Haywood Board of Education one of “Distinction”

Haywood County Board of Education members accepted at their meeting on April 14 a plaque from Rob Helms, the Southwest District Tennessee School Boards Association representative, designating them as a Board of Distinction. Boards of Education that earn this designation are recognized for the highest standards of excellence after meeting stringent requirements. The local board has held that distinction for many years.

The Haywood County Board of Education met in regular session on Tuesday night, April 14, with a full agenda. First on the agenda, the board received a plaque, designating them as a Board of Distinction. The Tennessee School Board Association awards this distinction only to those boards that are “recognized as having the highest standards of excellence” after meeting stringent requirements. Our board has held this distinction for many years.

Among other business at the meeting Superintendent Marlon King presented the school calendar for next year, gave preliminary information about new funds the system will receive and made several other announcements, members discussed the Colhoun Scholarship Fund, the HHS Academic Decathletes presented a program, textbooks were adopted, and three cafeteria managers received recognition.

Superintendent’s Report
Superintendent King presented the school calendar for the next school year. The first day of school for teachers will be August 3. They will have five days of inservice and other training, then the students start school on August 10. There will still be a week-long fall break, a three-day Thanksgiving break, a two-week winter break, and a week for spring break in April. The last day of school for kids will be May 21. The full calendar may be seen on the school’s website at www.haywoodschools.com.

Superintendent King in his report announced that the HHS graduation will be held outside at the stadium – weather permitting – and that there will be some minor changes to the dress code. There will be more discussion about the dress code, and the Superintendent will make a final report in May.

Also at the school board meeting Tuesday night, Superintendent King touched on the subject of new money coming from the state as part of the stimulus package. Mostly he said that it is all earmarked – with some specifics on what the money can be spent. There will be an additional $318,349 in Title I money and $401,914 in IDEA money. Some of the allowed expenditures will be in school innovation, promoting student achievement, extended school – after school and summer school programs, and professional development. He said he will give more details about this in May.

Other business
In other business, school board members voted to appoint Vincent Harvell, CFO for Haywood County Schools, to be the liaison with Superintendent King in regards to the school’s Colhoun scholarship fund. This fund was a donation to the school system that began at $261,000 and now is $228,000. The system has given thousands of dollars in scholarships each year, mostly from the interest on the fund. With the loss in interest gains in the account, the board voted to move the account into a safer investment. Even with the loss, this year the board will give five $2,000 scholarships to graduating seniors.

Mrs. Alison Pyron, Haywood Schools Nutrition Director, presented three cafeteria managers, Joyce Sikes at East Side, Jan Scallions at Haywood Elementary, and Sissy Lott at Sunny Hill, with awards for meeting the “Healthier US School Challenge.” There were only nine schools in the state that received these awards, and only 300 across the nation.

The HHS Academic Decathlon team made a presentation to board members and those attending the meeting about their class and competition. The two Haywood teams did well in both the regional and state competition, placing fifth and sixth in the state. HHS teachers George Norvell and Glynn Bridgewater are the sponsors for the teams.

Board members gave Youth of Christ Temple Apostolic Church permission to use the track at the HHS stadium for a walk-a-thon. They also gave the local American Cancer Society Relay for Life committee permission to use the stadium for its event in June. They also approved an out-of-state travel trip for IMPACT fifth-grade students to go to Hannibal, Missouri, on May 15. Abby Hooper is the teacher for this class.

The board approved on the recommendation of Haywood Schools CFO Vincent Harvell the renewal of a contract with the Trane company to maintain the chiller at HHS, and to renew the contract with the GCA firm to continue providing janitorial and groundskeeping services to the schools.

Other business included the granting of tenure for qualifying Haywood County School teachers and textbook adoption.

The next meeting of the board will be held on Tuesday, May 12, at 7 p.m.