001It feels very soothing. >> Good evening. Welcome to the April meeting of the Board of Education. At this time, if you would join me in a moment of prayer. If you would stand, and before we begin, I'm sure all of you have heard about the tragic death of David Dobbs, our beloved member of our community. Uh I think some of you may have had him as a coach or in teaching. So, we want to remember him and his family, and also Anita Dobbs, his wife, is in still at UAB and going through some surgery, so let's keep her in mind, too. So, if you would join me in prayer. Dear heavenly Father, we want to thank you for our many blessings. We thank for the opportunity to gather this afternoon. Guide us as we make
002our decisions affecting our young people. We also ask that you continue to bless, comfort those who are in suffering. We ask you to remember the Dobbs family. Ask you to continue to bless and protect our military, our first responders, and all of our educators. In Christ's name, amen. Amen. Attention. Salute. Pledge. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. Ms. Vernon, if you'd call the roll. Stacy [clears throat] Board. Here. Sherry Talbert. Present. Jason Daniel. Here. Kim DeShazo. Here. Kathy Brown. >> Here. Before we begin, I want to recognize and congratulate Sherry Talbert for being reappointed to the Board of Education. Ms. Talbert, it's good to [applause] have you here.
003THANK YOU. AND I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO working another five years. >> [laughter] >> Five years? Yes. Good deal. Good deal. We'd also like to welcome visitors. I believe Jamie Anderson, Ms. Anderson, president of the City Council, is with us. Thank you to the City Council for the reappointment. We also have Stan Garrett. Mr. Garrett is a long-time member, former member of the Board of Education. Mr. Garrett, good to have you with us. At this time we'll make uh I believe all of you have had an opportunity to look at the agenda. Do I have a motion to adopt? So moved. Do I have a second? Second. All in favor, please say I. I. Hearing no opposition, the motion carries. At this time, Dr. Ward, I believe we have some recognitions. Let me just start
004by saying these are the absolute best board meetings. We have a lot of students here with us today. We'll have a chance to hear from our leadership HT group. under the direction of Amber Benson. Uh and so looking forward to that, but love having love having our kids with us here. Um the the this is why we are here. Sherry, and this is why we signed up for another 5 years, correct? Yes. Uh we have one recognition. I'm going to ask Señora Dybert to come forward, if you would. Um boy, I said that like I haven't taken a Spanish class in about 20 years. Woo. All right, I need to work on that. Um we are going to congratulate our our students who have received the global seal of biliteracy from Hewitt-Trussville High School. Uh
005the Alabama Seal of Biliteracy is awarded by the Alabama State Department of Education in recognition of graduating students who have demonstrated demonstrated an intermediate level of proficiency in English and at least one other world language, including American Sign. This year we have 17 students, and I was going to ask if you would introduce the ones that are here. >> Okay. So go ahead. All right. We had so many who were playing sports tonight or working jobs, so these are amazing representatives. So we have Jada Hammonds and Marshall Smith, Andrew Coolidge, Daniel Butler, and Elisha Debisette Rabadan. Um I do want to say really quickly that earning the global seal is an incredibly difficult task. So these students, what they have to do is demonstrate proficiency in every mode. So reading, writing, listening, and speaking. And
006that has to be at an intermediate high level. So what's tricky about Spanish is it's so unlike other classes that they have to take where they spend a year learning the information and learning how to problem-solve with it, and then kind of conquering it by the end. That's not how language works. There's no real conquering by the end of a year. It is it is really a task of perseverance. What they have to do is continually show up and fail, and try again, and feel humbled and vulnerable. Um so essentially what they've had to do each year is to be these brilliantly minded 18, 17-year-olds who have to come and sound like a fourth-grader for a second, you know, in this other language. And it's so vulnerable and and it's humbling, but um to get
007to this point shows not only a brilliant mind, but a really strong character, because it is a perseverance thing. So I'm super proud of all OF THEM. YEAH. >> [snorts] [applause] >> YES. ALL RIGHT. AND THEN I WILL READ EVERYONE WHO HAS gotten this over the past year. So we have Sophie Burns, Daniel Butler, Noelani Beltran, Natalie Boyer, Madison Brown, Dakota Castellanos Panduro, Andrew Coolidge, Elisha Debisette Rabadan, Juan Gomez, Anna Green, Macy Herring, Jada Hammonds, William Huffstutler, Lila Jasper, Margaret Jordan, Kyle Jang, Sophie Lynn, Savannah Kennedy, Jacob Martinez, Sienna Mugnaini, Marcos Ramos, Roger Herrera Garcia, Grayson Rogers, Marshall Smith, and Reagan Stutler. >> [applause] >> Congratulations. Congrats. Congrats. Mr. Kirkland, financial report. Thank you, Dr. Ward. Uh we are pleased to present the monthly financial report for March 2026. Uh it is in your packet
008to review. All bank accounts have been reconciled to the general ledger, and any um uh the the financial extract has been uploaded to the state department with all necessary edits corrected for the month. Ad valorem revenues are 82.28% of our budget compared to 86.77% of our budget this time last year. Kind of been talking about revenues for the last several months. Um ad valorem receipts to date are running just uh just over 2% less than they were last year. Uh nothing to be concerned about, but it is something that uh we'll keep an eye on just to uh look for patterns uh going into uh this summer's budget. Uh so uh wanted to bring that to your attention that you know, it where we are right on budget for ad valorem revenues. Total expenditures and
