TRUSSVILLE — The Trussville City Schools (TCS) Board of Education (BOE) discussed COVID-19 in schools and reminded the public about the upcoming tax renewal at the monthly meeting on Monday, March 14.
Trussville City Schools discussed COVID in schools, and the upcoming tax renewal vote. (Photo by Hannah Curran)
Superintendent Dr. Patti Neill reminded everyone that the tax renewal is scheduled for April 12, 2022, and the city of Trussville has moved to five precincts.
“Trussville has moved from three to five precincts, and the city will be sending out some postcards to let everyone know where their voting precinct is,” Neill said. “I have spoken to the local realtors, the Trussville City Schools Foundation, I’ll be visiting every faculty and staff meeting, I’ll be visiting Rotary, I’ve spoken to the chamber board. So we have a little roadshow that we’re doing to get the word out.”
TCS also plans to have videos from different people to support the tax renewal and will be available online.
The COVID-19 numbers in school are consistently below five.
“When they are below five, the state health department doesn’t even publish it,” Neill said. “They just say less than five. They don’t publish three or four or zero they just say less than.”
Neill said this report is a sentimental moment for TCS because schools were shut down two years prior.
“At the two-year anniversary of this, it’s been a long two years,” Neill said. “But we immediately worked hard to continue the education of our students. We kept lots of options in place for parents who wanted five days, staggered or virtual. What we remembered most was a double dose of grace, patience, and understanding as we went through the adjustment, tremendous adjustment, but I’m proud of Trussville City Schools and the way we adapted.”
Neill announced that it appears that TCS is in the season for returning to normal and reopening our schools. Each schools individually would have to work on opening the schools.
“I‘m going to ask principals at their next faculty meeting to discuss their own unique reopening plans so that everybody in the faculty and staff are comfortable with it, and we want to do it right,” Neill said.
Trussville resident, Shane Armstrong, spoke to the BOE about COVID-19 in schools and how they shouldn’t step back after moving forward.
“I’m not here to simply hyper-focus on the neg on the negative, but I am intentionally doing so to ensure we don’t go backward,” Armstrong said. “In the last school board meeting, Dr. Neill mentioned the relaxing of COVID policies along with CDC guidelines. That’s a good thing, but I was concerned when there was an exchange between Dr. Ward and Dr. Neill’s comments about masks because we might need them again.”
Armstrong said he doesn’t agree with moving back to mask if numbers increase because “we know that children aren’t affected by this virus in any significant way, we know that masking has an extremely low efficacy rate, especially in the way that kids wear masks.”
“We know that social distancing doesn’t really do much, and where no one can really explain where three feet or six feet came from,” Armstrong said.
Armstrong explained that COVID policies had done more harm than good in schools, including keeping parents from their children.
“What I’m asking is that you consider not going back to policies that did more harm than good,” Armstrong said. “It’s good to hear that we’re moving forward and going back to normal. I just don’t want to go backward.”
Hewitt-Trussville High School (HTHS) is creating the schedule for summer school. HTHS Principal Tim Salem said they are recommending a similar program that has been used in the past.
“An academic summer school period along with Driver’s Ed, because Driver’s Ed is a popular choice for summer school,” Salem said. “We’re looking at June 6 – June 30. Give a little time after the school year ends.”
Credit advancement in courses through access is offered, along with Spanish, career prep, and health. Salem said that students like to take career prep and health in the summer to open up some more space in their schedule during the school year.
“We typically have credit recoveries as well, and that’s to come in and pursue what you are lacking,” Salem said. “It’s kind of a staggered system to regain that grade they have not been able to fulfill. We do expect to have at least one live math teacher as we have in the past, we’re coming off of two years of pandemic, we have a budget that Dr. Berry’s provided, so if we need to live math teachers, we’d be able to provide that.”
Salem said that HTHS is looking at 200 students in summer school, and roughly 90 of the 200 are students taking Driver’s Ed.
HTHS is continuing in the spring, incentivizing exams exemptions if a student has an 80 or above, which was the same procedure in the fall. Salem explained that the school decided to continue the same plan for the spring. Anything we can do to bump them up.
In other matters, the Board approved:
Approve Accounts Payable for February 2022;
Approve Payroll for: February 2022;
Approve Financials: February 2022;
Approve Work Session Record and Board Minutes for February 28, 2022;
Approve EDF03-14-22-01 through 03-14-22-02;
Approve the following contract agreements for HTMS Spring Fling:
Fun Source and Puttin on the Ritz;
Approve the following field trip:
HTHS Band to Percussion Competition at University of Southern Miss;
HTHS Culinary Team to Houston, TX;
Approve the following change orders:
Change Order 20-17-31;
Change Order 19-27-28;
Change Order 19-27-26R;
Change Order 19-27-27;
Approve renewal of Bid 19-05 for Water Treatment;
Approve the following Use of Facilities Agreement;
Magnolia Place Annual Community Meeting outside area of school;
Approve HTHS Summer School Schedule/Fee Schedule;
Approve the purchase of two Canon copiers for the new BOE; and
Approval of superintendents recommendations regarding changes in personnel, contracts, extra services, and supplements.
