Cindy Jackson and Sherry Digmon took the oath of office Thursday afternoon in Brewton as the two newest board members for the Escambia County Board of Education.

Following a moment of silence for Escambia County High School drivers ed teacher and softball coach William Casaday, who was killed in a car accident on Nov. 9 on his way to school, District Judge Dave Jordan presided over the swearing in ceremony.

Jackson and Digmon placed their hands on a Bible as they were sworn in separately before family, friends and fellow board members.

“It is an honor to get to be apart of the board,” Jackson said.

The Flomaton resident said she believes her nearly 30 years of working in the school system will an asset to her as she begins her transition to the board.

“I feel like the knowledge that I have learned over the last 29 years will be beneficial,” she said.

Digmon, an Atmore resident and co-owner of “The Atmore News,” said being on the other side of the camera took some getting used to.

“When you’re being sworn in, you have to concentrate on the words you have to repeat, so it’s hard to think about anything else,” she said. “I was aware of the photographs being taken, and that made me a little uncomfortable since I’m used to being on the other side of the camera. When I got to the last few words ‘so help me God’ I almost got teary, especially when I looked over at my dear friend Ruth Harrell who was and is such a strong supporter and a prayer warrior.”

Digmon added that being at the boardroom table was much different than in the audience.

“It was strange sitting at the table, having sat in the audience for so many years,” she said. “The agenda moves faster at the table than it seems to when you’re in the audience – at least it did Thursday. That was in part due to having just been sworn in.”

Both Jackson and Digmon would like to see some changes on the board and plan on sharing their ideas with their fellow board members.

“There are some policies that might need to be changed or tweaked and some of the programs we might need to push a little bit more,” Jackson said.

One of the issues Digmon would like to see changed is better informing the board prior to meeting days with advanced documentation.

“One of the first things is to get the support documentation we need before we get to the board meeting,” she said. “We get a copy of the agenda in the mail the Monday before the meeting, but we don’t get the other documents until we get to the table. I understand that board members may go the meeting early to review the documents, but having them two or three days ahead of time would be more helpful. With that said, I understand that not every item coming before the board is finalized that soon, but if documentation can be provided before the meeting, I hope it will be.”

Jackson and Digmon joined the rest of the board at the boardroom table following the swearing-in ceremony.

In other business, the board:

• OK’d Michael Goolsby as board chairman and William Grissett as vice chairman of the board.

• Chief Financial Officer Julie Madden reported that the October ending fund balance is $7.3 million.

• Agreed to contract with Carol Middleton, counselor, Huxford Elementary School and Susan Kirk, counselor, Flomaton Elementary School, to prepare forms and guidelines for the system used to implement RTI (Response to Instruction). RTI is a referral program for special education services.

• OK’d the Continuous Improvement Plans for: Rachel Patterson Elementary School, A.C. Moore Elementary School, Escambia County Middle School, Huxford Elementary School, Flomaton Elementary School, Flomaton High School, Pollard-McCall Junior High School, W.S. Neal Elementary School and W.S. Neal Middle School.

• Approved a revised 2010-11 salary schedule supplement for pages 14 and 14a reflecting grant changes as related to supplements.

Approved the following personnel issues:

• Resignation: Shirley Stanovich, counselor, W.S. Neal High School, effective Jan. 3, 2011; Kenneth Rodgers, bus driver, Atmore Bus Shop, effective Nov. 12; Kevin Jordan, head football coach/athletic director, W.S. Neal High School, effective Nov. 1; Cordia Lee, cheerleader sponsor, Escambia County Middle School, effective Nov. 4 and Yolonda Walters, cheerleader sponsor, Escambia County High School, effective Nov. 12.

• Retirement: Cynthia A. Jackson, secretary/bookkeeper, W.S. Neal Middle School, effective Nov. 18 and Ruth Harris, teacher, A.C. Moore Elementary School, effective Jan. 1, 2011

• Employment: Latrice Bush, cheerleader sponsor, Escambia County Middle School, effective Nov. 5 (replacing Cordia Lee); Ann Benner, bus driver, Atmore Bus Shop, effective Nov. 15 (replacing Kenneth Rodgers); Melanie Smith, secretary/bookkeeper, W.S. Neal Middle School, effective Nov. 29 (replacing Cindy Jackson); Heather Carroway, literacy specialist aide, Rachel Patterson Elementary School, effective Nov. 29 (replacing Othello Williams); A school/Saturday school/suspension deferral program, countywide liaison, Kathy Douglas; Kim Eddins, cheerleader sponsor, Escambia County High School, effective Nov. 15 and Toni Rogers, cheerleader sponsor, Escambia County High School, effective Nov. 15.

• Employment Change: Annette O’Shields, seven-hour custodian, W.S. Neal Middle School, to four-hour custodian, W.S. Neal Middle School, effective Jan. 1, 2011.

• Temporary Employment: Iva Burkett, part-time bus driver, Save the Children, Atmore Bus Shop, effective Aug. 9, 2010 (amend funding source) and Fedelia Davis, part-time bus driver, Save the Children, Atmore Bus Shop, effective Aug. 9, 2010 (amend funding source).

• Scheduled the next board meeting for 4:30 p.m. on Dec. 16 at the central office in Brewton.