009transfers out for the general fund are at 43.93% of the budget. Um and just know that March, you know, we're halfway through the year, so that's why we're approaching 50% of our budget. So that's uh routine and normal. Uh all transactions appear to be of a usual and routine manner and within the legal authorization and fiscal management policies of the board. And as always, upon board approval, the monthly financial report will be a made will be made available for public review. Very good. Thank you. Believe we have our consent agenda next. Do we have a motion to adopt the consent agenda? I'll make a motion. Do I have a second? Second. All in favor, please say I. I. I. Motion is adopted. Dr. Ward, is anything you'd like to bring up from that standpoint? Yes,
010just a couple of items to uh to point out here with consent agenda. The first, if board members will take a look at item number five, uh we have approved three of our fee sheets, um and these are the final two, the middle school as well as Magnolia for this upcoming school year. Um the next item, item number six, approval of the tuition for Trussville City Schools, and this is based on a calculation uh provided to us from the state department that Mr. Kirkland puts together for us. If you'll take a look over item on page two, item number 15, I wanted to share with the board. We do have three change orders from our C wing uh construction project. Uh just want to make sure that members of the board the the first item
011is actually a deduct. And so what you'll see there between the three change orders, we're seeing a a a healthy deduction from items uh on the job, as well as a couple of adds. One of those things such as outlets there in our science labs, which will be on the fourth floor there for the sing C wing addition. Uh we also have before the Board of Education uh a few facility use requests. One of which, if you look at the first one, sort of exciting here for the community of Trussville when you see that the New York Mets MLB program would like to have their pre-draft workouts here uh in in Trussville for uh at Hewitt-Trussville baseball facilities. So um some nice notoriety there for our baseball program. Um we will make sure that we
012have a lot of our baseball players walking around at that time. And then also uh our students are and and staff taking advantage of field trips. Uh you can see the field trips that we have through the end of this school year, and that makes up our consent agenda. Thank you. We move on to personnel. Members of the board have before them the personnel report. Um members can see we have uh a few retirements uh before them. Uh we have a few resignations. Some of those resignations are staff members that are moving to a another position. Uh we do have a a recommendation from the superintendent's office on a termination. Uh this is the time of year where we start to see a lot of transfers and reassignment, and members of the board can see
013those before them. One recommendation for a schedule changed. Uh that's based on a master's degree that has been earned. We have a few, more than a few, uh about a page and a half there of extra services agreements, and you'll note um several of these are work that'll be performed over the course of the summer. So appreciative to our instructional staff who are willing to continue to work with our students during the summer hours, and so we compensate them accordingly. Uh a few leaves of absence being recommended on this personnel report. We have a recommendation for one long-term substitute and then members of the board can see before them recommendations for employments as well as two coaching employments for the upcoming school year and Dr. Ward, that makes up our personnel report for the month
014of April. Very good. I entertain a motion to adopt personnel recommendations. So moved. Have a second? Second. All in favor, please say I. I. Motion carries. Do we have an old business, Dr. Martin? One old business item which was part of discussion during the month of March and that is for our Hewitt-Trussville High School course curriculum guide for the 2026-2027 school year. Want to thank Mr. King and his team as well as board members Jason Daniel and Kim DeShazo for taking quite a bit of time this week and having conversation around quality points as those quality points pertain to dual enrollment as well as advanced placement exams. I'm I'm sorry, not exams, just advanced placement courses. It was determined in this meeting that a dual enrollment course would receive the same quality point one as
015an advanced placement course and so that small committee coming together thought that is what we would bring to the Board of Education as a recommendation and I'll turn it over to you, Mr. Daniel or Mr. DeShazo if there's anything additionally to add. No, appreciate the discussion. I learned a lot through it. I think it's the right thing to do at this point. Okay. I agree. I agree. I appreciate Mr. Daniel for what he's done with us and the had presentation ready for us and it was good good discussion and I agree, Jason. I think it's I think it's the right place for us to be at least for right now. Okay. All right. Anything to add, Mr. King or I agree with both of them. Good work. Okay. And we need a motion. >> We
016do. Yeah, motion And I entertain a motion to adopt. I'll make that motion. Second. Second. All in favor, please say I. I. I. Motion carries. Do we have new business, Dr. Martin? Yes, two items under new business. The first is the 26-27 student parent handbook. And I want to thank Dr. Poovey for putting a committee together. This is the recommendation for the first reading and so the board will have a chance to look at this over the course of the next 30 or so days until the May Board of Education meeting. Also want to make sure that you know we do send this to board counsel, Mr. Whit Colvin, to take a look at any recommendations as well. And so this would be the first reading of the student parent handbook. >> And I believe
017we need a motion on this, too. Motion and second on adoption. Yes. And we entertain a motion to put this on the table, place this on the table. Do you have a motion? So moved. Have a second? Second. All in favor, please say I. I. I. Motion carries. Thank you, Dr. Martin. Uh new business item number two. This is the responsible use of technology document. This replaces the AUP, which is the acceptable use. Any employees or students who utilize technology here in the system sign off on this document and this takes into account some changes associated with artificial intelligence as well as just some of the language that's been consistent in our AUPs in the past. So we would bring a recommendation for the approval of this document. We have a motion to adopt responsibility
