Monday night's School Board meeting

The Hoover School Board met on Monday night at 5:30 p.m.  All five members were present.

Public Participation:  Trish Crain, parent of a Hoover High School freshman, spoke to the board.  Ms. Crain commented that the school system stands at a turning point as they begin the process of strategic planning.  She reminded the board that the founders of the Hoover City Schools used as their guiding principle, "What is best for the children?"  She urged this board to keep that always at the top of the list.  She said that she hopes to hear board members express that consideration when they speak publicly about school policy and school board actions.  Ms. Crain asked the board to engage the public in discussion about the future of the system as they move forward.  She asked that they listen to and consider the opinions of parents in their planning and policy making.  Ms. Crain gave each member of the board copies of the results of the on line surveys conducted by the Hoover School Community Information Network.

Personnel Actions:  The board voted to approve the recommendations of the Superintendent.  These recommendations included the hiring of Dr. Kenneth Jarnagin as Chief Academic Officer, and Mrs. Carol Barber as Assistant Superintendent.  The board also hired Andrew Sewell as Assistant Principal at Hoover High School (replacing Jeff Nichols who is transferring to a new Technology Coach position).  The resignation of Pat Morrow was accepted.

(The summary of personnel actions will be at the end.)

At the work session of Thursday night, Mrs. Baker questioned why the system is only now filling positions at the Freshman Center.  It was explained that staffing could not be fully completed until it was known what enrollment would likely be, and what course selections would be requested.  At the board meeting, this was discussed further.  Mrs. Baker asked about the economic impact of staffing the Freshman Center on staffing at Hoover High.   She asked how many of the teachers at the Freshman Center would be transfers and how many would be new positions.  Mr. Nalls said that it would be approximately half and half.  There were some 9th grade teachers who were expected to move to the Freshman Center, but were not renewed by Mr. Bishop.  Mr. Craig said that there would be about 12 net new positions at HHS and the Freshman Center.  By comparison, he said, 26 new positions were created when Spain Park was opened with two grades.  Mrs. Veal (Human Resources Dir.) indicated that she has a spread sheet she can share with the board that explains more clearly the staffing at Hoover High and the Freshman Center.  (After the meeting, I asked Mrs. Veal to explain this a little more.  She said that there are some 9th grade teachers who were offered the opportunity to transfer to the Freshman Center, but chose to stay at the senior building.  They will move to other grade levels, and the teachers hired to go to the Freshman Center in their places will usually show up on the personnel reports as replacements, not new positions.)

Business Actions:
The April financial statements, cash disbursements for May in the amount of $5,430,736.54 and payroll for May in the amount of $5,821,107.99 were approved.

The Amended Budget was approved.  (More on that another day.)

Bids:
A $28,800.00 bid for pest control was approved, subject to review by the board's attorney to check on any possible problems with a non-compete agreement.

All bids were rejected for Tablet PC's because the items can be purchased for $1 less per unit through the state technology purchasing consortium.

A bid of $42,606.25 was approved for DVD player/recorders from Office Management Systems d/b/a Logista.

Change orders:  Change order #2 (a deduction) with Eighteen Oaks Construction regarding the Berry Middle School addition was approved.

Contracts:  A contract with Over the Mountain Speech, Language and Learning Services was approved for speech therapy for certain identified students for the summer months, in the amount of $5,320.  This is to provide therapy at Gwin and Berry that HCS's in-house therapists could not cover during the summer.

A contract with UAB for employee assistance and counseling for HCS employees was approved.  The board's lawyer, Mr. Sweeney, suggested that Mr. Craig negotiate some modifications to the contract in the liability section.  The board approved the contract subject to that change being negotiated.

Code of Conduct:  The modifications to the Hoover City Schools Code of Conduct for middle and high schools were approved.  The board had asked for some slight modifications at the work session.  They wanted to be sure the document was clear on the right of appeal to the board of certain punishments for the most serious offenses.  The modifications were made as requested.  Mrs. Barber told the board that a procedural manual for administrators is also in the works and will be coming later.  Teachers and administrators will go over the changes to the code of conduct with students when school starts.  Every student will be provided a copy.

New business and discussion:
Tom Defnall thanked all those present for coming.  Mr. Bolt commented that he is pleased with the hiring of Mrs. Barber, saying that she will be a great addition to the Central Office staff.

Mr. Craig informed the board that he and Mrs. Antee (Chief Financial Officer) will be traveling to Montgomery tomorrow (Tues.) to hear about some legislative and state department of education issues.  He made the board aware that the state has established a salary matrix for school nurses.  HCS will need to adjust salaries upward for school nurses in order to comply with that.

Mr. Craig told the board that Hoover schools employee Ricky Sanders lost his battle with cancer, and asked that the board keep his family in their thoughts.

The next board work session will be Thursday, July 19 at 5:30 p.m. and the meeting will be Monday, July 23 also at 5:30 p.m. at the Central Office.

