Albertville BOE Chooses Superintendent Finalists

ALBERTVILLE – The Albertville Board of Education has chosen five finalists for the job as the school system’s next superintendent.

Albertville embarked on the search in June following Dr. Boyd K. English’s announcement that he would retire after six years as superintendent. The search, handled by the law firm of Lanier Ford in Huntsville, attracted 13 candidates. At Tuesday night’s regular monthly board meeting, Board Attorney Taylor Brooks announced the five frontrunners chosen by the board. They are Dr. John Barge, Dr. Bart Reeves, Dr. Robert Sims, Dr. Brian Thomas, and Mr. Todd Watkins.

Dr. John Barge is an education consultant in the State of Georgia. Dr. Barge has served as state superintendent for the Georgia Department of Education, the superintendent of McIntosh County School District, and in various administrative and teaching positions with other school districts in the State of Georgia.
Dr. Bart Reeves is the assistant executive director for the Alabama Association of School Boards. Dr. Reeves has formerly served as superintendent of Satsuma City Schools and superintendent of Jackson County Schools. Dr. Reeves has also served as a principal for Jasper City Schools and an assistant principal and teacher for Guntersville City Schools.
Dr. Robert Sims served for 13 years as principal of Albertville Intermediate School. Dr. Sims has also served as an assistant principal of Evans Elementary School and Albertville Middle School. Prior to coming to work for Albertville City Schools, he was an assistant principal at Sand Rock and a history teacher at Arab High School.
Dr. Brian Thomas is the chief of staff for the DeKalb County Board of Education. Prior to being named chief of staff, Dr. Thomas served as the assistant superintendent of DeKalb County Schools for approximately eight years. In addition to his many years as an administrator, Dr. Thomas also served as a teacher for over six years.
Todd Watkins is currently the interim superintendent of Albertville City Schools. Prior to being named superintendent, Mr. Watkins served as the assistant superintendent and executive director of career tech and student services at Albertville City Schools since 2021. He also served as the director of career technology for Huntsville City Schools and the director of technology and innovation for Eufaula City Schools. Additionally, he was an alternative school principal and virtual learning coordinator for Oxford City Schools, the digital curriculum coordinator of Piedmont City Schools, a teacher for Gadsden City Schools and Trussville City Schools, and a teacher and technology coordinator for Etowah County Schools.

“All five finalists are distinguished educators with years of success in educational administration. We have three candidates with experience as a superintendent. All five have many years of experience as administrators in many different areas,” said Brooks.

Over the coming weeks, the five finalists will participate in intensive interviews with the board, which will be open to the public. Exact dates and times will be announced once they have been finalized. (07/24 - You can find the finalized schedule by clicking here.)

The board plans to vote on the next superintendent at its next regular monthly meeting coming on Aug. 15. It will begin at 6 p.m. at 105 West Main Street in downtown Albertville.

Also at the meeting, Albertville Middle School Teacher Kristi Scott addressed the board to advocate on behalf of Spur aids. Board President Bobby Stewart told Scott her concerns would be taken into consideration once a permanent superintendent has been named.

During the meeting, the board:

Approved the meeting minutes from June 27 meeting, the fundraising revenue for June, and the listing of inventory to be recycled and deleted.
Approved the job description for a migrant auxiliary teacher.
Approved a FY24 salary schedule revision to reflect the addition of an assistant band director, the state-required $15 per hour minimum, and the AggieVision supplement.
Approved the following personnel items:
- Retirements/Resignations
  - Makita Jones, speech language pathologist at AKPK, effective June 27.
  - Kassadi Cotton, kindergarten teacher at AKPK, effective June 28.
  - Scarlett Hyman, elementary teacher at AIS, effective July 14.
  - Lisa Williams, 9-month counselor at AES, effective July 13.
  - Karlee Mashburn, elementary teacher at APS, effective July 14.
  - Billy Pollard, resigning from providing support for the attendance officer and student registration address verifications, effective July 31.
  - Stacey Turner, resigning from AggieVision at AHS, effective July 10.
  - Emily Huntington, Jade Townsend, Donna Tabor, Pamela Fortner, Misty Brogdon, and Dana Sanders, 182-day system-wide LPNs to 187-day systemwide LPNs.
  - Cole Bowling, migrant graduation specialist at AHS to ELL teacher at AHS.
  - Anthony Knight, CNP worker at AIS to CNP assistant manager at AES.
  - Jodi McClendon, elementary teacher at AES to ELL teacher at AIS.
  - Caitlin Smith, elementary teacher at AES to kindergarten teacher at AKPK.
  - Kristen Brown, elementary teacher at APS.
  - Elizabeth Webb, elementary teacher at APS.
  - Kriscenda Aaron, business education teacher at AHS.
  - Maegan Bell, CNP worker at AES.
  - Kara Garmany, elementary teacher at AES.
  - Shannon Graves, elementary teacher at AES.
  - Justin Price, social studies teacher at AMS.
  - Brileigh Noles, elementary teacher at AIS.
  - Torre Aaron, secondary education teacher at AHS.
  - Krystal Mayo, CNP worker at AIS.
  - Ashby Frazier, leadership team at AHS.
  - Billy Dunn, AggieVision at AHS.
  - Torre Aaron, head varsity softball coach at AHS.
  - Courtney Hallford, leadership team at AES.
  - Aimee Jung, leadership team at AES.
  - Kassadie Bailey, assistant auxiliary band at AHS.
  - Alexandra Mullinax (APS), Courtney Young (AES), Makenzi Golden (AHS), Jesse Hemphill (AHS), Pamela Ancelet (AMS), Kimberly Ables (AKPK) to be paid $10 for 30 minutes for the early morning bridge program for ACS employees, effective Aug. 8, 2023 – May 23, 2024.
  - Meredith Moore (AKPK), Nancy Greer (AKPK), Melia Minor (AKPK) to be paid $20 for one hour for the afternoon bridge program for ACS employees, effective Aug. 8, 2023 – May 23, 2024.
  - Cathy Ballentine, federal program liaison at AES, to be paid $2,5000 with Title V funds, effective Aug. 1.
  - Megan Law, assistant softball coach at AHS, to be paid $3,000 by the softball boosters, effective July 19, 2023 – May 31, 2024.
  - Cole Bowling, summer migrant program teacher, to be paid at his daily rate by migrant funds, effective July 26.
  - Brian Harris, to hold a daily math lab at AHS, to be paid $20 for one hour from Title I funds, effective Aug. 8, 2023 – May 23, 2024.
  - Monica Roesner, to hold a daily math lab at AHS, to be paid $20 for one hour from Title I funds, effective Aug. 8, 2023 – May 23, 2024.
  - Teresa Andres, girls assistant soccer coach at AHS, to be paid and not to exceed $2,000 by the BOE, effective June 18, 2023 – May 31, 2024.
  - Matthew Endres, clinic work with Censations/Center Stage, to be paid and not to exceed $1,500 by AHS, effective Jan. 2 – Jan. 31, 2024.
  - Megan Rudolph and Rebecca Walker, judges for the Diamond Classic Show Choir Competition, to be paid and not to exceed $1,000 by AHS, effective Feb. 1 – Feb. 5, 2024.
  - Kenneth Stewart, show choir services, to be paid and not to exceed $2,000 by AHS, effective Aug. 1, 2023 – May 31, 2024.
  - Larry Davis, show choir services, to be paid and not to exceed $2,500 by AHS, effective Aug. 1, 2023 – May 31, 2024.
  - Karen Fancher, show choir services, to be paid and not to exceed $3,500 by AHS, effective Aug. 1, 2023 – May 31, 2024.
  - Jacob Tyler May, public service announcing services for football and basketball, and to build/manage LED advertising graphics for the football boosters, to be paid and not to exceed $7,5000 from AHS football and basketball funds, effective July 19, 2023 – March 1, 2024.
  - Leia Shaver, assistant cheer coach at AMS, to be paid and not to exceed $1,000 by the BOE, effective Aug. 1, 2023 – Feb. 1, 2024.
  - Voted to continue their membership with the Alabama Association of School Boards for the 2023-2024 school year for the amount of $15,424.
  - Approved the following professional service contracts. All of these contracts will be paid with IDEA funds.
  - - Agreement with Dr. William Ford, a clinical psychologist, and ACS to provide our system with required observations and/or evaluations that are necessary to determine whether a student has an Autism Spectrum Disorder and provide feedback to the teachers and admin on methods being used in the classroom with these students. The rate of pay will be $1,550 and should not exceed $15,500.
    - Agreement with North Alabama Occupational Therapy, LLC and ACS, to provide contractual occupational therapy services for a period beginning October 1, 2023, and ending September 30, 2024. Charges during this period will not exceed a total of $115,100.
    - Agreement with Twin Acres Physical Therapy and ACS to provide skilled pediatric physical therapy services to identified students requiring intervention. The amount of the contract shall not exceed $32,000.
    - Agreement with WISE (Woolley Institute for Spoken-Language Education) and ACS to provide Auditory Verbal Therapy and Educational Audiology services to identified students. Auditory Verbal Therapy services will not exceed $7,000 and Educational Audiology services will not exceed $10,000.
    In his superintendent’s report, Mr. Watkins informed the board that all schools have now turned in their updated student handbooks, and that in-service is being held at individual schools this year. He also spoke about a mentor program for new teachers at ACS. He also announced that virtual school applications are now being accepted. The deadline to apply is Aug. 4. Orientation and staggered start schedules are also available on the website at albertk12.org.