Staffing concerns, security gaps and more: Montgomery school board March highlights

The Montgomery County Board of Education switched things up this month.

March 12 was the first monthly meeting since members decided to reorganize their schedule to mimic the structure of the Alabama State Department of Education. Now, the official board meeting comes before the work session, meaning the board members vote on items discussed in previous meetings before they hear new items.

That shift would not necessarily have been noteworthy, except for the fact that several people who spoke during the regular work session were not aware of its consequences.

As a result, the board called a special meeting on Tuesday to approve items it heard the week before. Without doing so, there would have been a number of ramifications, including a lapse in the district's Microsoft licensing agreement, making MPS data stored in OneDrive inaccessible and resulting in a loss of communications via Outlook.

"This will not be a regular thing," MPS Superintendent Melvin Brown said.

In case you missed either one of the Tuesday meetings, here are the highlights — from the lacking number of special education aids in the district, to security concerns and potential impacts of recent state legislation.

'Not enough' special education aids in Montgomery

Classroom teachers and special education service providers review and revise children's individual education plans, or IEPs, on an annual basis. Typically, this happens in the spring semester, which means it's about that time.

District 5 Representative Pamela Cloud voiced concerns that MPS does not have an adequate number of special education aides across the district, and Superintendent Brown agreed.

"We do not have enough. We have to recruit those folks to go into those roles," Brown said. "Those folks don't grow on trees. We have to actually get them in place."

He said the district is actively recruiting, but it's not as easy as moving anyone into the position and checking a box.

According to Salary.com, there have been job postings for special education teachers and aides across at least 12 MPS schools in the last two months, including JAG, Park Crossing, Crump Elementary, McKee Middle, Capitol Heights Middle, Brewbaker Primary and more.

Plans to add or replace hundreds of district security cameras

Numerous speakers during the March meetings brought up concerns over the security technology across the district, including one report that an MPS principal was relocating teachers from their classrooms because of security gaps.

"We do have some weak spots," MPS Director of Operations Chad Anderson said. "We know that."

He said there are approximately 6,000 security cameras across the district, and his team is actively looking to replace or add about 1,000 cameras in the near future. According to Anderson, these cameras range in cost from $500 to $1,500.

Funding for these additions and replacements will come from MPS's remaining Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund dollars, also known as ESSER funds.

"We're working on an entire camera refresh," Chief School Financial Officer Arthur Watts said.

He also said MPS currently has about $750,000 in reserve for security needs.

Microsoft agreement renewed

Avoiding loss of access to important data and certain communications come April 1, the school board voted to renew the MPS agreement with Microsoft during a special-called meeting.

This vote was one of the central reasons for the additional meeting.

Board members inquired about why the renewal didn't appear on their agenda in an earlier meeting, and Chief Technology Officer Michael Powell said it was actually supposed to be voted on during the February meeting. However, the proposal for renewal had a few incorrect figures and had to be pulled.

What the CHOOSE Act's passage means for MPS

Earlier this month, Gov. Ivey signed her $100 million school choice legislation, the CHOOSE Act, into law. Essentially, it created education savings accounts, allowing families to spend up to $7,000 of state funding per student on education-related expenses, like private school tuition, private tutoring and textbooks.

Public education advocates in the state, like Superintendent Brown, spoke out against the legislation prior to its passage, and during a March meeting, District 7 Representative Arica Watkins-Smith wanted to know exactly how it will impact MPS.

"How are we planning moving forward? Because those things are going to impact us financially," she said.

Watts, who is in charge of district finances, said he is in the process of considering what adjustments may be necessary.

"What I would encourage all board members, all parents and everyone else to do is to be sure we talk to our legislators. Make calls and talk about how some of the decisions that are being made are affecting our public dollars for public children and for poor Black, brown and white children," Watts said. "It's basically a travesty."

A new in-house attorney is in the works

Board members spent a hefty chunk of time during the regular March meeting arguing about whether the power to hire in-house counsel lies for the board lies with members themselves or the superintendent.

Board President Brenda DeRamus-Coleman consulted with an attorney who works for the Alabama Association of School Boards and found that Brown should be the one to recommend the candidate for hire, according to district code.

"We have wanted an in-house attorney for at least five years that I have been on this board," DeRamus-Coleman said. "We are still doing the voting. We are still making the decision."

Other board members, including District 1 Representative Lesa Keith, District 2 Representative Pamela Portis and District 7 Representative Watkins-Smith, rejected the idea that Brown would be the one to recommend a candidate for the position. Meanwhile, Brown repeatedly stated that he didn't "really have an opinion" and simply wanted to follow proper procedure.

Ultimately, Brown recommended an anonymous candidate with the support of the board. The next steps are for the district to engage the candidate in negotiations.

Hadley Hitson covers children's health, education and welfare for the Montgomery Advertiser. She can be reached at hhitson@gannett.com. To support her work, subscribe to the Advertiser.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Highlights from Montgomery Public Schools March board meetings