018item. I'll make a motion. Have a second? Second. All in favor, please say I. I. I. Motion carries. And I believe we have administrative reports. We have two Well, actually five administrative reports, two different groups. The first is our Leadership HT presentations on the projects that they've been working on and Amber Benson does an exceptional job and I'd ask that you would come up, introduce us to the students and tell us a little bit about the class, please. >> [snorts] >> Good evening. Thank you for having us here and thank you for being here. This is the fifth Leadership Hewitt-Trussville class. 2021-2022 was the very first year that we came to the school board, to the city council to present project ideas to enhance our community. A community that's already beautiful and fantastic and a
019school system that is already excelling. So as you can imagine, the project ideas are very difficult to come up with. These students were first nominated by faculty at Hewitt-Trussville High School. They then went through an application and interview process and were selected to be part of this class. So this evening we are here to present four ideas. We just came from the library board, the community library and got the green light for an athletic rental equipment project there. So we're proud of those students. We presented earlier this week at city council and we'll be going back to the next city council meeting as well to follow up. So we cannot thank you enough for the continued support. This year I'm I'm seeing our first year of students graduate and I can't wait to see them
020come back to our community to become the leaders that that we hopefully prepared them to be. That's the goal of this program. So thank you, city as well, Jamie Anderson, for supporting us all these years. So I would like to bring up our very first group. This is the parking lot group. So students, y'all come forward. Let's be sure to you rotate and speak into the microphone. And your presentation will be presented around you. Thank you. >> [laughter] >> Good evening. So I have a question for y'all. Who here likes being confused? So I see that nobody put their hand up. Okay. So being a student at Hewitt-Trussville High School, I've been going here for 3 years. Well, we all have. And even we still get confused by this parking lot. So imagine the feeling
021of visitors and new students who have never been here before trying to navigate this parking lot for game day or some type of AAA event and they're like, well, how do I get here? How do I Like they're like, oh my goodness, this is outrageous. So with that being said, this came helped us come up with our idea for the HTHS parking lot innovation. I'm Song Robert. I'm Lauren Gunter. I'm Pierce Hayden. And I'm Caitlyn Palmer. Our mission with our city improvement project is to create a shared understanding between students, faculty, and visitors and to enhance the safety of our parking lot. Our why for trying to incorporate this project is we've experienced a significant growth in our school system thanks to our AAA programs, academics, and the arts. With that being said, we experience
022so many new visitors and students because it just draws so much attention to our school. Also, the need to improve traffic flow, accessibility, and campus safety is also of a concern. So our goal is to provide accessibility and organization to our HTHS parking lot to allow for shared understanding between students and visitors. So our process is one that is three steps, which starts with communication, company and design, and installation. And right now we're between steps two and three, where we have finalized two of our top two companies that we would like to work with and we have our design already made. So once we get quotes from the both of them combined, we'll be able to choose which one best fits our needs and we'll be able to move on with the installation process. So
023for the sign locations, we have 12 total, eight of which are larger and four smaller ones. The red dots on the thing are where they are. So for our mock design, this is our main directional sign that will go in the front and it will be larger. We have also had a great opportunity of partnering with Bryant Bank on incorporating their logo into our design. This is what the student, faculty, and visitor parking signs will look like. They all have the exact same design and our goal of these designs was also to incorporate the new branding of our school. So we are in close communication with Jeremy Tuggle at Bryant Bank to see how much he can cover for our project since we're adding his logo. And once Mr. Tuggle, would you please stand for
024the audience? >> [laughter] >> Uh Once finalized with that, we will go with y'all's Jim Kirkland to tie up any loose ends with that. We also have the LHT grant account where we worked over the summer to raise some money for this. So like I previously mentioned, we are in close contact with two sign companies. Right now with Bell Company, we are waiting on a quote hopefully sometime this week. And for Cahaba Sign Design, our grand total for all the signs included will be $6,834. Now to further go into our Cahaba sign design quote, for our eight student parking signs, they will go at a rate of $638.50 each, which will go for a final total of $5,108. And then for the four locational signs that tell you where to go, those will go for
025a rate of $431.50 each, which will end up with $1,726 in total, and that comes to our grand total of $6,834. We are here seeking for approval for further steps in our project and any support that y'all can help us with. THANK Y'ALL. >> [applause] >> I HAVE A QUESTION. SO, THERE'S ALREADY EXISTING signs at the school, correct? Will these And now we have a branding, a new branding. So, are these going to be made Will we replace those, or these are just new ones and will look similar to the ones that are there? Uh um So, we're looking to add for the student parking, we're supposed to we're looking to add those and then replace some of the existing ones with the new logos and colors. Okay. Thank you. That's right. Yeah, great presentation.
026Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. Did we take a vote? Oh, they're just presenting. YES. >> [applause] [applause] >> YEAH, I MEAN, WE'RE ALL ABOUT IT. >> [laughter] >> YEAH. Thank you. >> [laughter] >> Hello, everybody. Hello. I'd like everyone to remember their first day of their freshman year of high school. You're in a brand new school with a bunch of students, and you're trying to find your classroom. And it's really hard cuz you're in a brand new spot. At Hewitt-Trussville High School, with a lot of students, and it's hard to find out where you're going, especially on your first day. So, what we want to do to help with students navigation is to create hallway signs. Currently at the high school, we have flat signs on the teachers' doors. They're hard to see for new
027new students and new visitors. So, with our project, we would have hanging signs from the ceiling or signs that would be placed on the wall above the teachers' door, and they would be very simplistic. They would include the teachers' name and their room number. We also want to include a directory sign. This will be placed in the main lobby, and it would have some of the school's highlight points like the lecture hall and the library, and we will also include the school's academies. My name is Julia Anderson. I'm Jada Hammonds. I'm Jack May. I'm Luke Stazel. The purpose of our presentation came from branding, safety, and navigation. Our presentation was inspired by Payne Elementary. They have hanging hallway signs above each teacher's door. In the case of first responder were asked to come to our
028school, our signs would make it easier for them for them to navigate around the school. Our signs also make it easy for teachers, faculty, visitors, and students to navigate. So, we have two main ideas for our hallway signs. One is a like a hanging sign above the teacher's door, and the other is a wall-mounted sign. Here are our three options for our signs, and uh it's all made of different materials and prices. So, for our first one, it's a corrugated uh board, and they're $10 a sign, and its total will be $1,180. Our second idea is an acrylic sign, and it The difference with this one is that it's screwed into the wall, and uh it'd be Yeah, this is our second idea. So, it's it would be screwed into the wall on the side,
029and what you do with this one is you're paying for the sign holder, but each sign would be a just a paper slid in to the sign. So, with these two acrylic signs, the upfront cost would be higher than the other one, but its recurring cost would be lower. All right, this is our third idea. It's also an acrylic sign, but it would have silver standoffs, kind of like in the picture there, and it would just uh help with continuity in all our signs around the school. And for our final, this is our main directory sign, and it'd be around $225, and it would go in the main lobby. >> [clears throat] >> So, at the high school right now, we currently have clickers that allow teachers to kind of communicate with front office and
030just SROs, nurses, and all that in the case of emergency or if a student were to like get hurt. Um these kind of allow for teachers to just kind of send a message of just like, "Hey, we need help or support down here." Our hallway signs, our main goal is to kind of just support the school's navigational safety efforts that they have already provided. Now, the according to the National Institution of Health, for every 100 students in a building, two get hurt or suffer an injury every single year. In our junior class alone, there are over 350 students. That's roughly eight to 10 each year just our class alone. Now, for partnerships, we're looking at Trussville City Schools. Mr. King was more than gracious enough to point us to our next steps with just where
031we look for take our just to point our direction in how we're going to progress. We've been in communications with police, fire, and police uh just to kind of just see if they would be interested in allowing us to fund and also just how she they would approach this this idea. Today, we ask for your support in our project and any possible funding and approval that you may give us. Thank you. >> [applause] >> So, so y'all are going to have two things. You're going to have the directional signs that are on the wall that kind of tell you what what floor certain things are on, and then you're also going to have the things that are outside of each classroom. Yes, ma'am. Okay. And your options for outside of each classroom, [clears throat] I
032I like that you looked at upfront cost versus What is your What's your preference on that? Do you want to recommend one of them? So, for our options, we're kind of kind of at the mercy of how we what we can kind of get to fund our project. Um our huge our huge Trussville City grant, if we do have access to You want me to go back in slides? We have access to the um the corrugated signs, which is kind of just like the fancy cardboard that's what the elementary school has right now. Um we have funding for the second option. The grant covers most of this one, but we do we'll need extra extra support for that. Um the most I say appealing one, which is the next one, the $1,400 option, is definitely
033a much steeper cost, but it will kind of pay for itself in the long run with teachers retiring and incoming back. So, in the in the process of replacing the original corrugated signs, the upfront cost will eventually level out. THANK Y'ALL. >> [applause] >> THANK YOU. YOU'RE MOVING UP. GOOD EVENING SORRY. Good evening, everyone. How are y'all doing today? >> Good. How are you? Good to hear that. So, as you guys saw in the parking lot uh signs, their presentation about our triple A programs, um we really want to kind of implement that not only at the high school, but throughout our uh mini schools in Trussville. And so, with that being said, a lacrosse parent came to our team a couple of months ago, and she told us uh behind the middle school, that
034turf field that was recently uh built. Some of you might not know what it looks like back there cuz it is a newer project, but it is back there. We hosted a lacrosse game, and we had to tell our opponents to use a restroom before we got or before they got to the competition. And that was because of how hard it is to get to restrooms from the field. And our team thinks that us having to tell our opponents, even though we want to beat them, us us having to tell our competition to use the restroom before they get to our facility, it discredits all of the hard work that not only Trussville employees, but Trussville residents have put into making sure that our facilities are top-notch. And so, with all of this being said,
035I'd like to introduce our city improvement project, which is a bridge behind the middle school. I'm Savannah. I'm Wyla. And I'm Maya. So, just a little more background to this project, as you can see on this visual here, the the turf field, obviously, is there. And that line that you see running adjacent to the bridge, or well, sorry, adjacent to the field, is a ditch. And it poses safety concerns. It's a liability issue not only for the middle schoolers that go back there, and they have PE every day, but also for the patrons that want to watch their kids. And as you uh that little red box that you see uh kind of in the middle, that is where the bridge would be located. It connects to the sidewalk, and you can take the sidewalk,
036and the restrooms are right here behind the tennis with the tennis courts. And of course, the bridge will be ADA compliant, so parents with strollers that have kids um of course can cross it, and also grandparents that are in wheelchairs uh would be able to cross it safely as well. And just to reiterate our main focus for this project, it's to prioritize community safety, efficiency, and accessibility. Here we have included an AI-generated image of what we predict the bridge will look like. So, it will be an RCP bridge, which is a reinforced concrete pipe bridge. And that just means that there's the pipes that run adjacent with the ditch. That will allow for maximal water flow and drainage. So, we've talked with Jim Needs from Sain Associates and Mike Strength from Trussville Gas and Water.
