Brandi Smith comes home to be DMS principal

Brandi McGee Smith became the new principal of Demopolis Middle School Friday in a called meeting of the Demopolis City Schools Board of Education.

Smith, a 2008 graduate of Demopolis High School, currently serves as assistant principal at Hayden High School in Blount County. She will begin her duties July 1 after she, her husband Zach and one-month-old daughter moved to the city.

Smith played softball at the University of West Alabama while she earned her education degree. She taught sixth grade at Hillcrest Central in Tuscaloosa before assuming her current post.

The board approved language arts textbooks for K-12 at a cost of $457,121.34. Since the state funding for textbooks never meets the needs, said Supt. Tony Willis, DCS will use ESSER funds to help pay for the textbooks that will be used for at least six years.

Grades I-3 will be using books from Amplify, and McGraw-Hill texts were approved for grades 4-12. The books were chosen by a textbook committee and by reading coach Derrick Hester. The books also have a digital component in case schools must return to virtual learning.

Students at U.S. Jones Elementary will be enjoying a new LU Interactive Playground by Power-Up EDU next school year. The $32,450 cost is being paid for with Title I funds. The projection will cover the wall of the gymnasium. While it can be used for physical education classes, it has a learning component making it cross-curricula.

“It’s very physical activity for the kids, but they’re getting more like what they’re used to with computers, an interactive response on that screen,” said Willis. “It’s really impressive.”

The board okayed a service agreement with Alabama Power to install LED lights in the light poles at all campuses. The switch should pay off the cost within four months.

“Once those are paid off, then we’ll see a huge decrease in our utility bills,” said Willis.

A Standards-Based Grading System for kindergarten was approved. Those students will be graded differently from the other classes.  

William Barley is retiring as guidance counselor at DHS, but the board approved a contract with him to teach art at DHS on a part-time basis next year.

In other personnel matters, the board approved:

• Hiring Carrie Dauphin as academic coach at DHS, pending procurement of satisfactory documentation.
• Transferring Deborah McAfee from history teacher to guidance counselor at DMS.
• FMLA request from Mary Griffin, in-school suspension facilitator.

With the purchase of new desks and chairs, DCS now must dispose of the old ones. The board approved inventory disposition of the furniture. Willis said if another school system doesn’t want them, DCS will hold a surplus sale.

DHS JROTC received approval for a field trip to Columbiana June 3-6.

Board members again welcomed Larry Perrin with Schneider Electric and asked more questions about upgrading the lighting and thermostats in the school system buildings. He said his company would evaluate and prepare a plan. If the board goes with the plan, the cost would be rolled into the total cost of the project. If the board declines, it would have to pay the fee for the work.

The company is required to guarantee the work for 20 years, even if the school system pays off before then. In response to questioning, Perrin said DCS can pick and choose what items they want to do and phase in others when it makes sense financially.

While board members seemed to be ready to accept Schneider’s offer, they opted to delay the vote until a regular meeting.