Board OKs personnel recommendations

Published 7:00 pm Wednesday, May 1, 2013

The Lincoln County School District board of trustees held a special called meeting Tuesday night to approve personnel recommendations as well as an amendment to the 2013 budget.

The meeting comes after a lengthy wait by board members for Gov. Phil Bryant’s approval of the 2014 K-12 appropriations bill.

Bryant signed the bill April 25, prompting Tuesday night’s meeting.

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All personnel recommendations for the 2013-2014 school year were unanimously approved, as well as the Teacher Salary Schedule, which was identical to the past years according to Cheryl Shelby, the district’s chief financial officer.

“The only thing that changed is the date,” Shelby said during the meeting.

The board also approved an amendment to the 2013 budget that would allow initial funding for the Agricultural Career Academy at Loyd Star, a vocational program proposed by Dr. Stacy Adcock, transportation and vocational director for the district.

The board’s approval will allow the purchase of textbooks and curriculum packages for the program that will later be reimbursed by the Mississippi Department of Education.

The 2013 Extended School Year program was also approved.

The federally mandated program provides additional education in the summer months for special needs students.

Seven students will be taking part in the program this year.

$391.71 will be accrued for a speech therapist, $5,262 for counseling services and $27,379.71 for placement of students in private facilities, all reimbursed by federal funding.

In other news, Assistant Superintendent Letha Presley reported a successful visit to the district by state monitors.

State monitors acclaimed the performance of the district’s Title I teachers as well as its use of allotted funding.

The district was cited on a minor issue pertaining to parent involvement policies.

Monitors requested an individual policy at each school, rather than a generic one for the entire district.

“If you’re going to get cited for something that would be it,” Superintendent Terry Brister said during the meeting.

Brister addressed his intentions to fix what he considered a minor issue.

“All the schools do have their own personality,” he said.