Marengo BOE votes to close John Essex School
LINDEN — The Marengo County Board of Education voted unanimously Thursday to close John Essex School effective at the end of the current academic year.
“When we walk out of here, we know that it will hurt us, but we can’t say that we didn’t try,” Marengo County Schools Superintendent Luke Hallmark told the board.
The embattled school on U.S. Highway 80 west has been on the hot seat in the past but continued to suffer dwindling enrollment, forcing the board’s hand Thursday.
“We’ve had several discussions on the John Essex issue. We’ve had a meeting out there with interested people in the community. In the past we’ve had a grant to help us with operating John Essex, which we do not have anymore,” board president Mike McAlpine said. “There’s no way we feel like we can have a school where we can teach the students like they could be educated in another school. So we’ve got to make a decision.”
The total enrollment of Essex dropped 13 students this year, leaving the school with only seven state-funded teaching units for grades Kindergarten through 12th grade were it to remain open for the 2014-2015 academic year.
“I don’t see how we can educate the kids down there with only earning seven teaching students for the whole school, an administrative unit making it eight and a half a library unit and half a counseling unit making it nine,” Hallmark said.
“My vision for this board is that we can educate these young people and we’ve got to do what is right,” board member Freddie Charleston echoed.
The school faced a similar fate four years ago prior to the awarding of a 1003g grant that infused new life into much of the institution’s daily operations.
“We’ve tried to turn over every rock possible to find a way to keep the school open. We very easily could have been in this position four years ago when the 1003g grant came around,” Hallmark said of a grant that affected technology, school atmosphere and student involvement. “It turned the school around as far as everything but enrollment. The bottom line is the enrollment continued to drop. It is the most difficult decision that the board has made in a long, long, long time and it is disheartening to everyone.”
“I think in doing this, we’re making the decision that is best for our system,” McAlpine said.
While the mood in the room was somber following the vote, Hallmark reminded board members that Essex is not the only school on the chopping block.
“The closing of John Essex isn’t the only school that has closed. Some of you may have heard of Parrish up in north Alabama. They’re basketball team was in the state championship this year and they just closed. In Hale County, they have some decisions they have to make about some of their schools,” Hallmark said. “It is just hard maintaining schools with low student population.”
The board did not discuss plans for the current faculty of John Essex, but indicated that will occur at the board’s next meeting.
“We’ve got six tenured employees and those that are non-tenured, we certainly want to go ahead and help them out too,” Hallmark said of the future of the Essex faculty.
In other agenda items, the board reviewed enrollment numbers and subsequent teaching units for the four schools within the system.
Enrollment was down eight students countywide. A.L. Johnson in Thomaston saw its enrollment drop by two students. John Essex dropped 13 students while Marengo High School suffered a dip of 24 students. Sweet Water offset most of the losses by increasing its enrollment by 31 students.
The board approved the University of West Alabama Teacher Connect Program, which will allow Marengo County Schools teachers to pursue graduate level education classes at UWA with a tuition rate that will be reduced by $200 per hour. Demopolis City Schools entered into the program earlier in the academic year.
The board also voted to adopt its textbooks for the forthcoming year as well as an assortment of new and revised policies.
The board also approved a finalized school calendar for the 2014-2015 school year.