Current KHS and KME principals move to new rolesKosciusko Middle Elementary (KME) Principal Chris Terry and Kosciusko High School (KHS) Principal Cory Blaylock will leave their current posts for new positions within the district before the 2019-2020 school year begins.
Terry, who has served as KME principal for two years following one year as assistant principal, previously taught for four years at Kosciusko Junior High School (KJHS). He will return to teaching at the junior high in the fall. His other prior teaching experience includes three years at KHS, as well as 10 years at Ethel High School and three years in the Durant public schools.
Although Terry is definitely returning to the classroom at KJHS for the 2019-2020 school year, his specific teaching assignment has not yet been determined.
“I thoroughly enjoyed my time at KME. There is no way to know how demanding and rewarding second and third grade is until you experience it daily. I have a deep respect for the KME staff and the work they do,” he said of his time at the helm of KME. “Although I’m leaving behind a great staff and wonderful students, I’m excited about the future. While at KJHS, I will have the opportunity to teach students I already have developed a relationship with since I was their principal at KME. I’m looking forward to a great 2019-2020 and helping out KJHS any way I can.”
According to KSD Superintendent Billy Ellzey, Blaylock will step into a new blended position made possible by the retirement of the district technology director.
Technology engineer Wes Carlyle was approved Monday to move into the Technology Director role, creating an opportunity for his former position to be redesigned to be responsible for improving the district dropout prevention, technology training and data analysis.
“I have enjoyed my time as KHS principal for the last three years and it is a wonderful place to work. This is my fifteenth year as an administrator and I look forward to my new role in the district,” said Blaylock.
“While at KHS, we were able to move our Accountability rating from a C to an A during my first year, and we currently are a B school for this year,” he said of KHS. “We have had very successful students at KHS and graduated the largest class ever last year. Our students will continue to be successful both academically and athletically in the future.”
The two open principal jobs were posted on the district website at kosciuskoschools.com. The KHS posting closed on April 3 and the district is currently in the interview process for that position. The KME principal opening will remain posted until April 16, after which Ellzey said the district will immediately begin the interview process.
Candidates under consideration for either post will be interviewed by a panel that includes administrators, teachers, heads of extra-curricular activities and individuals from special education and counseling. While no members of the general community have been named to the interview panel, Ellzey said input from the community is welcome.
He said he expects to have candidate recommendations ready for the school board at their next meeting on May 13.
Outsourced custodial?
ABM made a presentation to the board Monday night, asking that they consider outsourcing custodial services of the school district to their company. The advocates told the board that overall cleanliness will be improved and that doing so would free up the time principals currently spend dealing with facilities issues, which they estimated at 22%.
“Many districts don’t have enough custodial help at school and 22 percent of principals’ time is dedicated to managing facilities,” said Clark Brady, Sr. of ABM. “That is 39 days per year. What if that attention were redirected to test scores?”
Brady also told the board that current custodial employees of the district would be offered positions with the company, which would increase custodial FTEs from 13 to 16.5. The firm would also handle cleanup before and after athletic activities for the district.
The Attala County School District just signed a contract with ABM at its most recent meeting.
Financially, it appears the change would have little impact.
According to Ellzey, the total annual cost of the custodial proposal is $431,449.32 annually for all schools and athletic facilities in the district.
“Our current annual cost is between $430,000 and $440,000 based on our most recently completed year,” he said. “We would be considering this change to increase the time administrators are spending with teachers and students by limiting the amount of time on upkeep of facilities.”
The Kosciusko board took the matter under advisement.
Pre-K set to move back to seven classrooms
Ellzey told the board that due to enrollment numbers in the Pre-K program at Kosciusko Middle Elementary (KME) the district can raise the number of classrooms from six back to the original seven, with the seventh classroom being a blended-age classroom, which means only 14 students can be in that classroom. Ellzey estimated the total program enrollment at between 125 and 130 students for the 2019-2020 school year.
Auditorium project
According to Josh Jeffcoat of JH & H Architects, bids for the removal of asbestos from the KJHS auditorium — necessary before the facility can be fixed up for resumed use, came in higher than expected.
He said Eagle Construction of Flowood was the low bidder for the project that includes removing the asbestos-containing texture above the nine- or 10-foot mark on the walls, removing and replacing damaged roof decking and fixing areas of plaster damaged by previous roof leaks.
Once that project is complete, district staff are expected to remove broken seating, work on carpet areas and other more cosmetic work that will make the auditorium usable again for both the schools and the greater community.
Personnel actions
The board voted to accept resignations from Suzanne Ables, Brenda Staszefski and Chris Terry as KME principal for the 19-20 school year
They also approved Suzette Ruscoe, Whitley Talley, Lynn Oliver, Jason Chennault, Chris Terry, Presley Elkins and Kahli Cain (pending certification) as teachers for the 19-20 school year, and Cortney Weir as full time bus driver effective March 29 for the remaining of the 18-19 school year.
Professional development/ field trip requests
The board took the following actions:
- Approved Jason Chennault to attend AP conference at Millsaps College July 8-12
- Approved Caleb Sanders and Machelle Can to attend ICT workshop in Brandon, MS June 17-21
- Approved KHS PE first, second and third-period classes to go to Jason Niles park and play disc golf and tennis
- Approved Tessa Hom to take four children from KJH to attend MS Personal Finance Challenge State Championship-Middle School Division in Madison, MS April 23
- Approved Lisa Voyles to attend MS School Nutrition Association Nutrition Education Seminar April 11 in Tupelo, MS
- Approved Sandy McBride to travel to Norfolk, VA to attend SASBO Conference April 29 through May 2.
- Approved athletic schedules for summer dates
- Approved Little Whippet Spirit Camp May 23-24 at KHS as fundraiser for KHS along with selling of ferns fundraiser, snap-raise fundraiser, selling of homecoming t-shirts, and possible cheesecake sales Approve Golf Booster
- Approved club Drive-A-Thon fundraiser
- Approved KHS Student Council Kiss-A-Pig Fundraiser April 29-May 3.
