FCBOE approves TES plan

By Bart Moss – For the FCT

The Franklin County Board of Education approved phase two of the Tharptown cafeteria and classroom project at Thursday’s meeting.

The project as passed in conjunction with phase one will add a new cafeteria and ten new classrooms, six of which will also serve as a saferoom with a capacity of 661 students. The original plans were for only four new classrooms.

“We are ecstatic,” said Franklin County Superintendent of Education Greg Hamilton. “We are very happy to get this project passed. The state came through for us to get us money we haven’t earned yet.

“This is a great step for Tharptown teachers and students to help the overcrowding issues they are experiencing.”

Hamilton also updated the Board on the insurance dispute at Vina.

“We are still at odds with risk management on whether to repair or demolish the property affected by the tornado,” said Hamilton. “We are waiting on the engineering report, but right now we have a portable in place to alleviate the problem.”

Hamilton expressed concerns with the Education Trust Fund budget that was passed by the state legislature last week and how it could affect important supplemental position and teachers. There were significant cuts in the Alabama Reading Initiative (ARI). There are six reading teachers in Franklin County funded through the Alabama Reading Initiative. The Education Trust Fund will reduce that number to two.

“The budget passed will force us to shuffle some positions around,” said Hamilton. “We don’t know how this is going to work out yet. There is still a bill in the Senate that could help, SB 307. Maybe we can get some relief.”

The next scheduled Board meeting will be June 20 at 5:15 p.m. with the work session beginning at 5 p.m.