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The Marengo County Board of Education approved a letter of interest with Schneider Electric, allowing representatives from the company to inspect and assess the school district’s buildings for any possible improvements to the facilities that would save the costs in energy and utility costs.

The assessment is free, but if the board decides to move forward with any of the recommendations, Schneider Electric will perform them at a cost. However, Larry Perrin, Account Executive of Energy & Sustainability Services with the company, assured the board that the company guarantees the savings will outweigh the costs and if not will write a check for the difference.

Mike Oakley, District 2 Director for the Alabama Association of School Boards and President of the Bibb County School Board, presented the board with a President’s Award by the AASB. The award is given to all school boards that have at least 60 percent of members attend at least three AASB conferences in an academic year and have the whole board meet state-mandated training requirements. According to Oakley, only 49 of 138 public school boards received this distinction for the 2018-19 year.

“This time commitment deserves special recognition. It involves countless hours of meetings and work sessions, as well as preparation for those meetings and work sessions. It involves maintaining strong relationships with your constituents and serving as dedicated and visible ambassadors for the school system 24/7,” Oakley said.

Board members Lynda Joiner and Rayvell Smith were also named president and vice president of the BOE respectively.

Other action items approved include financial reports and bank statement reconciliations for October, a 2019-2020 Teacher Intervention contract, the disposition of technology equipment and the superintendent’s personnel recommendations.

Cathy Seale, K12 Instruction Leader, presented the board with school updates at the meeting, as well. Items discussed included:

• School attendance has improved compared to this time last year.

• Card readers will be installed soon at the main doors of each school in the district for security purposes. Seale also said that a buzzer system is also being considered for each of the schools.

• Six teachers are pursuing board certification.

• Seale presented data from each school in terms of college and career readiness and pre-ACT scores. Board President Chester Moore showed concern at the disparity of success between students at each of the district’s schools. Seale said she will collect data to determine the cause of the disparity.

• Bailey Group Consulting will provide professional development for district teachers.

• To ensure full compliance with the Alabama Literacy Act, the district plans to host a first-grade summer school in June and to conduct more training in the science of reading for lower elementary teachers.

The Marengo County Board of Education meets the fourth Thursday of each month in the Marengo County Office Building second-floor boardroom at 4 p.m. The public is invited to attend.

(This article originally appeared in the Wednesday, December 11 issue of the Demopolis Times.)