North Pike has received funding from the state to help boost academic performance for its lowest-achieving students.
Although the district has a B rating from the state Department of Education, the district qualified for a school improvement grant of $84,462.
While the school improvement process is typically associated with schools and districts rated D or F, “you can be an A school and be in school improvement,” Superintendent Dennis Penton said.
Assistant Superintendent Loren Harris told school board members Thursday that North Pike received the school improvement funding to target students at the middle school scoring in the lowest 25 percent on annual state tests.
The funding is a pass-through from the federal government.
The school board also got a report on new routes and traffic flows for district buses and parents dropping off children daily.
Penton said Transportation Director Nick Coker had reworked some bus routes as well as traffic flows around the main campuses to account for the new upper elementary school that will open in the coming fall semester.
While he said he believed the new plan would work well, “there is no perfect way,” Penton said. “No matter what, the first week of school, there’s going to be a traffic jam.”
In other business, the board:
• Decided to seek one-year bids on liquid propane and diesel fuel.
• Officially adopted the grade configuration for the district for the 2019-2020 school year, with grades K-3 at the elementary school, grades 4-5 at the upper elementary school, grades 6-8 at the middle schools and grades 9-12 at the high school.
• Moved teacher Angela Ellison to assistant principal and literacy coach at the middle school.
• Hired teachers Patricia Waters and Jessica Jarrell at the elementary school, and Jordan Fitzgerald as teacher and assistant fast-pitch softball coach at the high school.
• Rehired assistant teachers, secretaries and other support staff around the district.
• Accepted the resignations of teachers Sheree Addison, Ginger McElveen and Bethany Abdul-Hadi; maintenance technician Timmy Price; part-time maintenance workers Colby Anderson and Breanna Isaac; and full-time bus drivers Lance Torrey and Glenda Richard.
• Discussed three student matters and litigation related to district construction projects in executive session.
