The Linden City Board of Education met Thursday evening and discussed the two schools in the system that appear on the failing schools list released by the state last week.

Linden Elementary School did not pass the standards in three of the last six years, and George P. Austin did not pass the standards in five of the last six years.

Superintendent George Baldwin said Linden Elementary would stay on the list for the next four years because the Alabama Accountability Act requires a school be passing in four of the last six years, so it will take that long for the school to come off the list if they pass every year. George P. Austin can come off of the list in three years if they pass in each of those years.

“I believe we need to start teaching test-taking skills,” Baldwin said, “because I have no doubt that the teachers are teaching the required material and doing their jobs.”

Board member Tamika Dial said the board needs to do something to help motivate parents to get involved with their children’s education.

“We have to come up with innovative ideas to get the parents more involved,” she said. “These children have to be educated as home and at school.”

In other business, Donnanique Washington, the school system’s Child Nutrition Program director, addressed the board about possible upgrades to the way meal applications are taken.

“As we move into a new era, I would like to be able to put the meal application online for parents,” she said.

She provided the board with different programs that could allow her to do this, as well as other things such as allowing parents to add money to a child’s lunch account online. The programs she provided could also benefit other areas of the schools, and not just the cafeteria.

“If we can get the whole system on board, I’m all for it,” board chairman William Curry said. “As we move into a new age, this is something we will need.”

The board said they would come back to this after the finances were reviewed and other parts of the system were contacted.

In other business, the board approved the financial reports for April 2013. They also approved nine superintendent’s recommendations dealing with personnel matters.