BOE approves policy manual, addresses large class size

Only two days after a working session discussing the changes to its policy manual, the Coffee County Board accepted the new policy guide by a vote of 4-2 during a Dec. 5 meeting.

Superintendent Don McPherson said he and Linda Ingram, former Coffee County superintendent, have worked on the revisions since he took his position.

Board members received a copy of the policy revisions in early November, and discussed those changes during a Dec. 3 working session.  

Though the policy eventually passed, a lengthy discussion took place before a vote could be cast.

“In our work session we didn’t discuss any policy regarding revision to the new policy,” said board member Galen McWaters.

McPherson said policies could be reviewed at any time, as they often are, but McWaters was concerned a process for revision wasn’t expressly laid out as it was in the previous policy.  

McWaters specially had issues with policy number 3.7, which gives the superintendent to authority to approve certain contracts without approval from the board. The includes contracts related to special services and minor changes in ongoing construction projects.

“If the board wants to micromanage and approve a contract every time we bring in a consultant for a special-needs student or a blind student, then that’s fine,” McPherson said.

McWaters said the verbiage in the policy manual would also give the superintendent authority over architectural, computer and legal contracts, which McPherson agreed was accurate.

Shag LaPrade, a board member who raised several questions during the recent working session, made a motion to delay the approval of the policy until these and other questions could be addressed directly by the board’s attorney.

After a lengthy discussion, that motion failed 4-2 with only LaPrade and McWaters supporting it.

In other business, Jacob Davis, a parent of a student at Kinston School, addressed the board to discuss large class sizes in Kinston.

“A fifth-grade teacher, Mrs. Judy Moody, is retiring at the end of December,” Davis said. “The board has decided not fund that teacher unit for the remainder of this school year.”

There are currently 33 fifth-grade students enrolled at Kinston.

According to Davis, the board is planning to use a remediation teacher during the morning hours and split the class into two groups for English, reading and mathematics.

“At the end of the day, they’ll all be brought back together in one group of 33 for science and social studies,” Davis said. “We’re here making a plea to the board to reconsider that decision, and at least hire a fulltime certified substitute for the remainder of the year.”

Several parents from Kinston, who were in the audience, joined Davis at the meeting.  

McPherson said Kinston currently has some of the smallest classroom sizes in the system. 

"For three fourths of the day, the students will be in a 15-to-16 student class," he said.

McWaters told the parents the board understands the importance of classroom size.

“Hopefully we can find a solution that has the best interest of the Kinston students at heart,” he said.

McPherson said he had full confidence in Kinston principal Gary Glass to resolve the situation.

In other news, the board accepted a bid for fencing and batting cages at the New Brockton High School softball and baseball complex from Triple E Fencing of Troy.

The fencing and painting are all that remain of the $1.5 million, which is still on schedule to be completed in February.

In other business, the 2013-14 textbook committee was approved, which consists of several teachers and parents.

As required by Alabama law, the textbook committee reviews and recommends the textbooks used in Coffee County Schools to the board members.

During the acknowledgements of the meeting, board member Danny Jernigan apologized for the tension.

“This is not government in action, this is government being stalled,” he said. “Mr. Davis you’ve presented yourself intelligently and professionally and I assume you would expect the same thing from your board.”

Coffee County Schools will all release students at noon on Dec. 20 for Christmas break.

Students will return Jan. 7.

The next meeting of the Coffee County Board of Education will be announced at a later date.