Calhoun County Board of Education members met at Pleasant Hill Elementary School on Tuesday, November 12th, 2024 for their regularly scheduled monthly meeting.
Pleasant Hill School Principal Ashley Cunningham and PHE teaching staff featured several of the PHE students in a presentation of recent activities and accomplishments.
Principal Cunningham’s slide show highlighted the school’s goals, student focused planning, statistics and community involvement.
Speaking under delegations, Ridgeview News provided a handout to the board with issues that she believed to be at the heart of the School System issues. Focusing primarily on the lack of family and community participation in Calhoun Middle High School.
Second to speak under delegations was High School Cheer Coach and member of the Calhoun Middle High School Athletic Boosters, Whitney Butler, who brought attention to several issues that she felt were unfair for the students and Boosters for which she was their to represent.
Mrs. Butler informed the BOE that having been a Coach since 2019, for six seasons she had battled athletes injuries, watched athletes struggle to safely demonstrate simple tasks and watched her teams struggle to overcome a stigma that has been around for decades. She told the Board that her team didn’t complain, nor make a scene, and their parents didn’t attack anyone on social media. They just show up, do their job, better than most, and try to ignore the hate. But yet they were not even treated fairly by their own school system.
For more than 4 years Mrs. Butler had been requesting access to the weight room for her team. It is a requirement of coaches to provide weight training, but a requirement that she has been unable to fulfill without missing valuable practice time. “And yet” she stated, “football and other coaches are allowed to have this simple luxury.” She provided balls from each of the sports played at Calhoun Middle High School to bring to their attention that the weight of a person was considerably more, requiring more strength and the need for weight training. She asked the Board members to explain to the cheerleaders that were present, how their chosen sport isn’t worthy of the same access to the weight room facilities. She closed this part of her address by also reminding the board that this was a Title 9 issue for which she did not mind filing a complaint about if the school couldn’t see fit to provide her students what was needed.
Another issue with unfair treatment was the Cheer Squad being removed from their locker room on a game night which was given to the away team, because a Calhoun boy’s basketball coach had flex practice and needed the locker room that evening.
Although every other team is afforded a space to store their sports equipment, uniforms and gear, the cheerleaders have been exiled to a closet or storage room for their uniforms and equipment worth in excess of $20,000, for which they themselves have had fundraisers to purchase. Mrs. Butler is requesting an adequate space to be provided for her team as it is for every other and for which they can call their own.
The Second issue brought before the board by Mrs. Butler was a matter concerning her discovery that the Calhoun Middle School Band Boosters were permitted to order food through the school vendors which was then used for their concession stand. An opportunity not offered to the Athletic Boosters. Mr. Fitzwater had responded that “From what he understood, band boosters did request that Chris purchase chips and possibly lettuce”. Possibly, meaning that even though it was brought to his attention he did not follow up on the matter to research and see if the claims were true.
She went on to say that “This school system has been accused too many times of covering things up, not being transparent and withholding information. This is seeming to fall into those same categories once again. It was also asked in the email if the CMHS athletic boosters had approached Chris about making purchases through school. The short answer to that is, no. ”Why would we? “ Mrs Butler said, “To our understanding the state reimburses the school system a certain amount of what is spent in food service. Why would we risk misusing a state program for monetary gain and be liable should it ever become an issue? We don’t work for the school system, we do not read up on what is or is not legal to do with school funds, we rely on those who hold positions such as yours to inform us of what we do and do not have access to.”
- Finance matters approved:
- General Fund Invoices – $ 15,262.50
- Supplements – $ 348,757.23
- October 2024 Financial Statement
- Quarterly School Financials July, 2024 – September, 2024 (Invoice list available for review at Calhoun County Board of Education Office)
Volunteer Requests
- Beverly Harris
- Kelly Hanes
- Hilary Will
Retirements/ Resignations
- Michelle Hipp , Early Childhood Coordinator, PHE effective November 8, 2024.
- Abigail Summers , Substitute Multi-Classified Aide II/Bus Aide/Supervisory Aide/Specialized Health Care Procedures
- Kayla Montgomery, Substitute Multi-Classified Aide II/Bus Aide/Supervisory Aide/Specialized Health Care Procedures
Extracurricular
- Jacob McCumbers , After School Tutor/Teacher, AES
Employment
David Barr , Assistant Principal, CMHS, Job ID 33060
Daniel Cosgrove , Long Term Substitute Social Studies Teacher, CMS
November 13, 2024-December 20, 2024, Job ID 33077
Service
- Craig Arthur , Substitute Teacher, County Job ID 26729
- Lisa Hawkins , Multi-Classified Paraprofessional/Aide (Itinerant) AES/PHE, Job ID 31159
- Pamela Humphrey, Substitute Cook, County Job ID 27024 (pending background check)
- Barry Ackerman , Substitute Custodian, County, Job ID 27025 (pending background check)
- Pamela Humphrey, Substitute Custodian, County, Job ID 27025 (pending background check)
Extracurricular
- Trista Arnold , Authorized / Certified (Non-Paid) Assistant Middle School Girls Basketball Coach, Job ID 33078, pending certification
- Michael Boatright , Authorized/Certified (Non-Paid) Varsity Wrestling Coach, JobID 33082
- Drue Goad , Authorized/Certified (Non-Paid) Varsity Wrestling Coach, Job ID 33082, pending certification
