It was primarily routine business at the regular meeting of the Clinton County Board of Education Monday evening, March 16 with five of six board members present for the 50-minute session.

The board first presented a certificate to Albany Elementary teacher Jennifer Martin in recognition of her obtaining her National Board Certification, a feat that only a small percentage of teachers obtain. Martin will be recognized for the honor next Tuesday, March 24 in Frankfort.

Martin said to obtain the certification, it took a lot of hard work but noted it was worth the effort in her being able to teach better in the classroom and attributed some of the success to her mentor, Connie Gregory.

The board then approved consent items on the agenda, including minutes of previous meetings, subsequent disbursements, paying claims and bills and granting a family medical leave for Sarah Gosser from February 14 through March 1.

Finance Director Mike Reeves then gave the monthly finance report, noting the cash balance was up in February and the district, financially, is where it should be. He also noted he was working on the upcoming fiscal year working budget and would go into more detail on the numbers with the board at their next work session in April.

Board Chairperson Paula Key then gave the monthly personnel report, as follows:

— Classified resignation: Sarah Gosser as Transportation Clerical Assistant.

— Classified hired: Maricris Grider, cook at the Early Childhood Center; Ronald McGill, part-time custodian at Albany Elementary; Richard Mercader and Danielle Sawyers, full-time substitute bus drivers, district-wide.

— Substitute teacher: Melanie Jones, district-wide.

— Certified transfer: Ashley McWhorter from middle school teacher to Exceptional Education teacher at the middle school.

The board, on a motion by Junior Cecil, approved the amended 2014-15 school calendar. (See separate article on page 1.)

The board had discussed details of the revisions to the calendar which will see the last day for students being May 29 and the final day for staff on June 3.

Superintendent Charlotte Bernard noted changes the state legislature had allowed a week ago Wednesday night and said teachers were required by contract to have a mandatory number of working days, which would put the final day for staff on the aforementioned date.

Cecil said after the meeting that although he would have preferred students not have to go to school on election day, as will be the case this year, he noted if they had used it as an off day, school would have gone into June, a scenario which no one wanted.

The board then approved a contract for nonresident pupils between Clinton County and the Somerset Independent School District for the next three school years, ending in 2017-18 and approved the Clinton County High School Cheerleaders Spirit Week fundraiser to be conducted April 20-24 for the benefit of Relay For Life.

The board then approved an agreement between the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, Division of Driver Licensing, and Clinton County High School for the use of facilities in the distribution of classroom instruction associated with the Kentucky Graduated Licensing Program.

The high school allows the Transportation Cabinet the use of a classroom to conduct classes for 16-year-old would-be drivers who are applying for their intermediate driver’s license.

Superintendent Bernard then gave the monthly attendance report for the sixth month of school, running from mid-January through most of February. During the month, overall attendance was down slightly from 93.6 a year ago to 93.2 this year. The school with the highest average daily attendance was once again Albany Elementary School.

Clinton County Middle School Principal Teresa Scott and Clinton County High School Principal Sheldon Harlan, respectively, gave presentations to the board regarding student data at each school to this point in the year.

Superintendent Bernard then gave a brief superintendent’s report, noting the work being done on the current and 2015-16 school calendars, staff evaluations, student intervention programs and the upcoming fiscal year budget.

The next meeting of the Clinton County Board of Education will be a work session on Thursday, April 9 at 4:30 p.m. and the next regular business meeting on Monday, April 19 at 5 p.m., both at the Central Office and both are open to the general public.