When parents pick up their children from Sale Elementary School, cars line up on Warpath Road in east Columbus, creating a public safety concern.
The Columbus Municipal School District Board of Trustees discussed such concerns and prioritized district improvements during a special call meeting Saturday morning. Earlier this month, trustees listened to a capital improvement presentation by architect Major Andrews, of Columbus-based Major Design Studio, and engineer Kevin Stafford, of Neel-Schaffer, concerning safety improvements district-wide.
On Saturday, trustees listed five immediate concerns to bring to Superintendent Cherie Labat for consideration.
“One of our district goals is safety,” Board Vice President Fredrick Sparks said. “That being said, the cut through at Sale should be our number one priority.”
To prevent traffic from spilling onto the main road, Stafford previously proposed a $17,000 cut through, which would have parents lined up in the football parking lot rather than backing up traffic on Warpath Road. The board unanimously agreed this step should be the district’s first plan of action in the more than $2.6 million capital improvement plan.
During the presentation earlier this month, Andrews suggested extensive renovations to Hunt Alternative School that included fixing a leaking skylight in the gymnasium, blocking the gymnasium from the main school building and placing aluminum panels on the annex building, which is currently used for storage.
Board member Josie Shumake suggested fixing the skylight for $2,500 needed to be addressed before the floor has extensive damage.
“We are approving (a Memorandum of Understanding) with us and parks and rec,” Board President Jason Spears said. “If there are children playing in the gym and if someone is not watching them and they slip down and break a leg, we will have a liability there.”
In addition to fixing the skylight above the gymnasium, the board wants to create a new entrance and block the gym from the school building, totaling around $18,000.
Labat previously told The Dispatch there is a security concern with people throwing rocks and breaking windows at the annex building. Andrews’ suggestion of adding aluminum paneling on all windows would cost nearly $160,000.
Shumake said that those costs would be exorbitant to the district and might only be temporary once the building no longer serves as storage. Spears proposed simply replacing the broken windows, adding more lighting and other security measures such as cameras to deter criminal activity for a much lower cost.
Spears said with the board prioritizing the Sale pick-up, skylight at Hunt, gymnasium entrance, blocking the gym from the school and replacing the annex building’s windows, the next step falls to Labat, who will help the board decide how to allocate funding for those upcoming projects.
In an effort to fund some of these projects, the board approved a district “savings account” earlier this month called Fund 1121. Spears said the district policy mandates a reserve fund balance of at least 15 percent of the district maintenance fund. Any excess amount from the reserve fund will be transferred to the new Fund 1121, which could go toward the first stages of the capital improvement plan.
Other improvements
The board also brainstormed different ways to improve the district.
Spears suggested having detailed monthly discussions on the district’s budget in the weeks leading up to the budget hearing to ensure each board member is aware of the district’s financial status. The board has not set a date for the hearing, but the budget has to be approved by Aug. 15.
In addition, Spears said he hopes each school and principal updates the board on student achievement and success throughout the year to increase student achievement.
The board also discussed how the district can take a proactive approach toward helping staff and faculty with upward mobility within the district.
“If we have an assistant teacher in the district who wants to become a teacher, we need to help with that process,” Spears said. “Give them that guidance to becoming a teacher and supporting them in that effort. For other personnel, if they work in maintenance and they want to move from unskilled to skilled, maybe there’s classes at (East Mississippi Community College) that could not only benefit the district but them.”
Creating an open conversation between the public and the board was another goal Spears said he wanted to address. During each school board meeting, there’s a sign-up sheet for members of the public to address the board. However, Spears said he is not sure people know they have that opportunity to publicly discuss what is happening at CMSD.
“We want to continue to have that discussion we had during the superintendent search, which was a community-wide discussion,” Spears said. “Everyone has a chance to voice how they feel we can do better. That can be for staff, parents and anyone who has an invested interest in seeing the school succeed.”
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Fredrick Sparks
