Baldwin County Board of Education members gathered on Jan. 18 for their first school board meeting of the new year, approving a temporary utility easement for the construction of Baldwin Preparatory Academy, student engagement training sessions, re-roofing of Elsanor Elementary School and adjustments to the annual budget.

Utility easement for Baldwin Prep
Board members approved a motion to grant a temporary utility easement to Riviera Utilities to install gas utilities at the Baldwin Preparatory Academy construction site in Loxley.

The motion will allow the utility company to install gas utilities across a parcel of land at the site in order to avoid a delay in construction.

According to Chasity Riddick, communications coordinator for the school district, had the temporary easement not been granted, construction on the highly anticipated academy would have been delayed by approximately one month.

Student engagement training sessions
Board members approved a contract with Kagan Cooperative Learning, an online platform that will provide elementary school teachers within the county with training in student engagement strategies.

The program will consist of three sessions, with a total of 45 participants. The sessions are $16,605, bringing the total cost of the program to $49,815.

The training sessions will begin in February and continue until April 1.

Re-roofing of Elsanor Elementary School
Board members also approved a contract to re-roof Elsanor Elementary for a total of $68,000.

Five construction companies submitted bids for the project, and board members selected the lowest bid from Advanced Roofing Solutions LLC.

According to the contract, the project will be funded through state capital allocations included in the budget.

2024 budget amendments
The school system is required to submit two formal budget amendments to the Alabama Department of Education each year.

At the meeting, the board approved a motion to submit the first budget amendment of the year to adjust the beginning balances to reflect the 2023 ending budget balances, adjustments for federal carryover funds related to Title I and 3210 IDEA special education programs, amendments to the federal CARES Act grant, adjustments for any changes regarding local or state revenue projections, board approved locally funded positions regarding overcrowding at certain schools, changes in departmental budgets within the projected budget, cost changes to the "pay as you go" construction project program and any other provisions that were required by the state.

According to documents, the amended budget reflect a general fund balance of approximately $105,136,354. The board will be permitted one more budget amendment for the year, which must be submitted by June 15.

The next board meeting will be at 5:30 p.m. on Feb. 22, and is open to the public.