Kindergarten and first grade students dressed in Christmas attire, and enthusiastically sang songs like “Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer” and “Jingle Bells” for everyone attending the meeting. MBOE members were elated with the performance, and warmly thanked the students for their efforts.
After the performance, the board recognized the hard work of teacher Craig Eric Callen, who recently became a nationally certified teacher. Superintendent Rita Cook spoke about his recent achievement.
“It’s been a lot of hard work, and it moves him up into a rank one position,” Cook explained. “As a teacher, he is our first nationally board certified teacher in the district.”
Cook and the rest of the board members went on to personally thank Callen for his dedication, and congratulated him on his recent accomplishment.
“I am just happy to have all the students I had,” stated Callen in light of his recent accomplishment. “I enjoy all of them and I am so happy that they were actually able to help me with this. Because if it wouldn’t have been for them, I wouldn’t have been able to do it.”
Superintendent Cook responded, “Good teachers are, first and foremost, good learners. And they’re not comfortable in just coasting, but they’re always trying to hone their crafts and become better. And certainly with the work and effort you put into this, it shows your dedication to teaching. Thank you very much.”
Cook then briefly discussed the importance of signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), in association with Race to the Top (RTTT) funding. She explained that Kentucky schools and districts stand to gain significant dollars from RTTT grants — in the range of $60 to $175 million dollars — for vast school improvements. She said that about 50 percent of that amount will go back to the school district based on Title 1 funding, and the other 50 percent will be kept by the state to help districts provide professional development.
“If we could access these dollars, it will be a lot easier for us to do the kinds of things that the Senate Bill 1 is going to require us to do anyway,” said Cook.
In order to receive funding, Cook explained that local boards, superintendents and heads of local teachers’ organizations will be asked to sign the final format of the MOU and submit it to the Kentucky Department of Education by December 31, 2009.
Troy Gaw, of Gaw, Wolfe & Associates PLLC, attended Monday’s MBOE meeting to discuss the Middlesboro Independent School District’s (MISD) financial audit for the year of 2009.
“I want to just start out saying that everything went exceptionally well,” said Gaw. He said that the financial staff at the central office was “excellent to work with.”
“In the past, I’ve always gone over the last page of the audit report, which is the findings that I have different recommendations for,” said Gaw. “Well this year, if you look at the audit report, it’s blank because the schools have taken care of all the problems they have had in the past, and the central office had taken care of all their problems based on the recommendations. And everything was in very, very good shape.”
In other business, the MBOE discussed/approved the following items:
• Approved the minutes of the November 16, 2009 regular meeting.
• Approved the financial reports as presented by Middlesboro High School, Middlesboro Middle School, Middlesboro Intermediate School, and Middlesboro Primary School.
• Approved the Superintendent’s report on personnel.
• Approved the cafeteria report, food service revenue report, and budget.
• Approved the financial report, and the payment of bills and salaries.
• The board announced February 15, 2010 to be the date for the annual board retreat meeting, and it will take place from 12 p.m. till 6 p.m on that day.
• Building reports were given by each MISD principal.
• Facilities Manager Larry Adams discussed the benefits of the KEEP program with members of the MBOE.
Adam Young is a Staff Writer for the Middlesboro Daily News. He can be contacted at ayoung@middlesborodailynews.com.
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