PRV community makes final plea for school

By Danielle Wallingsford Kirkland

 

“It was early 1935 and all over Paint Rock Valley people were rock hunting. Large ones, small ones, they were piled into wagons, washtubs, coal scuttles and hauled into Princeton. Paint Rock Valley was literally building a high school, rock by rock.” – History of Paint Rock Valley by Mary Sue Toney as it appeared in THE DAILY SENTINEL April 29, 1979. 

The word “community” is one that is often heard at Paint Rock Valley High School. It’s been that way since the school began during the height of the depression when citizens of each small community in the valley gathered and hauled rocks from the fields for its construction. Though it stands in Princeton, the school was named Paint Rock Valley High School to honor the people of the communities who had contributed to the building of the school.

Now, 82 years after the first class was held inside those field stone walls, the school is facing its biggest trial. Today at 1 p.m., the Jackson County Board of Education will vote on whether or not its doors will close for good at the end of this school year. But the close knit community came out in droves to the school’s auditorium Tuesday night in hopes that the board will allow the school to remain open.

Loretta Harris has lived just a few feet away from the school since her birth in 1937.

“I could hear the bell ring from where I lived,” Harris said.

Harris, whose mother was a school teacher at PRVHS, grew up hearing the stories of students bringing down rocks from the hills to help build the school. She attended the meeting Tuesday night to support the school she has always called home.

“It’s always been a wonderful place,” she said.

 Not only did Harris, as well as her sisters, children and several grandchildren, graduate from the school, but Harris herself went on to serve as the school’s secretary for 20 years.

“This is my community,” Harris said.”I’m still very connected to the school. I love it, and it’s just a part of me.”

Harris said she does not want to see the school close. And though it is small in numbers, it is just as good as any other school as far as Harris is concerned.

“I feel (the students) get as good an education here as anywhere else in Jackson County,” Harris said. “We have a lot of seniors who receive scholarships and they always look forward to that.”

 Superintendent Kevin Dukes addressed the crowd at the meeting, and gave them a presentation about the factors that contributed to his recommendation that the school be closed.

“It’s not a good situation,” Dukes said. “It’s tough on the community and it’s tough on the people making the decisions.”

Several of the school faculty members and community supporters gave presentations as well, many making a case for the board to allow them to remain open at least one more year.

Teacher Stacey Miller presented the board with the plan to move the school forward with place based learning, explaining how teachers could use Paint Rock Valley itself as a classroom.

“Place based education is an approach to education that takes students out into the community to learn and grow as human beings,” Miller said. “It gives them the opportunity to learn subject matter in a deep and lasting way.”

Another PRVHS teacher, Danielle Potts, explained how a teacher from A&M University will help the school fund its place based education program with grant money.

“He said, ‘Do not worry about funds for place based learning. If they will keep you open, we can have it funded by August,’” Potts said. “We are really confident that if you give us a chance, we can pull this off.”

Community member and parent Stacy Prince addressed the board members about the numbers they have presented in recent weeks regarding per student costs of keeping the school open.  Prince said that at a board meeting on March 16, CSFO Jeff Middleton said Paint Rock Valley High School spends $432,148 more than any other school in the county to educate its students.

Prince said she feels that number is much smaller when other factors are considered.

“Should Paint Rock Valley close, 22 of our students will not be going into the Jackson County School system,” Prince said. “They will be homeschooling, going to Tennessee, Madison City, Madison County and Scottsboro City, according to their parents.”

Prince explained that the county would lose $184,360 if those students leave the system. She also said she believes the system will lose two units, accounting for $161,000 in salaries, should the school close.

“We believe the actual number of savings if Paint Rock Valley closes is $87,000,”Prince said. “We are asking you, the board, to invest the money you would lose in funding, should the school close. We will do the rest. We do not want to be a burden on the Jackson County School system. That’s not our goal.”

Prince added that after a fundraiser to be held this weekend, it is projected that the school will have earned nearly $20,000 on its own.

“That’s a large portion of $86,000,”Prince said.

Shadrack McGill, former state senator, said he graduated from Paint Rock Valley in 1994 and just last year built a new home in the valley so his children could attend the school there.

“We enrolled our children in Paint Rock Valley School here just to find there is a threat of closing the school down,” McGill said.

McGill expressed disappointment, saying he felt little has been done by the board and administration to keep the school open.

