The Greenwood School Board on Tuesday authorized the commencement of a search for the next superintendent.
The move was announced after a 90-minute closed session.
Charles Brooks has served as interim superintendent since Montrell Greene was fired by the board in January.
Brooks reported that since the board’s last meeting, the district has addressed several violations of state policy brought to light by a May audit by the Mississippi Department of Education.
In particular, the district has submitted a financial audit and implemented procedures for tracking student absences.
Additionally, the district has come into compliance with a standard requiring that students meet specific requirements set forth by the local and state boards of education prior to receiving a high school diploma.
“Documentation to clear other standards has been submitted to the Mississippi Department of Education,” said Brooks. “The district is awaiting letters of clearance.”
Brooks said he will continue to update the board on the district’s progress each month.
In other business:
• Brooks said the district is seeking an Advanced Placement grant from the Mississippi Department of Education that would allow Greenwood High School to begin offering AP courses in biology, economics, chemistry and English language. Currently, the school offers AP courses in calculus, English literature and U.S. government.
Students who score above a certain threshold on a final AP assessment can receive college credit for the course. The grant would help provide teachers with training and resources for the new courses.
Greenwood Middle School would also begin to offer AP preparatory courses in science and mathematics.
• The middle school and high school reported average daily absence rates of approximately 10 percent for the month of January.
Board member Randy Clark said the figures seemed “mighty high.” The middle school’s principal, Chiqueta Daniels, said that the high rate of absenteeism at her school was in part due to an increase in suspensions.
“My students are 12 to 14 years old,” said Daniels. “They are hormonal preteens, and sometimes it’s necessary to assign forced absenteeism in the form of suspension to get their behavior where it needs to be.”
Kenneth Pulley, an assistant principal at the high school, said he was not sure what caused the high levels of absenteeism there, but he said faculty are working to provide “incentives for students to come to school each day and on time.”
• The school board approved the payment of just over $23,000 to Upchurch Services for emergency gas-line maintenance and repair undertaken at Davis Elementary in January.
• The board adopted several federal policies, among them a measure that would prohibit school administrators from hiring spouses into federally funded positions.
• A proposed policy change that would give the office of the superintendent the authority to pay some of the district’s bills without prior approval was tabled for further consideration.
Had it passed, the motion would have enabled the superintendent to make payments totaling up to $10,000 per invoice to be ratified at the subsequent board meeting. Brooks said the measure would prevent the district from getting behind on its bills.
Board members George Ellis and Antwoine Williams both voiced reservations about the policy. Williams was appointed to the board earlier that day by the Greenwood City Council.
• Contact Nick Rogers at 581-7235 or nrogers@gwcommonwealth.com.