The board went into executive session, followed by a closed personnel hearing.

The personnel report this month is extensive.  There are 68 hires of certified personnel and 2 hires of classified personnel, 22 transfers of certified personnel within the system, 4 resignations, 1 termination, and 4 leaves of absence granted.

The certified hires are:
History teacher        Hoover High Freshman Center        (replacement)*

*How can there be replacements for a brand new school?  Mrs. Veal said that all the 9th grade teachers at HHS were offered the opportunity to go to the Freshman Center, but not all of them chose to do so.  The ones who did not choose to go will be transferring to other positions at the senior building, and the new hires taking their places at the Freshman Center will show up on the personnel report as replacements.)

2nd Grade teacher        Shades Mountain Elementary            (replacement)
History teacher                Hoover High Freshman Center        (new position)
Kindergarten teacher        Riverchase Elementary                (replacement)
ISS teacher                        Hoover High School                          (replacement)
Physical Education teacher        Trace Crossings                    (replacement)
Math teacher                    Spain Park High School                    (replacement)
Math teacher                    Hoover High School                        (replacement)
Kindergarten teacher              Riverchase Elementary        (replacement)
Science teacher                Spain Park High School                (one year replacement)
History teacher                Hoover High Freshman Campus      (replacement)
Math teacher                Spain Park High School                    (replacement)
Art teacher                    Hoover High School                        (new position)
7th grade Language Arts teacher        Bumpus Middle School        (replacement)
Media Specialist            Hoover High School                    (replacement)
Chief Academic Officer        Central Office                    (new position)
Math teacher                Hoover High School                    (replacement)
Math teacher                Crossroads School                        (new position)
Science teacher            Crossroads School                        (replacement)
Instructional Support teacher      Bumpus Middle School        (replacement)
Preschool teacher            Trace Crossings Elementary            (new position)
Counselor                            Bumpus Middle School                    (replacement)
Math teacher                    Hoover High School                        (new position)
Physical Education teacher            Hoover High School            (replacement)
Math teacher                    Hoover High School                    (new position)
Assistant Principal            Hoover High School                    (replacement)
Art teacher                Shades Mountain Elementary            (replacement)
Physical Education teacher            Hoover High School        (replacement)
8th Grade Language Arts teacher        Simmons Middle School    (replacement)
Science teacher                    Hoover High School                    (replacement)
2nd Grade teacher                Greystone Elementary            (replacement)
3rd Grade teacher            Rocky Ridge Elementary            (replacement)
6th Grade Social Studies teacher            Bumpus Middle School        (replacement of teacher transferring to another grade in same school)
Counselor                Simmons Middle School                    (replacement)
Kindergarten teacher            Riverchase Elementary            (replacement)
2nd Grade teacher            Bluff Park Elementary                (replacement)
Instructional Support teacher        Green Valley Elementary            (replacement)
Science teacher                Spain Park High School                (new position)
1st Grade teacher                Gwin Elementary                    (replacement)
2nd Grade teacher            Rocky Ridge Elementary            (replacement)
Instructional Support teacher        Spain Park High School        (replacement)
Science teacher            Hoover High Freshman Center        (replacement)
Kindergarten teacher        Shades Mountain Elementary        (replacement)
8th Grade Language Arts teacher        Bumpus Middle School   (replacement for teacher transferring to Freshman Center)
Physical Education teacher                Spain Park High School        (replacement)
1st Grade teacher                Shades Mountain Elementary            (replacement)
Science teacher                Hoover High Freshman Center        (replacement)
History teacher                Spain Park High School                    (new position)
Cooperative Education teacher      .5 HHS/ .5 SPHS            (new position)
6th Grade Science teacher            Simmons Middle School        (replacement)
5th Grade teacher                Gwin Elementary                    (replacement)
Instructional Support teacher            Trace Crossings Elementary        (new position)
Instructional Support teacher      South Shades Crest Elementary        (new position)
Art teacher                    Green Valley Elementary                (replacement)
Science teacher           Hoover High School            (replacement for teacher transferring to Bumpus Middle School)
English teacher                Hoover High School        (replacement)
Instructional Support teacher        Hoover High Freshman Center        (new position)
ELL teacher                    Simmons Middle School            (new position)
Social Studies teacher        Hoover High School            (replacement)
English teacher            Hoover High School                (replacement)
Spanish teacher              Hoover High School                (replacement)
ESL/Foreign Language teacher        Bumpus Middle School        (new position)
Physical Education teacher            Spain Park High School        (new position)
Media Specialist                Bumpus Middle School                (replacement)
Science teacher                Hoover High Freshman Center        (replacement)
5th Grade teacher            Trace Crossings Elementary            (replacement)
Science teacher                Spain Park High School            (replacement)
Media Specialist                Spain Park High School            (replacement)

Some of the transfers are within schools, and some are from one school or grade level to another.  If you have questions about those, feel free to call or e-mail me.