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The Escambia County (Ala.) Board of Education approved personnel recommendations, including three non-renewals, during its regular meeting on April 27 in Brewton.

All of the recommendations were released Friday morning, except the non-renewals as the employees haven’t been notified yet, Superintendent Michele McClung said.

When asked why the non-renewals were approved, McClung said the board doesn’t give out nor has ever given a reason for any type of employment decision for legal reasons.
During the meeting, District 5 Board Member Loumeek White asked that the board hold out on item F recommendations 4, 5 and 6.

The board, after approving personnel recommendation items A-E, met in executive session for the representation and character on White’s hold out items for 32 minutes.

Once out of executive session, the board approved item F of the personnel recommendation. White voted opposed on items F 4 and 6.

The personnel recommendations released Friday included:

A – Retirement

• Gloria D. Hill, as elementary teacher at W.S. Neal Elementary School, effective June 1, 2023;
• Tammy Patterson, as elementary teacher at WSNES, effective June 1;
• Fabiola Jones, as teacher aide at WSNES, effective June 1;
• Sheila Ashcraft, as CNP bookkeeper at Atmore Central Office, effective May 31;

B – Resignation

• Marlo Young, as mental health service coordinator at ECBOE, effective May 15;
• Rachel Fillmore, as work-based learning teacher at ECBOE, effective April 30;
• Canon Borst, as history teacher at Escambia County High School, effective May 27;
• Camille Minaya, as culinary arts teacher at ECHS, effective April 28;
• Sarah Wilson, as band director at Flomaton High School, effective May 26;
• Wendy Stafford, as speech/language pathologist at Rachel Patterson Elementary School, effective May 26;
• Nakiedra Brown, as instructional aide at RPES, effective April 28;
• Francis A. Ward, as bus aide at Brewton Bus Shop, effective March 24;
• Marty Stringer, as part time gifted education teacher at office of special education and student services, effective May 1;

C – Employment

• Pamela Robinson, as counselor at ECHS, effective July 19, replacing Collin Lashley;

D – Employment change

• Shania Hadley, from LPN/special education aide at Huxford Elementary School, to LPN at A.C. Moore Pre-K School, effective Aug. 2, 2023;
• Julie Rowland, from instructional aide at RPES, to elementary teacher at RPES, effective March 24; and,

E – Rehire

• April Monk, as bus driver at Brewton Bus Shop, effective April 28, replacing Krystal Jernigan.

The non-renewals will not be listed to remain consistent with current reporting of personnel recommendations.

In other business, the board:

• approved an out-of-state field trip for the senior class at ECHS to Six Flags over Atlanta, Ga., on May 5-6, 2023;
• approved an out-of-state field trip for W.S. Neal High School football, band and cheer to Hattiesburg, Miss. on May 20;
• approved the review of the monthly financial statement for March 2023;
• tabled a board policy revision for Section III, fiscal management, 3.21 credit card for 30 days;
• tabled board policy revision for Section II, school board operations, 2.7, record keeping and retention of board records for 30 days;
• approved the 2023-24 textbook adoption;
• approved the purchase of instructional math materials from Heinemann and Next Level Libraries for $17,986.34 and professional development for math coaches from BBB Education Enterprises Inc. for $83,965, paid for by ESSER 3 funds. The materials will help math coaches in their support for teaching; and,
• tabled the approval of the Code of Student Conduct for the 2023-24 school year for input and consideration of changes.

During McClung’s good school news portion of the meeting, the superintendent said data from the spring’s I-ready Assessment were released.

The assessment is for students in grades K-8 in reading and math, and is held during the fall and spring semesters.

McClung said there was growth in both reading and math. She added that 1,263 students are on or above their grade level with 723 approaching their grade level in reading.

McClung said the biggest growth was in math with 1,081 students on or above their grade level with an additional 953 approaching their grade level in math.