001I declare open the regular meeting of the school board on September 8, 2026. The floor for prayer is given to Mr. Scott Childers. Okay, let's pray. Lord, thank you for gathering us here. Thank you for the role you have assigned to everyone in this room. And most importantly, thank you for those who work in classrooms every day , being at the very epicenter of events, for their work. Guide all our decisions tonight. May they be for Your glory. We love You, Lord. In the name of Jesus we pray. Amen . Please stand for the flag raising by the Dothan High School JROTC students. We will pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic it represents, one nation under God. Indivisible, with freedom and justice for all. Yes. Is
002Jazerian Franklin here? He is not there. OK. Is Jerian Franklin here? Hello, Jazerian. Can you come forward? Jazerian is a student at Beverly Intermediate School, and he was supposed to take the oath . Could everyone stand up again, we will repeat the oath. Wait one second. Just... Hello everyone. My name is Jessia Franklin. I am a fifth grade student at Beverly Intermediate School. Please stand for the oath. Strunko, salute. Oath. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic it represents. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you for being here. And I...it was my fault. Sorry. Thank you for being here. OK. Is there a motion to approve the agenda and the proposed changes to it? Madam Chair, I propose to approve
003the agenda and the proposed changes to it. Is there anyone who supports? I support. Are there any comments? Who is "for"? Against. Everyone who is against. The decision has been made. Comments from council members. Does anyone have any comments? Yes, Madam Chair. Please. As the parent of a Dothan Elementary School student , I would like to share today that I share the frustration of many families in our community with this council. On August 18th, this council spent a lot of time debating and voting on the censure, which I believe was a waste of the council's time and energy. Immediately after that, the curriculum department presented performance data for three years from the 2023-2024 to the 2025-2026 academic year. This is something we should pay attention to. Over these three years, English language achievement has increased
004from 47% to approximately 50%. This progress is important, but almost half of our students still do not reach the appropriate level of knowledge. Math scores have deteriorated, falling from 24% to 22.6%, meaning that about 77% of our tested students did not reach the math achievement level they had last year. The presentation itself states that we should consider math the district's most pressing educational priority. I have been sounding the alarm about literacy and math achievement levels since November, when Dr. Asi first presented his 100-day plan. We lost valuable instructional time when proposed literacy interventions were postponed, and our children will never get that time back . But today I want to focus on where we are headed next. I also want to make it clear that this is not a criticism of our educators. They do
005their job every day. It is the responsibility of this council to provide them with the resources, support, and educational tools necessary for our children to succeed. I am grateful that we have finally filled the position of Assistant Superintendent of Academic Affairs, which has remained vacant for over a year. I'm sure she'll help us move forward, but she can't do it alone . She needs continued support and commitment from this board. Our data also shows significant gaps in achievement among the most vulnerable groups of students, including students of color, students from low-income families, English language learners, and students with disabilities. I asked Dr. Asi to find out if we have enough interpreters to properly serve our English language learners. If not, then this body is obliged to provide everything necessary to bridge this gap. My child
006is good at reading and math, but I'm still angry because my responsibility doesn't end with my child. We may disagree on many things, but academic success should be the priority of this board. In the future, I will continue to draw your attention to student achievement and ask one simple question. Does this bring our students closer to the appropriate level of knowledge? Because if not, we should seriously consider why it's taking up our time. Thank you. Madam President. Yes, sir. Mr. Mayor, I want to thank you for recognizing the young man who led us during the swearing-in ceremony. I appreciate you doing this. I want to reiterate, uh, Ms. Walton said everything I wanted to say. But children who cannot read, write, or do math do not succeed in this country. And if we don't do
007this while they're in elementary school, it will be extremely difficult for them to catch up. So I want to remind you: our number one goal is student success. Thank you. Yes, sir. You Yes. Thank you. Supporting what Ms. Walton said about student achievement, and what Dr. Jones said, that is our primary concern, student achievement. There are many things that get in the way of this. And, as Ms. Walton said, we spend an awful lot of time on these things. Whereas if we focused on student achievement and made it a priority, we would ensure the success of our children. Last week I talked about the Arton- Gillingham training our teachers received this summer. It's a fairly expensive program, but as I told Dr. Thompson, we want to make sure our teachers are using this program effectively.
