Clinton County Board of Education held its regular monthly meeting Monday evening, November 11 with all members present and a shorter than usual agenda.

Clinton County High School Principal Sheldon Harlan gave an update on the No Kid Hungry initiative begun by CCHS teacher Melissa Tallent and her class.

The program assists children in the district in need of food with backpacks of food to take home on weekends and has been a great success thus far, with well over 80 children currently participating.

Also, the group, along with other volunteers, will be cooking a free Thanksgiving meal on November 28 at the high school for any person in need of a meal on that holiday. Serving will begin around 12 noon at the CCHS cafeteria and more details will be forthcoming at a later date.

After approving between meeting disbursements and voting to pay claims and bills, Board Chairperson Paula Key gave the monthly personnel report, as follows: substitute teacher, Mark Hargis-district wide; classified transfer, Michael Thompson from full-time substitute to regular bus driver, and classified resignation, Rodney Byers-Paraprofessional I at CCHS.

Superintendent Charlotte Bernard then briefed board members on a statewide initiative that will hopefully draw the attention of the governor and legislators pertaining to funding shortfalls all school districts in the state are currently facing.

Bernard said the feasibility study that will be done statewide was initiated by the Superintendent of Fayette County Schools and is called the CBE Funding Adequacy Study.

All districts across the state are being asked to participate in the study and Bernard said as of early this week, all surrounding school districts had joined and about 120 across the state were on board.

The group is asking each district to allot 25 cents per student in itsdistrict, which in Clinton County’s case would come to around $450.00. However, districts that could not afford that amount would apparently be allowed to participate at a lower donation.

Results of the study will apparently be presented to lawmakers to show the affect of state SEEK funding and other reimbursement cuts the state has passed that is putting school districts in financial jeopardy.

Following a brief discussion, Board Member Kevin Marcum entered a motion to participate in the study and allot the group 25 cents per student to help fund it. The motion passed by unanimous vote.

Albany Elementary School Principal Tim Armstrong then presented a request from a couple of AES teachers to allow an after school voluntary Bible study class called the Good News Study Club. This, he said, would act as a feeder type program for the FCA and 180 Club at the middle and high school levels.

All board members, including Superintendent Bernard, were receptive to the idea, but the issue led to a short discussion on the “church vs. state” national issue, that seems to be ever ongoing.

Supt. Bernard told the board she had received letters from the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) warning against religious activity in schools and noted they bordered on being “harassing” in nature.

Board Member Marcum said he saw no problem with such an aforementioned club if its voluntary and inferred it was time for people to stand up.

The board agreed to have Bernard and Board Attorney Lindsey Bell look into the matter to make sure it can be done legally prior to actually implementing the after school program.

On a motion by Board Member Junior Cecil, the board voted to allow an exemption to board policy regarding district activities on Sundays in order to allow the high school boys’ and girls’ basketball teams an opportunity to play in tournaments during the 2013-14 school year.

It was noted CCHS will again be hosting its own Twin Lakes Holiday Classic next month and teams would need to practice on Sundays but no events would take place prior to 2 p.m. in the afternoon.

The board also approved the following district Mission/Vision statement: The mission statement of Clinton County Schools is to cooperate with the community to inspire life-long learning and future success, with the Vision Statement being–”Expecting Excellence Everyday.”

They then approved an overnight trip for selected band members from CCHS to Lee University in Cleveland, Tennessee November 14-16.

Finally, Superintendent Bernard gave the attendance report for the third month of the year. Overall attendance was down slightly district-wide for the month at 94.53, compared to 95 percent the same month a year ago.

Albany Elementary had the highest attendance rate for the month at 95.12 percent average daily attendance while the high school had the highest rate of improvement in attendance from this month compared to the same month a year ago.

The next regular meeting of the Clinton County Board of Education is scheduled for Monday, December 9 at 5 p.m. in the Central Office board room and is open to the general public.