ST. MATTHEWS – Three of the four schools in the Calhoun County School District met Adequate Yearly Progress standards this year, the superintendent announced at the Oct. 20 school board meeting.

Guinyard Elementary, Sandy Run Elementary and John Ford Middle all made AYP, and Calhoun County High School may yet be reclassified as meeting AYP after consideration of a district appeal, reported Superintendent Ken Westbury.

Calhoun County School District was the most improved district on the state PACT for the 2007-2008 school year, and the district moved up from 85th among all districts last year to 25th place this year.

Also during the meeting, Westbury reported the name of the district’s new school has been chosen. The new St. Matthews K-8 School will have as its mascot the Cardinal, and its colors will be black, red and white.

In other business, the school board approved a request by Westbury to begin planning for the relocation of the district office to the Guinyard Elementary School building.

Also during the meeting, District Chief Financial Officer Jerry Sullivan reported no major adjustments to the budget are required at this time. He addressed two issues related to the national and state financial crisis. The first concerned banking and how it affected the district’s funds. All of the district’s cash is controlled by the county and is collateralized, Sullivan said. He said the $132,000 in the general fund is in the bank.

“All the money is safe,” the CFO said.

In regard to budget cuts, Sullivan said the state legislature was in session working on a revised budget and the district could possibly see a 1.5 percent to 2 percent cut. He said some cuts will affect next year’s budget but added, “We are OK this year.”

In other business:

* The board approved Westbury’s request for three students to make a Jobs for America’s Graduates trip to Washington, D.C.

* Resident Genevieve Jones asked board member Michael Drake if he knew Westbury had denied an overnight trip for the eighth-grade class that included stops in Atlanta and Birmingham on March 8-9. Drake said he was not aware of it and would discuss it with the superintendent. Jones asked for Drake to support the request.

* Joyce Parrish, a candidate for the District 4 school board seat, asked if any community programs were being cut by the district, adding that she thought grants were available. She was told that one Saturday morning program was being cut due to reallocation of funds. Westbury said the computer labs may be put back in.

* Parrish asked if the school board policy for school buses was adhered to at all times. Westbury said the buses are state property and policy governing them is dictated by the state.

* After returning from an initial executive session to discuss the appeal of a student expulsion, which trustee Debra Fredrick excused herself from because she is related to the student, the board unanimously voted to allow the student to return to class with extreme probation.

* The board took no action during a second executive session to discuss a contractual matter with the Town of St. Matthews concerning the district office site and the now-defunct skate park property. The board also took no action on personnel recommendations.

T&D Correspondent Larry P. Jordan can be reached by phone at 803-874-3276.

You must be logged in to comment.