BOE approves hiring of four new principals

ALBANY, Ga. — The Dougherty County School Board approved Monday the hiring of four new principals: Brandi Barrett at Albany Middle School, Angela Shumate at Lamar Reese Elementary, Vontressa Childs at M.L. King Elementary and Ronald Lewis at Morningside.

The board also approved the hiring of nine new assistant principals: Jill Addison at Albany High, Carla Darnell at Dougherty High, Fredrick Polite and Horace Bentley at Monroe, William Cobb at Albany Middle, Nancy Gay at Merry Acres Middle, John I. Davis III at International Studies Elementary and Marcel Loving at West Town.

Todd Deariso was hired as an assistant principal at Robert Cross Elementary but might be shifted to Lincoln Magnet later.

All hires received a unanimous 7-0 vote.

In other notable action, the board approved sending a community eligibility option from Child Nutrition Services, which if approved by the state Department of Education, would result in free lunches for all children in the school system.

“This option would help us reduce the administrative burden of processing 12,000 applications every year and gives every student in the district the benefit of a free breakfast and lunch,” DCSS Finance and Operations Director Ken Dyer said.

If approved by the state, the system would also see a modest boost in federal meal reimbursement funding.

The board also approved offering “freedom of choice” for the children of active-duty service members at Marine Corps Logistics Base-Albany.

That action means that now any child of a service member attached to the base can apply to attend the schools of their choice within the district — regardless of whether they live on or off base.

The board also approved a tentative Fiscal Year 2013-14 budget that includes reducing teacher furloughs from the current six to four days and OK’d submitting School Improvement Grant applications for Dougherty and Monroe High. If approved by the state, the grants, worth $6 million for each school spread over three years, will help improve teacher and student performance at both high schools.

Albany High is currently the only SIG school in the district.

The board also set a tentative date of next Monday to conduct a called meeting to discuss the upcoming FY 2014 budget, which must be submitted to the state by June 30.