2 new Albany ISD trustees seated
One new teacher was hired and two resignations accepted during a May 20 meeting of the Albany school board.
With 51 years of experience between them, retiring AISD trustees Betsy Parsons and Pam Davis served for the first 10 minutes of Monday’s regular school board meeting before handing the reins to two new board members and newly elected officers.
Kim Neece and Joe Tidwell were sworn in to take Parsons’ and Davis’ seats.
Robert Montgomery, a 20-year veteran on the board, was elected as president.
Kelly Head, who retained his place in the May 4 election, will serve as vice president, and Kalico Leech was chosen to take over Davis’ duties as secretary.
Parsons welcomed Neece and Tidwell to the board and encouraged them to “always put the kids first and the teachers second; everything else will fall into place. As a board, we have occasionally disagreed, but we always walk out of here as friends.”
Montgomery thanked the two retirees for their service.
Resignations, Hiring
Superintendent Jonathan Scott announced that he had received a resignation letter from teacher/coach Richard Sullivan on Monday, and that, along with Debra Overton’s resignation, which had been received the previous week, was accepted with regrets.
The board also approved Scott’s recommendation that a probationary contract be offered to Whitney Bennett.
With seven years of experience, Bennett currently teaches in Abilene, and is expected to teach math at Nancy Smith Elementary School.
Sale of Scoreboard
Trustees authorized Scott to set up an online auction for the existing scoreboard at Nail Stadium, which will be replaced with a new board next month.
The district has been unable to secure replacement parts for the old scoreboard, and First National Bank has agreed to purchase a new one.
Scott emphasized that the bids would only be for the scoreboard itself, not the FNB sign that is attached to the top.
Bids can be submitted online by clicking on “Scoreboard Bid” at albanyisd.net between May 23 and June 5. The winning bidder will be notified on June 6 and is asked to remove the sign from the stadium on June 7, when the new one is installed.
Other Business
•Scott reported that the district still needs to hire a band director, a high school ELA /theater arts teacher, and an elementary instructor, as well as replace Sullivan.
•Preliminary valuations from the appraisal district show a $6 million decline in values, although Scott relayed that the figures were “very conservative,” and chief appraiser Clayton Snyder expects them to end up somewhere close to last year’s numbers.
Scott informed the trustees that the district is involved in an “active lawsuit” concerning an accidental injury to a tour guide when last year’s band bus had to stop suddenly for another vehicle during a spring break trip to New Orleans.