008We can't just conduct training and not see it through . So it will be up to Dr. Thompson and her inner circle to look into this issue. Now there is one thing we have to consider, and that is finances. I was reviewing the budget that we will hear from Ms. Walker today and noticed that we are requesting $200,000 in the budget for legal services, and now we are requesting another $97,000 to increase it. I am concerned about this because this money could be spent on our children and training staff so they can work better with children. I want this issue to be addressed by us, this council, because. When I look at the numbers, Ms. Walton, I'm sure you'll talk about this in your budget report, but I just want to make sure that this
009is something that we as council members need to know about and you as the public need to know about. We are currently spending, we have already spent $24,000 on our legal fees, and that deadline is at the end of this month. So we have to consider whether we can extend this for another almost $100,000. And I will say that looking at last year, when we got to this point, we spent $96,292 in the year. And now this year we have 214,000 and are asking for another 97,000. I think we are just going overboard with our legal costs , and I think we need to explain that. Ms. Walker, when is your time? That's all. Anyone else? Superintendent's Report . Dr. Ask. Okay, I'll invite Ms. Garman to the microphone. Good evening everyone. Today, we are
010proud to recognize Herd Elementary School for two outstanding achievements that demonstrate the school's commitment to hands-on learning , healthy living, and community involvement. The elementary school recently received a $6,000 grant from the Wiregrass Resource Conservation and Development Council to support its Farm to School initiative called "Growing and Learning Together." Principal Tama Fleming developed the grant proposal to provide students with meaningful hands-on opportunities to learn about agriculture, natural resources, healthy choices, and environmental stewardship, connecting classroom learning with the world around them. Elementary school students also raised an incredible $6,800 for the American Heart Association's Kids' Heart Challenge, taking first place in the charity campaign . This achievement was made possible by the dedication of students , their families, and staff who came together to support heart health and build a healthier community . These achievements are
011a great example of what it means to lead with purpose and create learning experiences that extend far beyond the classroom. I would now like to invite Principal Tama Fleming to join the board on stage for a photo and to honor her and the elementary school for their achievements. Let's give them a round of applause. So we started. And today, we are also proud to welcome the students elected to the Superintendent's Student Advisory Council for the 2026-27 school year. The Superintendent's Student Advisory Council was created to provide our students with a voice in the decisions and discussions that shape their educational experience at DCS. As part of the year-long program, these students will participate in monthly sessions focused on communication, leadership, decision-making, civic engagement, and community participation. They will also get a seat at the negotiating
012table and a chance to be heard so that we can work together to improve DCS. Some students are with us today, and when your name is called , please come up to the stage to receive your certificate, and stay on stage for a group photo with the council. So, from DPA, we have two students: Jayden Franklin and Emily Kate Guto. From Carver 9, we welcome Crimson McClendon, Ruchi Patel, Caleb Lawson, Alani Cole, Asata Sanders, and Kirsten Salisbury. From the Dothan Virtual School, we welcome ninth graders Eden Powers and Mackenzie Goolsby. From Doan High School, we welcome Cameron Jackson, Camila Watford, Chad Snell, Allie Cole, Brodia Peta, Zania Davis, Sydney McDonald, Gaily Copelan, Geely Weber, Georgia Armstrong, Fernanda Vasquez, Jamari Hart, and Olivia Stewart. These students applied and were selected based on their leadership potential and
013desire to use their voices to make meaningful contributions to their schools and communities. We look forward to hearing your ideas, watching you grow as leaders, and celebrating all of your accomplishments throughout the school year. So please join me in welcoming the members of the Superintendent's Student Advisory Council. Greetings to everyone. One, two, three. One, two, three. This concludes the superintendent's report . Thank you. Mr. Mallery. Good evening. So, tonight we will renew our employee of the month recognition. Um, this is a first for this school year. So, today we have, and I believe we have with us, Mr. Josh McRae. So, Coach McRae works at Dothan High School. He is a behavior specialist and was nominated by Miss Christy Johnson, the assistant principal at Dothan High School. Um, she wrote a few things here. I
014will read. Coach McRae puts students first by being visible, proactive, and responsive to their needs. He is constantly in the hallways, checking on students and teachers, assisting with classroom management, and taking time to connect with those who are struggling or in crisis, rather than simply reacting to behavioral issues . He works to understand students' needs and identify ways we can support them before problems escalate. Although Coach McRae has only been with us for a month, he has already made a huge impact on our school. He immediately accepted his role and takes his responsibilities seriously. When he sees that something needs to be done, he acts without waiting to be asked. His initiative, visibility, and genuine concern for students and teachers quickly made him an important part of our school community. This week, Coach McRae and
015I identified several students who were starting to have problems with tardiness, low grades, or other issues. He met with each student individually, discussed the situation, and asked how we could better support them. He didn't wait for these students to become a disciplinary problem or for someone else to intervene. He recognized the need and acted proactively. Perhaps the strongest evidence of Coach McRae's influence is the response of our students. We are now pairing students with adult mentors. And when the students were given the opportunity to choose who they would like to see as their mentor, more than half of the students asked for Coach McRae. He has only been in our building for one month. Gaining this level of trust from students in such a short time speaks volumes about his ability to connect with them
016and make them feel seen, heard, and supported. This is exactly the influence that we believe adults should have in our institutions. And that's why I believe Coach McRae deserves recognition as Employee of the Month. 2. The last two. Okay, next we have the second public hearing on the annual budget for 2026-27. Miss Walker, good evening. Um, I would like to respond to Ms. Guilford's comment first, if I may, Madam Chair. Yes, I think this will be discussed in more detail in item 21 of today's agenda. It is there that permission for legal services is discussed. However, I will note that I increased this amount to 300,000 for the budget for the 27th year, based on available data from the beginning of the year. So, can we discuss your question, Ms. Brando, when we get to
017agenda item 21 ? Yes, if only that were considered. Yes, ma'am. OK. I don't want to deviate from my script. OK. Um, on behalf of Dr. Ask and the district schools, I welcome you to our second public hearing on the fiscal year 2027 budget. I'm Stephanie Walker, the schools' chief financial officer, and tonight I'll be presenting the financial plan for the next fiscal year. These public hearings are an important part of our commitment to transparency and accountability. Our budget reflects the district's priorities and how we plan to use available resources to support our students, staff, and schools. State law requires two public hearings before the annual budget is adopted . Our first public hearing was held on September 1, and our second one was held tonight. The full draft budget is attached to this meeting.
