An Informative Chat with Mrs. Whytsell

By Shari Johnson, Publisher

With the up and coming School Levy on the November 8 Ballot, more conversations than normal are happening in the small communities of Calhoun County with regard to the operation of Calhoun County Schools. It was with that in mind that I reached out to the Calhoun County School Board with some concerns that I and others in the community had regarding school operations. The Ridgeview News is in full support of the School Levy. But in a poor county, where the earned dollar doesn’t come easy, we need to make sure the money we are investing is being well spent.

The recent windfall of $7 Million dollars that came into our County from Esser funding and Covid dollars was no doubt a great relief to all school officials who struggled through lean years of digging themselves out of a 1.4 Million dollar deficit. That was the amount that Kelli Whytsell inherited coming in as a new Superintendent. It was that deficit that caused a community to question the management of the institution in charge of their children’s preparedness for life. The deficit that came to light on the watch of then Superintendent Tim Woodward, was said to be the fault of a loss of students, State budgetary reductions, unfunded programs and multiple other issues. Regardless of what caused it, it was a very, very deep hole that few could see a way out of. But several years of cutbacks – not only no frills, but no basics of necessity in many circumstances such as class room materials and supplies, Calhoun Schools pulled themselves from out of that hole and back on steadier ground.

The current status of the finances of Calhoun County Schools is that they’re holding their own, with room to breathe until at least 2023 when the greater portion of Esser funding must be spent and staff will likely be lost unless funding comes in to cover those positions. The school has put in a request to extend the time allotted for spending the Esser funds. Additional salaries currently funded by Esser funds total 1.5 Million dollars. When determining where the funds were needed, Mrs. Whytsell said that it was determined to be a better investment in our community by putting the funding in staff, which will not only provide jobs but put money back into the community through redistributing that money into the local economy.

As for the aforementioned concerns. Seven million dollars is a very large sum of money received from not only ESSER funding, but other contributing factors as well during the pandemic era. One would think that it would cover a multitude of issues, meet a number of needs and have pocket change to spare. But as is often the case, federal and state funding is more often than not conditional. The ESSER funding was in the amount of $5,300,964.22 and was for the purpose of ”Recovering Learning lost,” and with those limitations, spending it for even necessities didn’t always fit the bill. The money is also reimbursed not given upfront. So the school must pay out and then invoice the state for approved expenses.

When I came to Mrs. Whytsell and the board this week, I came with about 5 concerns that I had heard mentioned on more than one occasion from more than one person. One of which was a health concern for a mold issue with some uniforms stored in one of the classrooms. Mrs. Whytsell and Michael Fitzwater walked through the rooms that I had spoken about, and discovered the issue was how things were stored, and other locations in the school with mold were moisture issues for which the maintenance staff was instructed about the mold locations and to use a bleach/water spray to combat it. One problem solved and the storage issues is being addressed.

Concerns about the press box, field house and ball fields were addressed as to why maintenance had not been kept up on those areas. It was an answer many of us might give ”We do what we have funding for, but there is a list of priorities that don’t always make the cut. Putting approximately $16,000 in the necessary repairs of the press box roof and platform wasn’t feasible. There are plans to take care of the rotting platform on the press box, but there are areas that students are in that currently need more attention.

Mr. Fitzwter was excited to show some coming attractions for the fields and gymnasium, made possible by donations from Calhoun Banks, Minnie Hamilton and Dominion (Football Scoreboards not yet completed)

During the Follies last spring, it was discovered that the high school auditorium had deteriorating equipment, until the lighting and sound was not usable for any performance. Mr. McHenry, Music and Band Director, had resorted to requesting donations to try and fund it’s restoration. When I ask Mrs. Whytsell why the Auditorium was not taken care of with a portion of the Esser funding, she informed me that it had been requested and denied by the State because it wasn’t considered to be under the criteria of ”recovering learning lost.” Which put to a very sad rest, why the auditorium is in such a state of condition and that the school must wait before restoring it for our children. The cost for new and upgraded equipment for light and sound is $178,000.

Another concern brought to the attention of Ridgeview was the absence of the Calhoun County Band from away games. It was “said” that it was a funding issue that prevented the band travel dollars needed for a bus and driver to transport them to the games. As a former band member, parent and now grandparent, it always breaks my heart when the music program doesn’t have what it needs. At 60 years of age, I am still enjoying the love and experience of playing music that started with the Calhoun County High School Marching band. It not only created a love of music, it created a work ethic that came from long hours of practice and performance to be our best for ourselves, our school and our community. Some of my greatest memories are those band bus travels to games and competitions.

I ask Mrs. Whytsell about the funds available to the band to cover the cost of travel. I had also heard that help had been offered through the Athletic Director, Ernest Tingler, if it was needed. That help was denied because the boosters began their season with over $7,000 in booster raised funds and have an additional $10,000+ in a Certificate of Deposit to cover new uniforms. The reasoning for not attending games was they didn’t feel they were ready to perform, and their focus this year was going to be more towards their competitions. According to Mrs. Whytsell it is not uncommon for bands to choose not to go to away games.

Mrs. Whytsell and Michael Fitzwater spent over an hour with Ridgeview News explaining the reasoning behind the concerns I expressed to them. I left impressed with her compassion and management of Calhoun County Schools. It takes a dedicated leader to offer her own time to fill in as an elementary school cook when one wasn’t available for a school day. That’s the type leader she is. The fact that 46 people have stepped up to volunteer in the county schools this year gives me great hope that our school system is becoming more community inclusive which will afford greater transparency and trust.

A final show and round of applause for the school system was a very proud purchase of a new very large freezer located on the backside of the Board of Education building. The freezer (under lock and key) will allow the school to accept more USDA commodities and spend less with Gordon’s, a school food vendor. It has also allowed them to come to the aid of Minnie Hamilton when their freezers went down and they needed a space to store food. At the end of a school year, the left over food in the elementary schools can also be brought here and used for the summer youth programs.