Two items on the agenda received their first reading:
Place the 2022-23 Hewitt-Trussville High School Fee/Contribution sheet on the table for 1st reading; and
Place the 2022-23 Hewitt-Trussville Middle School Fee/Contribution sheet on the table for 1st reading.
The April Monthly Board Meeting will be Thursday, April 28, 2022, at 6:00 p.m. in the Board Room of the Central Office. There will be a Work Session held at 5:00 p.m. before the Board Meeting. The Board Meeting and the Work Session will be live-streamed. A link will be posted on the TCS website at 4:45 p.m. on April 28, 2022.
Trussville City Schools discussed COVID in schools, and the upcoming tax renewal vote. (Photo by Hannah Curran)
TCS BOE discusses COVID in schools, reminds public on tax renewal
By Hannah Curran, Editor
TRUSSVILLE — The Trussville City Schools (TCS) Board of Education (BOE) discussed COVID-19 in schools and reminded the public about the upcoming tax renewal at the monthly meeting on Monday, March 14.
Trussville City Schools discussed COVID in schools, and the upcoming tax renewal vote. (Photo by Hannah Curran)
Superintendent Dr. Patti Neill reminded everyone that the tax renewal is scheduled for April 12, 2022, and the city of Trussville has moved to five precincts.
“Trussville has moved from three to five precincts, and the city will be sending out some postcards to let everyone know where their voting precinct is,” Neill said. “I have spoken to the local realtors, the Trussville City Schools Foundation, I’ll be visiting every faculty and staff meeting, I’ll be visiting Rotary, I’ve spoken to the chamber board. So we have a little roadshow that we’re doing to get the word out.”
TCS also plans to have videos from different people to support the tax renewal and will be available online.
The COVID-19 numbers in school are consistently below five.
“When they are below five, the state health department doesn’t even publish it,” Neill said. “They just say less than five. They don’t publish three or four or zero they just say less than.”
Neill said this report is a sentimental moment for TCS because schools were shut down two years prior.
“At the two-year anniversary of this, it’s been a long two years,” Neill said. “But we immediately worked hard to continue the education of our students. We kept lots of options in place for parents who wanted five days, staggered or virtual. What we remembered most was a double dose of grace, patience, and understanding as we went through the adjustment, tremendous adjustment, but I’m proud of Trussville City Schools and the way we adapted.”
Neill announced that it appears that TCS is in the season for returning to normal and reopening our schools. Each schools individually would have to work on opening the schools.
“I‘m going to ask principals at their next faculty meeting to discuss their own unique reopening plans so that everybody in the faculty and staff are comfortable with it, and we want to do it right,” Neill said.
Trussville resident, Shane Armstrong, spoke to the BOE about COVID-19 in schools and how they shouldn’t step back after moving forward.
“I’m not here to simply hyper-focus on the neg on the negative, but I am intentionally doing so to ensure we don’t go backward,” Armstrong said. “In the last school board meeting, Dr. Neill mentioned the relaxing of COVID policies along with CDC guidelines. That’s a good thing, but I was concerned when there was an exchange between Dr. Ward and Dr. Neill’s comments about masks because we might need them again.”
Armstrong said he doesn’t agree with moving back to mask if numbers increase because “we know that children aren’t affected by this virus in any significant way, we know that masking has an extremely low efficacy rate, especially in the way that kids wear masks.”
“We know that social distancing doesn’t really do much, and where no one can really explain where three feet or six feet came from,” Armstrong said.
Armstrong explained that COVID policies had done more harm than good in schools, including keeping parents from their children.
“What I’m asking is that you consider not going back to policies that did more harm than good,” Armstrong said. “It’s good to hear that we’re moving forward and going back to normal. I just don’t want to go backward.”
Hewitt-Trussville High School (HTHS) is creating the schedule for summer school. HTHS Principal Tim Salem said they are recommending a similar program that has been used in the past.
“An academic summer school period along with Driver’s Ed, because Driver’s Ed is a popular choice for summer school,” Salem said. “We’re looking at June 6 – June 30. Give a little time after the school year ends.”
Credit advancement in courses through access is offered, along with Spanish, career prep, and health. Salem said that students like to take career prep and health in the summer to open up some more space in their schedule during the school year.
“We typically have credit recoveries as well, and that’s to come in and pursue what you are lacking,” Salem said. “It’s kind of a staggered system to regain that grade they have not been able to fulfill. We do expect to have at least one live math teacher as we have in the past, we’re coming off of two years of pandemic, we have a budget that Dr. Berry’s provided, so if we need to live math teachers, we’d be able to provide that.”
Salem said that HTHS is looking at 200 students in summer school, and roughly 90 of the 200 are students taking Driver’s Ed.
HTHS is continuing in the spring, incentivizing exams exemptions if a student has an 80 or above, which was the same procedure in the fall. Salem explained that the school decided to continue the same plan for the spring. Anything we can do to bump them up.
In other matters, the Board approved:
Two items on the agenda received their first reading:
The April Monthly Board Meeting will be Thursday, April 28, 2022, at 6:00 p.m. in the Board Room of the Central Office. There will be a Work Session held at 5:00 p.m. before the Board Meeting. The Board Meeting and the Work Session will be live-streamed. A link will be posted on the TCS website at 4:45 p.m. on April 28, 2022.