018It is also available on the DCS website. There are also hard copies available at the entrance, and today's presentation will focus on key components of the budget. Okay, this chart outlines the requirements for the annual budgeting process and our public hearings. Tonight , as I mentioned, is the second presentation of the budget proposal for the 27th fiscal year. Once adopted, we will continue to monitor the budget throughout the year and make adjustments as needed. The budget presented tonight is a conservative balanced budget based on historical trends and current financial information. Historically, I have planned local revenues very conservatively. However, as regular local obligations have increased, some revenues must now be planned closer to actual historical revenues. One example is interest income, which currently averages about $70,000 per month. per month. We have budgeted $840,000 for
019FY27 and will monitor this closely throughout the year. What is important is that our local budget now has significantly less flexibility in the future. Any new recurring local expenditures will require a designated funding source or a compensating reduction in other budget lines to be added. And if you need me to stop at any point, please stop me. This report shows our FY27 ADM, or average daily student enrollment, calculated for the first 20 days after Labor Day. And these are our calculations of earned units. So, Dothan City Schools experienced a long decline in enrollment until 2020, but our enrollment stabilized starting in 2022. In FY27, our ADM decreased by 107 students. However, we are still exceeding our FY25 ADM, which was 7,691 students. ADM is important because it affects funding under the state's core program. When
020ADM decreases, we get fewer government-funded units. In FY27, we lost approximately seven earned units. Additionally, Dothan City Schools currently funds 11 teaching units locally, including the Early Childhood Education Center, PASS, DPA, and Dothan High School . Since these positions are not obtained through the basic program, their cost is paid entirely from our local funds. And I've shortened it considerably compared to my last presentation . I hope no one has any objections. The 12-year trend here: the cost per mile is based on the total assessed value of real estate within our county . In FY27, the cost per mile in Dothan is approximately $1 million compared to approximately $1.2 million in FY25 . This represents a reduction of approximately $128,000 per mile. The value of a mile can fluctuate due to changes in property values, exemptions,
021assessment appeals, and the overall taxable property basis. The impact on the budget is obvious. When the value of a mile decreases, each mile of property tax generates fewer local dollars for Dothan City Schools. This reduces our local revenue opportunities and we will continue to monitor this closely throughout FY27 . The required 10 million deductions represent the local funding that Dothan schools must provide to participate in the state's core program. This amount is calculated by the state department of education based on a combination of local sales and property tax assessments, as required by the state. These are the local funds that we have committed to the core program, and they are not available for use for other purposes. In FY27, our required level of deductions decreased by $1.5 million. This has actually had a positive impact
022on the budget, as fewer local dollars are needed to meet state requirements . I left this slide to show you the 10- year trend of our revenue. Um, sales tax revenues have recovered from the decline we experienced in fiscal year 2025, and we will continue to, excuse me, monitor them closely. Our property tax revenues include county general, district general, and special district property taxes. To participate in the state core program, each school system must receive at least $ 10 million in state or local tax support. Currently, Dothan City Schools receives this minimum of 10 miles. So, in other words, we operate at the minimum local tax rate required by state law , while some other school systems receive additional local support through higher rates. We also receive annual appropriations from the city of Dothan, which
023remain stable at approximately 3.7 million , which you can see in the last line, and this amount has not changed for many years. Okay, this is a slide about the fund balance, showing that the Alabama Fiscal Accountability Act requires school systems to maintain at least one month of operating expenses in our Dothan City Schools reserve. One month of operating expenses is approximately $8 million . According to our conservative projections, fiscal year 2026 will end with a fund balance of over $24 million. And these are actual figures, meaning over three months of operating reserves. This will be the eighth consecutive year that Dothan City Schools has finished the fiscal year with more than the required one-month reserve. So, we expect to enter fiscal year 2027 with a very strong financial position. However, if all of the
024fiscal year 2027 budget expenditures are made and revenues are as projected, as I mentioned in our last meeting, if all of this happens on one day, if all of the money comes in and is spent on the same day, our fund balance will decrease to approximately $15.7 million . This is the conservative budget that I will present tonight . It remains significantly higher than the required reserve requirement. But the projected decline confirms the need to be cautious when adding any new recurring local commitments. So, that's a summary of the budget. So for perspective: The original budget for fiscal year 2026 that I presented last year projected expenditures to exceed revenues by about $10.7 million. But in reality, as of July 31 of this year, our financial statements reflected an excess of revenues over expenses of
025approximately $3.2 million. So, again, we budget very conservatively, but our actual numbers are much higher. For fiscal year 2027, budget expenditures exceeded revenues by approximately $8.8 million, which is reflected here in the circled figure. However, it is very important to understand what this number consists of. Approximately $6.2 million is additional funds received earlier this month before the end of our fiscal year, which are now being carried forward for future expenses. So, the income was recorded this year, but the expenses will only occur next year. Therefore, a significant portion of the apparent deficit is the planned use of already received resources, rather than an operating loss for the current year. The budget also includes a transfer of up to $2.5 million to the child nutrition program as needed, which is a very conservative transfer. Even with
026these budgeted expenditures, we project the ending fund balance to be about $15.7 million , which is nearly two months of operating reserves. So the big picture is this: Dothan City Schools remain financially stable, but enrollment has declined. The number of state funding units has decreased, and current local liabilities have increased. As a result, some revenues were budgeted less conservatively than in previous years. Our reserves remain stable, but our local flexibility is decreasing. In the future, new permanent commitments will require a source of funding or cuts to other budget items. So, now I'll ask if the board members have any questions or comments? Does anyone have any questions for Okay? And then I'll ask if anyone in the audience has any questions or comments. I would also like to mention that we received written feedback from
027the public. And I want to thank Mr. Gul for taking the time to review the proposed budget for fiscal year 2027 and provide his comments. I appreciate your noting the additional information we included in today's presentation, as well as your additional suggestions. Throughout the year, we will continue to track revenues, expenses, student numbers, and other financial metrics, and make necessary budget adjustments for the board's consideration. Thank you to everyone who came and for your continued participation in the budget process. Sorry, in the budget process. Board members, Agenda Item B tonight recommends approval of the annual budget for fiscal year 2027. Thank you for your time and attention. Thank you very much. Thank you. OK. Next, I invite Chassity White from Lean Frog to the podium. Congratulations. Good evening. It's nice to be with you again.
