2005 winter alabama school boards magazine

Official Publication of the Alabama Association of School Boards

DECEMBER 2005Official Publication of the Alabama Association of School Boards

DECEMBER 2005

STRONG RELATIONSHIPS YIELD STRONG SCHOOLS:

More than 400 AttendAnnual Convention

Alabama School BoardsWelcome New Leaders

‘LEADERS FOR LEARNING’ Likely to be Focus

for New Term

STRONG RELATIONSHIPS YIELD STRONG SCHOOLS:

More than 400 AttendAnnual Convention

Alabama School Boards Welcome New Leaders

‘LEADERS FOR LEARNING’ Likely to be Focus

for New Term

Alabama School Boards • December 2005 3

IN THIS ISSUECOVER STORY

Legislative Preview: Elections to Follow 2006 Legislative Session . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Legislators convene next month in the throes of an election year, traditionally a difficult time to push anything more than budgets through the Alabama Legislature.The 2006 regular session starts Jan. 10 and ends no later than April 24. So, what’son the agenda for education? In the aftermath of disastrous hurricanes, skyrocket-ing fuel prices and with the looming deadlines and demands of No Child LeftBehind, the state’s education budget is a big deal.

Face to Face with Rep. Richard Lindsey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

FEATURES

Strong Relationships Yield Strong Schools:More than 400 Attend Annual Convention . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Alabama School Boards Welcome New Leaders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

‘Leaders for Learning’ Likely to be Focus for New Term . . . . . . . . 16

Five Leaders Named All State School Board Members . . . . . . . . . . 18

DEPARTMENTS

Alabama Education News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Education & the Law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

At the Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Calendar of Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Potpourri . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

PUBLICATION POLICYAlabama School Boards is published by the Alabama Association of School Boards as aservice to its member school boards. The articles published in each issue represent the ideasor beliefs of the writers and are not necessarily the views of the Alabama Association ofSchool Boards. Subscriptions sent to members of school boards are included in member-ship dues, and complimentary copies are sent to public school principals throughout thestate. Additional subscriptions can be obtained by contacting AASB. Entered as third-classmail at Montgomery, AL. Permit No. 34.

Alabama School Boards is designed by J. Durham Design, L.L.C., Montgomery, AL.

Address all editorial and advertising inquiries to: Alabama School Boards, Editor, P.O. Drawer 230488, Montgomery, AL 36123-0488. Phone: 334/277-9700.

OFFICERSJim Methvin . . . . . . . . . . . . . PresidentAlabama School of Fine ArtsSue Helms . . . . . . . . . . President-ElectMadison CityFlorence Bellamy . . . . . Vice PresidentPhenix CityTommy McDaniel . . . . . Past PresidentCherokee County

STAFFSandra Sims-deGraffenried, Ed.D.Executive DirectorSally Brewer Howell, J.D.Assistant Executive DirectorDenise L. BerkhalterDirector of Public RelationsEditor, Alabama School BoardsSusan Rountree SalterDirector of Membership ServicesLissa Astilla TuckerDirector of Governmental RelationsDebora HendricksAdministrative AssistantDonna NorrisAdministrative AssistantKay ShawBookkeeperLashana SummerlinReceptionistTammy WrightExecutive AssistantJanelle ZeiglerClerical Assistant

BOARD OF DIRECTORSPatsy Black . . . . . . . . . . . . . . District 1Monroe CountySteven Foster . . . . . . . . . . . . District 2Lowndes CountyJeff Bailey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . District 3Covington CountyKaty S. Campbell . . . . . . . . . District 4Macon CountyJennifer Parsons . . . . . . . . . . District 5Jefferson CountySue Jones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . District 6JacksonvilleSusan Harris . . . . . . . . . . . . . District 7Winfield Dr. Charles Elliott . . . . . . . . . District 8DecaturLaura Casey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . District 9AlbertvilleSandra Ray . . . . . . . . . . . . State BoardTuscaloosaRobert A. Lane.. NSBA Board of DirectorsLowndes County

December 2005Vol. 26, No. 6

4 Alabama School Boards • December 2005

St. Clair Considering Call for AppointedSuperintendent

The Daily Home newspaper is reportingthat St. Clair County Board of Education isconsidering a resolution that would call foran appointed rather than elected superin-tendent. The resolution would open theway for the board to ask the local state leg-islative delegation to introduce a bill thatwould allow the board to make theappointment.

The article quotes school board Presi-dent Drew Goolsby as saying the proposedresolution is likely to materialize. Goolsbytold the Daily Home that he “would like aunanimous consent for something like this.This is not a knee-jerk situation. This issomething we’ve been considering at leastfor three years.”

Not only is St. Clair County among thefew boards of education in the state thatstill elect their school superintendent, butAlabama is among a small number ofstates that actually still have elected super-intendents. Candidates for the superinten-dent’s position in St. Clair aren’t requiredto live in the county. Goolsby, according tothe article, said the appointed processwould widen the pool of candidates for theboard and do away with some of the polit-ical forces.

Though there are some very effectiveelected superintendents, AASB has longsupported appointments as the best processfor selecting superintendents.

ACCESS Distance Learning Initiative Delivers CoursesStatewide

Alabama has identified 24 pilot sites forthe state’s new ACCESS distance learninginitiative, also known as the Alabama Con-necting Classrooms, Educators and Stu-dents Statewide program. The pilot schoolsare connected to classroom courses, teach-ers and technology via the Internet, allow-

ing schools to help other schools by offer-ing advanced level courses and electivesthat might not otherwise be available.

According to the Alabama Departmentof Education, ACCESS provides the abil-ity to deliver and receive state-approvedcurriculum using the latest interactiveinstructional models. At least eight e-teachers will deliver courses in real timefrom the pilot sites beginning in the 2006spring semester. As the 2006-07 schoolyear draws to a close, the state Depart-ment of Education estimates 10,000 ofAlabama’s 205,000 high school students

will have been served by the ACCESSproject. Thousands of these students willnot only receive needed courses currentlyunavailable to them, but they’ll also haveaccess to online graduation exam remedi-ation courses.

“Many high schools have not been ableto provide advanced diploma courses suchas foreign language, electives andtrigonometry,” said state Superintendent ofEducation Dr. Joe Morton. “The ACCESSapproach will help solve that problem byoffering curriculum and teachers to meetcourse requirement needs.”

AlabamaEducationNews

Alabama School Paints Picture of Katrina Tragedy for NSBA

Students of Alabama’s Alba Middle School in Bayou La Batre partnered withElm Place Middle School in Highland Park, Ill., to create a traveling exhibit thattells the story of the Hurricane Katrina tragedy in pictures and words.

The “Merging Culture” exhibit will greet thousands of National SchoolBoards Association members at the annual conference April 8-11, 2006, inChicago at Lakeside Center at McCormick Place. Early Bird Registration is openthrough Jan. 6. Speakers include Gen. Colin L. Powell, Jane Goodall, DavidMcCullough and Richard Simmons.

Elm Place students took a tour of Bayou La Batre along with Alba MiddleSchool students, who took their cameras to photograph the history-makingdestruction. The Illinois students were able to experience the tragic loss dur-ing their visit and actually stayed the night in a simulated shelter and learnedto prepare MREs, or meals ready to eat.

The schools hope to raise funds to share the “Merging Cultures” exhibitnationwide and plan to bring Alba Middle School students to Illinois in thespring to experience Elm Place Middle School’s culture.

For more information about the 2006 NSBA Conference, call 800/950-6722 and press option “1” or visit http://www.nsba.org/conference online orsend e-mail to [email protected].

Alba Middle School students and Elm Place Middle School students visited Lighting Point Park in Bayou La Batre. The mouth of the Bayou is shown in the background. Alba students shared stories of Hurricane Katrina with their visitors.

Alba Middle School students and Elm Place Middle School students visited Lighting Point Park in Bayou La Batre. The mouth of the Bayou is shown in the background. Alba students shared stories of Hurricane Katrina with their visitors.


The $10.3 million initiative provides$100,000 for each state-funded pilot siteand funds to implement the initiativestatewide in the course of the next year.Pilot sites will use the funds for suchequipment as tablet computers and multi-point videoconferencing equipment, instal-lation and other related costs. Support fore-teachers and facilitators and interactivesoftware will also be provided.

The pilot schools were chosen through acompetitive grant process to receive and/ordeliver ACCESS courses in interactive dis-tance learning labs. Twelve of the pilot highschool lab sites are funded by the state, andthe state-secured community partnershipsand an Appalachian Regional Commissionfederal grant to fund an additional 12 sites.

