By JOYANNA LOVE/ Senior Staff Writer

Chilton County Schools’ participation in the Alabama Reading Initiative will look a little different in the 2017-2018 school year.

The state superintendent released information and funding for the program during the second week of July. Glasscock said central office employees have developed the budget for the revamped program.

Rather than having a reading coach at each school, four reading coaches will serve all of the schools in the system.

“We put all of our reading coaches back in the classroom, and we have just recently gotten our budget for ARI,” Superintendent Tommy Glasscock said during a meeting with the Board of Education.

Glasscock said one of the four reading specialists will be a lead specialist to oversee the program.

“They will work some with us here and then with those coaches out in the district,” Glasscock said.

Glasscock said he was excited about moving forward and getting the updated program in place

Three of these positions were scheduled to be voted on by the Board of Education on July 18. Glasscock said a determination for who would fill the lead role will be determined at a later date.

The state requires ARI reading specialists to have a teaching certificate and three years of experience.

According to the Alabama State Department of Education website, the ARI is state wide and emphasizes teaching to improve students’ reading skills, so they can read at or above grade level. The ultimate goal is a 100 percent literacy rate for all Alabama public school students.