028Several months have passed . I checked , it seems it was in March. So, it's very nice to be with you. Um, as you know, you asked us at Lane Frog to help develop salary schedules that would take into account research findings, recommendations, and things like that. So, I have two recommendations that I want to present to you tonight. I will try to go through each of them so that it is clear what their differences are. Although in many aspects they are very similar. So I want to warn you about this right away . Um, a big part of the difference will be in the cost and where the funds come from, but I want to explain how it happened. So, there is option A, which includes changes for the schedules of teachers, support staff,
029and administration, and in both cases, the administration schedules depend on the teachers' schedules. This is one of the reasons why these numbers will also change. Option A involves many reclassifications. A lot of salary data that we analyzed during the study. Opportunities for leveling, moving ranges from starting to final salaries, and improving seniority benefits. Regarding option B, the superintendent has indicated that you are interested in a 5% raise if possible. So in option B, I took your current salary charts and factored in the initial range, adding 5% to it. And then I also worked out the step increases, just like in option A, where it's 1% each year. So both options will vary in process and structure. However, B is more like 5%, but I'll explain that in a little more detail later. This affects approximately
03092 employees. This includes your certified employees, support staff, and management. The things I'm showing you tonight are option A and option B. You can see that the numbers 3.8 and 3.74 are not very different. But one of them is a little bigger. And I'll tell you about it. As I said, the management schedules will change according to the teachers' schedules. That's why these changes are also happening. So option A actually gives a 6% raise for your teachers. This puts you at 8.65% above the state matrix, as there is a small accrual effect, right? You already had two and a half percent, so we added another six percent on top. This, you know, essentially affects the daily rates of all your charts. So, all your teachers, whether they work 187, 202, 207 , 222, or 240
031days, will be included in this. We left the pay tier structure unchanged. Therefore, it still relies on this state matrix. So, when the state matrix changes, this will also move accordingly. Your teachers' schedules originally actually followed the state matrix, and this actually provides those schedules with a 5% improvement as well . So a 5% increase for these employees. And we also kept the schedules for academic degrees and all levels, as the state does. And this is a projected cost of 2.2. 2 million or 2.3 million just for the teaching part to provide them with this 6%. So along with that, I prepared a support schedule where I mentioned that we took into account all the data obtained during the study. All the discrepancies, all the moves, all the opportunities for structuring—all this while keeping in
032mind your desire to secure the 5% where possible. But I did all this work first. First, I corrected and made all the changes. If you recall the feedback you received from the research, you had many positions with very good starting salaries. They simply decreased as the schedules progressed. So the pay wasn't as high for those employees who worked here longer. So, instead of just giving a 5% raise, I gave those positions that needed a raise , maybe 1% or 2%. And here is a list of specific adjustments if you want to see them. So, not everything in the starting pay changed equally, but all the increases by level were 1%. That is, each level for all these graphs implies an increase of 1% for everyone. To make this work , after it was done, I
033still went back and made sure that all your employees would get a 5% raise, which means some of them would be further level adjusted. So, your desire to get 5% was still relevant, in parallel with the adjustments taking place. Therefore, this option became slightly more expensive than the other schedule. Um, the leadership charts that I mentioned, um , and we talked about this in the research data, um, you had, um, some positions that were lagging behind the regional averages. You also used allowances instead of relying on teacher ratios, and so you had some compression and changes in your schedule that didn't always coincide and didn't allow you to stay on par with your colleagues. So the graphs that we have here are for, um, indexing your school leaders, and that will happen on both of
034these graphs. Again , it's just that the teachers' schedules will be different. Therefore, the amount for the actual schedule will be different. Um, and you also had some head office executives that we recommend, um, indexing. And, of course, you have, um, certain board-agreed salaries that you've set for certain positions. And so , of course, we don't touch on them at all in this recommendation. Um, these are, um, the recommended index numbers that, um, we applied, and you can also see here the total cost, as well as the number of employees that are affected. Um, and also what, um, positions in the central office will be indexed based on teaching positions. Um, and again, I recommend using the daily rates from the teachers' schedules. So, wherever they are, you multiply by this index, and then multiply
035by the number of days. So this is not multiplied by the annual salary. This is multiplied by the amount of the daily salary. Um , so option A, overall, um, I mentioned that it's about 3.8, um, um, annual costs, um, and fully loaded means I've added all your benefits, you know, pensions, all your taxes, all of that in there so you can see the real number, yeah, um, because it's usually a little bit more, so it's about 4.6, um, for option A. Option B, again, is very similar; however, a little less, um, when we applied that 5% for support. Actually, what happened when I applied 5% to the teacher's, um, you come out 7.62% above the state matrix. So that's good. Um, this applies the same way we said, um, in option A to the
036graph, how the state matrix works today. So there are no changes in this. Um , but it costs a little less, of course, because we're only doing 5%, but we also applied 5% to the teaching team in Option B. The support schedules are the biggest difference because we, um, applied 5% to the initial rates, and again, some of them, you know, may not need that, yeah. Some were very competitive , while others were not so competitive . So instead of adjusting and redistributing, we just take your starting salary for all positions, add 5% to it, and then I added 1% for the rest of the schedule. So, we did fix the structure of the SE graph, but we just did n't adjust everything according to the research data. So, and of course, all your employees
037will still get their 5% here. So just a few adjustments. Bus drivers needed a starting salary increase. This was taken into account in both option A and option B. We also talked about equalizing the salaries of school accountants with the salaries of school secretaries, and this was also reflected in this SK schedule. Regarding your accounting specialist, there have been some changes there as well. And your payroll position has been renamed to payroll specialist. All of this was implemented in option B. All of these changes also occurred in A, it's just that there were more of them in A. This is logical. So, your management schedules that I mentioned are the same. Applying the index to your school leaders, applying it to certain central office staff, and of course maintaining the negotiated salaries that you have
