Published: July 10, 2009 10:17 pm      

Schools get grant to reduce bus emissions

Madison County Schools’ diesel powered buses will soon emit fewer pollutants, thanks to a grant of nearly $40,000 from the Kentucky Division of Air Quality.

The money will be used to purchase devises that will oxidize pollutants in the diesel engines’ exhaust systems, Superintendent Tommy Floyd told the board of education Thursday.

The grant application was written by Skip Benton, the district’s transportation director, and Erin Stewart, community education director, Floyd said.

“When they learned the grant was available, they brought the application to me,” he said.

The oxidation devices will be attached to bus exhaust systems by district personnel, Stewart said.

By redesigning routes to eliminate duplication and reducing the idling of engines, the districts’ buses consumed 24,000 fewer gallons of fuel in the past year, Floyd said.

The redesigned routes include stopping buses “at safe points” to transfer students so two buses would not run the same route, the superintendent said.

The buses traveled 157,000 fewer miles because of the route redesign, he said.



Construction update

Denark Construction, the contractor for Madison Southern High School expansion and renovation, is making every effort to have the building ready by the delayed school opening date of Aug. 24, architect Tony Thomas told the board.

Lights are in use to allow some work to take place after dark, he said.

The building’s new entrance was never planned to be completed before the school year began, Thomas said, but the new classrooms should be ready.

The board has delayed the opening of school from Aug. 12 to Aug. 24 because rainy weather in the spring delayed work on the high school in Berea.

Work is progressing well on the B. Michael Caudill Middle, said Thomas, who represents the architectural firm of Clotfelter-Samokar.

“With the extra days they have now, the contractor should have no problem getting the school ready,” he said.

Work to replace the roof on Clark-Moores Middle School in Richmond also should be completed before Aug. 24, the architect said.



Truancy program

Staff from the Bellevue Center reported on the district’s truancy intervention program.

The program has a 68-percent success rate, said John Fields, who directs the alternative programs housed at Bellevue. Only 13 percent of the truancy program’s cases were labeled unsuccessful. Another 19 percent of cases were closed for other reasons, including students moving out of the district.



Other business

The board approved student handbooks submitted by each schools’ site-based council.

Board member John Lackey said he was hesitant to vote approval because he had not had time to read the handbooks, which include school dress codes.

While most of the handbooks were given to board members in electronic form one week before the meeting, some were not, Lackey said. Even one week was not sufficient time to read the voluminous documents, he said.

Floyd said the handbooks were the purview of school councils, and most changes were made to bring them into conformity with new state and school-board policies.

The board approved two out-of-state school organization trips over Lackey’s objections.

The archery teams from Glenn Marshall Elementary and Madison Southern High School will participate a world championship in Orlando, Fla., Oct. 7-11.

Lackey said he doubted the educational value of such a trip and whether it met state accountability standards.

“This sounds like fluff,” Lackey said. “I think its more about filling hotel rooms in Orlando and selling tickets to Disney World.”

He also questioned the trip’s cost, estimated at $12,000 to $15,000.

Archery team coaches, Kendra Sewell of Glenn Marshall, and Doug Carter of MSHS, said most of the expense would be paid with money generated by fundraising projects and not be a burden to students’ families.

Floyd and the coaches said teachers and principals have reported improved academic performance and fewer behavior problems from archery team members.

Members of Madison Southern’s archery team participate in no other sports, Carter said.

Lackey also was the lone dissenter as the board gave approval for the Madison Central girls’ volleyball team to participate in Johnson City, Tenn., tournament Sept. 25-28 and tour the campus of East Tennessee State University.



Bill Robinson can be reached at brobinson@richmondregister.com or at 624-6622.