Construction nearing completion on Coffee County Schools’ projects

At the Coffee County Schools Board of Education meeting on Oct. 1, Superintendent Kevin Killingsworth discussed the ongoing construction on capital projects in the school system.

Killingsworth said the renovations at New Brockton High School’s Gamecock Stadium is nearing completion and is expected to be finished this month. Included among those renovations are a new concession stand, new ticket booth, new bathrooms, new home bleachers, a new irrigation system and a new sound system. The bleachers that previously were the visitor’s side were torn down and replaced by brand new bleachers, which will represent the home side moving forward. The previous home bleachers will now be the visitor’s bleachers.

Killingsworth also said that new classrooms at New Brockton Elementary are also under construction with the walls to the classrooms going up this past week. Killingsworth also said that the initial site work at Zion Chapel High School’s new gym is expected to begin in the next week.

In other business, board president Brian McLeod was appointed as the board’s Association of Alabama School Board’s (AASB) delegate for an upcoming virtual convention.

Killingsworth also addressed new positive COVID-19 cases in the school system. He said that the school system had three additional COVID-19 cases with one of them being a faculty member at Zion Chapel and two students at New Brockton High.

That brings Coffee County Schools’ total number of positive cases since Aug. 10 to 21.

“We want to applaud our faculty and staff at each one of our schools for doing their very best to keep all of our students, employees and guests safe. As we near the end of the first nine weeks of school, I want to continue to urge visitors to schools or extracurricular activities to please follow all protocols when visiting our campuses and attending school functions,” Killingsworth said in a statement. “When we began school on Aug. 10, there were many who doubted we would still be in school at this point. We were determined to do the things necessary to being face-to-face instruction since an overwhelming number of our parents and guardians were ready for their children to return to their school campus.

“I believe face-to-face instruction is critical for optimizing student learning and is very important for students to interact with their teachers and fellow students. Again, thanks for your continued support during these trying times of uncertainty.”

The board also approved a number of personnel actions, listed below.

Resignations:

Josie Kitch, teacher at Kinston School;

Jennifer Kyser, child nutrition worker at New Brockton High School; and

Raymond Phillips, bus driver at New Brockton Schools.