038today for other central office schedules. So these are the numbers. They agree equally. The reason for the difference in amounts is that the schedule for teachers is different, right? So the base amount is different. Otherwise, the exact same methodology was applied to approaches A and B. And so when we add up these costs for all these different groups, it's about 3.74. 3.74—that's what we called earlier for B, and then, of course, with full load factored in , that's 4.5 million for this graph. So yeah, in summary, you can see them side by side here instead of me describing them. Again, A is a little more expensive, but it takes into account all that research data you got, adjusts everything, and your employees still get a 5% raise. B assumed taking the current starting salary unchanged
039and increasing it by 5% without any other adjustments. Based on the agreement and information we received from the research. So, any questions? Does anyone have any questions? Yes, I have one question. So I understand you on option A. On option B, is there still a risk that our employees in the later stages of their careers will end up not where they should be, or has that somehow leveled out? Properly speaking. So, we have again applied a 1% increase. So, no matter where you start, if you start in the right place, that 1 percent increase over the years will keep them competitive , and those people who are high up on the salary scale will also, you know, be rewarded the same way , right? So they will be more competitive than they are today in
040your schedules. Madam Chair , I apologize. When you consider option A and option B, do you consider how a person's degree affects it? In both graphs, I believe there is still a differentiation for positions requiring a degree, if that's what you mean. Yes. Mm, yeah, I do n't think there was anything like that. I will say that we didn't take the charts and say, "Okay, you're only getting 2,000 or 3,000," you know? This is a thing of the past as we have moved the positions to a more appropriate system. And specifically, when you say that, let's say, one had to go to school, but managing, let's say, a central office, would that mean they have to have a degree in management? Or is that consistent with what you are suggesting? No. This index only applies
041to those at the coordinator level and below. It does not apply to anyone above and does not depend on degree, for example, having a supervisor certificate, etc. Of course. These will be the same positions and the same qualification requirements as today. You will simply use their teaching grid, taking into account their degree and years of experience, when assigning them. Yes. Good. Thank you. Anyone else? Thank you. OK. Is there a motion to approve the minutes of the regular school board meeting of August 18, 2026 and the minutes of the special school board meeting of September 1? Madam Chair, I move that the minutes of the regular school board meeting of August 18 and the special school board meeting be approved. Is there anyone who will support? I support. Are there any discussions? Who is "for"
042? By. Who is "against"? The decision has been made. Is there a proposal to approve the financial statements for August 2026 ? Madam Chair, I move that the monthly financial reports for August 2026 be approved . Does anyone support? I support. Are there any discussions? Who is "for"? Who is "against"? The proposal is accepted. Is there a proposal to approve donations? Madam Chair, I move that we approve our donations. Does anyone support? I support. Are there any discussions? Who is "for" ? By. Who is "against"? The proposal is accepted. Is there a motion to approve Head Start's financial statements for August 2026? Madam Chair, I move that we approve the financial report for Head Start. Good. Does anyone support? I support. Are there any discussions? Who is "for" ? By. Who is "against"? The proposal
043is accepted. Is there a proposal to approve the Head Start menu for September 2026 ? Madam Chair, I move that the Head Start menu for September 2026 be approved. Does anyone support? I support. Are there any discussions? Who is "for"? By. Who is "against"? The proposal is accepted. Is there a proposal to approve Head Start enrollment for August 2026? Madam Chair, I move to approve Head Start enrollment for August 2026. Does anyone support? I support. Are there any discussions? Who is "for" ? By. Who is "against"? The proposal is accepted. Are there any other suggestions? Yes. And you? We did it. Done. Good. Yes, ma'am. Is there a motion to approve the Head Start Monthly Report for August 2026 ? Madam Chair, I move that the Head Start Monthly Report for August 2026 be approved
044. Does anyone support? I support. Are there any discussions? Who is "for"? By. Who is "against"? The proposal is accepted. Is there a proposal to approve Central Ply Bag Corp for the purchase of 38x58 and 30x36 garbage bags, as well as SSC equipment for toilet paper, paper towels, and liquid soap? Madam Chair, I move that these cleaning supplies be approved. Very good. Does anyone support? I support. Are there any discussions? I would like to inform everyone that as a cost-saving measure, we have reviewed our cleaning supplies. Good. We were able to save about $20,000. There are other points that we will come back to regarding soap at the appropriate time, at the end of the school year, because...to get into the details, there are dispensers needed, and all the dispensers will have to be replaced
045to switch to the new hand sanitizer. And along with this, there is some cost savings. Now wasn't the best time for that, as there are thousands of them all over the county, but we'll come back to that issue later. So, it's a cost savings for us. Of course. That's why it was brought up. Okay, great. OK. Who is "for"? By. Who is "against"? The proposal is accepted. Good. Is it a motion to approve a trip by fifth grade students from Highlands Elementary School to St. Andrews State Park in Panama City, Florida on October 29, 2026? Madam Speaker, I move that we approve a trip for the fifth grade students at Highlands Elementary School to St. Andrews State Park in Panama City as part of an out-of-state field trip . Is there anyone who supports this
046proposal? I support. Are there any discussions? Who is "for" ? By. Who is "against"? The proposal is accepted. Is there a proposal to approve the non-list adoption of a statistics textbook for in-depth study? Madam Chair , I move to approve the use of an off- list textbook for the AP Statistics course. Is there anyone who supports this proposal? I support. Are there any discussions? Who is "for" ? By. Who is "against"? The proposal is accepted. Is there a proposal to approve the purchase of a statistics textbook for in-depth study? Madam Chair , I propose to approve the purchase of a statistics textbook for in-depth study. Is there anyone who supports this proposal? I support. Are there any discussions? Who is "for" ? By. Against. Who is "against"? The proposal is accepted. Is there a motion
047to approve the purchase of Goblins, a digital math resource for high school teachers and students ? Madam Chair, I move to approve the Goblins math resource for high school teachers and students . Is there anyone who supports this proposal? I support. Good. Are there any discussions? Who is "for" ? Against. Who is "against"? The proposal is accepted. Is there a proposal to approve a contract for a freelance HVAC maintenance worker? Madam Chair, I move to approve the contract for an HVAC maintenance specialist. Is there anyone who supports this proposal? I support. Are there any discussions? Who is "for" ? By. Who is "against"? The proposal is accepted. Is there a motion to approve the purchase and repair of musical instruments for the Dothan Sixth Grade Center? Madam Chair, I move to approve the purchase and
048repair of musical instruments for the Golden Sixth Grade Center. Is there anyone who supports this proposal? I support. Are there any discussions? Madam Chair, I would just like to say that I am very happy to see this on the agenda. Mr. Calloway at the Dawn Sixth Grade Center took over the position when the school opened, walked into the music room, and was given, um, chairs. So, it's difficult to teach an orchestra with only chairs. Um, so it's high time he got the necessary materials. He works great with children. Are there any other discussions? OK. Who is "for"? Who is "against"? The proposal is accepted. OK. Is it proposed to approve an increase in the budget for legal services for fiscal year 2026 from $200,000 to $297,000— an increase of $97,000 to ensure sufficient funding for
049legal services through the end of the fiscal year, September 30, 2026? Madam Chair, I move to approve an increase in the allowable legal expenses for fiscal year 2026 from $ 200,000 to $297,000. Okay. Is there anyone who will support? I support. Good. Are there any discussions? OK. Yes. I have a couple of questions. Good. Ahem. If the budget is 200,000, I don't know who to ask. Is the doctor Ask? Is it Stephanie's? Or who should I contact? But if the budget is, um, 200,000, um , how did this firm manage to get paid? 214,000. I invite Ms. Walker to the podium for a response. Um, earlier in the fiscal year the board voted to have the chairman review the legal bills and approve them, so she sent them to me for approval , or she
050approved the payment herself and sent it to us. We initiated the payment as instructed, and after the payment was made, we saw an overage , and I contacted Dr. Turner to let her know, and she said we should bring it to your attention so you can vote. Good. Can you be very quick, I'm sorry, I know you already said that , but was all of this money for Button and Ethbridge, 214,000 was for Button and Ethbridge. Um, there was an additional $40,412.86 that went to other attorneys, but $214,858.14 was paid to Button and Ethbridge. Okay, Madam Chair, can I have it? Yes. Okay, this issue, when it was considered by the council last November , was passed by a vote of 4 to 3. I have made my concerns clear, and I want to discuss
051them a little bit today. Um, I'm not speaking here just because some suggestions come up and I want to talk for the sake of talking. There is actually logic behind this. So, then I noticed that the pay rate was $300 per hour. Um, of course, it's a 5-year contract. There is a clause there about severance pay of $50,000 per year. So I said then, in addition, this board voted to have a lawyer review all contracts, absolutely every contract. There have been cases where a lawyer reviewed contracts for copying equipment. At the time, I estimated that this could result in costs of approximately $200,000 to $300,000 per year. So I asked if we were going to do it, and this was recorded in the minutes of the meeting of November 18. I asked if we were
052going to set a limit on this, and it was voted down, it was not included in that decision. So this contract was agreed upon with our board attorney and our chairman. No suggestions were asked. I'm talking about myself. I don't know about Dr. Jones and Ms. Guilford. You know we didn't do that. OK. So, she says they didn't . Ms. Guilford mentioned this earlier before we got to this motion, but last year we paid out a total of $96,000. This year we are projecting an amount of $297,000. So, that's three times more than we paid last year. I even looked at the average over the last five years. The average amount we paid out to attorneys was $146,000. So this is even twice the average. So, again, these are the concerns that I raised in
053November when this issue was brought to the board, when this contract was only agreed upon with the chairman and the attorney, and here we have exactly what I envisioned. OK. Ahem. OK. Taking all this into account, who do you consult with before disbursing these funds? As the board voted, I am being referred by Dr. Turner. OK. So, you consult with Dr. Turner. Dr. Turner, because either Dr. Turner sends it to me and then I pay. Yes, ma'am. And she tells you... Okay. Yes. And this worries me because not all council members were involved in the discussion of whether we pay certain amounts . And another thing: if we have a budget, can any program that we have, or anyone, request additional funds at the end of the year if they have overspent their limit? For
054example, if they have a budget of 100,000 , can they spend 150,000 and still get paid? No, ma'am. Not without the council's approval. I'm glad we're bringing this to the council's approval. We would have to return this question to you as well. But we paid out that 214,000. Yes, ma'am. We paid it. Yes, ma'am. So that completely negates it, right? Madam, that means it's a negative point because if we paid for it and we didn't, that's not what you do, then we made an exception. Yes, sir. And to clarify: 214,000 is just for this one company. The total amount paid out so far is 255,000 and is expected to approach 297,000 by the end of September. Yes, ma'am. Miss Walker, what happens if this budget is not passed? Uh, then we'll break the budget. But
055I mean, as a board, I was instructed by the board to pay based on the chairman's approval. So that's how I cry— based on the approval of the head. So, actually, I guess it would have been self-regulation if it hadn't passed. Well, I just wanted to clarify that although you took the boss at his word, the three of us were not informed at all. Yes, ma'am. And it's already done. So it's like a four-member board, if there are four members, it can only be one. It could just be the head. I do n't know. But these things happen, and they need to be stopped. Er, they were based on a council resolution that was approved by a vote of four to three when the new council took office. So I act on the basis of
056the council's decisions , adopted by official vote. I have just one last point. Uh, and I understand to some extent that the approval goes through one person, but what I don't understand and what I asked about in the emails is that when we ask for a copy of the invoice, it only says " general representation." Believe me, I understand that there can be no privileged confidential information in the bill, but as a council member I should be able to understand exactly what this item was about without knowing all the details, and I have requested this several times. I did n't get this. Thank you. One more clarification. Uh , I know that in this total we have $19,277.95. in the form of additional attorney fees related to individual legal matters. This amount is actually $40,412.86.
057I sent the corrected version to the entire council today and made changes to the official minutes . So the amount is larger. Yes, ma'am. That's how it is. And that includes cases that are not covered. You know, our SUI cases, which are handled by another lawyer. Um, if we had to get auditor letters from our previous lawyers, etc. It's just a matter of a few things. I, I, I just have to say that I don't know what we can do about it right now, because we have a four- on-three system, and it seems like those four can always, uh, pass something. So, um, I'm, I'm just extremely exhausted because there's nothing I can do except bring this to light, get it out to people, inform them, make it clear to everyone how much we're spending
058on certain things, and maybe we can make a difference. But this will require the will of four council members. Madam Chair, I also want to say something about this. Um, I don't like that number, but I also don't like all the legal battles we've had to fight this year. And there were many more of them than at any other time during my time on the council. Um, I think we all knew somewhere, starting this year, when certain things started happening, that it was going to cost us more. Some of the things we voted for, we knew would cost us more. So while I don't like that number, I also understand that this year we had to deal with some unprecedented legal matters that I haven't encountered in my five years on the council. So, Mr.
