meeting.

In the portion of the meeting for the board members to bring up items, Board Member Mark Richards brought up the problem of air conditioning in the Sylvania and Geraldine gyms.

"The last work session we discussed putting air conditioning in Sylvania and Geraldine's gyms. Mr. Butts came up with a price of $15,000 something each. I would like the superintendent to recommend we proceed on with that project," said Richards.

"I'll get with Mr. Butts and we'll work on that before the next meeting," said Dr. Barnett.

In the workshop before the meeting, the board was given a preview of a performance of, "Dorothy in Wonderland," by the Ruhama Community Theatre. The full performances will be held on Friday, April 7 and Saturday, April 8 at 7 pm in the Ruhama Junior High School Gymnasium. Student Admission is $3.00 and Adult Admission is $5.00. For more on this story, see next week's print edition.

The next meeting will be held on April 27, with the workshop beginning at 4 pm and the meeting at 5.

Watch the Video (Full list of Retirements, Resignations, Placements, etc., below):

Resignations and Retirements:

Joni Mitchell - Jr. High Girls Basketball Coaching Duties, Geraldine, Resignation
Madge Gower - Itinerant Speech Language Pathologist, Moon Lake, Retirement
Jo Ann LeGrand - Elementary Teacher, Plainview, Retirement
Denise Crowe - CNP Assistant Manager, Henager Jr. High, Retirement
Kay Young - CNP Worker, Crossville Middle/High, Retirement

Leave of Absences:

Bridgett Ott - History Teacher, Crossville High School, Returning April 17
Sara Goodwin - Pre-K Teacher, Plainview, Returning May 5
Ashley Bunch - Elementary Teacher, Plainview, Returning May 15
Norma Hulgan - Library Media Specialist, Valley Head, Returning May 25
Allie Jones - Elementary Teacher, Collinsville, Returning May 26
Ashley Crum - Itinerant Special Education Teacher, Geraldine, Returning May 26
Ray Evans - Maintenance Worker, Facilities, Returning June 14
Misty McAllister - Elementary Teacher, Henagar Jr. High, Returning April 21
Stacey Dover - Elementary Secretary, Plainview, Returning April 3
Alexa Williams - Elementary Teacher, Crossville Elementary, Returning May 26

Placements:

Jacob Barkley - Band Director, Crossville High School (Certified)
Labranda George - Elementary Teacher, Geraldine (Certified)
Heather Vaughn - Itinerant Special Education Bus Aide, Fyffe Special Services Center (Support)
Jadie Fobbus - Softball, Plainview (Volunteer Coach)
Madison Bowen - Baseball, Valley Head (Volunteer Coach)
Leslie Sisk - Golf, Geraldine (Volunteer Coach)

Contract Employees Approved: