Madison City Schools closes fiscal year with $58 million
BY GREGG L. PARKER
Madison City Schools can laugh all the way to the bank.
The Madison district had a balance of more than $58 million, as of fiscal yearend on Sept. 30, Jana L Gray, interim chief school financial officer, told the Madison Board of Education on Nov. 15.
“The majority of that balance is reserved for special purposes. Our general fund balance, which is our main operating fund, ended with $11.5 million, which equals about 64 operating days,” Gray said.
Superintendent Dr. Dee Fowler said that principals avoid saying, “‘I want. I need.’ We’ve had a team effort with the department heads and principals in managing this money.”
In other business, Sue Helms, charter board member, received a resolution from Gov. Robert Bentley. In presenting the award, Rep. Mac McCutcheon said Helms had bettered education for the city, county, state and nation.
Several middle school students achieved a near-perfect score on the EXPLORER test, a preparatory exam for the ACT. “I was blown away by these accomplishments. Their scores are equivalent to 36 (highest possible score) on the ACT,” Dr. Brian Clayton, principal at Liberty Middle School, said.
Clayton acknowledged Liberty students Eric Bean, Sai Chennupati, Vi Dang and David Mok. Principal Dr. Robbie Smith congratulated Discovery students Christopher Gunner, Evan Jenkins, Katelyn McWhirter, Jonathan Rice, Tina Tian, Max Ward and Lucas Wright.
Counselors Patti Bill and Kellen Conway reported on “Make a Difference Today,” a school safety program for fifth- and sixth-graders. Students attended sessions on the importance of conflict resolution, case studies and respect.
Dr. Camille Wright, secondary education director, discussed the instructional committee’s impetus “to shift focus on learning from a focus on teaching.” Students and teachers both want relaxed environments, feedback and excitement about learning, she said.
Dr. Anne Davidson, ACCESS distance learning coordinator, said the Madison center is the nation’s third largest distance learning program (Alabama Connecting Classrooms, Educators & Students Statewide). “We support 63 school districts with 153 schools for 4,549 enrollments,” Davidson said. Davidson recently announced her retirement plans.
