Oct. 26—While the additions to the Cullman Middle and Cullman Primary schools have been the most heavily discussed capital improvement projects currently under way, President of Whorton Engineering Randy Whorton provided the Cullman City School Board with an update to a third project currently underway at West Elementary School during Tuesday night’s board meeting.
Whorton said that Eagle Pro — the contractors used to perform the work — were nearing completion of the first phase of the nearly $1 million HVAC overhaul at the campus, and predicted that by the end of the week all 37 dehumidifier units would be installed and operational. These new units should eliminate not only humidity issues, but also odor complaints and higher noise levels from the use of portable dehumidifiers. Whorton said that the response he has received from the faculty where the new units are currently operational has shown that these issues have been resolved.
“I think that those that have these, we’ve gotten a very positive feedback from all of them. It’s nice when you hear ‘I can tell a difference. My classroom is cleaner, it smells better.’ Well, that’s because it really is. It’s the stuff that you don’t see and you don’t smell that really makes a difference,” Whorton said.
Moving forward, Whorton said that crews would be returning to address several units that were installed in exposed areas, and that they would be enclosing the units with a perforated metal barrier that would then be painted to match the location where they were installed.
Issues with equipment delivery have put a delay on the completion of the project’s second phase after an original order for outdoor units was cancelled. Whorton said that they have since been in contact with the supplier and resolved the issue, but that the units were not expected to be delivered before March. Whorton said that when completed, roughly 104 tons of HVAC equipment will have been replaced at the school with newer, more efficient units.
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Also on Tuesday, the annual reconstitution of the school board resulted in Amy Carter passing the gavel to Cheryl Harrison, who will now act as CCS School Board President. This decision — as well as the one to appoint Board Member Joey Orr as Vice President — was unanimous. Superintendent Kyle Kallhoff would remain in his position as Secretary of the Board.
Kallhoff stated during his report that effective immediately, CCS would be enforcing stricter penalties for students found in possession of, or distributing vapes or other electronic cigarette devices on school property or at school sponsored events. This decision comes as the system nears completion of having Halo Vape sensors installed across all of its campuses. Kallhoff said that in addition to detecting the presence of vape particles, the devices would also listen for — but not record — certain keywords like “suicide, bomb, or kill” and would alert administrators when a keyword or elevated noise levels were detected.
As of Oct.26, 2022, the punishment for a student’s first offense of being found in possession of a vape or electronic smoking device would be 10 days of in-school suspension, the punishment for selling or distributing these items will be a 20 day in-school suspension.
In other business the board:
* Recognized German Ventura (West Elementary fourth-grade student), Lindsay Harris (West Elementary ARI Reading Coach), and Dori Potter (West Elementary Nurse) as the student, teacher, and support staff of the month.
* Nominated Harrison to serve as the delegate for the Alabama Association of School Boards 2022 Annual Convention and Orr to serve as the alternate delegate.
* Approved a stipend for Diane Law for the position of Project Assistant to Cullman City Schools Foundation.
* Approved a contract with Communication and Reading Therapies, Inc. to conduct individual evaluations.
* Approved a contract with Kalysha Whittle to provide nursing services.
* Approved contracts with the following teachers to provide after school reading and math tutoring: Rachel Carden, Tamika Powell, Lindsey Howard, Heather Doyle, Courtney Speciale, Sarah Martin, Laurel Waddle, Leslie Pouliot, Sashari Caretti, Sharyn Hollingsworth, Melany Edwards, Kristie Noblett, Tayler Daniel, Lindsay Harris, Hali Marquette, Misty Murphy, Mary Beth Cleveland, Tonya Trammell, Carrie Byrd, Kassey Cox, Jenny Helton, Maeghan Long, and Jenna Bates.
* Approved for the Cullman FFA to attend the National FFA convention in Indianapolis, Ind. where they will be recognized as a one star chapter from Oct. 25-28.
* Approved to surplus obsolete ELA books.
* Accepted the following resignations: Vanessa Bagwell (Auxiliary Teacher at Cullman Head Start), Jennifer Aguilar-Contreras (Extended Day Assistant at Cullman City Primary School), Deborah Garner (Special Education Instructional Assistant at West Elementary), Kim Shelton (Child Nutrition Program Worker at West Elementary), Jennifer Wray (Special Education Teacher at Cullman City Primary School), Raegan Stephens (Extended Day Program Assistant at Cullman City Primary School), and John Drake (Baseball Video Coordinator).
* Approved the transfer of Jenna Bates from her position as Instructional Assistant at Cullman City Primary School to Family Services Manager at Cullman City Head Start.
* Approved the conditional employment of the following personnel: Alexandria Anderson (Special Education Instructional Assistant), Jana Grimes (Special Education Instructional Assistant), Vanessa Chamblee (Child Nutrition Program Worker), Makensi Arnold (Extended Day Assistant Teacher at West Elementary), and Mitch Maddox (Part-time Special Education Instructional Assistant).
* Approved a 12 percent supplement for Branch Whitlock to coach and coordinate the archery program for the 2022-2023 school year.
* Approved for Donna Brunetti and Kim Graves to forgo receiving the LEO Club supplement (both will continue their sponsorships).
* Approved Shannon Fondren as a volunteer community baseball coach.
Patrick Camp can be reached at 256-734-2131 ext. 238