By summer 2006, the state funding forACCESS is expected to: • Include increased connectivity for 50

percent of all high schools;• Connect the existing 113 interactive

videoconferencing labs across the stateso they can communicate statewide; and

• Increase the variety and quantity of dis-tance learning online courses.The pilot sites include the following high

schools: Barbour County, Boaz, BullockCounty, Dallas County, Southside inEtowah County, Spain Park in Hoover, BobJones in Madison, Douglas in MarshallCounty, Alma Bryant in Mobile County, J.F.Shields in Monroe County, BrewbakerTechnical in Montgomery County, RobertC. Hatch in Perry County, Bibb County,

Huffman in Birmingham, White Plains inCalhoun County, Chilton County, CleburneCounty, Lanett, Wilson in LauderdaleCounty, R.A. Hubbard in Lawrence County,Gordo in Pickens County, Sheffield, Tarrant,and Oakman in Walker County.

To find out more about ACCESS online,visit www.alex.state.al.us and click “dis-tance learning.”

Enhancing EducationThrough TechnologyAwards Announced

Forty-six Alabama public school sys-tems are receiving more than $3.4 millionto help improve technology use in theclassroom. Under the Enhancing Educa-tion Through Technology Program, theU.S. Department of Education providesgrants to eligible state educational agen-cies. The Alabama Department of Educa-tion allocated the one-year awards, whichranged from $55,000 to $389,486.

State Superintendent of Education Dr.Joe Morton said, “The professional devel-opment component of these grants willhelp enhance and integrate the ACCESS(Alabama Connecting Classrooms, Educa-tors and Students Statewide) distancelearning initiative.”

The primary goal of the program is toimprove student academic achievementthrough the use of technology in elemen-tary and secondary schools. The programis also designed to: • Assist every student in becoming tech-

nologically literate by the end of eighthgrade;

• Encourage the effective integration oftechnology resources and systems; and

• Provide professional development activ-ities and curriculum development inorder to promote research-based instruc-tional methods that can be widely repli-cated. For information on how to compete for

the grants, contact the Alabama Depart-ment of Education, Hannis Roberts, at334/242-9594 or [email protected]. Forthe list of schools receiving grants, visitwww.alsde.edu.

Encourage High School Seniors to Apply for Scholarships

College is costly. Winfield city schools and Jefferson County schools recognizethat fact and post lists of scholarships available to Alabama students on theirWeb sites, www.winfieldal.org and www.jefcoed.com, respectively.

According to Winfield’s guidance counselor, Peggy Meherg, “Nearly $6 billionin scholarships, grants and prizes are available each year.”

If you’re aware of a high school student with the dream of pursuing a collegedegree but with few resources to pay for it, consider pointing them in the direc-tion of these scholarship opportunities:• The Alabama PTA’s Yvonne Ballentine Memorial Reflections Scholarship 2005-

2006 awards one $500 scholarship to a high school senior. The deadline is(postmarked on or before) Feb. 1, 2006. Ballentine was a staff member ofAlabama PTA for 18 years and was enthusiastic about the National PTA Reflec-tions Cultural Arts Program. Call 334/834-2501.

• The National School Boards Association’s 2006 Hispanic Caucus Scholarshipfor the Southern Region is one of five scholarships awarded to graduatingHispanic students, one from each NSBA region. The other regions are Cen-tral, Northeast, Pacific and Western. Scholarship applications are due Feb.28, 2006. Call 703/838-6157 or send e-mail to [email protected]. NSBA’s BlackCaucus offers a similar scholarship, but details are not yet available.

• The Alabama Science Scholar Search and Gorgas Scholarship Competition isaccepting applications from Alabama high school seniors who will graduatein spring 2006. Complete guidelines are available at www.gorgasscholar.org.The deadline is Jan. 6, 2006. Call (205) 934-6799 or send e-mail to [email protected].

• The J. Craig and Page T. Smith “First In Family” Scholarship is open to Alabamapublic high school seniors involved in community and civic-oriented activitiesor who have provided assistance to family members. The scholarship givesfavor to students who would be the first in their families to attend college.High school counselors have access to these applications, which are due Feb.15, 2006.

(Continued on page 7)


T he Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) is a federal law thatprotects the privacy of student education records. The law applies to allschools that receive funds under an applicable program of the U.S. Depart-

ment of Education.FERPA gives parents certain rights with respect to their children’s education

records. These rights transfer to the student when he or she reaches the age of 18or attends a school beyond the high school level. Students to whom the rights havetransferred are “eligible students.”• Parents or eligible students have the right to inspect and review the student’s edu-

cation records maintained by the school. Schools are not required to providecopies of records unless, for reasons such as great distance, it is impossible forparents or eligible students to review the records. Schools may charge a fee forcopies.

• Parents or eligible students have the right to request that a school correct recordswhich they believe to be inaccurate or misleading. If the school decides not toamend the record, the parent or eligible student then has the right to a formalhearing. After the hearing, if the school still decides not to amend the record, theparent or eligible student has the right to place a statement with the record set-ting forth his or her view about the contested information.

• Generally, schools must have written permission from the parent or eligible stu-dent in order to release any information from a student’s education record. How-ever, FERPA allows schools to disclose those records, without consent, to thefollowing parties or under the following conditions:• School officials with legitimate educational interest;• Other schools to which a student is transferring;• Specified officials for audit or evaluation purposes;• Appropriate parties in connection with financial aid to a student;• Organizations conducting certain studies for or on behalf of the school;• Accrediting organizations;• To comply with a judicial order or lawfully issued subpoena; • Appropriate officials in cases of health and safety emergencies; and• State and local authorities, within a juvenile justice system, pursuant to

specific State law.Schools may disclose, without consent, “directory” information such as a stu-

dent’s name, address, telephone number, date and place of birth, honors and awardsand dates of attendance. However, schools must tell parents and eligible studentsabout directory information and allow parents and eligible students a reasonableamount of time to request that the school not disclose directory information aboutthem. Schools must notify parents and eligible students annually of their rightsunder FERPA. The actual means of notification (special letter, inclusion in a PTAbulletin, student handbook or newspaper article) is left to the discretion of eachschool. ▲

Reprinted with permission from the Family Policy Compliance Office of the U.S.Department of Education, www.ed.gov.

&Education theLaw

FERPA Protects Student Privacy

IT’S THE LAWEach year, there should be notification of

rights under FERPA given to students and theirfamilies. Below is a model Notification ofRights under FERPA document for elementaryand secondary schools. Though this modeldoes not, a school may also want to includeits directory information public notice.

Model Notification of Rights Under FERPA

The Family Educational Rights and PrivacyAct (FERPA) affords parents and students over18 years of age (“eligible students”) certainrights with respect to the student’s educationrecords. These rights are:

(1) The right to inspect and review the stu-dent’s education records within 45 days of theday the School receives a request for access.

Parents or eligible students should submitto the School principal [or appropriate schoolofficial] a written request that identifies therecord(s) they wish to inspect. The Schoolofficial will make arrangements for access andnotify the parent or eligible student of thetime and place where the records may beinspected.

(2) The right to request the amendment of the student’s education records that theparent or eligible student believes are inaccu-rate, misleading or otherwise in violation ofthe student’s privacy rights under FERPA.

Parents or eligible students who wish to askthe School to amend a record should writethe School principal [or appropriate schoolofficial], clearly identify the part of the recordthey want changed and specify why it shouldbe changed. If the School decides not toamend the record as requested by the parentor eligible student, the School will notify theparent or eligible student of the decision andadvise them of their right to a hearing regard-ing the request for amendment. Additionalinformation regarding the hearing proce-dures will be provided to the parent or eligi-ble student when notified of the right to ahearing.


(3) The right to consent to disclosures ofpersonally identifiable information con-tained in the student’s education records,except to the extent that FERPA authorizesdisclosure without consent.

One exception, which permits disclosurewithout consent, is disclosure to school offi-cials with legitimate educational interests. Aschool official is a person employed by theSchool as an administrator, supervisor,instructor or support staff member (includ-ing health or medical staff and law enforce-ment unit personnel); a person serving onthe School Board; a person or companywith whom the School has contracted as itsagent to provide a service instead of usingits own employees or officials (such as anattorney, auditor, medical consultant or ther-apist); or a parent or student serving on anofficial committee, such as a disciplinary orgrievance committee, or assisting anotherschool official in performing his or her tasks.

A school official has a legitimate educa-tional interest if the official needs to reviewan education record in order to fulfill his orher professional responsibility.

[Optional] Upon request, the School dis-closes education records without consent toofficials of another school district in which astudent seeks or intends to enroll. [NOTE:FERPA requires a school district to make areasonable attempt to notify the parent orstudent of the records request unless it statesin its annual notification that it intends toforward records on request.]

(4) The right to file a complaint with theU.S. Department of Education concerningalleged failures by the School District to com-ply with the requirements of FERPA. Thename and address of the Office that admin-isters FERPA are:

Family Policy Compliance OfficeU.S. Department of Education400 Maryland Avenue, SWWashington, DC 20202-5920

— Family Policy Compliance Office, U.S. Department of Education

FEMA Issues Reminder of Tax Claims Related to Hurricane Katrina

Not only did Alabama schools open up to more than 5,000 Hurricane Kat-rina evacuees, but many in education opened up their hearts and homes tothose devastated by the disaster. Some were even victims of the massive storm.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) recently issued areminder that there will be tax relief for those who suffered losses in Alabama.

“This has been an unprecedented disaster. The new tax benefits recognizethat every penny taxpayers save will help them in rebuilding their lives,” saidMichael Bolch, FEMA’s federal coordinating officer for the Alabama recovery.

Under the Hurricane Katrina relief bill passed on Sept. 23: • Limits are suspended on individual cash contributions made to qualified

charities beginning Aug. 28 through Dec. 31, 2005. • There is a tax benefit for people who volunteer to take in Katrina victims, a

$500 deduction for each person they house for at least six months, up to acap of $2,000.

• Filers who itemize no longer have to deduct 10 percent of adjusted grossincome and a $100 deductible to claim disaster losses. You can claim the fullamount of a disaster loss.

• Katrina victims can withdraw up to $100,000 without tax penalties fromcertain retirement accounts, such as 401(k) plans and Individual RetirementAccounts, to pay for disaster-related needs.

• Certain filing and payment deadlines are extended. Check with the IRS oryour tax consultant to see which deadlines may apply to you.

• The option to file an amended 2004 return or wait until the end of the yearand claim the loss on your 2005 return is offered. FEMA asks that tax forms and attached documents be filed with the words

“Hurricane Katrina” written in red ink at the top to alert the IRS tax examiner.For answers to Hurricane-related tax questions, contact the IRS disaster hot-line at 866/562-5227 or online at www.irs.gov.

Intel and Scholastic Searching for Schools of Distinction

Boards of education may wish to recommend schools for the Intel andScholastic Schools of Distinction awards. The awards program recognizes K-12 schools in the U.S. that demonstrate excellence in implementing innova-tive, replicable programs supporting positive educational outcomes. Theawards showcase the effective use of technology, the benefits of strong team-work and the development of excellent classroom teachers.

Winners are chosen — one each in elementary and secondary — from ninecategories: academic achievement, literacy achievement, mathematicsachievement, science achievement, technology excellence, technology inno-vation, leadership excellence, professional development, collaboration andteamwork. From among those, one each from elementary and secondary areselected as “Best of the Best.”

Each category winner receives a $10,000 grant from the Intel Foundationand a host of educational products provided by Scholastic. “Best of the Best”winners receive an additional $15,000 from the Intel Foundation. To apply forthe awards, visit www.schoolsofdistinction.com before Jan. 5, 2006. ▲

Alabama Education News...

Continued from page 5


Legislative Preview:

Elections to Follow 2006 Legislative SessionBy Denise L. Berkhalter

Legislators convene next month in the throes of an election year, traditionally a difficult time to push anything more than budgets through the Alabama Legislature.

The 2006 regular session starts Jan. 10 and ends no later than April 24, just months before the June 6 party primary election and the June 27 runoff. The general election is Nov. 7.

So, what's on the agenda for education?

In the aftermath of disastrous hurricanes, skyrocket-ing fuel prices and with the looming deadlines anddemands of No Child Left Behind, the state’s edu-

cation budget is a big deal. The state’s request for $370million in K-12 education funding for the 2007 fiscalyear is still pending.

It’s a delicate balance, to be sure, but Alabama mustmanage the state’s education budget with the fiscalresponsibility that prevents proration but moves towardadequate funding of education. Alabama only spends$6,313.60 per student (2002-2003) compared to theU.S. per pupil expenditure average of more than $8,000.

Since 1980, Alabama’s schools have gone into prora-tion seven times. The threat of proration is always on thehorizon as long as funding for education isn’t stable.Until Alabama’s tax structure is reformed and suitablysupports education, the state remains vulnerable to therollercoaster ups and downs of sales taxes and incometaxes, which account for 86.5 percent of the tax sourcesfor the Education Trust Fund (ETF).

Alabama has an estimated $191 million in recurringfunds for education — more when counting one-timemoney. Some have considered this a surplus despite thedeep cuts K-12 education suffered in the prorationyears, persistent underfunding in many areas and theheavy budget burdens of pay raises and increasinginsurance premiums. In recent years, the ETF has evenbeen drained of $60 million to bolster the anemic General Fund.

As long as the General Fund is in dire straits, therewill continue to be political pressure to funnel monies toit from the ETF. Redistribution of the so-called ETF sur-plus is floating about now as a gubernatorial campaignissue in a time when there already exists steep competi-tion for education dollars. The Alabama Commission onHigher Education, for example, is expected to requestan estimated $150 million, as well, from the Legislatureto boost its budget to $1.3 billion. With additional dol-lars available, non-state agencies that were cut from theETF after a difficult multi-year effort will be back withoutstretched hands. It will be a challenge for lawmakersto hold the line and restrict ETF dollars to the stateagencies that desperately need them. Granting fundingto non-state entities once more would signal that K-12and all of public education are adequately funded — a claim the state is far from ready to make.

So AASB’s challenge is to take steps toward the asso-ciation’s goal of providing the state’s children an ade-quate and equitable public education. To accomplishthis task, AASB maintains local school board membersand state legislators must work together on state educa-tion funding to ensure Alabama’s public schoolchildrenbenefit from this year’s ETF growth and get more foreach education dollar.

K-12 schools are presenting their proposal of ETFrequests to the Legislature, the most fundamental ofwhich includes basic operating costs for local schools orother current expense (OCE). In 2001, OCE was cut$100 million during proration which continues to be feltdeeply in every school system. The Legislature hasrestored $68 million, and school boards will join othersto request an additional $49 million — $32 million plusthe inflation cost — to restore OCE to its 2001 fundinglevel. The request simply restores basic operating coststo pre-proration levels and is not a funding increase.The OCE pays for a broad range of school needs, fromutilities and the toiletries used in school restrooms tosalaries and benefits for some employees. There is nowriggle room in OCE, which has been woefully under-funded for the past five years.

In this session, state legislators should take a carefullook at other education funding issues, as well. Localschools are struggling to afford and provide the man-dated number of nurses and special education instructorson each campus. Many school systems are also seekinghelp to accommodate the needs of a growing number ofstudents whose second language is English. Teachersshould take another step forward in pay increases. Andthis year, Alabama will seek to add instructional days tothe school year to give students more time to master thecoursework they need. Alabama’s Reading Initiative, theAlabama Math and Science and Technology Initiativeand efforts to upgrade technology are all important pro-grams that are slated for funding, as well.

AASB will be acting as watchdog on other issuesexpected to emerge and that must be monitored to pre-serve community ownership in school governance.Local autonomy, for instance, is often threatened withbills, such as a recent push for a uniform calendar whichthreatens local board control.

In an election year, it is a difficult position to stand upfor annual reappraisals for many lawmakers, but theschool boards are disappointed that there is a moveaway from accurately reflecting fair market value ofproperty in tax revenues and letting public schools real-ize that appreciation. As political winds gust in thedirection of reverting to longer intervals between reap-praisals, school boards will work with political leadersto address this unfavorable move for Alabama’s schools.

Another familiar threat to public schools that is oftenbandied about in the halls of government is schoolvouchers. This national issue rears its head in Alabama,particularly when the idea of charter schools arises andthe home school and private school communitiesbecome more vocal. A bill expected to be taken up dur-ing the next session of the Legislature would, if passed,allow non-public school students to participate in




Lindsey (above, right) sat down inDecember with Tommy McDaniel(above, left), president of Chero-

kee County Board of Education and theimmediate past president of AASB.

McDaniel began the Leader to Leaderinitiative under his term as AASB presi-dent. The program not only provides atrusted resource to lawmakers on educa-tion policy and issues, but also furthers

school board members’ role as a voice forschoolchildren and public education.

Here’s what McDaniel and Lindseyshared in their face-to-face conversation.

▲ McDaniel: Thank you so much foragreeing to this interview. What wehope to accomplish by doing this is toencourage open dialogue betweenschool board members and their repre-sentatives. We want to help our legisla-tors craft education policy in a way thatreflects the needs and concerns of localpublic schools, parents and students.

■ Lindsey: Sure. O.K.

▲ McDaniel: I know it’s not unusual togo to a home football game and seeyou and your entire family working theconcession stand. Is that what you dofor fun? What is your favorite pastime?

■ Lindsey: I farm and work all the time(laughs). I do enjoy the kids. My son,Rich, enjoys farming, so he’s right inthere with me doing the farm work.Anna, my daughter, she’s big intocheerleading and gymnastics. We go toballgames and enjoy those along withher. We try to find a Sunday afternoonor two along Weiss Lake to ride jet skisand play around on the lake.

▲ McDaniel: We’ve known each otherfor a long time, haven’t we?

■ Lindsey: We’re getting old (laughs). Istill remember when the first manwalked on the moon. I was a kid. Iremember that just like it was yesterday.

▲ McDaniel: I can remember the firsttime you were elected to public office.Something had happened to our legis-lator, and they called a democraticcommittee together at the courthouse.

■ Lindsey: It was during the redistrict-ing.

▲ McDaniel: Now for the serious stuff.Let’s look ahead toward long-termeducation goals. What are they?

■ Lindsey: One thing is equitable fund-ing for education. We have, for toolong, underfunded education inAlabama. I certainly want to seeAlabama properly funded education-wise. Many facilities in Alabama are indisrepair and substandard, and I wouldlike to see the state work with the localboards to come up with a program tobring all of our facilities up to modernstandards.

▲ McDaniel: AASB supports annualreappraisals, but the issue of revertingto reappraisals every four years is bub-bling up, again. What’s your take onthis issue?

FACE TO FACEwith Rep. Richard Lindsey

This face-to-face interview with Rep. Richard Lindsey, chairman of the House Education Finance and Appropriations Committee,

is the first installment of a series of features recapping one-on-one conversations between school board members who serve as members of AASB’s grassroots

Leader to Leader program and their legislators.


About Rep. Richard LindseyLindsey, who was elected in

1983, has proven a strong advo-cate for K-12 education on manyissues and has sponsored valuablelegislation to enhance and sup-port the achievement of publicschoolchildren in Alabama. Agraduate of Jacksonville State Uni-versity, Lindsey also manages thefamily farm and cotton gin busi-ness. He’s busy as a father, as well.He and his wife, Johna, have ason, Rich, and a daughter, Anna.The Lindseys worship at EbenezerUnited Methodist Church andenjoy spending time as a family.Lindsey’s District 39 includesCherokee County.


A Board Member Since:Well, I served one four-year term as a district board member and becamechair — a citywide elected post in our city – in the summer 2005 munici-pal elections.

Books at BedsideThe World’s Most Powerful Leadership Principle: How to Become a Ser-vant Leader and From Good to Great

InspirationI’m most inspired by my 16-year-old daughter, who is the pride and joyof my life.

Motto as a Board MemberA motto used by the CEO of my company that I have found applies inmost every component of life is: "It’s never time for everything, but it’salways time for something. What is it time for now?"

Walter Mitty FantasyI don’t really want to be anything other than what I am, but I would reallylike to have some musical talent (which I don’t) because it is such anenriching part of life.

Advice to New Board MembersPlant good seeds (hire good teachers); water and fertilize regularly (encour-age them and offer meaningful professional development); don’t forget toweed (don’t be afraid to remove personnel who are not contributing). Thenbe patient – the garden will grow (students will succeed).

Greatest Accomplishment as a Board MemberSeeing our system grow and our test scores improve in underperformingschools.

Pet Peeve as a Board MemberPeople who take a narrow view and don’t take the time to listen tobroader issues and concerns.

Reason I Like Being an AASB MemberThe AASB meetings provide a great opportunity to focus on measures tocontinually improve our process and learn how others are approachingthe same issues we face.

My Epitaph"God gave me work while I lived, and life ’til my work was done."Still, I’ve always liked Frank Sinatra’s song and epitaph on his tombstone:"The best is yet to come."

At the TableAt the Table

School BoardTuscaloosa City

HometownI was born in Atlanta but grew up in Birmingham,where I attended public schools in MountainBrook and Birmingham City systems. I’ve been aresident of Tuscaloosa for 38 years.

Dan Meissnerextracurricular activities at public schools.AASB sees the move as just another back-doorapproach to siphoning funding from publicschools. Even through the emergency disasterrelief bills, such as those related to the devastat-ing hurricane season, the voucher issue surfaces.

Improving the health of Alabama’s youth isindeed a worthwhile effort, one that has AASB’ssupport. In 2004, Alabama was ranked the “fat-test state” in the nation, according to the Trust forAmerica’s Health, falling to second behind Mis-sissippi in the ranking this year. AASB is partici-pating in Alabama coalitions charged with study-ing and addressing the state’s health crisis, partic-ularly as it relates to children. The Healthy TeamLeadership Network and the Alabama Depart-ment of Public Health’s Alabama Obesity TaskForce search for a strategic plan to prevent andcontrol Alabama’s weight problem. The Legisla-ture’s Statewide Committee to Review the Stateof Health of America’s Youth places emphasis onimproving the health of Alabama’s children.

Already, bills are prefiled to be considered dur-ing the session impacting our schools. The topicsrange from cell phones to bullying, curriculum tostipends. An important bill for AASB is theSchool Bus Safety Act which was just shy of pas-sage last year. The act would curb the thousandsof Alabama drivers who illegally pass schoolbuses each year. In a single-day survey last year,Alabama school bus drivers counted nearly 2,000drivers who failed to stop as required when stu-dents are getting on and off the bus.

Local school boards and the state Departmentof Education urge lawmakers not to delay thissafety issue for the 366,000 children who ridethe school bus each day. Since the last session, an8-year-old child was killed by just this type ofoffense. Rep. Randy Davis will once again spon-sor the bill to impose fines and penalties thatincrease for repeat offenses.

Looking ahead to the 2006 regular session ofthe Alabama Legislature, it’s easy to see somematters will become campaign fodder and othersmay ease through the legislative process. For thatreason, AASB must gauge whether the timing isright to introduce some key education concernsand must keep its eye on key education topicsalready on the Legislature’s agenda. AASB isconfident that the primary focus of the sessionwill and should be the funding of Alabama’spublic education. ▲

Legislative Preview...



STRONGRELATIONSHIPS YIELD STRONG SCHOOLSMore than 400 Attend Annual ConventionBy Denise L. Berkhalter

Strength is the power to move. People are moved through relationships.

Keynote speakers at the 2005 AASB Convention asked the more than400 K-12 school board members and superintendents in attendance tomove schools toward change, convince communities to support schools

and inspire students, including those at risk, to achieve. The Dec. 8-10 convention in Birmingham hinged on the theme “Strong

Schools Building Strong Students.”Career educator and counselor Dr. Rita Pierson kicked the convention off with

her Friday morning discussion of the education challenges poverty creates. Sheemphasized the need to seek out and understand the “hidden rules.”

“For so many years, race and class in America have been coupled as one,” Pier-son explained. “They are not the same thing. It’s not what race you are; it’s howmuch money you’ve got. The real problem has been that we don’t understand thehidden rules of racism, the hidden rules that govern class.”

Pierson called for an end to what she sees as a major problem in education.


More than 400 attendees learned lessons basedupon the 2005 AASB Convention theme “StrongSchools Building Strong Students.” Here arescenes from the Dec. 8-10 event in Birmingham.


Alabama school board members recently chose

two new Alabama Association of School Boards

district directors and elected several new officers to

lead the organization that serves more than 800

education leaders. The leaders took office follow-

ing AASB's annual convention Dec. 8-10 at the

Wynfrey Hotel in Birmingham. More than 400

attended the event.

Jim Methvin of the Alabama School of Fine Arts Board ofEducation takes the reins as AASB’s new president, whileCherokee County Board of Education President Tommy

McDaniel begins service as the association’s immediate pastpresident. Sue Helms of the Madison City school board is nowthe association’s president-elect and will automatically assumethe presidency when Methvin’s term ends in 2007. Florence Bel-lamy of the Phenix City Board of Education is AASB’s vice pres-ident. Officers serve one two-year term, which is a recent changein the bylaws.

The new District 4 director is Katy Smith Campbell of theMacon County Board of Education, and District 2 will be led bySteven T. Foster of the Lowndes County Board of Education.The two join recently elected or re-elected district directors, Jen-nifer Parsons of District 5, Sue Jones of District 6 and Dr. CharlesElliott of District 8. They are among nine members of the AASBBoard of Directors. As representatives of geographical areas ofthe state, the board governs the association’s activities along withthe elected officers and a representative from the state Board ofEducation. The existing district directors are District 1’s PatsyBlack of the Monroe County Board of Education, District 3’s JeffBailey of the Covington County Board of Education, District 7’sSusan Harris of the Winfield Board of Education and District 9’s

Laura Casey of the Albertville Board ofEducation. AASB’s board also includesSandra Ray, vice president of the stateBoard of Education, and Robert Lowe, amember of the National School BoardsAssoociation Board of Directors and theLowndes County Board of Education.

Methvin has been a member of theFine Arts school board for a little morethan two years and currently serves as

vice chairman. He previously served on the Homewood schoolboard for a decade and has been active in numerous AASB activ-ities. Methvin also gives back to his community by serving on theHomewood City School Foundation Board and on the Board ofDirectors for the University of Montevallo National AlumniAssociation. Last year and again this year, Methvin will representAlabama on the National School Boards Association Policies andResolutions Committee. Professionally, Methvin is a disabilityadministrator for the state Department of Education DisabilityDetermination Service.

McDaniel served two terms as AASBpresident and has been a member of theCherokee County school board for 10years. He spearheaded AASB’s effort tocreate a new grassroots lobbying pro-gram that pairs an elite group of schoolboard members with key legislators andoversaw efforts to rework the SchoolBoard Member Academy. McDanielalso has served as a delegate and alter-

nate delegate to the National School Boards Association/Southern Region Delegate Assembly, a member of the SouthernRegion Resolutions and Bylaws committees and National SchoolBoards Association’s Policies and Resolutions and Nominatingcommittees, and a delegate and alternate delegate to NSBA’s Delegate Assembly. He is a member of the NSBA Federal Relations Network.

Helms, who is president of the Madi-son City school board, also chairs thecommittee to revamp AASB’s grass-roots lobbying efforts. In addition, sheis a member of the association’s Execu-tive/Legislative Committee and previ-ously served four terms on the Resolu-tions Committee, which proposesAASB’s legislative positions for thecoming year. She has served for a num-

ber of years as a member of the Federal Relations Network andas a participant in the NSBA Technology and Learning and theNational Association for Year-Round Education initiatives. Shealso frequently travels to Montgomery to confer with MadisonCounty legislators about pending legislation. In AASB’s Acad-emy, she has reached the master level. Prior to her membershipon the city school board, Helms served on the Madison CountyBoard of Education.

ALABAMA SCHOOL BOARDSWELCOME NEW LEADERS

By Denise L. Berkhalter

Methvin

McDaniel

Helms


Retiring Officer and Directors are Proven Leaders

Perhaps John Quincy Adams said it best: “If youractions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.”

At the 2005 convention, AASB bid farewell to four proven leaders. AASBissued a special thank-you to retired Past President Linda Steed and dis-trict directors James Ware, Don Burns and Leon Garrett.

They served with excellence, said AASB Executive Director Dr. SandraSims-deGraffenried. “The membership and staff,” she said, “salutes theseoutstanding members of the AASB family for their untiring leadership andsupport of AASB and their service to Alabama’s public schools.”

Ware has served on his local board in Selma since 1997 and served twofull terms as District 2 director. He has been an active member of AASB in avariety of capacities, including serving as chairperson of the Budget andFinance Committee. He serves on the association’s Executive/legislativeCommittee and was vice chairman of the Summer Conference Committee.Ware also completed four levels in AASB’s School Board Member Academyand twice earned the Master School board member designation.

Burns has served as District 5 director since 2002 and on the Midfield Boardof Education for 19 years. He has been active on AASB committees, includ-ing the Convention Planning, Budget and Finance and the Nominating com-mittees. He also completed all four levels in the Academy and earned theMaster School Board Member status six times.

Garrett has served as District 6 director for two full terms and a partialterm and is an 18-year veteran of the Piedmont School Board. The retirededucator earned the Master School Board Member distinction an impres-sive 14 times and was named an All State School Board member in 1994.He has served as trustee and chairman for the Alabama Risk Managementfor Schools, and his service to AASB also includes serving as the first chair-man of the Multicultural Committee and vice chairman the following threeyears. He was also a member of AASB’s Executive/Legislative and Resolu-tions committees and was chairman of the Budget and Finance Commit-tee and vice chairman of the Nominating Committee.

Immediate Past President Linda Steed of Pike County retired from theAASB Board of Directors. She has been a devoted member of AASB’s lead-ership team since 1991 when she began serving on the board as District 3director. She has been a member on the Pike County school board for 21years and reached the Master School Board Member rank a remarkable 12times. In 1997, she received AASB’s highest honor as an All State SchoolBoard Member.

Steed served and held leadership positions on almost all of AASB’s com-mittees, including Executive/Legislative, Nominating, Academy Assessment,Convention Planning, Bylaws and the Resolutions committees. In addition,she has served as a trustee for Alabama Risk Management for Schools andAASB’s legal Assistance Fund. On the national level, she has served as anAlabama delegate and alternate delegate to the NSBA annual delegateassembly and served on several prestigious NSBA and NSBA/SouthernRegion Committees. She also has lobbied congress on behalf of Alabamaschool children as part of the NSBA Federal Relations Network since 1994.

Phenix City schoolboard member Flo-rence Bellamy hadjust been re-electedto her second two-year term as District4 director. Shereleased that positionupon the start of hervice presidency. A

school board member since 1989, Bellamyformerly served the Phenix City Board ofEducation as vice president and board presi-dent and has achieved Master School BoardMember status four times in AASB’s SchoolBoard Member Academy, which is an ongoingschool for board members. In 2001, AASBnamed her an All State School Board Mem-ber, which is the association’s highest honor.She also has served on the association’s Bud-get and Finance Committee and chairs theBylaws Committee this year. Bellamy issupervisor of adult protective services for theRussell County Department of HumanResources.

Campbell fills thevoid left by Bellamyand looks forward toher new District 4directorship. Camp-bell, who is in herthird year as presidentof the Macon CountyBoard of Education,has been a board

member since 2000. A Selma attorney, Campbell commutes each day from herTuskegee home to work, yet she still findstime for community service. She has been an active PTA member for more than 22 years and currently serves as immediate pastpresident of Alabama State PTA. She wasappointed by Alabama’s governor to the Commission on Instructional Improvementand Academic Excellence and the Governor’sCongress on School Leadership. Campbell is a partner in the law firm of Chestnut,Sanders, Sanders, Pettaway & Campbell LLC. She has also served on AASB’s Multicultural Committee and has reached the fourth level of the association’s academy.She has earned the Master Board Member distinction.

Bellamy

Campbell



As an association, we are meetingall 13 purposes for the organiza-tion that are laid out in our

bylaws — from providing training oppor-tunities for board members to lobbyingfor stable funding and strong educationalprograms. There is no question that theassociation is on target. But, there is nosuch thing as status quo for us. AASBcannot stand still. If it does, it will movebackward. Thus, at a meeting at the closeof our recent convention, the Board ofDirectors agreed to hold a retreat withinthe next three months to discuss andselect our focus for the coming year, set our goals and make plans for achieving them.

At the retreat, we will discuss the workto be done on two central issues: helpingour members work to improve studentachievement statewide and strengtheningmembers’ leadership and boardmanshipskills.

A few years ago, AASB adopted “Lead-ers for Learning” as our motto. It reflectsthe fact that, in our role as school boardmembers, student learning must be thefoundation of just about every decisionwe make. As local leaders, we must striveto support student achievement in mean-ingful and purposeful ways. As exam-

ples, we do that through:• Reviewing expenditures and budgets; • Approving personnel actions; • Purchasing technology; • Building or maintaining school

facilities; and • Ensuring safety measures.

We must always strive to make sure achallenging education system is in placeto serve all children. To accomplish thiseffectively, all of us need to: • Keep our feet to the fire and stay keenly

aware of student achievement; • Continually ask questions about where

our schools are academically; and • Continually demand information on

academic accomplishments throughoutthe calendar year — not just whenmajor test scores are released. But, as local board members, we also

must balance our leadership of studentachievement efforts against the need notto micromanage. Part of the challenge forAASB’s Board of Directors and staffregarding student achievement will be todevise programs that equip you for thisimportant role without crossing over intoyour superintendent’s and staff’s roles.We want to be very careful about that.

The other important focus area that Iwill ask the Board of Directors to con-

sider is providing even more meaningfulopportunities for the advancement ofleadership and boardmanship skills. Eachof you is already a respected leader inyour community. And, each of you is bothan advocate and a representative forschoolchildren. With these responsibili-ties come important discussions and deci-sions.

Concurrently, I see AASB tapping intothis statewide leadership you provide tofurther strengthen the association. Afterattending my first new school board mem-ber orientation in June 1993 and then myfirst convention, I saw that I was welcomeas a member of AASB. I felt that the asso-ciation opened its arms to its members;the more I gave to the association and themore participation I had with the associa-tion, the better educated I could becomeas a board member. I want all our mem-bers to feel that way. There is a place foreach of you to contribute to AASB.

As the Board of Directors looks to thefuture, we are all looking forward to con-tinuing to work with AASB ExecutiveDirector Dr. Sandra Sims-deGraffenriedand the association’s staff. They havedemonstrated their competency. And weappreciate their commitment to the asso-ciation, to the Board of Directors and tothe full membership.

