Superintendent Aaron Milner addressed the Enterprise Board of Education Sept. 25 to inform them about issues between the board and Enterprise State Community College.
Milner said during a Sept. 18 meeting he was approached by a board member who also serves on the Founder’s Organization at ESCC.
Milner said the board member, who was not identified at the meeting, explained that an issue had come up and informed him as a professional courtesy.
“These are reported issues lingering from the high school’s stay at ESCC that ended approximately two years ago,” Milner said. “I made it clear that the school system was more than willing to provide $125,000 to assist with any expenses that may have occurred during EHS’s stay at the community college.”
According to Milner, former Enterprise City Schools Superintendent Jim Reese made an identical offer to the community college in 2010.
“It was implied (to) me that Dr. (Nancy) Chandler had no desire to take money from the public schools system,” Milner said.
Milner said he and Federal Programs Coordinator Oveta Pierce met with Chandler on Sept. 20 to discuss the lingering issues.
“Our meeting was very informative, productive and frankly enlightening,” Milner said. “While I hate this institution needs great renovations, these damages were not done solely at the hand of students and faculty from Enterprise High School. These issues are primarily (the result) of wear and tear of an almost 50-year-old facility.”
According to Milner, Chandler recently told a group of stakeholders at the grand opening of ESCC’s multipurpose room that “the junior college was in tough shape prior to the arrival of the high school.”
“Let me be clear that my recommendation to the school board, of an appropriate dollar amount to resolve this situation, will be based solely off the information received from the high school faculty, administration and maintenance staff who occupied the junior college in 2007,” Milner said. “My decision will not be derived from individuals who are unfamiliar with the situation and are simply lobbying on behalf of the junior college to extract funds from Enterprise City Schools.”
Milner said his recommendation would not be manipulated by the bias of Enterprise City Schools or ESCC.
Milner said the issues would be strictly discussed with Chandler.
“Should a member of this board have questions for me in the coming weeks concerning this issue, I will be more than happy to answer them,” Milner said. “I look forward to making a recommendation to you in the future that will resolve this issue.”
Attempts to contact Chandler were unsuccessful, however ESCC released the following official statement Wednesday Sept. 26:
"Enterprise State Community College (ESCC) has received numerous questions regarding the Enterprise City Schools Board meeting on Sept. 25. Since 2010, the college has been working with Enterprise City School officials and other officials across the state, Alabama EMA and FEMA, to address the needs of the college as a result of housing Enterprise High School (EHS) for three years.
“Recently, college administrators and officials from Enterprise City Schools have been working closely together to determine how the needs of the college can best be met. ESCC is proud to have served as the home of EHS from March 2007 to May 2010 after the tragic events on March 1, 2007. We consider our community a top priority and will work together to ensure that the city of Enterprise has an educational pipeline that is second to none."
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