Malia Riggs
Elmore Autauga News
The Autauga County Board of Education honored several of the new hires across the district at Tuesday evening’s regularly scheduled board meeting.
The School Board welcomed seven new members to the Autauga County School system at Tuesday Night’s meeting. Bradley Mann will be Marbury Middle School’s new Principal. Mann is bringing nearly two decades of educational experience with eight years of administrative experience through multiple districts to his new role at Marbury Middle.
William Conyers will lead the district’s Technology Department as the Coordinator of Technology. Conyers has a strong foundation in technology and will oversee all technology initiatives, including the department’s infrastructure, staffing, and budgeting, as well as be responsible for the Centralized Registration Department, media specialists, and school-based secretaries.
Wyteria Ellis was named the district’s Second Chance Principal. Ellis is returning to Autauga County Schools, bringing with her 22 years of educational expertise.
Jimmy Lansdell was named Marbury High School’s newest principal. Lansdell is no stranger to the school community, having served as a classroom teacher, coach, athletic director, and administrator since 2006.
Jerome Barrington returns to Autauga County Schools as the Special Programs Director. With more than 25 years of experience as a teacher, coach, and school administrator, Barrington brings a wealth of knowledge to the district where he’ll oversee school safety, athletics, pupil transportation, maintenance, and new construction projects.
Dr. Jacob Holloway is also changing positions. Formerly the coordinator of secondary curriculum and instruction, Holloway will now take on the role as federal programs coordinator within the district.
Lastly, the Board welcomed Gloria Jerkins as the new Autauga County Schools Virtual School Principal. Jerkins stated she is a teacher at heart, has experience as an assistant principal and is excited to dive right in.
In other business, the Board revised two policies regarding emergency plans and safety drills throughout the district. While Autauga County Schools, ACS, does follow state guidelines, the revisions are to ensure that all schools within the district are conducting drills within the same timeframe and that schools are all on the same page, Superintendent Lyman Woodfin confirmed.
The second policy update is regarding student health services. The revision to this policy will state school nurses as the point of contact, as they are the medical professionals on campus, instead of a school administrator. Woodfin stated this revision will hopefully create more clarity for students with medical needs on campus.
The Board also received results from Woodfin for the district’s On-Site Review that was conducted last October by the Alabama Department of Education. The last time ACS was reviewed was over 30 years ago, Woodfin confirmed.
Woodfin also confirmed that the State Department puts various districts on a point system and list. If it has been past a certain amount of time, that district is pushed towards the top of the list.
The purpose of this review was to determine the compliance status of ACS regarding Tittle VI 6 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, and guidelines for eliminating discrimination and denial of services based on race, color, national origin, sex, and handicap in vocational educational programs.
There were no findings except pertaining to physical accessibility for students with disabilities on ACS facilities, due to aging facilities Woodfin confirmed.
“It’s been 30 years since this process has occurred and obviously a lot of things have changed at that time. Every finding has been corrected and several other improvements have been made as a result,” Woodfin said.
Woodfin went on to thank and recognize three individuals that helped play a crucial role in the improvement process. Coordinator of operations, Tony Camara, supervisor of maintenance Brian Blackmon and Principal of Autauga County Technology Center Brock Dunn all played a crucial role in updating the aging facilities within ACS.
“On behalf of the board, behalf of myself and everybody, I want to thank all three of you because y’all went above and beyond. I appreciate the honesty and I appreciate how you guys all attacked these issues immediately,” Woodfin said.
Board members Tracye Strichik and Jamie Jackson were absent due to prior engagements.