“Ever since I was in 4^th grade I remember hearing they are going to close the school down,” McGill said. “It’s like we have never had a board that supported us here in Paint Rock Valley.”

McGill, who said he has called state school board members as well as legislators and the former governor to discuss the school in the past few weeks, said he had several suggestions on how to increase enrollment numbers and build the school back up.

“I’d look at rezoning,” McGill said. “We are allowing a school bus from Woodville to cross over dangerous railroad tracks to pick up students that would otherwise be going here when Woodville is busting at the seams with students.”

Mike Sisk, current Jackson County Commissioner and lifelong resident of Paint Rock Valley, said he did not feel that PRVHS students should be transferred to an environment that would be unfamiliar to them.

“Until you have been a teacher here, or have had a child in school here I do not think you can understand what I am truly saying,” Sisk said. “Our kids here don’t slip through the cracks. They get the attention they need. It’s a nourishing environment.”

Sisk too expressed disappointment in the Jackson County Board of Education concerning the state of the school.

“We have had nine principals in the past 15 years,” Sisk said. “It’s hard to set goals when you’re transferring over and over. The school has been built by this community. It has never been taken care of by the board of education.”

Sisk stated instances of the community gathering to clean the school halls, varnish floors and repair bathrooms.  He said once the lunchroom manager paid to have the lunchroom painted out of her own pocket.

“I just want the board to realize this is our community,” Sisk said. “This is what we want to keep together.”

When the meeting ended, Board Member Cecil Gant said the presentations confirmed his decision.

“I will not vote to close this school,” Gant said.

Dukes said he understood why people were upset.

“Who wouldn’t fight for their community?” Dukes said. “We have got to come to a conclusion. If it closes, we move forward. If it doesn’t close, let’s move forward. But let’s drop the talk. It’s the only fair thing to them, to get the peace of knowing one way or another.”

And the community will know one way or another today when the board takes a roll call vote at 1 p.m. at the Jackson County Board of Education central office.

*This story originally appeared in The Daily Sentinel.

JCBOE will vote soon on fate of PRVHS

Paint Rock Valley community members and faculty attended yesterday's JCBOE meeting to hear the fate of PRVHS.

By Danielle Wallingsford Kirkland

Jackson County Board of Education Superintendent announced yesterday that the school board will soon vote whether to keep Paint Rock Valley High School open or to finally close its doors at the end of this school year.

“I think people need to know,” Dukes said. “The faculty and staff need to know. The parents need to know. The community needs to know … It’s time one way or another. If it’s going to close, let’s ease their minds and let them know.”

JCBOE Superintendent Kevin Dukes

Dukes, with the help of county supervisors, gave a presentation about the state of the school to the large crowd of faculty, staff, parents and community members who attended the meeting.

Dukes first explained the declining enrollment at the school, stating that as of March 15 PRVHS had just 76 students in kindergarten through 12^th grade.

“Over the last 21 years the enrollment has decreased 47 percent,” Dukes said.

According to Dukes, in 2010 Craig Pouncy, with the Alabama Department of Education, recommended that then Superintendent Ken Harding take actions to close the school.

Jeff Middleton, the Chief School Financial Officer, said the cost per student at PRVHS is more than $12,500. That, he explained, is $4000 more per student than at any other Jackson County school.

“Over 10 years, that’s $4 million,” Middleton said.

Paint Rock Valley’s current principal, Kevin McBride, said he is still hopeful that the school will remain open.

“The school is the hub of the community, and I’m a part of that community,” McBride said. “My hope is they will be able to keep our school open and make changes that will benefit those students there.”

PRVHS Principal Kevin McBride

McBride said the most recent talk of closing the school has affected school morale.

“I think any time you mention closing a school people get scared,” McBride said. “Whether it’s the case or not they react. I have had students move because they were fearful the school would close …People are not sure what’s going on with the school and they want to know.”

McBride said he believes Dukes will do what is best for the school.

“I don’t think he is against our school. I think he is for what’s best and he is open for ideas. We just have to come up with ideas,” McBride said.

Dukes said if the board approves closing the school it will remain open for the remainder of this school year, the school zones at Woodville and Skyline will be expanded to accommodate PRVHS students, meetings will be held with parents and community members and all tenured personnel will be placed within the system. 