037And from engineers' perspectives, they both agreed that this RCP route would be the best to take to keep the drainage and keep the current usage of the ditch. So, and then right here we've included These are the railings that you'll find all across the high school campus. And we wanted to implement those on onto the bridge. So, just to have more continuity across the schools, and keep it more unified. Here again, we have a close-up of this AI image. And again, it's AI, so it's not 100% accurate. But it would be more closely to the 50-yard line on this turf field, and it would be up a little bit. You see how it's connecting to the sidewalk. We want to keep it unified and flat on the sidewalk. And then connect it straight to the
038turf field. So, I'm sure we're all familiar with the Needs family and the Needs Miracles. And we wanted to honor this family and honor Mr. Needs by giving this bridge the name Needs Bridge. And we want to show this family that we walk with them every single day. We're with them just as with just as Jim Needs or >> [snorts] >> Sorry, Jared Needs is with our students and walks with our students every single day. So, after reaching out to Milam & Co., we received this quote detailing the estimated prices for each component of the bridge. This quote includes several generous donations from Milam & Co., from Infinite Precast, and Daniel Iron. And we're very thankful for all of them. The final estimated cost after donations would be just over $13,000, and that would include
039just the stone material, stone hauling, concrete, and concrete finisher. The key thing here is that we're not asking for any funding. We expect to be able to pay the full $13,000 through donations and partnerships. In fact, we have been in communication with Mr. Mike Strength from Trussville Gas and Water, and he has offered both financial assistance and assistance in installing the bridge. So, we're very thankful for him. We want to commemorate our donors with plaques that would be permanently installed on the bridge, and those would be paid for, as well as any other extra expenses we may have, with the money in our Leadership HT Grant account. So, our next steps after receiving approval for the projects would be to finalize our design. Then we would reach out to partners for donations of materials and
040funding. Then we would finally um work on our finishing touches, which would be anything from plaques to signs to anything extra. Then we would finally begin construction on the bridge, hopefully before the next school year. So, overall, we're here to just ask for y'alls approval and any tips or questions or feedback y'all might have, we would love to hear it. Thank you guys so much. THANK YOU. >> [applause] >> THANK Y'ALL. THANK YOU. >> [clears throat] >> GOOD EVENING. RAISE YOUR hand if you've ever been to a Friday night football game here at Husky Stadium. As a football player, nothing gets me no more excited than seeing the community of Trussville gather in one place and help and cheer us on and help beat our opponent. I just can't help No, I just can't help
041but notice how beautiful it looks, the stadium packed out and our fans cheering us on. Well, the biggest thing that I notice is those ugly orange barrels that line Husky Parkway on game days. Which is what inspired us for the permanent installation of road chains throughout Husky Parkway. I'm Natalie Dummett. I'm Micah Fantroy. So, our why for the road chains is that it prevents parking more efficiently than the barrels do. It also reduces workload for our public works. They are permanent and low maintenance. And also, they will improve safety for our athletes who use Husky Parkway not just on game days. So, some logistics that come with this is after going out and measuring the football stadium side of the road that also includes the Civic Center would be about 1,092 ft. And the other
042side of the road that has the new softball stadium would be about 906 ft, and it would start at the beginning of Husky Parkway at the light, and it would end at the stadium crosswalk. So, here's just a little image of this. So, it would start at this red light right here, and it would end at the field house crosswalk. And these are the numbers excluding the drives, but we know that Mayor Short liked the idea of having the drives covered in case we wanted to block off them for any reason. So, we would have a chain link, but that's not included in these measurements. We recently visited Auburn University, and we really like their road chains outside of Jordan-Hare Stadium. These road chains not only provided a source of safety, but they also helped
043to make the area look a lot cleaner and simpler. And then we can see here a close-up image of what those road chains might look like in Trussville. So, here we have some AI-generated >> [laughter] >> media. This is very dramatic. So, our our barrels look a lot better than that. But we have what they would look like with the barrels just to give you a visual, but mainly focus on this, how this looks nice and clean. It prevents anyone from going to the sidewalk. It helps the safety for not only our student athletes, but our pedestrians. And it just really adds to Husky Parkway. We worked a lot on this with the new softball stadium, and it's just a growing part of our community. So, we wanted to just make it look as neat
044as possible. Right now, we are in contact with and are looking to purchase our road chains from chamber member Alex Harris with Fencing Unlimited, and also Ryan Benson Daniel Iron. And we can see it would be 49,000 to buy the road chains and 14,000 to install them with Fencing Unlimited, and 35,000 to buy them and 16,000 to install them with Daniel Iron. So, we do recognize that this will be an expensive project. After getting our estimates, we did find there is a return on investment, cuz we know this can be a little costly. So, we found that to replace a barrel and to initially purchase them, they're $85 per barrel. We found that the last school year, there was around 22 events hosted on Husky Parkway. But we expect those events to increase with the
