EBOE recognizes employees, student of the month

At the Jan. 26 Enterprise City Schools Board of Education meeting the school board recognized the teacher, student and support person of the month. The board also approved the purchase of a new synthetic turf for Wildcat Stadium at the meeting.

January’s student, teacher and support person of the month all came from Enterprise High School. EHS senior Daniel Pliego was announced as the student of the month, while AP teacher Alison Hancock was the teacher of the month and custodian Ben Edwards was named the support person of the month.

According to EHS Principal Stan Sauls, Pliego is the first 2021 EHS senior to receive a scholarship. He will attend Wallace Community College with plans of transferring to Auburn University.

Hancock has been teaching for more than 20 years and has been the school’s SGA and Scholar Bowl sponsor in past years.

Edwards has been employed for 38 years and has spent that entire time over at Coppinville Junior High School. When Coppinville moved, Edwards stayed at old Coppinville, which became Temporary Alternative Placement (TAP) for EHS.

“All I can say is that it’s a shame that everyone can’t have a Mr. Ben,” TAP Principal Amenda Beckham said. “Mr. Ben is a breath of fresh air.

“He is always willing to do whatever you want him to do and the kids love him. They can’t wait to see him in the afternoons. They don’t want to disappoint him, and quite frankly I don’t want to either.”

Typically at this point in the year, the school board would be presented with the state report card but due to COVID-19 schools were not given state report cards. Still, the school system was concerned with gaps in learning that impacted students due to virtual learning. Testing Coordinator Karen Mills addressed the school board about these gaps.

“School leadership realizes that the most recent data shows declines in some data as opposed to the data collected in September,” Mills said. “We believe the current results are a more accurate picture of the progress of our students. There is no replacement for in-person instruction and assessment and we realize that many students did not do as well upon the return from virtual learning. Student assessment under a more normalized testing environment with their teacher provides more accurate data. The first step was to determine the specific skills our students showed they are weak in or showed no progress in and continue progress monitoring throughout the school year to make immediate adjustments to instructional practices and resources. School based leadership teams meet each month to evaluate student growth and make adjustments.”

Mills said that elementary school students show strengths as a whole related to growth in reading but gaps in math were a struggle due to the closing of school last year. The same can be said for the junior high schools.

At the high school level, students at the ninth grade level showed an increase at or above the benchmark in reading from the most recent data available but also an increase for students needing urgent intervention. Students in the 10th grade showed a minor decline in students at or above the benchmark and also an increase in students needing urgent intervention.

High school students also decreased in the number of students at the benchmark in Algebra 1 and increased in number of students needing urgent intervention.

“Some standards have not been taught yet even though they were tested,” Mills pointed out. “And many students struggled with math lessons being taught online.”

Mills also pointed out that Enterprise’s numbers in English as a second language (ESL) has increased and as a result the school has increased its resources for those students.

Mills said that the school system was back on track in terms of state testing programs, as well.

“We have faced many challenges this year but we will continue to work hard as a team to help our students continue to learn and grow,” Mills said.

Enterprise Superintendent Greg Faught pointed out that ECS has between 56-58 locally funded teaching units, which is in addition to the state funded number of teaching units, when many schools in the area have no locally funded teaching units.

“The challenge for us this year is we just don’t have time because we have a situation where students have been quarantined four times without being sick,” Faught said. “You’re taking a large number of days out of school.

“There are some (students) that are doing fine, those students that are more academically inclined or self-motivated – with virtual learning, but there are a lot of processes in place for both the student and teacher and some students just don’t do so well with that.”

EHS Principal Stan Sauls said that they started the school year off with 350 virtual students and that number decreased to 125 going into the second semester, but a large percentage of those virtual students are simply not doing well in that environment, likely because many students have to try and manage it on their own as most parents are working during the day.

“They don’t have that support system at home a lot of times (to help with virtual learning) to make sure they are doing what they need to be doing,” Sauls said.

The new turf, which Faught said is estimated to cost around $800,000. Faught said that the school system pays $100,000 per year in maintenance for the current natural field at Wildcat Stadium.

This new turf will be a pine chip based product rather than the tire rubber based turf seen on most synthetic surfaces. Faught said that this pine chip turf would actually result in the turf being 30 percent cooler than rubber based turfs and that the turf will absorb water when it rains and will have less of an impact on the joints of athletes.

A report done by Labosport –an independent sports field testing company - in 2019 showed that athletic surfaces made out of wood products generate the lowest amount of friction of other artificial turfs, meaning those turfs were safer for the athletes. Labosport’s study also backed up the claim that wood based turfs generate less surface heat, as well.

The board entered into an agreement with LBYD Engineering for the turf replacement.

Also, the board approved to enter in an agreement with Barganier, Davis, Williams Architects in Montgomery for the replcament of HVAC systems, windows and roofing at several schools as well as the construction of a new storm shelter at the Enterprise Career and Technology Center.

All of the replacements, the new turf and the new storm shelter will be funded with money received as a part of the $8 million the school received from the Public School and College Authority (PSCA) bonds for capital projects.

In other business, the school board approved the purchase of precision measuring instruments from Snap-On at the cost of $38,340.45 for the EHS engineering program. This purchase will allow the school to develop a dual-enrollment course in conjunction with Enterprise State Community College. Students that take this dual-enrolment course paired with a math, science or English course will have the cost of both of those classes paid for with a grant.

The board also approved the hiring of three additional student workers at the EHS Performing Arts Center to provide a video recording component at the PAC.

In unfortunate news, Faught revealed that EBOE President Reid Clark has resigned from his position on the board effective immediately.

“Please keep the Clark family in your thoughts and prayers,” Faught said. “They are a very wonderful family and are going through a very difficult time right now. With a heavy heart Mr. Clark has resigned his position as a board member.”

The board also approved the following personnel actions.

Leave:

Ramona Kelsoe, bus aide, Enterprise City Schools;

Heather Hingson, first grade teacher, Pinedale Elementary;

Eula Mayo, custodian, Hillcrest Elementary;

Resignations:

Josh Robertson, assistant principal, Enterprise High;

Employment:

Curtis Edwards, substitute bus driver, Enterprise City Schools;

Leah Libbey, substitute bus driver, Enterprise City Schools;

Elizabeth Raulerson, substitute bus driver, Enterprise City Schools;

Willie Spears, instructional aide, Enterprise High;

Derrick Lane, assistant principal, Dauphin Junior High;

Casey Moore, assistant principal, Enterprise High;

John Bullard, part-time custodian, Enterprise City Schools;

Athletic Supplements

Willie Spears, assistant varsity football coach, Enterprise High.