SYLACAUGA – The Board of Education unanimously agreed Tuesday night to restructure the grades at Indian Valley and Pinecrest elementary schools, starting with the 2006-2007 school year.Schools Superintendent Jane Cobia recommended the board approve the school restructuring from pre-kindergarten through fifth grades at Indian Valley to pre-kindergarten to second grades and Pinecrest from kindergarten through fifth grades to third through fifth grades.
Cobia said this recommendation will comply with the No Child Left Behind Act, federal court orders, allow the system to maintain unitary status, focus on developmentally appropriate instruction, be fiscally responsible with less duplication of purchases and resources, and provide more equalized class sizes by grade.
Unitary status means the system has eliminated all vestiges of dual school system, black and white.
Prior to the board actually starting its business, board member Van Wilkins made a motion to amend the rules to allow for public comment for a 15 minute period on the issues especially pertaining to the restructuring of the schools. The board approved the change, but no one from the audience addressed the board.
In continuing with her recommendation, Cobia said in 2001, a group of teachers from Indian Valley asked for a restructuring plan to equalize class sizes. The Mountainview PTA had a similar request, she said. She read excerpts from that letter dated Nov. 1, 2001, to then schools Superintendent Phil Hammonds. At that time, grades five and six were located at Mountainview, while grades K-4 were at Pinecrest and Indian Valley.
"It is our request as board members of Mountainview School’s PTA that you please give consideration to the possibility of having K-2 at one elementary school and 3-4 at the other elementary school," the letter reads.
"We feel this would improve the social adjustment which now takes place in the fifth grade when the two elementary schools come together as one. If it works to do this at fifth-grade level, we feel it would be even more beneficial to do it as early as kindergarten.
"Other areas this change would affect would be the library, as the books and supplies could be combined from both schools and geared toward just the two or three grades at each school. Resources and computer labs could also be geared toward the appropriate age group. The funding per student between the schools would be equal. Also, this would eliminate zoning issues for parents that might prefer one school over the other.
"There is also an issue of curriculum difference from Pinecrest to Indian Valley when children have moved from one zone to another," the letter states.
Wilkins thanked Cobia and everyone who had worked to get him data on questions he needed answered.
"I appreciate what you did, especially on what I considered a big issue, the unitary status. Thanks to people like Reuben Porch and Robert Lawson and probably people like John Carter, Jesse Cleveland, William Edwards and Morris Hollis our School System is where it is today concerning unitary status. You got stuck with No Child Left Behind and you took it and did something with it," he said.
Wilkins made the motion to accept Cobia’s recommendation, while board member Carole Bailey seconded it.
Bailey said most of the board members went to school in this area. "We want to give children the best and make this the best school system it can be," she said.
Board president Travis McKay offered his appreciation to Cobia, the staff, the committee studying the restructuring plan and the community.
"This goes back to when the board changed the new middle school grade structure to six to eight. I commend the public for listening, coming to the public forums, and being concerned. This is the city’s school system. What we do is for the benefit of its children and the community. I know some in the community are pro and con on this issue. Hopefully after this decision we can move forward as a body of one. Our schools have achieved excellence, our teachers will shift, but the system is one body as a whole," McKay said.
In other business, the board:
O Made a special presentation to nine National Board Certified Teachers.
O Recognized Martha Livingston of Sylacauga Today with an Education Media Honor Roll certificate.
O Accepted the resignation of Judy Pugh, math teacher, Sylacauga High School and Leigh Shropshire, dance team sponsor, Nichols-Lawson Middle School.
O Accepted the retirement of Sarah Brewer, Child Nutrition Program worker, Sylacauga High School.
O Approved coaching supplements for Kevin Hardiman, ninth-grade head football coach and Patrick Littleton, ninth-grade assistant football coach, Sylacauga High School.
O Employed Alpha Stone, special education clerical assistant, Central Office; Lisa Garrett, Child Nutrition Program manager, Indian Valley; and Paul Hutton, bus driver for after school tutoring program at Nichols-Lawson Middle School.
O Granted a medical leave of absence to Nathan Brown, director, The Phoenix Center.
O Approved accounts payable of $57,834 and payroll for October of $1,247,311.
O Approved several revised policies reviewed at the Oct. 25 board meeting.
O Approved tuition for Jacklyn Danielle McGrady, seventh grade, Nichols-Lawson Middle School.
O Approved an out-of-state trip for Sylacauga High School’s baseball team to attend a baseball camp during spring break at Cocoa Beach, Fla., March 12-18, 2006.
O Heard a report from Kelly Lakey, student services coordinator on the system’s annual comprehensive counseling plan for the school year.
O Approved a bid of $23,000 from Bresco for a Rational Self Cooking Center for Indian Valley School.
O Held executive sessions on hearings for two students.
The next regular meeting of the board is Tuesday, Jan. 24, at 5:30 p.m. at the Central Office.
