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By JOYANNA LOVE/ Senior Staff Writer

A number of maintenance projects for Chilton County Schools have reached the bid phase.

During a meeting on Oct. 22, the Chilton County Board of Education approved seeking bids for repaving at Chilton County and Jemison high schools, repaving the front circular drive at Jemison Intermediate School and replacing roofs at Verbena High School and the SPAN program building.

Board member Angie Sanderson asked if there was enough funding set aside from the $2 million in additional funding that the school system had received to cover all of these projects.

Maintenance Director Freddy Smith said some of the funds have already been used, but initial estimates had the cost being fully covered by what had been set aside.

Bids for each individual project will be presented to the board after the acceptance period ends.

The possibility of closing the road between Clanton Middle and Chilton County High School was mentioned. Safety concerns with leaving it open and with closing it were discussed.

Board member Chris Smith asked if a master plan for dealing with traffic near the Clanton schools had been done. Superintendent Jason Griffin said a road engineer said a long-term solution would require getting with the City of Clanton and widening Temple Road involved “because the problem is created by the size of Temple Road, not inside our property.”

A number of updates to board policy have been approved for review. These policy updates will be under review for 30 days before a vote to adopt any changes takes place. At the request of the board, a work session on the proposed changes will be held on Nov. 5 at 6 p.m. Griffin said the changes were recommended by the state association, and some were to bring the policy in line with new laws that had been passed. Policies to be changed range from paid sick leave and curriculum to a policy on providing donated food to students and a policy regarding aiding and abetting sexual abuse. There are 17 total policies up for review. The proposed changes will be available for review at chilton.k12.al.us and should be available at the Central Office. For more information, contact the school system at 205-280-3000.

Board member Lori Patterson also mentioned during the meeting that $440,00 the school board had approved to pay a state approved 4% increase in pay to teachers before the state funds were received had not been reimbursed.

“We were told it was 100% reimbursable,” she said. “… None of that has not been reimbursed, and I do not anticipate that it will be. I just think that needs to be brought to our attention if we are talking about financial responsible and making good decisions about our money.”

Also during the meeting, the Board of Education approved:

• An increase of $15 for Career Tech Bus route drivers.
• Accepting the resignation of the CCHS boys varsity basketball coach and CMS assistant baseball coach.
• Austin Moncus as CCHS boys varsity basketball coach.
• Hiring an emergency hire special education paraprofessional.
• An agreement with AUM.
• An instructor for the adult evening welding class at LeCroy Career Technical Center.