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School Board President Danny Cowart read a letter of resignation from School Board Attorney Welsa Sullivan Thursday, March 9, 2023 during their regular scheduled meeting. The board approved to accept the letter of resignation. No legal representation was present for the meeting. Cowart asked Superintendent Dr. Holloway to look at who the School Board Association firm of Adams and Reece for recommendations for an Attorney as soon as possible. Coward mentions a former student of Mendenhall High School John Hooks was a member of this firm and to advise if he would be interested in the position. School Board Member Stacey Herrin questioned if their would be an application process or not. She stated she felt like Hooks would be a great person but was wondering if needed to be an open application process. Dr. Holloway will move forward with trying to retain an attorney and get back with the board asap.
All members were present for the meeting with Dr. Holloway joined via zoom due to attending a meeting out of town.
Cowart advised all board members will be attending the COSSBA National Conference later this month in Tampa, FL March 30th through April 2nd. COSSBA stands for Consortium of State School Board Association. COSSBA is a non-partisan, national alliance dedicated to sharing resources and information to support, promote and strengthen state school boards associations.
Several awards and presentation were given during the meeting.
Administrators and teachers were recognized for the PREPS Achievement and Growth Awards for 2022. Dr. Paul Lawrence, Bill Broadhead, Dr. Bo Huffman, Tommy Brumfield, Dr. Antionette Woodall, Marcie Tuggle
Students for the Technical Center were awarded certificates for The SkillsUSA Regional & State Competition by Director Dr. Bo Huffman.
FFA Students from the Technical Center were awarded certificates for their success in regional and state competition.
The following received Innovative Teacher Awards for February 2023.
- Kelli Kemp
- Lauren Veal
- Brandi Kennedy/Stacey Dodd
Innovation Teachers for March 2023 were as follow:
- Arlandas Johnson
- Jermiah Creagh
- Brandi Kennedy/Stacey Dodd
- Jordan Vaughn
Cowart expressed the board is still working on a new policy for public comments. As of now public comments are not part of the agenda.
Board President Cowart asked Dr. Holloway to have a study conducted as soon as possible concerning cost of a consolidated high school vs 2 separate high schools. Cowart would like the study to be from a 3rd party. Dr. Holloway advised the district had a healthy fund balance and the study would not put a strain on the budget.
The following consent agenda was approved.
- Consent Agenda (BCBL)
VII.a Capital Asset Disposal Report (DM)
VII.b Request for approval of the following contracts: - • eFMLA Terms of Service
• Central MS Planning & Development (Accelerate MS Career Coach Grant - • National Institute for Excellence in Teaching (NIET)
- • CEF–Child Evangelism Fellowship
VII.c Approval for Brooke Jones to attend the 2023 PSUG Event, May 15-18, 2023 in Myrtle Beach, SC
VII.d Approval for Mendenhall High School Cheerleaders to attend summer cheer camp at Louisiana State University, July 6-9, 2023.
VII.e Approval for Derricka Thomas to attend SNA Annual National Conference, July 9-11th in Denver, Colorado.
VII.f Request from PPI Land and Timber for a Reciprocal Easement for Section 16-1N-3E. VII.g Request to advertise in April and May, hunting/ fishing leases expiring this year.
VII.h Approval to pay Courtney Franklin, speech language pathologist, funding request recently changed from SpEd to ESSER funds.
According to Maintenance Director Jeffery Walker Mendenhall 5th grade building is on target for the first time since the project began. Work has begun at Mendenhall High School on the cafeteria renovation. Simpson Central construction is moving along with a new cafeteria, 8 classrooms, concession stand and activity room.
Attached is the following HR Report that was approved.
The board approved administrative and teacher salary scales that were not available for the media until after spring break. We will publish when the documents are received.
With no further business, the meeting was adjourned to enter into executive session for student discipline.
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