The Demopolis City Schools System Board of Education entered into an agreement with the Franklin Covey Company to develop leadership skills for students during a meeting on June 15.

The “Leader in Me” program has been adopted by the school system and will be used to teach faculty and staff to develop 21st Century leadership and life skills in students.

The program will first be implemented at Westside Elementary School for the upcoming school year with U.S. Jones Elementary School starting the following year, eventually extending to Demopolis Middle School.

Funding for the program will come from Title I professional development funds with a cost of $41,343 the first year and then $16,500 for the next two years according to Superintendent Kyle Kallhoff who said, “Everyone must be on board for this to work.”

Anderson Plumbing and Heating won the bid to do repairs and maintenance on the HVAC system recently installed at Demopolis High School.

No cost for the work could be set since the extent of work required to repair the system is currently unknown.

The board voted to move the 2018 graduation date from May 25 to May 18. According to Kallhoff the change of date will move the ceremony from the final week of school to allow the adults involved to focus on wrapping up the school year and to get graduation off Memorial Day weekend.

The superintendent shared enrollment projects for next year and told the board that several parents from Sumter County have called and asked about their children transferring there due to the impending closing of Sumter Academy to Demopolis schools.

Kallhoff said that there is more room to accept the students and the parents are invited to meet with principals and visit the schools.

Ricky Montz, appeared before the board to discuss the locks being changed at the softball building. Montz, whose daughter plays on the varsity team, understood that the school system is liable for any injuries or incidents that may occur if no board employee is there after having a conversation with Kallhoff prior to the meeting.

Kallhoff said only three people have keys to the softball building now and the board will have to have a future discussion about limiting access to other school athletic facilities, especially with the DCSS preparing to invest $5,000 in upgrades to the track.

The board approved the personnel report as followed:

• Darius Waters, custodian at WES

• Eric Hendricks, Physical Education teacher at WES

• Sierra Allen-Galusha, Special Education teacher at WES

• Kamie Johnson, First Class Pre-K Grant Lead Teacher at WES

• Claire Bell, First Class Pre-K Grant Auxiliary Teacher at WES.

• Transfers of Brian Allen, English teacher, and Robert Wilkerson, Social Studies teacher, from DHS to DMS.

Other action and consent items included:

•  The purchase of a 2013, 72-passenger school bus for $60,000.

• Disposition of items no longer usable.

• Travel for Kallhoff to attend several conferences and training sessions in June and July.

• Out-of-state travel for the USJ 21st Century Camp in Meridian, Mississippi.

Kallhoff said there could be a called meeting on June 29 for the hiring of new head basketball coach and softball coaches for DHS. The next regularly scheduled meeting is set for July 17.

(This article originally appeared in the Saturday, June 17, print edition of the Demopolis Times.)