McComb school trustees on Tuesday presented numerous honors to staff, including Gaye Atkinson, the district’s overall teacher of the year.
Joining Atkinson during a brief awards ceremony were campus teachers of the year, Kenneth Evans at McComb High School, Carrie Brown at Higgins Middle School, Tammy Creel at the Business & Technology Center, Tracy Felder at Denman Junior High School and LaQuita Barnes at Kennedy Early Childhood Center.
Kennedy Early Childhood Principal Katrina Hines was named Administrator of the Year.
Superintendent Dr. Cederick Ellis thanked Hines for her work and said the designation was “because of what you do for children. ... You create the future for the other principals in McComb.”
Also earning recognition were school counselors Carmen Butler at the B&T Center, Glendon Felton at Otken, Juanita Steptoe and Clinton Mosley at MHS, Cindy Newman at Denman and Lisa Haydel at Higgins.
And school trustees had their own moment in the spotlight. Recognized were board members Maurice Chester, chairman Chris Richardson, Susan Hedges, Eliece Rayborn and Lynn Gilmore, along with Ashley Atkinson, who’s been the board attorney since 1978. They were honored for School Board Recognition Week, Feb. 16-22, and each board member will visit a district campus next week.
Ellis thanked all of them for their dedication to the McComb School District, and he called Chester, who has served for 20 years and who is seeking reappointment, the board’s “solid rock,” which brought applause from the audience.
In other matters, the board:
• Heard good news from Ellis that after in-school testing, 97 percent of students at Kennedy were proficient or advanced in reading — up from about 51 percent at the start of the school year — and in math, up from about 47 percent.
“We’re going forward, and we will utilize another assessment to make sure students are ready for the first grade,” Ellis said. “There’s good work going on at Kennedy. I know these results will trickle up to the other schools.”
• Approved paying $44,549 to CR Construction as the fifth and final payment for the new track and McComb High.
• Accepted the following bids for roofing projects necessary because of the March 2013 hail storm: Kennedy, Roofing Solutions, $367,400; Otken, Roofing Solutions, $888,000; and the TAC and B&T buildings, Rycars Construction, $845,545.
• Approved paying JBHM Architects invoices totalling $34,018 for their services on the district roofing projects at Summit Academy, Denman, Otken, the MHS field house, Tiger Activity Center and B&T Center, plus structural assessment costs for the high school.
• Agreed to advertise for bids for Internet services and installation of a hosted wireless infrastructure so that all schools will have wireless access in each room and in common areas. The district qualifies for a 90 percent rate reduction through the E-Rate program.
• Approved a $12,242 payment to NewPath Strategy Consultants for their work in negotiations for insurance payments for the district’s roofing work due to hail damage.• Approved the school board policy on public complaints. When a complaint is made to the board or to a member, it will be referred to the school administration for study. Administrators will follow up all complaint referrals and take steps for a reply and will deliver a written memo to the school board. Anonymous complaints will not be pursued.
If complaints can’t be resolved at the campus level, the matter can be brought to the superintendent’s attention. If all other avenues fail, the complaint may be appealed to the school board, only if it’s in writing, signed by the complainant and presented to the board through the superintendent. If the board must resolve a complaint, its decision is final.
• Approved a 10-year 16th Section lease for three acres of residential land with Joseph A. Cornacchione II for $470 per month.
• Approved paying $7,874 in 16th Section revenues to the South Pike School District for lands the districts share.
• Approved travel to a National After School Association conference in New York for Kelli Little, Tomeika Brumfield and Linda Whittington in March; travel to New Orleans to the World War II Museum for Michael Osbey and Oliver Smith in March; travel to the Young Child Early Childhood Conference in Pasadena, Calif., for Katrina Hines, Melanie Montalvo and Travonda Morris in April; travel to the National Family and Community Schools Conference in Cincinnati for Monique Gilmore in April; and travel to an SNA Leadership Conference in St. Louis for Sue Ellen Codding in April.
• Agreed to hold the March 4 school board work session to noon in the McComb High School library.
• Approved six student transfers to North Pike and one to Brookhaven.
• Noted the resignation of Otken teacher Cody Hall, Adolescent Offender Program counselor Kimberly Young and Kennedy child care instructor Dale Gray.
• Approved hiring child care instructor Shayla Edwards, and Otken teachers Shawanda Gray, LaShara Allen and Celester Hall, who retired from South Pike.
• Noted the retirement of JROTC instructor Michael Osbey and MHS special education teacher Linda White, both at the end of the school year.
