Trustees review personnel changes
By Melinda L. Lucas
The resignation of Albany ISD technology director Daniel Key was accepted with regrets at the Monday, March 21 meeting of the AISD school board.
Superintendent Jonathan Scott announced that Kevin Hill would be filling that position for the remainder of the year.
Scott also stated that eight applications have been received for IT director, three of them from Albany residents and two within the AISD system.
There have been several other personnel changes recently, Scott added, including the hiring of at-will employee Anabel Martinez as Head Start and Family Services aide and Colleen Scott as a long-term substitute for middle school English. Jessica Myers began her duties as school nurse several weeks ago.
The superintendent commented that there are currently about 150 postings on the Region 14 “job board,” compared with only a few before the end of the first semester.
“There is definitely a shortage of teachers,” said Scott. “As a district of innovation, we can hire non-certified educators, and that’s what the Commissioner of Education is advising, but I personally don’t think that we want to make that a common practice.”
He added that Albany ISD’s plan for becoming a district of innovation in the first place was to use qualified professionals for career and technology instruction rather than in core classes.
“I don’t think COVID can be used as an excuse, but something is different,” he said. “Getting kids engaged is more and more of a problem, and I expect to see greater challenges in the very near future.”
ESSER Adjustments
Scott reviewed the newest information about the ESSER II spending plan and commented that is constantly shifting.
“Given the new parameters, I am going to ask for action because we probably need documentation about what we’re planning,” he said.
Originally, he had planned to use some of the federal grant monies to replace an antiquated phone system, citing lack of safety in being able to reach some classrooms in case of emergencies. However, he and others working on the application decided that a new communication system would likely pay for itself in about two years because of much lower monthly phone bills.
Scott recommended that $116,000 of the ESSER II funding be used for a second teacher retention incentive, similar to the one given this school year.
Another $221,000 of the $336,870 total would go toward updating technology and hiring a technology “interventionist.”
Other Business
•At a brief noon meeting held on Thursday, March 10 before spring break, trustees met to cancel the May 7 school board election before the required deadline. There are no contested races in this year’s AISD election.
•Trustees approved use of the football stadium April 24 by the Feed Store and passed a Risk Management Fund interlocal participation agreement.