I also am very appreciative of theopportunity that lies ahead of me and theBoard of Directors. We all look forward toserving the association and serving you.AASB is here to assist you in any waypossible. After all, our most importantgoal is providing you the resources youneed to do your school board job as effec-tively as possible for the schoolchildren ofAlabama. ▲

Jim Methvin was installed as AASBpresident at the 2005 Convention. He isserving a two-year term.

‘LEADERS FOR LEARNING’Likely to be Focus for New TermBy Jim Methvin, AASB President

‘LEADERS FOR LEARNING’

Many past AASB presidents have had a focal point of their tenure. I’m notsure whether this should be called an “agenda,” “focus,” “spotlight” or “target,” but I know it is important. Having a focus over the next two yearswill enable the Board of Directors tocontinue moving AASB forward andmake the organization even stronger.


Jim Methvin• Age: 54

• Home: Homewood

• Education: Bachelor of Science, Universityof Montevallo; Master of Arts in Education,University of Alabama in Birmingham

• Career: Disability Administrator, State Department of Education Disability Determination Service, 31 years

Board Service: • Vice chairman of the Alabama School

of Fine Arts Board of Education; ASFA board member since 2003

• Member for two terms of the Homewood City Board of Education

AASB:• Chairman, 2005 Convention

Planning Committee

• Member, Executive Committee

• Trustee, Legal Assistance Fund

• Master School Board Member for nine years

NSBA:• Member, Federal Relations Network

• Delegate, 2005 and 2006 NSBA Policies and Resolutions Committee

• Delegate, 2005 NSBA Delegate Assembly

NSBA/Southern Region:• Vice Chairman, 2006 NSBA

Southern Region

• Member, 2005 NSBA Southern Region Resolutions Committee

State of Alabama:• Member, Alabama Department

of Public Health’s Alabama Obesity Task Force

• Member, Governor’s Congress on School Leadership Implementation Committee

• Member, Board of Directors, University of Montevallo National Alumni Association

• Member, Alabama Citizens for Constitutional Reform

Community:• Member, Board of Directors,

Homewood City Schools Foundation

• Member, 2006 Homewood City SchoolsStrategic Planning Committee

Foster, the new leader of District 2, has six terms aspresident of the Lowndes County Board of Educationunder his belt. He is also a former vice president of theboard he has been a member of since 1992. An activemember in AASB, Foster has reached the third levelof the Academy and has attended many AASB events.He has served AASB as a member of the association’sConvention Planning, Academy Assessment and theBudget and Finance committees. Foster replaces retir-ing director James Ware of the Selma Board of Edu-cation. His civic duty is also fulfilled in his work with

Gov. Bob Riley’s Blackbelt Action Commission, as a member of the LowndesCounty Democratic Executive Committee and of the Fort Deposit Chamber ofCommerce, which he served as president. He is minister of New ProvidenceChurch of Christ and is senior vice president of First Lowndes Bank. Foster isalso an adjunct professor at Faulkner University.

Jefferson County Board of Education member Jennifer Parsons was electedto represent the 14 school boards in Jefferson and Shelby counties that compriseDistrict 5. Parsons, who has been a member of the Jefferson County schoolboard since 1998, succeeded Don Burns of Midfield. Parsons previously servedas vice president and president of the district and as president of the JeffersonCounty board. This year Parsons reached the third level of AASB’s SchoolBoard Member Academy and serves as a state member of the National SchoolBoards Association’s Federal Relations Network. She is currently a member ofAASB’s Nominating Committee and formerly served on the Summer Confer-ence Planning and Bylaws committees. The longtime educator taught for 17years, including more than a decade at Pleasant Grove Elementary School. Inaddition to her board service, Parsons also supervises student teachers at theUniversity of Alabama at Birmingham.

Jacksonville City School Board member Sue Jones officially assumed the Dis-trict 6 post. She succeeded Leon Garrett, a Piedmont school board member. Thisyear Jones reached the third level of AASB’s School Board Member Academy.Jones, who previously served as the board’s vice-president and president, hasbeen a member of the Jacksonville City School Board since 2000. She waselected to her second term in 2004. In 1997, she co-founded the Focus Program,a student-led prevention program at Jacksonville High School. Long dedicated toserving the children of Jacksonville, Jones retired from Jacksonville High Schoolin the spring of 2000 after a 27-year teaching career. Jones presently works as ahealth education consultant, replicating the Focus Program statewide.

Decatur Board of Education President Dr. Charles Elliott was re-elected asDistrict 8 Director on Oct. 6. A member of the Decatur school board since1996 and president since 2000, he leads a district that encompasses 18 schoolboards in eight north Alabama counties. Elliott has served on the statewidecommittee to review the health of America’s Youth, a committee which lookedclosely at Alabama’s youth. He has also been an active member of AASB andserves this year as chairman of the association’s Resolutions Committee,which drafts and reviews proposals governing AASB’s legislative positions.He has long served on the Resolutions Committee and was vice chairman in2004. In addition, he has completed all four levels of AASB’s Academy and the anesthesiologist has earned the distinction of Master School BoardMember five times. ▲

Foster

AASB Welcomes New Leaders...


All have been named 2005 All State School Board Mem-bers. James E. Barnett of the Tuscaloosa CountyBoard of Education along with Ella R. McElroy of the

Sheffield City Board of Education, Karen J. Odle of the VestaviaHills City Board of Education, Milton Pearson of the TuscaloosaCity Board of Education and Harold C. White of the MaconCounty Board of Education received the honor Dec. 10 atAASB’s convention at The Wynfrey Hotel near Birmingham.

It is the highest award AASB bestows.“All of this year’s honorees are leaders among leaders and

exemplify the highest ideals in boardmanship service,” saidAASB Executive Director Dr. Sandra Sims-deGraffenried.

All State candidates are nominated by their fellow board members and judged by a panel of distinguished for-mer school board members.The winners are chosen for their commitment to ethi-cal standards, provenrecords of activism,rapport with localofficials and leader-ship in educationand communityactivities. All ofthis year’s winnershave been active par-ticipants in AASB’sSchool Board MemberAcademy, a continuingschool for school boardmembers.

Pearson, a formermember of the Tus-caloosa city schoolboard for more thanfour years, and Barnett,a member of the Tusca-loosa County schoolboard for more than 14years, took home thedistinguished award.

Pearson was elected

a member of the Tuscaloosa City Board of Education in 2001 andhas served on the finance and personnel committees. In nominat-ing Pearson for the All State honor, his fellow board membersdescribed him as an involved, supportive school leader whobelieves in professional development for board members. Amonghis many school board accomplishments, Pearson helped securefunding to help build three new neighborhood high schools. He also helped the board navigate reorganization of middle andhigh schools and the transition between two superintendents. The board has also twice received the National Magna Award by the American School Board Journal during his tenure. He

has enjoyed a long career in education,including his former superintendentrole.

Active in the Tuscaloosa commu-nity, Pearson serves on the board of

Trinity United MethodistChurch, and he readilyattends Chamber of Com-

merce-sponsored events,City Council meetingsand other events impact-ing education. He is

no stranger to AASBservice, and has attend-

ed association conferences,workshops and meetings.

Barnett also has takenadvantage of AASB training,attending 18 courses and activ-ities. He has attended all localAASB meetings in his district.He has been a voting delegatefor the Tuscaloosa CountyBoard of Education andserves on the AASB Multi-cultural Committee.

Barnett’s first term ofboard service was from 1978until 1988. He was reelected

to the Tuscaloosa CountyBoard of Education in2002, the first person in the

Five Leaders Named All State School Board Members

By Denise L. Berkhalter

Five education leaders were recently honored for distinguished service by their peers and the Alabama Association of School Boards.


The 2005-06 All State School Board Members honored for their distinguished servicewere (seated l-r) Ella R. McElroy, Karen J. Odle; (standing l-r) Milton Pearson, James E.Barnett and Harold C. White.


135-year history of the board to be elected to non-consecutiveterms. The Birmingham native attended the University ofAlabama after service in the Air Force. Northport and otherTuscaloosa County communities benefit from Barnett’s dedica-tion to giving back. He is a board member and president of theWest Alabama Planning and Development Council and is amember of the Tuscaloosa County Industrial DevelopmentAuthority’s board of directors.

For two terms, Barnett served as president of the NorthportCivitan Club, which recently awarded him the Medallion Awardfor meritorious service. In addition, he is the vice president ofRegions Bank in Northport. Barnett represented Northport CityCouncil’s fourth district from 1992 until 2000. His school boardcolleagues say Barnett was instrumentalin working with the County Commis-sion to obtain the resources to fund theelimination of portable classrooms tomake way for safer classroom spacemore conducive to learning.

