By Nathan Prewett, For the Tribune
PINSON – The Pinson City Council heard from two guest speakers during a meeting held on Thursday, Aug. 4, at City Hall.
The first was Jackie Byers, who is a behavioral interventionist and counselor at Kermit Johnson Elementary School. She spoke about her concerns regarding attendance and absenteeism in the community.
“School attendance within our community is on the decline,” she said. “Last year our school, Kermit Johnson, our chronic absenteeism rose by two points: from 15% to 17%.”
Chronic absenteeism, she said, is when a student misses 18 or more days of school. This includes doctor’s excuses, though she said the real concern is families who do not send their children to school when there’s no valid medical reason.
She also described “close to chronic absenteeism,” which is when a student misses between 15 and 18 days. She said that this increased by 11% in the school last year, with 27% of the students considered close to chronic absenteeism.
She added that getting students to attend schools is a “huge” priority this year. She shared data from the State Department of Education, which says that chronic absenteeism for elementary students will make them less likely to read at grade level as they age and indicates eventually dropping out.
She suggested, as a potential solution, more education and encouragement to parents. She said that Mayor Joe Cochran and Operations Director Eric Winfrey have agreed to include attendance information on the LED sign in front of City Hall.
She also suggested working with Parks and Recreation, as well as businesses and churches, to help encourage and educate parents and the community on the importance of school attendance. Getting businesses that children patronize to incentivize attendance may also work, she said.
Afterwards, the council heard from Palmerdale Fire District Chief Jason Howell. He began by thanking the council for their support and then spoke on some of the highlights of the district. With the council’s help, they were able to purchase a new ambulance that first went into service on June 8.
The ambulance was paid for partly by county American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) fund, in addition to the money allocated by the council. The district is also anticipating a second truck. He said that with this number of trucks they can offer BLS services.
“It’s kind of a trial run right now, but when we respond we have a paramedic on the scene,” he said. “The paramedic determines it’s not necessarily an emergency. We have EMTs and advanced EMTs who can basically do everything a paramedic can but some cardiac drugs, and if they’re stable enough, we transport them in the BLS transport.”
He said that the district was in need of a new fire engine, with the current one being a model from 2008, when he was able to secure a Rosenbauer 2022 model that was customizable. This was purchased for $615,000, much lower than previous prices of around $850,000.
Howell mentioned the council in the past allocating money to help hire and retain workers for the district and that he hopes to add state retirement and insurance benefits. The allotment of funds from the city for the past several years has helped to not only hire during a past staffing shortage, but to give employees raises and maintain the payroll.
He requested that this could be done again, though Cochran had reservations if the staffing was already stabilized.
“I’ll say this,” he said. “My intention was not, when we started this, to get into a long term – every year give this money. That was not my intention. So, go back. Create a good game plan. Bring that to us and show us why we need to.”
Councilwoman Glenda Kirkland had concerns regarding the budget.
“We don’t have a budget,” she said. “I don’t like spending any more of the people’s money. This is the people’s money. It’s not ours. It’s theirs. And I don’t like spending any more money until we have a budget.”
This was a concern that was brought up later when the council voted to give Rudd Middle School $5,877.85 for new uniforms and $12,000 to Pinson Valley High School for headsets from the discretionary funds, which was passed after a 3-2 vote.
Cochran said that they have to get everything reconciled and adjusted in order to have a budget in the future.
“But to let the public know,” he said. “We’re not broke. We’ve got $3 million in the bank. We’re okay.”
In other business, the council:
- Annexed Raindrop Car Wash into the corporate limits of the city,
- Rezoned a property on Main Street from R2 to RM, Residential Medium,
- Heard a report from Winfrey that the solar lighting project at the sports complex is complete and
- Announced National Night Out set for Sept. 19, at Bicentennial Park.
Pinson City Council meets on the first and third Thursdays of every month at City Hall on 4410 Main Street. Live-streamed meetings can be seen on the city’s Facebook page.
Nathan Prewett can be reached at nthomasp6@gmail.com.