045new use of our softball facility. And we found the cost of labor just for those barrels through public works was over $20,000 per school year. We have been in contact with Mayor Short and the city about funding for our project, and we meet with them next Monday night at the city hall. But also, we have ways to help fund this project, like having a kids camp over the summer, where all funds would go towards our project. And also, we could put nameplates on the posts of the chains, just like the bricks outside the stadium, so it feels like potential donors have a part of this project with us and we can also use money out of our leadership HT grant. So ultimately our ask is just approval to move forward with our project to get
046these road signs out on Husky Parkway and we would love to hear any feedback or questions you'll have. Thank you. >> [applause] [applause] >> All right, thank you group. Miss Benson, anything else you would like to add regarding the four groups or So these three next steps will be developed with the city and with each component of their project and um we're excited to see where these go. Some of the projects of our city probably have already seen the welcome to downtown Trussville sign um on that road. >> [laughter] >> They stated kind of tried to model it. So um and the hallway signs at the high school is a continuation of the phase two of that project. We've done some signage in the schools before, so these projects um hopefully will continue, but thank
047you for your support. Thank you. GOOD JOB. [applause] WE APPRECIATE YOU EACH OF YOU WHO take your time and efforts to put this together. Great planning, looks great, so we appreciate it. We'll be in touch with you and how we'll follow up. So thank you. Thank you. Miss Benson, always, thank you. Fantastic job. All right, our our next administrative report that we have um this evening is Magnolia Elementary um continuous improvement plan, but students, you're more than welcome to stay, but this might be an opportune time to step out of the back of the room there, so we'll leave that up to you. Miss Benson, do they have your permission? All right, good. Well, we have to go after that? Oh, that's a creative presentation to talk about a continuous improvement plan. Um but I
048want to thank Dr. Martin and the Board of Education for allowing us to have this opportunity to come and discuss our continuous improvement and the things that the fantastic things that we're doing at Magnolia. Um so before we get started, I just want to introduce our team. And so we have Adrian Thompson, she is third grade. We have Ashlyn Way, she is in our exceptional education department. We have Anna Walker, she is fourth grade math. And then we have Mrs. Waylander, first grade. And then we have Lauren Long, she is our STEM teacher. Okay, so to uh to start our continuous improvement plan, it's just that, it's a continuous improvement plan. And so when we think about, you know, the things that we're going to be doing, we think about, okay, our continuous improvement plan
049will last or sustain us 3 to 5 years, okay? So we are going to talk a little bit about what we're currently doing at Magnolia, but as well the mechanisms that we're going to be using over the next 3 to 5 years to help us um achieve our goals. But I always like to begin every presentation with our mission and vision of Trussville City Schools, okay? And so we know that our mission and vision is to always educate all of our students using high standards in a safe nurturing environment fostering academic and career competencies. Our vision is for our educators, staff, parents, and community to work together to help students move forward on a positive path, okay? As Trussville City Schools, not only um are we um we're looking at exhibiting AAA excellence in everything
050we do, but Trussville City Schools, we are a learning organization. Um we foster our school and community partnerships, collaborate, we're a learning environment, and we want to always cultivate that culture of success. Likewise, Magnolia's vision and mission, it aligns with Trussville City Schools, is seamless. We strive again to create that safe, nurturing, inclusive environment where all of our students feel safe and they can thrive. We also want to foster that love of learning for our kiddos and promote AAA excellence. And then also we believe in the potential of every child to learn and succeed. Every student can learn. So in our ASAP, we have four strategic themes and these themes lead to continuous improvement objectives and they work together to achieve overall school improvement. So our four areas are culture and climate, professional development, technology,
051and math improvement. Ooh, uh-oh, forgot At Magnolia, we strive to create an environment where students, faculty, and staff feel valued and recognized. We believe our culture and climate form the foundation of our continuous improvement plan. Without a safe, supportive, and caring school environment, students cannot reach their academic potential and faculty and staff are not able to be their best, grow professionally, or bring their ideas to life. On the next slide, you will see the steps in our plan to help build the culture and climate of our Magnolia community that is loved and well-known in Trussville. Okay, I'm going to start with SEL and morning meetings. We intentionally build a positive culture and climate each day through morning meetings and our social emotional learning curriculum. These experiences help students collaborate as a team, treat others with
052respect, manage and learn how to deal with everyday emotions, and foster positive, uplifting interactions both inside and outside the classroom. Um for stakeholders communication and surveys, communication through weekly newsletters to parents, our Husky Hub, In the Loop from the um from the board, and surveys from the district and school also play an important role in fostering an environment where students, faculty, staff, and board members and parents feel heard and know their voices and perspectives are valued. We prioritize open, consistent dialogue and create opportunities for feedback ensuring that all members of our school community feel included, respected, and empowered to contribute. At Magnolia, we are intentional about building both a strong culture and a positive climate. Culture reflects our shared values and practices, while climate represents the day-to-day atmosphere. Although climate may shift, a strong culture