McElroy, a member of the SheffieldCity Board of Education for more thansix years, is a former president and vicepresident of her school board. She isserving her second five-year term anddoesn’t mind that the job comes withoutpay. She has completed all four achieve-ment levels in AASB’s Academy and isa Master School Board Member.

McElroy was recently unanimouslyreappointed by the Sheffield City Coun-cil to serve another term on the Sheffield city school board,which ends in 2010. She has been a delegate to AASB conven-tions and has served on the association’s Bylaws Committee.The retired teacher has not missed a year of attending AASBactivities since 1999.

Some may consider it an urban myth, but it’s true that McEl-roy’s dedication to board service prompted her to drive morethan 500 miles one way to interview a candidate for the super-intendent position. In addition, she was instrumental in thetedious writing and updating of the board’s policies. McElroy’stenure has seen the successful completion of a number of capi-tal projects, including a new cafeteria, a new wellness center,new elementary school classrooms and the replacement ofroofs. Glowing nomination letters described McElroy as a truemember of the community, often seen at student activities, ath-letic events, teacher activities and other functions.

Odle attends Vestavia Hills High School functions not only asa school board member, but as a parent. One of her two childrenattends Vestavia Hills High. She is an active member of thePTA, having served as legislative liaison. Odle is also veryactive in the school system as president of the Vestavia Hillsschool board for nearly five years. She takes good boardman-ship seriously. She has completed three of the Academy’s fourlevels. Somehow the executive director of the Vestavia Hills

Chamber of Commerce carves out time to frequently attendAASB events and local District 5 meetings. She has been amember of AASB’s Convention Planning Committee and hasparticipated in 20 boardmanship training programs thus far.

If there were one word to describe Odle’s five-year term onthe board, it would be change. Students from annexed CahabaHeights and Cahaba Heights Elementary School were assimi-lated into the school system, a comprehensive five-year strate-gic plan was developed and is grinding into its fourth year, along-range technology plan for schools has begun and a newboard member orientation program has been devised. Odle’snominators describe her as “a superb role model for all currentand future board members.”

White, who is now vice president, hasalso served as president of the MaconCounty Board of Education and has chairedthe board’s Five-Year Plan, Sales Tax and10-mill Ad Valorem Tax committees and itsResolution Committee, which helpedthwart efforts to place a regional landfill inMacon County. White worked with otherschool board members to secure voterapproval of a 10-mill ad valorem tax thathas provided increased revenue for theschools and to support the construction of anew state-of-the-art elementary school forgrades 1-3.

This All State winner has advanced himself in AASB by serving twice as District 4 director and volunteering his

time as chairman of the Summer Conference Planning and the Resolutions committees, vice chairman of the ConventionPlanning and the Resolutions committees and as a member ofthe Nominating and the Budget and Finance committees.White has attended 102 AASB events and has completed allfour achievement levels in the Academy. He earned the dis-tinction Master School Board Member nine times by continu-ing his training.

An active community member, White has participated inclean-up projects and Read Across America Day events at localschools and is often a guest announcer at Booker T. WashingtonHigh School football games. He also gives back to MaconCounty through his service as a member of the Optimist, Lions,Jessie Lewis Auto clubs, the Southeast Alabama Miles CollegeAlumni Association and Omega Psi Phi Fraternity. Colleaguespraised White’s uncanny communication skills and unyieldingdedication to board service even though he’s busy with family,work, church and community service.

Nominations for the 15th annual All-State School BoardMembers Recognition Program will be accepted in fall 2006when AASB sends nomination forms and detailed guidelines toschool boards. The awards program commends up to five pastor present school board members across the state who haveexhibited exemplary boardmanship. ▲

“All of this year’s

honorees are leaders

among leaders and

exemplify the highest

ideals in boardmanship

service.”

—Dr. Sandra Sims-deGraffenriedAASB Executive Director


Alabama Gas CorporationBirmingham, Alabama205/326-8425

Alabama Soft Drink AssociationMontgomery, Alabama 334/263-6621

Alabama Supercomputer Authority

Montgomery, Alabama 334/832-2405

Barganier Davis Sims Architects

Montgomery, Alabama334/834-2038

BlueCross BlueShield of Alabama

Birmingham, Alabama205/220-5771

Christian Testing LabsMontgomery, Alabama334/264-4422

Council of Alabama Coca-Cola Bottlers, Inc.


Davis Architects Inc.Birmingham, Alabama205/322-7482

Exford ArchitectsBirmingham, Alabama205/314-3411

Fuqua & Partners Architects PCHuntsville, Alabama256/534-3516

Gallet & Associates Inc.Birmingham, Alabama205/942-1289

Goodwyn Mills and Cawood Inc.


Hoar ConstructionBirmingham, Alabama205/803-2121

Jenkins Munroe Jenkins Architecture

Anniston, Alabama256/820-6844

JH Partners Architecture/Interiors

Huntsville, Alabama256/539-0764

KHAFRA Engineers, Architects and Construction Managers


Paul B. Krebs & Associates, Inc.Birmingham, Alabama205/987-7411

Lathan Associates Architects PCBirmingham, Alabama205/879-9110

McCauley Associates Inc.Birmingham, Alabama205/969-0303

McKee & Associates Architecture and Design


Payne & Associates ArchitectsMontgomery, Alabama334/272-2180

PH&J Architects Inc.Montgomery, Alabama

334/265-8781

Sain AssociatesBirmingham, Alabama205/940-6420

Select Medical Systems, Inc.Birmingham, Alabama205/967-3453

Sherlock Smith & Adams Inc.Montgomery, Alabama334/263-6481

Evan Terry Associates PCBirmingham, Alabama205/972-9100

Volkert & Associates Inc.Mobile, Alabama251/432-6735

AASB appreciates these professional members for supporting association activities and

you all year long.

Alabama Association of School Boards

Professional Sustaining Members


“Ninety-nine percent of the problems inschools are because we want to make ourown agendas, but a lot of our childrenbring the rules from the streets with them,”she said. “We need to build relationships.Not only can they learn from us, but wecan learn from them. Until we decide theyhave something to offer us, they will neveraccept what we have to offer them.”

Pierson asked the leaders in education toensure that their schools are analyzing thestudent body to find out where there aredeficiencies in a child’s life. There are fiveprimary resources, she said, that childrenneed to be successful. These include the:• Financial resource or enough money to

meet their core needs; • Emotional resource to adequately deal

with their feelings; • Mental resource or the ability to read,

write and compute; • Physical resource, which Pierson said

simply means “your body works;” and• Role model resource. “Do I have an

adult attachment to help me distinguishbetween right and wrong?” Piersonexplained.Also on Friday, expert high-risk youth

counselor and psychologist Dr. AdolphBrown walked on stage wearing hip-hopgear, right down to the sagging pants andbackward baseball cap. He wanted posi-tive, adult attention, he explained. Hewanted someone to ask him to pull hispants up, to carry himself with respect, tobe the man he could be. Brown said he didn’t get much of that growing up poor in a single-parent household, but heescaped poverty and the threat of academicfailure to become an advocate for at-riskchildren. Underneath the apparel reflectiveof today’s street fashion, he wore a suit. He peeled back the “child in need” andrevealed a well-educated family man.

“Young people need us today,” Browntold the attendees. “You have a missionwith no finish line. We can teach anyoneanything once we get their attention. Rela-tionships yield results.”

Brown put himself on display, and hesaid, “You didn’t give up on me. Someone

told me, ‘You don’t have to go all the wayto the top, but just meet me halfway.’”

When at-risk students are hurting,Brown said, it behooves educators tonotice. Some kids, he said, don’t even getthe benefit of a handshake, high-five andhug in their lives. They have no positiverelationships. It’s time, he said, to renewparent-teacher partnerships and to seek toleave no child behind.

“Young people are grieving with behav-ior,” Brown said. “You’d better communi-cate with them. We’d better get thesekids’ attention. What goes in comes out.Let’s get back to relationships. Strongschools, strong students ... not withoutstrong families.”

A highlight on Saturday was Vollmer’stake on improving education employees’morale and building public support. Once acritic of public education, the attorney andbusinessman now advocates substantivereform that engages the country in theeffort to strengthen schools.

He, too, talked about strengthening a keyrelationship.

“There has been a horrible erosion of thepublic trust ... the media, families havechanged, anti-government movements,anti-tax groups,” Vollmer said. “You haveto do a better job of telling your neighborabout the challenges your school districts

face. We have to do a better job of gettingbeyond the schoolhouse walls.”

Vollmer said he once thought America’sschools needed to only run like businessesto improve. That was until he realized thatschools “have no control over the qualityof the raw materials. You take the kids whoare sent to you. I’m pretty sure parentsdon’t keep their good kids at home.”

