The Greene County Board of Education met in a call meeting Thursday, July 29, 2021, focusing on three specific agenda items: Personnel, Masks in the school system and Superintendent Dr. Corey Jones Goals for 2021-2022 school year.
The three board members present (Kashaya Cockrell, Leo Branch and Carol Zippert) voted to authorize Superintendent Jones to implement the use of masks, as needed, in the school system for 2021-2022. The Alabama Department of Health is urging mask-wearing for all students and staff, following the recommendation of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for universal mask-wearing in schools, regardless of vaccination status, due to a sharp increase in COVID-19 cases as the contagious delta variant of the virus spreads through the country.
Following a brief executive session, the board approved the following personnel items recommended by the superintendent for the 2021-2022 school term.
Employment at Robert Brown Middle School: Carlie Rhodes as 4th Grade Teacher; Tavoris Lacy as 7th/8th Grade English Teacher; Tyletha Lord as Library Media.
Employment at Greene County High School: Calvin Finch as History Teacher; Jakayla Woods as Science Teacher.
Eutaw Primary School: Dothea Smith as long-term substitute, 2nd Grade Teacher.
Resignation: Alphonzo Morton,III as Science Teacher, Greene County High School.
For the remainder of the meeting, Superintendent Jones presented 10 goals he will focus on for the 2021-2022 school term, including the strategies for implementation and measurements. Dr. Jones noted that his goals correspond to goals and areas of focus in the system’s Strategic Plan.
As he presented each goal, Dr. Jones and board members engaged in discussions that provided more specifics relative to the strategies for implementation with timelines and measurements. The board members requested that these additional approaches and means are included in the superintendent’s document of goals.
The following is a listing of the superintendent’s goals
Goal 1: Maintain a safe and healthful environment that maximizes learning for students and staff.
Goal 2: Analyze and evaluate all aspects of the district’s academic and curriculum work. Continue to improve student mathematics and reading achievement at all grade levels for all students and decrease achievement gaps where they exist.
Goal 3: Work in partnership with the community to enrich educational programs and create a true school community. Schedule quarterly town hall community meetings to enhance collaboration, communication and engagement.
Goal 4: Meet monthly with Superintendent’s Advisory Council to learn more about what our students’ value in their education and their ideas for improvement of the Greene County School District.
Goal 5: Develop and monitor a plan to improve and maintain a graduation rate of at least 90%.
Goal 6: Meet with local and state elected officials to continue to develop collaborative relationships.
Goal 7: Ensure that the district is financially solvent by continuing to monitor the district financial position and ensure that the district maintain the state mandated operating reserve. Work with the CSFO to ensure that all funds are expended in the most efficient manner.
Goal 8: Attend professional development opportunities to increase leadership skills.
Goal 9: Develop and monitor a plan to reduce the district’s long term financial obligations.
Goal 10: Develop and monitor plan to access and meet the professional development needs of the administrative leadership of the district.