053provides consistency and stability. Through our partnerships with Hope Institute, we focus on character development and intentional practices that strengthen our school community. Safety is also a key priority. We have implemented clear systems including color-coded hallways and numbered doors to support efficient navigation and communication. We have also maintained a strong partnership with our school resource officer to ensure we remain proactive and prepared. Okay. We also like to have fun at Magnolia. So through our PTO collaborations and our community events like our coin drive where first grade got a pizza party and popsicles, or Boo at the School and a sweetheart dance, or a movie night, we foster a strong sense of family within our school community every single day and we just love it. Our second strategic theme is professional development. Our goal is to pursue
054purposeful professional development um and coaching opportunities to enhance professional and student growth. These are long-standing partnerships we've cultivated and look forward to continuing as we expand our educational toolbox. Our professional development is strengthened through a variety of key partnerships including our elementary schools, AMSTI, ARI, OMI, the Board of Education, ALSDE, the Hope Institute, and Auburn and Samford Universities. We also encourage in collaborative planning across grade levels and departments as well as instructional rounds which allow teachers to observe instruction and learn from one another in meaningful ways. AMSTI supports teachers by providing hands-on foundational training and classroom resources, partnering in math instruction through observation and collaboration, um and enhancing science learning with practical training and learning kits. We are excited to be able to implement these science kits to partner with and enhance our science curriculum.
055We also utilize letters training which provides teacher with a deep understanding of the science of reading and how students learn to read. Teachers work closely with reading coaches to apply these strategies in the classroom supporting effective and consistent literacy instruction for all students. The Office of Mathematics Improvement focuses on enhancing academic vocabulary, providing students that teachers can learn and plan to implement strategies that teachers can learn and plan to implement throughout our mathematical instruction. Our Board of Education provides ongoing professional development days focused on technology, special education, academics, and more. These trainings support continuous growth for staff throughout the year. The ALSDE provides administrator training and guidance through professional learning plans to support effective leadership and school improvement. And finally, we also have our Hope Institute, which we are currently in year one of our
056partnership with Hope Institute. And during this year, we have focused on developing our core values through feedback gathered from a variety of different stakeholders across of our school community. In year two, we'll continue to work by beginning to intentionally implement and live out these core values in our daily practices and school-wide systems. Each year, we will continue to have new year one teams, which will allow us to continue refining and strengthening our work. Auburn University and Samford University support STEM and professional growth through initiatives like the robotics score program, the Hope Institute, and partnerships with Samford's graduate programs. These partnerships are all essential to our continued success, and we look forward to strengthening them as we grow Magnolia Elementary School and expand opportunities for our students and our community. In the area of math improvement,
057our focus is on instructional engagement that it ensures that teachers employ learner-driven strategies, track student progress, and celebrate academic growth. Our evidence-based curriculum that we use is STEMscopes as the core, supplemented with Howard County materials to strengthen instruction and provide additional support. For data collection and frequent data meetings, we consistently collect and analyze benchmark data throughout the year. During our data meetings, we evaluate student performance, identify strengths and gaps, and develop and refine intentional plans for WIN time, which is our intervention block. WIN time continues to be used to provide small group review for students who need support, and to offer extended math opportunities for our advanced learners. The collected data also continuously informs our tier one instruction, ensuring we are meeting the needs of all students. For coaching, our math coach, Maggie Burns, completed
058various coaching cycles this year with our teachers. Each [snorts] coaching cycle is intentionally designed around both students' needs and teachers' selected areas for growth. >> [snorts] >> Teachers are supported in their ability to focus on targeted student needs, as well as growing in instructional practices that they have identified as areas for development. After coaching cycles, teachers share strategies and successes with their grade level teams to expand the impact of their learning. >> [snorts] >> For extended math opportunities, we provide ongoing opportunities for students through the fifth grade math team, afternoon math lab, and math summer camp. These opportunities continue to support both intervention and enrichment outside of the classroom. Through math challenges, we motivate students with engaging activities such as our Edmentum challenges to build a love for math and accountability at the same time.