Vollmer outlined the four major build-ing blocks in the world of education,which are curriculum, instruction, assess-ment and the school calendar. Schoolsfail, he said, because they are attemptingto be all things to all people, and somestudents are doomed for failure simplybecause they don’t learn at the rate dic-tated by the academic calendar. Ameri-cans, he said, resist change and wantschools reminiscent of those theyattended as youth.

“Your schools are powerfully flawed.Don’t take this personally. The blueprintwas actually laid down by Thomas Jeffer-son in 1781 ... to ‘separate the geniusfrom the rubbish’ ... to select and sort chil-dren. Ladies and gentlemen, we have a sys-tem that leaves children behind. It has gotto change. We can’t do this alone. We’regoing to need the help of the community,”Vollmer said.

Strong Relationships Yield Strong Schools...


AASB Immediate Past President Tommy McDaniel received special recognition for his service to thechildren of Alabama. Rep. Richard Lindsey, chairman of the House Ways and Means Education FundCommittee, made the presentation.



■ Lindsey: That’s going to be a toughone. I certainly think that it is an issue that will get very serious debatein the Legislature this year. Havingappraisals every four years causestaxes to go up in larger increments. If you do it every year in smallerincrements, people are better able toadapt to it and adjust to it. So, I think there are certainly advantages to annual appraisals. I don’t think people fully understand this issue.Having a small raise every year versus having a big raise every fouryears ... really makes it an amountmuch easier to swallow. I think people are thinking, ‘They’re notgoing to go up on my taxes but one time, and every four years they’llmake it a lesser amount.’ So that’sgoing to be the big challenge, helping everyone understand what this issue is about and how it can behelpful to them as taxpayers ratherthan harmful to them.

▲ McDaniel: In 10 years, where wouldyou like to see the education system?Along the same lines, where wouldyou like to see the state of Alabama in10 years?

■ Lindsey: I think over the next 10years, we certainly would want to see our tax system revamped andrevised so that it does not tax poor people at a higher amount than it does the wealthy. If we structure ourtaxes properly, we can all pay our fair share and adequately fund botheducation and the general fund with-out placing an undue burden on anyone. Right now, what’s happeningis we’re giving too much away on thehigh end.

▲ McDaniel: What other obstacles faceeducation today?

■ Lindsey: You’d like to think of educa-tion and business working together asa partnership because education is soimportant to having good businesseslocate in the state. Now, as you con-sider the businesses thinking about

locating here, there are very few look-ing for common labor. They’re alllooking for people who are welltrained in the various expertiserequired. So, that requires a good edu-cation system. We should be lookingfor ways to work together to form part-nerships that will provide a good workforce for business and provide a goodeducation for our citizens. The obsta-cle there is that we must see the needof working together rather than work-ing at opposing ends.

▲ McDaniel: With the 2006 legislativesession right around the corner, whatdo you think will be some of the hotissues that will come to the forefrontvery quickly?

■ Lindsey: Of course, as always, thebudget will be a hot topic becausethere will be some additional revenuethis year. There will be some efforts by various groups to get a share larger than they deserve, so that certainly will be a controversial point. I think the reappraisals we just talked about are going to be controversial.

▲ McDaniel: One of the big issues fac-ing AASB and other groups in the stateis when we have the general election in2006 with the 10 mill constitutionalamendment being on the ballot. Whatdo you think AASB’s role should be ingetting this act approved by voters?

■ Lindsey: It’s going to be important forAASB to provide the boards with ade-quate information to inform the votersin their districts of how important thislegislation is to the state. They need toconvey the message that this is a fair-ness issue and one of equality amongdistricts, so voters know they need tovote ‘yes’ so that everyone is on a levelplaying field.

▲ McDaniel: Do you have a messagethat you’d like to share with AASB?

■ Lindsey: An important message is that you don’t underestimate your-selves. This is an important organiza-tion. It’s a strong organization.

▲ McDaniel: We appreciate your time.■ Lindsey: Thank you. ▲

Face to Face..


January 200610 Legislature Convenes

in Regular Session

February 20065-7 NSBA Federal

Relations Network ConferenceWashington, DC

March 20063 Leadership II(C)

WorkshopBirmingham

3-4 Leadership for Policy and Planning: AASB Academy ConferenceBirmingham

April 20068-11 NSBA Annual

Conference and ExpositionChicago, IL

April 27-May 18 AASB District Meetings

July 20069-12 SSA Summer

ConferencePoint Clear, AL

23- NSBA/Southern 26 Region 2006

ConferenceSanDestin, FL

December 20067-9 AASB State

ConventionWynfrey HotelBirmingham


PEOPLE

▲ Welcome to Dr. Beverly McAnulty.The Andalusia Board of Educationchose McAnulty to replace the retiringPete Kelly as superintendent ofAndalusia city schools. She starts Jan.17. McAnulty was most recently aprincipal in Virginia. She returns toAlabama, where she previously servedin Dothan city schools.

▲ Welcome goes to Bill Valentine, whobegins work Jan. 1 as superintendentof Lauderdale County schools. Hereplaces Jerry Fulmer, who is retiring.Valentine has more than 30 years ineducation in Lauderdale Countyschools.

▲ Congratulations to Alba ElementarySchool in Bayou La Batre and BanksElementary in Birmingham. Bothwere selected as one of the top schoolsin the country, the only two schools inAlabama to earn a spot on the nationallist of 52 “distinguished” schools asdesignated by the National Association

of State Title I Directors. Schools onthe list receive Title I funds because ofthe number of children from lowincome families on their rolls. Yet, the“academically outstanding schools”rose “above obstacles of poverty withthe help of the Title I program.”

▲ Way to go Chelonnda Seroyer. TheMadison City teacher was chosen byDr. Harry Wong, renowned author foreducators, to be in his next videoseries, which will be viewed interna-tionally.

▲ What a gesture! The Franklin CountyBoard of Education dedicated theJimmy R. Clements Community Housein honor of the Belgreen principal whoserved in the position from 1959 to1973. Clements, who also previouslyserved as superintendent, died in 1998.

▲ Hooray for the state finalists in the2005 Presidential Awards for Excel-lence in Mathematics and ScienceTeaching, the nation’s highest honorfor K-12 teaching in these fields. The

honorees are Philip Holley of Moun-tain Brook Junior High in MountainBrook, Mary Hand of Liberty MiddleHigh School in Madison; Mark Jonesof J.F. Drake Middle School inAuburn; Cinda Preuit of SpeakeSchool in Danville and Karen Wattsof Douglas High School in Douglas.They are among 253 finalists, and the2005 winners will be announced inMarch.

▲ Sympathies to the family of PhenixCity schools Assistant SuperintendentJeff Adams, who died just prior to theThanksgiving holiday. Central HighSchool’s new interim principal, DavidWilson, had been handling some ofAdams’ duties. Wilson is director ofoperations and auxiliary services forPhenix City schools until he begins hisinterim job Jan. 2. He replaces formerCentral High Principal Carey East,who is now executive assistant foradministration services for the schoolsystem. ▲

Potpourri

Vollmer said he doesn’t know what the exact solutions are. He only knowsthat it’s time for a national conversation.

“Nobody is better positioned than you, who stand in the gaps and representthe community, to begin this conversation ... to get permission to do things dif-ferently, so in fact we leave no child behind,” Vollmer said.

The convention also featured a series of recurring clinic sessions on Dec. 9that addressed everything from understanding and using test data and select-ing a superintendent to dealing with school bullies and partnering with parents.

“The demands of school board service are constantly evolving, which is whyAASB’s convention has traditionally been an opportunity to stay abreast of theissues and to keep pace with change,” said AASB Executive Director Dr. San-dra Sims-deGraffenried. “Success isn’t a red light. We must continue tostrengthen our schools, build on our successes of our school systems and findnew ways to better provide students the first-rate education they deserve.”

Also during the convention, outgoing President Tommy McDaniel receivedspecial recognition for his service to the children of Alabama as president ofAASB and the Cherokee County Board of Education. Rep. Richard Lindsey,chairman of the House Ways and Means Education Fund Committee, pre-sented the framed House and Senate resolution commending McDaniel’sservice. It was an emotional moment for McDaniel, who said he considershis public service to be both an honor and privilege. ▲

Strong Relationships...


Q Must board members publiclypresent their individual

evaluations of superintendents?

A No. The new Open Meetings Lawdoes not change superintendent

evaluation procedures. With few exceptions,superintendent evaluation had to be donein public under the old Sunshine Law, aswell. The superintendent evaluation processcalls for each board member to complete aninstrument that is tallied, and the compositeis given to the superintendent and discussedin a public work session. A 1996 attorneygeneral's opinion notes that individual boardmembers' rating sheets are not publicrecord. Board members can volunteer theinformation, if they wish. Some do. Only thecomposite is public record.

— Denise L. Berkhalter

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2005 winter alabama school boards magazine

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