Cairo Association of Teachers - Newsletter
Cairo Association of Teachers - Newsletter
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CAT Tracks for August 22, 2003
CAIRO BOE REGULAR MONTHLY MEETING |
The Cairo Board of Education held its regular monthly meeting on Thursday, August 21st...
The meeting was called to order at 6:05 p.m. All Board members were present (except Johnny Posey who arrived at 6:12 p.m.)
The first order of business was to approve the agendas for the regular and closed sessions and then the minutes of regular, special, and closed meetings held on July 17th and August 7th. In a related matter, Superintendent Isom announced that the Governor had signed a revision to the Open Meetings Act which will take effect on January 1, 2004. According to this revision, closed sessions must be recorded.
Next, Superintendent Isom announced that revisions to the Board Policy Manual (literally years in the making) were ready to put on reading. The BOE voted to do so.
Superintendent Isom then made an announcement that seemed to take everyone by surprise...namely, that State Superintendent Robert E. Schiller is scheduled to attend the Cairo FOP meeting to be held at 10:30 a.m. next Thursday (August 28th)...AND...that he intends to tour the District afterwards.
Next on the agenda was "Finance". However, the Superintendent announced that the monthly "Treasurer's Report" was NOT available. (Now, that's a first!) He stated that time spent on budget preparation had caused the delay. (Hmmm...again...some people seem to be excused from deadlines for which others get disciplined or fired. I wonder what is the secret behind such preferential treatment? Enquiring minds want to know!)
Under "Payment of Bills/Payroll", one item drew the attention of Board members. It concerned charges by the architect/engineer. Board members expressed concern for work done at Cairo Jr./Sr. High School - specifically the closing of the vents in the gymnasium, including the welding of a metal plate over one of the openings. The lack of ventilation has reportedly created an "oven effect" in the gym...something definitely not needed this year with the addition of 7th and 8th Graders. Superintendent Isom indicated that the engineer was scheduled to be in the District on Friday and the Board chose to table the payment of that specific bill until such time they could get an itemization...and an explanation...of the work already completed.
Superintendent Isom also commented on the receipt of a check for $1,878 from Hinz Claim Management - partial reimbursement for electrical damage done to Bennett Elementary by a lightning strike. During the course of this discussion, Board members expressed a desire to hear a report from the maintenance department concerning repairs at Bennett...and elsewhere in the District. Several Board members commented that they felt that the Head of the District Maintenance Department should attend future Board meetings and give a report like the building principals do. One Board member wondered aloud as to whether the motion would be to "require" or "request" the presence of this person. The response was that the motion would be "request", but that if the Head of Maintenance chose not to honor that request, then maybe the District needed to look for another Head of Maintenance. However, the motion was never voted on...so, stay tuned!
At the conclusion of the "Finance" section of the agenda, Superintendent Isom announced the need for a Special Meeting of the Cairo BOE on Monday, September 22nd, for the purpose of approving the budget. This would allow the Cairo FOP to take action prior to the September 30th deadline.
Next up...a representative from IKON - Business Communications Solutions. If the Cairo FOP approves, the District will soon get new state-of-the-art copiers. This should not be a problem, because the representative made a proposal that would provide the District with better machines at a lower price.
The BOE then approved the new school hours/transportation schedule worked out by District administrators. Some Board members used this discussion to bring up their concern over the "mixing" of junior and senior high students. There has been at least one fight "over the hill" and a concern was expressed about the future...that maybe the students should be released at different times. This was discussed at length, but the consensus was that IF there was going to be a fight, students (dismissed earlier) would simply decline to ride the bus, walk across the hill, and wait for the other students (dismissed at the later time). So the schedule will remain the same (for now), personnel will continue to be vigilant, and the police have indicated that they will patrol the area as often as possible.
The building principals gave their reports. Enrollment figures for the first week: Emerson - 150 (This does not include Pre-K which holds registration next week.); Bennett - 220; and CJSHS - 302.
The BOE voted to go into closed session at 8:20 p.m. They voted to come out at 9:53 p.m. The Superintendent made the following recommendations, which were approved by the BOE:
In closing, Superintendent Isom announced that he had sent letters to neighboring school districts asking them to accept Cairo students who exercise their "choice" option. Much to the laughter and glee of the Board members, the Superintendent announced that Meridian had already indicated in writing that they were declining said request. Superintendent Isom indicated that Egyptian and Century had also indicated orally that they were also declining to accept Cairo students.
The Board voted to adjourn at 10:03 p.m.