059Fowler, during the contract review , can you give a rough estimate of how many contracts you had to fix? Some of the contracts were actually legal. Here is one of the problems. We had, like, three or four workers arrested this year, which I don't think has ever happened before. Councilman Jenkins is right. Well, regarding insurance, with all due respect to Mr. Guilford, you voted for it last year. I was sitting right there offering insurance that gave us more coverage at a lower price and we wouldn't be here, and you were one of the four who voted for it. Now the RSUI, which you voted for, has rejected our claims on many of these cases . So if we had chosen the insurance I offered from the beginning, which was $4,500-$5,000 cheaper, we wouldn't be in
060this situation. So, when I filed your claims with the insurance company for all of these arrests and other events, without violating attorney-client privilege, we would have insurance coverage. That's why I sent an email to you and the rest of the board today about getting new coverage so we are protected and reduce our legal costs. But part of the reason is that I was sitting right there, and you were one of four who voted against the insurance I proposed. So if you had voted differently , I don't think the score would have been that high. But you chose a company that I advised against working with. It's more expensive. We get less coverage. And here we are. Let's get back to contracts. Were there invoices that were presented as contracts? There were invoices issued for contracts.
061There have been cases of violations of the open records law, presented as contracts. There were jurisdictional provisions that dragged us into the laws of Pennsylvania, Utah, Wyoming. My God, everywhere. If a dispute arose, contracts required significant revision. Some of them, more than I would have liked, did not have background checks. And this is a problem. You can't do that. You can't leave children with adults without checking their background. So that's why your bills are like this . In fact, to be honest, they should be even higher. I had to fix a lot of contracts and review everything again. And that's not even counting the employees we had to lay off and prepare for hearings. Of course? And that's why I sent out new insurance information to try to reduce your legal costs. And if the
062four of you from the previous board had listened to me, you probably wouldn't have these legal costs. But it was a 4-3 vote against Ms. Bonds, Ms. Jenkins and Chairman Childress on this issue. And that insurance company has now told us that it will not cover you in some of these cases. After we paid them a bunch of money, we ended up here. So, someone has to defend the council in lawsuits and legal matters. If not, you will lose the case in absentia. So, we are in this situation, Madam President. Yes. So that still doesn't explain why when I ask for a description in the accounts, it says "general representation" and I have to clarify with my boss and you many times what exactly these expenses mean. So you don't have to answer, you know,
063I don't know what the answer might be. I'm just saying that this doesn't negate what I mentioned earlier about transparency of accounts. I cannot be frank about attorney-client privilege. This applies to general representation, as these are Alabama ethics rules, and they take precedence over any wishes of board members. I am obliged to adhere to professional rules of conduct. I can't say I spoke to X about X. I just can't do it. We've already discussed this via email, and I'm not going to argue again, but as I said, I don't need confidential information, but I want something more than just "general representation." You can indicate who you spoke to, how long, and in a general category. And this has been added to most documents from now on. Council Member V. And that's the last thing I
064want to say on this subject, but since I've already spoken out, $40,000 in miscellaneous attorney fees is, in my opinion, too much. So you can look at it, draw any conclusions, and defend it however you want, but it's too much for the " different" column. And that means that no one knows except the person who submits the bill, and approves that bill. M. Miss Mford, if you go back and look at the old bills, they were approved when you voted for the head or super agent to approve them. The "miscellaneous" column was there , and it was not touched by the council members for years when you worked there . But can I say this? The bill was, say, 96,000 last year, and now we're coming up with three times that amount. We need to
065look into this. We had illegal contracts and people didn't get arrested. And you had insurance that denied your claims even though I begged you not to buy it. Madam Speaker, as I noted again, the average over the last five years has been 146,000. So I know that at some point in the last five years, someone has been arrested. I don't know if it's the same number of employees or not, but let's remember that the average over the last 5 years was 146,000. Now we have twice that . Contracts were not checked, and some of your contracts were blatantly illegal . Doc, can I ask you a question? I don't know who can answer that, but I do know that initially—and I have n't been keeping track of this lately—the contract review took a significant amount
066of time, to the point where it slowed down the efficiency of the district. Can you tell me how long it takes on average for a contractor to do this, who can tell me? Differently. Um, at this point I wouldn't say we're standing still. Some things take longer than others, but in terms of processing, we're doing pretty well. Are there any other questions for discussion? Who is "for" ? By. Who is "against"? Against . No. The decision has been made. Good. Thank you, Ms. Walker. Personnel agenda. Mr. Mallery. We have two withdrawals today. The first is C1. Then the second one is I1. Both of these are in your main document package, not in an appendix. So, C1 and I1. Good. Corrections to previous action: six denials, one suspension, one resignation—10. Refusal of the contract for
067attracting and retaining personnel —2, additional or temporary employment —33. Transfers—4, conditional assignments—9 , assignments—21. Confirmation of higher education—6, public coaching contracts —6, team contracts—1, and we still have one retirement. That's all. Is there a motion to approve the personnel agenda with the removal of C1 and I1? Madam Chair, I move that the personnel agenda presented by Mr. Mallery be approved, with exceptions . Second. Good. Are there any discussions? Madam Chair, I had a question. Um, G3 and 4. Yes. One of them obviously cannot happen without the other. Is there a reason why we are reviewing them in one meeting rather than waiting for another? Because it could be tomorrow when the certification is approved, or in two days when it is approved. This step allows this to happen. That's why they're both here. So, once
068the state recognizes this certification, we can move this person into this position. Of course. So, then the other will remain vacant again . So we move on to the movement. Right. Of course. Thank you. Is there any more discussion? Who is "for"? By. Who is " against"? The decision has been made. Good. Now we have public delegations who wish to speak. Sorry. Oh, I'm so sorry. Um, is there a proposal to approve the annual budget for 2026-27? Madam Speaker, I propose to approve the annual budget for 2026-27. Is there a second one? Second. Are there any discussions? I would like to say, and I have already said this to the superintendent, that you have handled this very well, Ms. Walker. Thank you. Um, who's "for"? By. Who is "against"? The decision has been made. Um,
