New high school named at board meeting
BY ALLIE HULCHER / REPORTER
James Clemens will finally receive a namesake memorial 150 years after founding the city of Madison.
The Madison City School Board decided Thursday night to call the new high school being built on County Line Road “James Clemens High School.”
Superintendent Dr. Dee Fowler recommended the name at the board meeting and explained its significance. Clemens purchased the land in Madison in 1854 with the intention of naming it Clemens Depot. The railroad named it Madison Station instead, and Clemens’ name passed into obscurity.
Fowler called Clemens a “pioneer – a gracious, honorable and fair man,” as well as social reformer, who freed his slaves nearly a decade before the Civil War and also sold land lots to women long before it was popular. Clemens was a relative of Samuel Clemens, better known as renowned author Mark Twain.
Board member Phil Schmidt said the board had struggled with finding a name.
“It’s hard to get something that everybody rallies for,” Schmidt consented. “But I’m OK with it. I’ve come to peace.”
In other business: Board attorney Woody Sanderson presented a PowerPoint about the Students First Act, which would repeal the Teacher Tenure Act and Fair Dismissal Act. It would return major responsibility for personnel actions to local boards and reduce paid time for terminated employees, said Sanderson.
Katrina Allen presented her plans to update the current technology setup in Madison city schools. According to Allen, the current set up is slow, fallible, and grossly behind in updates. One of the biggest issues is that 3580 laptops – three-fourths of the inventory- are unable to even be updated with current programs. Allen proposed a “forward-thinking plan” that would use virtualization – a way to sync the computers in a system using fewer servers and therefore saving time, energy, and money. This approach would take place this summer and cost around 1.3 million dollars, about 3 million dollars less than a conventional solution.
Mill Creek Elementary School was awarded a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) award for being a sustainable building that saves money and creates a healthier environment for students. It is only the second school and first public school in the state of Alabama to receive the award. Fowler called the effort a road less travelled in the area.
“This is a great milestone for where we want to be in the community. We want to be leading the path.”
Superindent Fowler received his evaluation at the meeting. On a scale with a 4.0 as excellence, Fowler did not make below a 3.7 on any of the 10 performance areas, which include educational leadership and financial management.
Fowler sat solemnly with eyes down as his board members each made comments on his performance.
Board member Connie Spears emphasized the pickiness of the board.
“If we don’t have sometimes a little gentle reminder that we’re all human, then we don’t know where we need to approve or where the focus should be.”
Even though she did not participate in the evaluation, board member Ranae Bartlett offered her perspective as the mother of a rising 4th grader.
“I’m always so pleased with Dr. Fowler’s level of communication and how he involves the parents.”
Fowler said the good marks on his evaluation are a reflection on Madison City.
“Any successes that we have I feel like are successes that are generated throughout the entire community,” Fowler said after receiving the maximum $10,000compensation from the board for his work.
