BY KADIE TAYLOR
THE OBSERVER
OPELIKA — At the March 24 Opelika School Board meeting, the board recognized two Board-Certified teachers, Caylie Caulfield and Dr. Chad Cunningham.
“National Board Certification is often considered the highest professional credential in the field of teaching, recognizing educators who meet rigorous standards of excellence,” East Alabama Regional In-Service Center Director at Auburn University, Laura Crowe, said. “This voluntary certification is achieved through a performance-based, peer-reviewed process, requiring teachers to demonstrate their impact on student learning and mastery of content knowledge, instructional practices and professional commitment. Teachers pursuing National Board Certification engage in reflective practices, comprehensive portfolio submissions and assessments that align with the National Board’s five core propositions and standards. Certification enhances teaching effectiveness, supports career growth and positively impacts student achievement. National Board Certification also strengthens the professional teaching community, fostering leadership opportunities and raising the standard of excellence in schools.”
The board was presented with a fiscal year 2025 audit report from Himmelwright, Huguley & Boles LLC from Partner John Boles.
“We spent about $7.4 million in federal funds, and we selected the Title I grant this year to do our testing,” he said. “We didn’t have any compliance issues at all. Next year, we’ll probably look at CMP again — we tend to go back and forth there. We did not have any material weaknesses. We did not have any significant deficiencies to report to you. So it was a very good audit.
The board was presented with information for the consideration of a memorandum and requested the review of textbook adoptions.
The board was presented with an update from Scout Program Management.
“[It’s been a] good day today from Fox Run,” said Lamar Zuiderhoek. “There’s going to be about two and a half weeks of construction while this school year is completing, but [workers] do know that school operations take main priority. So that’s pretty much Fox Run. There is a coordination meeting coming up within the next week, with disruptions that are anticipated — like Dr. Davis was talking about with the bus routes and a few other things. So [we’re] trying to set the expectations of what they can return to after the summer. We’ve also had the greenhouse projects — we have an executed contract now. The greenhouse and the metal building have been ordered; they will be delivered around June 22, so there’s a lot of work to be done between now and June 22. That work is scheduled to take place after the plant sale, which is a Sunday through that weekend, with construction starting the following Monday. We talked about the Jeter Morris, and that is now approved. There’s been a lot of legwork going on; there’s almost more work in the beginning, getting everything moved out. Dumpsters have been brought to the schools for the teachers to start purging. And then there’s going to be movers involved, separate contractors to remove whiteboards and chalkboards from the walls and then the actual work can take place.”
In Other Business
- The board voted to approve the minutes with anticipated changes.
- The board approved an addition and renovation bid from Bailey Harris Construction Company.
- The board approved an internal renovations bid from Whatley Construction.
- The board approved a pest and remite control services bid from Ballard Pest Control.
- The board voted to approve the personnel recommendations.
- The board voted to approve a probationary principal contract.
The next Opelika School Board Meeting will be held on April 14 at 4:30 p.m. at the Central Office.
