The Newton Municipal School Board didn’t divulge its evaluation of Superintendent Nola Bryant following a 30-minute executive session Thursday night.
The board went into an executive session with only school board members. The session didn’t include Bryant or board attorney Brian Mayo, who are usually included during most executive sessions.
After emerging from the closed session, board president Lavera Chapman told Bryant that they couldn’t give her evaluation at this time.
“It is incomplete, and we cannot discuss it until it is finalized,” Chapman said.
This was the third executive session that the school board held during its two-and-half-hour meeting. The other two items, according to the agenda, were regarding personnel.
Mississippi Department of Education requires all school boards submit an annual evaluation of their superintendent, which takes the form of a survey. Usually, this is a formality and does not require lengthy private discussion.
This was the third executive session that the school board held during its two-and-half-hour meeting. The other two items, according to the agenda, were regarding personnel.
In other business, the board:
• Approved its consent agenda.
• Approved its financial report after questioning at least five items in the claims docket.
• Asked Bryant to obtain a quote to upgrade the district’s from fluorescent to LED lighting. However, board member Alice Dawkins-Hopkins said she didn’t want to move forward on the project until “we can know when the district is financially sound.”
• Approved new 16th section lease agreements with a current property owner who wants to give 1 acre to a family member, who wants to use that property to build a home. The move could not only increase the district’s lease revenue, but also from property tax assessments.
• Heard a report from Calandra Curry, the district’s director of curriculum and instruction/accountability, about where they the district’s testing data is looking. According to her report, all three schools have made ground over last year and should see significant growth based on their current testing models.
• Heard from Bryant about the district needing a school bus camera policy. She said it is in the handbook, but the district doesn’t have a policy for school bus cameras.
• Also heard from Bryant about the implementation of a crisis line, that would allow anyone in the community to report a threat of criminal activity on school property anonymously, but would alert administration to the potential threat.
