BOE chair sets standards for Pre-K teachers

Chairman Leroy Bush chairing the meeting getting instructions from his cell phones.

Even though Miller County Board of Education Chairman Leroy Bush didn't want at least part of the meeting reported in the newspaper, the public has a right to know what happens. Therefore, the following is a report of what happened at the August 13, 2007 Board of Education meeting, with Leroy Bush, Vicki Merritt, Sheila P. Freeman, Terry Pickle and David Lovering present.

The BOE meeting was called to order at Colquitt City Hall, and the invocation was given; then the Pledge of Allegiance was recited. The past minutes and the agenda were approved. In the public participation time, Bea Johnson addressed the board. She stated that she wanted to set the record straight about the unfair practice of holding the start of meetings for some BOE members while starting on time when others were late. She brought up the June meeting when Leroy Bush was late, and the start of the meeting was held for approximately 7 minutes, but at the next meeting members refused to wait, even though Terry Pickle was a couple of minutes late. She reminded the board that Vicki Merritt, vice chairman, had claimed the only reason the meeting had been held was because both Terry Pickle and Sheila Freeman had been late and they had no quorum, even though they both came in right after time for the meeting to start. Ms. Johnson stated that if they were going to hold the start of the meeting for one member, they should do it for all. She also stated she wanted it on record that she had neither threatened nor harassed anyone, but had only exercised her right to address the board. She said that since all conversations seemed to be turned into alleged harassment or threats lately, she wanted it on record. When she finished, Vicki Merritt said she didn't mean to confuse anyone, and that the meeting she had referred to at the July meeting was not the regular June meeting, but another one. She assured everyone the meetings would be starting on time, and Bush said if he wasn't there at the start of the meetings, that Merritt should start them at 7:00 p.m.. instead of waiting. The next item on the agenda was to review the financial statements for the schools. David Lovering pointed out there was one for the elementary school, but not for the middle/high. Ginger Webster did not have an explanation for this, but did say she would get a copy to the BOE. The board members then approved a spending resolution for the month of August. Next on the agenda was to approve a TAN (tax anticipation note). It was approved. Next they adopted the class size for grades 9-12, which is no more than 32 students per classroom. Merritt wanted to know the number of students enrolled this year over last year. The first figures that were given showed a decrease of 31, but after some discussion, the numbers got changed and showed an actual increase. Nobody seemed to really know the true figures.

The out-of-town trips were approved, with the stipulation that in all trips that were not competition-related, the club would pay for the diesel and driver costs. This included FFA. Board policy IHE, which is the policy stating what each student must accomplish academically in order to pass from one grade to the next, was then approved, and the board policy concerning attendance was laid on the table. Substitutes were hired for the lunchroom and special education. The vocational budget was tabled until the budget meeting, and a part-time paraprofessional was hired. Principal Frank Killingsworth came forward and said he wanted to brag on the teachers and students because the CRCT scores were better than nearly every school surrounding us. This included Lee County.

Chairman Leroy Bush asked about the pre-K program, and then stated that he had made some phone calls (apparently to the state level). He said he didn't want it on the front page of the newspaper, but that the woman had told him that any pre-K program could go back and see what kind of teachers they had teaching in their pre-K program, and if you had a teacher making $40,000 in pre-K, you needed to restructure. Bush said he had told Robbie Phillips that if a teacher has a master's degree, he/she shouldn't be teaching pre-K (the area most experts will tell you is the most important one for a learning child). He said those teachers needed to be moved up, so they could teach kids in higher grades.

The last topic of discussion before the meeting was adjourned was the dual-enrollment program. Ginger Webster said that by participating, the school system was taking money away from itself and funding Bainbridge College, so it was discontinued. The meeting was then adjourned.