059Our Edmentum donut party challenge was a huge success, and we will continue next year across our school community, grade levels, and specific classrooms. For celebrations, we consistently and intentionally celebrate both achievement and growth, ensuring that student success is recognized throughout the year, including first [snorts] place at the fifth grade math team tournament, um all grade levels consistently meeting the Edmentum trophy goals that resulted in every single grade level getting a donut party. And additionally, we continue to recognize students during awards day through certificates that highlight both growth and highest achievement. Teachers engage in ongoing learning through PLPs, NCTM, AMSTI, and OMI trainings. This is used to strengthen their instructional practices. We also practice um vertical alignment by collaborating with other schools to ensure continuity in our learning. For example, our kindergarten teachers and their grade
060team um visited Payne, and fifth grade teachers collaborated with the middle school to support smooth transitions and curriculum alignment. So, overall in the area of math improvement, our focus remains on using data to drive instruction, supporting teachers through coaching, and creating meaningful meaningful opportunities for both intervention and enrichment so that every student continues to grow in the area of math. When it comes to infusing technology at Magnolia, our teachers are committed to prepare students for college, careers, and more importantly, navigating successfully through life. Technology supports this, but our main goal is building strong thinkers, problem-solvers, and collaborators. Across the building, you can see learning infused with technology, which could be plugged or unplugged as we continue to focus on computational thinking and the engineering design process. Students learn to break down problems, spot patterns, test
061ideas, and improve their work. This builds their confidence to face challenges. We encourage students to create with technology, not just use it as a passive consumer. We want to instill in our students that technology is best used when it helps with collaboration, communication, problem-solving, and sharing what they know. It's all tied to real learning. A growth mindset is key. Technology changes quickly, so our teachers adapt, too. We've embraced new tools alongside our students, and we'll continue to model what it means to strive to keep learning. Digital citizenship is essential. We're committed to prioritizing that our students are learning to use tech safely, respectfully, and ethically, understanding both how and why. Our staff engages in ongoing professional growth in a variety of ways. We're focusing on learning more about Magic School AI and other creation tools.
062A number of our teachers are part of the cohort leading the journey as AI champions. ViewSonic boards are being added to more and more of our classrooms as teachers and students are interacting with this tool to enhance the classroom experience. Teachers engage in hands-on learning about robotics, plan to attend conferences, and develop skills through our district PD days focused on technology. All of these bring fresh ideas to the classroom. STEM shows up daily at Magnolia. From lessons in the STEM station, our specials rotation, which includes STEM classes on a four-day rotation, STEM bins available in our library, GATE classes, and hands-on projects in our gen ed classrooms that promote teamwork and critical thinking. Our teachers strive to engage young minds and hands with STEM while infusing these experiences across the curriculum, building strong connections with
063math, science, and literacy. Robotics continues to make a real difference for our students at Magnolia. The State Department grants have continued to support the acquisition of robotics, including VEX 123, VEX GO, Sphero Indies, and Bee-Bots for early coding and problem-solving. I'm also excited about winning the CBS 1 Class at a Time grant, which funded the purchase of even more robotics equipment to reach the students and support our goals. In short, the work that we do with our students each day integrates, yet goes beyond tech. It's about a culture of innovation, responsibility, and growth. With these tools and approaches, our students are being prepared to lead the future. So again, thank you so much um for your time this afternoon. Again, thank you, Dr. Martin, for the opportunity. Thank you to the Board of Education. Um
064again, these are all mechanisms that we're going to continue to use over the next 3 to 5 years to help us achieve our goals. Thank you. >> [applause] >> We appreciate your dedication in putting this together, and it just shows how well you're doing at Magnolia along with other schools, but thank you again for being here and saying and doing that. Thank you. If I may make one quick comment to share real quick. Uh if it's all right with the Board of Education, I'd I'd like to circle back on personnel. Um We we actually had been funding, thanks to the Board of Education, two math coaches, and we were funding them locally under, well, meeting the obligation of the Numeracy Act, but not being fully funded. Is that fair? And so, under the direction of
065Kelly McGrew, we um were actually able to fund through the state all four, and we have all four with us here this evening, correct? Yes, [applause] so Kelly, yes. Would you intro No, I >> [laughter] >> If you can't tell Kelly's excitement, she cut me off, she stood up, I'm not even here anymore, right? Kelly, would you please Yes, would you please introduce those individuals for us? These ladies, for the past 2 years, we have been so fortunate to have locally funded math coaches, that Cynthia Wireman, and then this year we added Maggie Burns. These ladies will be at Payne. We get two fully funded teachers at Payne. And then we're getting to add one at Cahaba which will be Oh my gosh. Cahaba and then Magnolia and Walker. >> [applause] >> Will please please
066stand. Please stand and let US RECOGNIZE YOU. >> [applause] >> AND THEN ONE ONE OTHER INDIVIDUAL, THANK YOU KELLY. One other individual that I wanted to make sure that that that I shared with pulling out from personnel. Jennifer Bruno is here. Jennifer will be our principal at Cahaba. She is sitting next to her friend and colleague Jamie Jean Grosso and it's understood in our administrative circles that to prevent poaching both administrators have to agree on transfer, correct? >> [laughter] >> So with that said, both administrators agreed that Kelly Shirley would step in as the new assistant principal at Cahaba Elementary School. So >> [applause] >> Kelly, YOU CAN AND THAT WAS A CIRCLE BACK I WANTED TO DO UNDER PERSONNEL. We have two informational items and I'm sure all of you were looking forward to
067this but the 2026-27 school board board meeting schedule is now posted on the website. So you I'm sure all of you want a copy of that. And finally our board of education meeting is June the 15th of 2026. We have no public participation at this time. The school board and the superintendent would like to enter executive session this time for the purpose of good name and character. School board attorney Whit Colvin has provided the legal certification required. Do I have a motion to enter executive session? So moved. Do I have a second? Second. All those in favor, please indicate I. I. Any opposed? Hearing none, motion carries. The board will not vote in executive session. The board will return from executive session only to adjourn the meeting. At this time we will now enter to
068the executive session. So thank you for being here. Thank you.