069okay. Public, um, public comments. Oh , sorry. We have another one. Um, okay. So, per Robert's rules, I'll explain this before we move on. It says that each council member is entitled to 10 minutes for public comments . Which at the beginning of each minute would be 70 minutes. So, um, we have a proposal to limit comments to three minutes. So, um, before we can discuss this, we need to make a suggestion. So, do I have a suggestion to limit council members' comments to three minutes? Madam Chair, I move that we limit council members' comments to three minutes. Does anyone support? OK. Discussion. So, Madam Chair, may I? Yes. OK. So, I was surprised to see this here, because for most of last year we were working with a two- minute limit. And every time
070we comment, there's a clock here to rush us, and we get interrupted as soon as we exceed two minutes. So I'm just confused. We were supposed to be given 10 minutes. We were given two minutes. Now we are asked to agree to three minutes. So my concern is, you know, before we further limit the ability of council members to speak on behalf of their constituents, I think we need to first identify what problem we're trying to solve. And if we go back to any of the previous meetings, the board's comments were not the longest part of the meetings. Um, we already touched on this in the previous meeting, that most of the time is usually spent in closed sessions back there. So, um, if efficiency is the real goal, we need to evaluate what our
071time in meetings is actually being spent on. So, again, it seems to me that there have been many attempts by this council to stifle discussion. And for me, you know, there's nothing wrong with debates, discussions. That's why we're here. That's why voters elected us. You know, it's not necessarily, um, discussion doesn't mean dysfunction. So I'm just, definitely, I'm a little shocked by this, first of all. And secondly, to go from what should have been 10 minutes to where we only had two minutes, and now you're talking about three minutes. This, this doesn't make sense to me. Madam Chair, yes, I don't know if this will be a voice crying in the wilderness, but, um, I rarely speak for more than three minutes. I rarely speak for this long, and I don't see it creating a
072real problem for the board members' comments. I think we're done with the comments, because sometimes only two, one or three of us speak. It's rare for everyone to speak. And if you want to count the minutes, you will count for all seven members of the board. But I encourage you to think about not making this change just like that, you know, out of nowhere . Because, as Ms. Watson said, we spend most of our time in closed meetings, and often they cannot be completed in 10-15 minutes. So I think we should take that into account when we're looking at reasonable time frames. Madam Chair, I have a question. To clarify: when and by what decision of the council was the current two-minute limit established? What was the council's decision to establish the two-minute limit? We
073didn't install it. That's why we're installing it now. So where did it come from? It couldn't have come from anywhere. We were clearly given two minutes. So how did this happen? That we've been limited to two minutes for the past year, and now we find out we should have had 10 minutes. Hmm, I don't understand. So you're saying that the limit for council members' comments was two minutes, because I didn't know that. I know about the two minutes during the deliberations when we debate in this part, but I didn't know that it was about... Believe me, the board members' comments at every meeting, and there is a clock according to which they were instructed. So when we reach the two- minute mark, we get interrupted. So yes . Yes. No one was ever interrupted, but
074So the clock is just hanging there for no reason. No one was ever interrupted. Madam Chair, I was also under the same impression that during the discussions we were limited in the number of speeches on each issue, as well as the number of minutes. I did n't know there was a limit on board members' comments in advance. I do n't think we talked about that . I don't think there was any assumption because the clock was put there, but I don't know if we ever discussed limits on normal board member comments. Even during my previous term, there was no discussion about this, it was about how long one could speak on a certain topic during a meeting, if that made sense. Now, under Robert's rules, you can speak on the same issue twice, but we
075were going to try , and we really need to work on our closed sessions. This is something we need to work on. Yes, I definitely agree with that. Yes, ma'am. OK. So, if there are no more discussions, who is in favor? By. Who is against? Against. Good. The decision has been made. OK. Everything is fine. Who is for it? Who is against? Against. OK. Now let's move on to public appeals. Good. So, Ms. Latisha Daniels Jackson, you have three minutes. And that's not all. Good afternoon. I'm Latisha Daniels Jackson. And just when I thought this organ couldn't surprise me anymore, you did it again. I, uh...I just hope that you really think about what you're doing, that you're showing the public how all of this is really happening. Justice and equality are things that should
076be clear to everyone. But I see very little justice and equality when I come to these meetings. I would like to talk about conflict of interest. There was a heated objection to the contract, in which Ms. Guilford had no personal involvement or interest, but it was hotly argued that she had a conflict of interest. And I don't know if you even got an opinion from your lawyer, who you pay $300,000 a year, but I don't think you did. And then a conflict of interest arose, which was declared by the chairman, who had a personal interest in the issue being discussed. This was a personal lawsuit, but you said you could separate your personal interests from your work on this board. Why wasn't Ms. Guilford given the same opportunity? Instead, there was a vehement denial and
077the issue of conflict of interest was raised. And in both cases, you did not receive legal advice. That's what you're spending all this money for—to get legal advice on whether there's a conflict of interest. And a conflict of interest opinion is one of the most fundamental things a lawyer can provide to the board that hired him. So I'm just extremely confused by the way this council is doing things. I'm just really confused. And you know, when I hear you discuss resources for our children, things that have been presented to this council that will impact our children, help them read, help them count. You have a person responsible for finances who nitpicks at every little thing, asks questions, tears everything apart , and tells you not to spend money on this and that. But I just
078sat here and watched you all approve a contract worth three times the current amount without asking a single question from the fiscal responsibility department of this council. I am stunned by this. I am truly stunned by this . And I ask you all to look in the mirror and recognize that you are here to represent the children of this district and your constituents. And I'm just really, really, really disappointed. Okay, we don't need a closed session tonight. Okay, we will have a council meeting on Tuesday, September 22nd at 5:30 p.m. This is a specially called school board meeting. Is there a motion to close the meeting? Madam Chair, I propose to close the meeting. Is there anyone who supports this proposal? I support. Are there any discussions? Who is "for" ? By. Who is "against"?
079The proposal is accepted. We are closing.