He added that however the board votes will give the people of PRVHS their final answer about the fate of the school for the remainder of his term.

“It’s about what’s best for the students,” Dukes said. “But this is it. Whatever happens with Paint Rock Valley, if ya’ll vote for it to remain open all I’m going to do is fight for it to be the best it can be. If ya’ll vote for it to close, it closes. But I will never bring Paint Rock Valley up again after we vote on this, because it’s time for them to know one way or another and not have to worry about it.”

Benefit to be held to aid seven year old in battle against cancer

By Danielle Wallingsford Kirkland

Easton Underwood, a student from Caldwell Elementary, has been battling cancer since he was 2-years-old. At the age of seven, Easton is now battling the disease for the fourth time.  A benefit will be held in Easton’s honor beginning at 2 p.m. on Saturday, March 11, at Goose Pond Civic Center.

Kim Hastings, along with her husband Josh, organized the event.

“We decided to do this for them because Easton’s mom, Keisha, is my cousin,” Hastings said. “I love her and her family with all my heart.”

Hastings said Easton as first diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia in 2012.

“Easton beat cancer the first time, and then relapsed very shortly after,” Hastings said.

The day after his last birthday, Easton’s family learned that he had relapsed and the cancer had spread to his bone marrow.

“We were devastated,” Hastings said. “We were not there expecting to get any type of news like this.”

The benefit will help Easton and his family on several levels.

“They need help paying their bills and have some mold in their house,” Hastings said. “They need to do some remodeling where it is a cleaner and safer living environment for (Easton). Jeff, Easton’s dad, works Monday through Friday so Keisha can stay in Memphis (at St. Jude’s) and take care of their baby.”

A singing will be held at the benefit with performers Face2Face, Sugar Truck, Erica Cookston and Impact Teen Center from Skyline Church of God.

There will also be 50/50, a silent auction, a live auction, raffle tickets for items like a Yeti cooler, Alabama helmet, a smoker and more. In addition, there will be concessions, kid’s games and face painting.

“I would encourage people to put themselves in their situation if they had a 7-year-old son fighting for his life and all you wanted to do is be with him,” Hastings said.

Hastings said Easton is truly her superhero.

“We were told the more the cancer comes back, the harder it is to treat it, but our God is bigger than this,” she said.

North Jackson principal resigns, reassigned to PRVHS as teacher

By Danielle Wallingsford Kirkland
North Jackson High School principal Sam Houston resigned from his position this week, after being placed on a ten day paid administrative leave in February for a personnel matter.
The Jackson County Board of Education voted, four to one, to place Houston at Paint Rock Valley High School as a history teacher, on an interim basis. Board member Charles West made a motion for an executive session to discuss good name and character, but the motion received no second. West voted the only no, but declined to comment.
PRVHS had been without a history teacher since former principal Clay Webber resigned from his position late last year.
 "It will be teacher pay. It will not be administrative pay," said Superintendent Kevin Dukes. "He was tenured as a classroom teacher, so he is going back to a tenured classroom teacher."
 Dukes said because Houston resigned the investigation into the personnel matter is over on the school board's part. He could not elaborate on what the matter was.
"I don't know on the other side," Dukes said.
The position for principal at NJHS will be posted tomorrow, according to Dukes.
Bruce Maples, principal at Woodville High School, remains on administrative leave. Dukes said the  matter is still under investigation.
"I don't have a timeline," Dukes said.

Jackson County Legislative Delegation talks 2017 session

Rep. Tommy Hanes and Rep. Richie Whorton

By Danielle Wallingsford Kirkland
 Jackson County Legislative Delegation members, Sen. Steve Livingston, Rep. Tommy Hanes and Rep. Ritchie Whorton, hosted Coffee and Conversation at the Greater Jackson County Chamber of Commerce recently where they discussed the upcoming legislative session.

This year’s session is set to begin today. According to Livingston the biggest issue facing the state this year is the cost of Medicaid.

Holding up a print out of an 85 page Medicaid summary that he had received first thing Tuesday morning, Livingston told those in attendance that Medicaid — an insurance program for low income individuals that is funded by both federal and state dollars—has asked for a 10 percent increase.

“They are only asking for $865 million next year,” Livingston said, noting that this year’s budget allotted the program $785 million.

Livingston said if state legislators could figure out a way to curb Medicaid costs they could get the general fund under control and put money into other agencies.

