County BOE to negotiate land purchase

The Coffee County Board of Education unanimously decided in a special called meeting June 21 to give Superintendent Don McPherson permission to negotiate a real estate transaction on Reddoch Hill Rd.

The property, located next to the system’s central office, is owned by Garth Lindsey.

“Mr. Lindsey has indicated an interest in selling this almost three-quarters of an acre of land,” McPherson said. “As you’re pulling out from (Reddoch Hill onto Highway 84) it’s dangerous to turn left and you almost have to be in the road to see what’s coming from the left side.”

McPherson said it’s an opportunity to have the land, which is currently occupied by renters, cleared off, which would improve visibility of Highway 84.

“Basically what we’d do is sell the house and then clear everything back so you could see all the way down the hill,” McPherson said. “Then we could also put a sign up that says ‘Coffee County Board of Education’ so people will actually know where we’re at.”

McPherson said that in the past visitors have had trouble locating the central office when coming from Elba heading toward New Brockton on Highway 84.

Members of the board expressed concerns with spending money on something that would only be an aesthetic improvement.

McPherson assured the board that he was only requesting permission to discuss the matter with Lindsey and would bring a price before the board if and when an agreement was reached.

In other news, the board approved several personnel changes including the hiring of Kenneth Seay as the assistant principal at Kinston School.

Also among the personnel changes was the hiring of Clint Curtis as a history teacher and boy’s basketball coach at Kinston.

In other news, the board approved several changes to Coffee County School’s parent student information guide.

The changes included a student exemption policy that would allow students with an A average and no more than two absences, or students with a B average and no more than one absence to opt out of taking the exams that are administered every nine weeks.

The school board believes this will increase student attendance.

Also among the handbook changes is a provision that would add clothing made of sweat pants material, cut-off shorts and athletic shorts without pockets to the list of clothing considered inappropriate for grades 7-12.

The Coffee County Board of Education will not hold a meeting in July because of the July 4 holiday.

The next regularly scheduled board meeting will be 5:30 p.m., Aug. 2, at the central office in Elba.