“We have no control over anything we do inside Medicaid,” Livingston said. “Our hope is that President Trump will administer block grants to Medicaid that will send money down to states to allow us to have control over this.”

He added that lawmakers would like to put regional care organizations ­­— locally-led managed care systems that would provide healthcare services to most Medicaid enrollees at an established cost — in operation.

“… So we can start bending the costs down instead of having people go to the emergency room 141 times a year, bend the cost down and make them go see a doctor, make them do what they need to do. That’s the only hope we have,” Livingston said. 

Sen. Steve Livingston

Livingston said Medicaid consumes a little less than half of the state’s general fund budget.

Another big issue facing the state is prison reform, Livingston said.

According to Livingston, Alabama Department of Corrections Commissioner Jeff Dunn has proposed building four new men’s prisons and one new women’s prison at a cost of $800 million.

“By the time it is paid back, $1.6 billion is what it would cost Alabama tax payers,” Livingston said.

The debt would be paid through cost savings by scaling down on facilities, but specific details have not been given yet.

“We asked for some details and were told we would have that for the special session that was held back in the fall and that hasn’t shown up,” Livingston said.

Rep. Hanes said he is not in favor of prison reform bill that would cost the taxpayers that much money.

“We are going to have to do something or the Feds is going to step in,” Hanes said. “I don’t see the point in building four new mega prisons and closing down 12 small prisons because at some point those four new prisons are going to be full again.”

Hanes said he would like to see the type of prison reform that reduces the number of inmates and reduces sentencing for non-violent crimes.

“It seems like the state of Alabama is in to warehousing people, lock them up and throw away the keys and be done with it,” Hanes said.

Hanes said he recommends investing in inmates that are willing to learn a trade and become a useful citizen.

“If we are going to spend all of that money on them, let’s invest in the ones that are willing to better themselves,” Hanes said.

Livingston pointed out that sentencing reform in the state is beginning to reduce the number of inmates in the prison system.

“This time last year we were at 192 percent capacity,” Livingston said, adding that now the state is at 170 percent capacity. “What we have done is actually working.”

Livingston added,” In addition, we have a new attorney general that will be confirmed here in the next day or so that might not be putting as much pressure on his home state of Alabama to do something quickly. So, that’s two good things.”

Livingston said a gas tax will likely be proposed during this year’s regular session, which would help fund road and bridge projects across that state. The gas tax has seen no increase in Alabama since 1992, according to Livingston.

Hanes added that a concrete amount had not been set for the proposed gas tax increase.

Whorton said he would like to think outside of the box when it comes to increasing the state’s revenue.

“We need to look at the alternatives than just tax, tax, tax,” Whorton said. “I favor the Fair Tax … I think that would be a better way for the system to work.”

The Fair Tax, according to Forbes.com, would replace all existing income taxes  ­­­--as well as payroll taxes -- with a single consumption tax.

“You have a lot of folks that work jobs that pays taxes, but you’ve got a lot of folks out here that do a lot of work that don’t pay any taxes,” Whorton said. “You’ve got folks like house cleaners or drug dealers and they’ve got all this money coming in, but they don’t pay any tax. If you go to the consumption tax, if they buy something they are going to pay the tax and I think that’s the way we need to go.”

The delegation also mentioned a few issues specific to Jackson County.  

Among them was the fact that Google is coming on line, Livingston said.

“TVA has about got their substation built up there,” Livingston said. “As I understand it is the single largest substation that TVA has inside TVA.”

Livingston lamented the recent announcement of a partial closure at Bridgeport’s Beaulieu plant, saying it was “totally unexpected.”

“All in all it’s 359 jobs,” he said.

Livingston said despite the loss, there is good news in the fact that Franklin Haney’s company Nuclear Development, LLC., recently purchased the Bellefonte nuclear facility.

“The good news is if we get Mr. Haney in business we will have some eight to ten thousand construction jobs and 1500 to two thousand permanent jobs,” Livingston said.

When asked if the state would offer incentives to Haney, Livingston said, “I feel sure that Gov. (Robert) Bentley is going to come through with everything that he can. Franklin Haney gave Gov. Bentley some $290,000 in campaign contributions I believe, so I think he is obligated to him if you have ever heard the word obligated.”

*This story originally appeared in The Daily Sentinel.