The Scottsboro City Board of Education reconvened its Oct. 23, 2025 work session Thursday night following an executive session, moving through personnel updates, contracts, travel requests, facilities needs and an extended presentation on transportation staffing.
Interim Superintendent Jason Hass and district staff also provided updates on enrollment, upcoming calendar dates and the ongoing superintendent search.
The board reviewed personnel actions and anticipated openings stemming from previously approved moves. The personnel list included long-term substitutes and other adjustments expected to be needed as staffing shifts continue.
The board also heard additions to the 2025–2026 substitute list. Administration noted that all substitutes must continue to meet background check requirements.
Revised supplemental assignments for coaching and other extracurricular positions were also shared. The board was told any changes are marked in blue on the updated spreadsheet they were provided.
Caldwell Elementary requested board approval for after-school tutoring contracts funded through ARI (Alabama Reading Initiative) grant dollars. The contracts would allow after-hours academic support for students.
The board will consider a travel request for Scottsboro High School student Bailey Hixon, who currently serves as Alabama Beta Club state vice president. The role requires attendance at several out-of-state leadership events. Board members said they were proud of her representation of SHS.
A new job description for “Instructional Assistant – Special Education Services” was presented in draft form. Administration explained that applicants sometimes apply for general aide positions without realizing the assignment could be in a specialized setting (for example, special education support vs. a P.E. aide). The new description is meant to make expectations and duties clear up front so that applicants understand the specific environment they’re applying for.
The board reviewed a joint purchasing agreement with the Sand Mountain CNP cooperative. This agreement is intended to allow Scottsboro to participate in cooperative buying for certain goods and services.
Technology Director Mr. Russ Smith presented the annual renewal for Google Workspace for Education, which the district uses for email and core productivity services. The board was told that unlike previous years, Google has started charging for some classes of user accounts (including certain staff and other non-student accounts), which affected cost this cycle.
The board heard from Lean Frog president Byron Henry about a proposed organizational review and compensation study for Scottsboro City Schools.
Henry said Lean Frog has worked with K-12 clients across Alabama and the Southeast for about 17 years. He described the review as more than just “what should you pay people,” saying it is a system-wide look at structure, staffing, pay and long-term sustainability.
According to Henry, the work happens in two parts:
• Organizational review: Looks at whether department structures, staffing, and processes line up with the district’s strategic goals; Benchmarks performance in areas like transportation, child nutrition, technology and maintenance against similarly sized districts and top performers, including peers across the Southeast; Identifies bottlenecks, duplications, retirement risks over the next five years, and areas where responsibilities or processes may need to be realigned; Produces specific, step-by-step recommendations with time lines and estimated cost/benefit, not just general statements.
• Compensation study: Goes beyond a basic “salary survey.” Henry said typical surveys only show minimum and maximum pay ranges from other systems, which doesn’t address internal equity; Compares Scottsboro’s pay for both instructional and non-instructional roles to two markets: (1) other school systems and (2) local/regional industry for positions like IT and HVAC techs, where the competition isn’t just other schools; Reviews internal equity to make sure similar responsibility levels are being compensated fairly and to avoid situations where, for example, a highly paid classroom teacher ends up earning more than an entry-level principal, making it harder to promote from within; Helps the board form an intentional “compensation philosophy,” instead of giving everyone the same across-the-board percentage increase, which Henry said can lock in unfair gaps.Henry told the board Leap Frog typically begins the organizational review first, then starts compensation work about a month later so the two studies overlap. He said the final report often runs around 150 pages and includes implementation steps that districts can begin acting on even before the study is complete.
Board members asked whether the study could be limited to certain groups (for example, just central office or just classified staff). Henry said it can be narrowed, but warned that narrowing too far can create compression problems if raises for one group unintentionally place them above or too close to another group.
Two MOUs (memorandums of understanding) were presented:
The 2025–2026 MOU between Scottsboro City Schools and Northeast remains largely unchanged. Northeast provides GED prep services to eligible students.
The district also reviewed an MOU with the Jackson County Children’s Advocacy Center. Director of Student Services, Scott Hodges told the board the agreement provides an additional layer of mental health and victim support services for students who need outside counseling.
He added that the center can also provide professional development for Scottsboro staff, including training to help teachers recognize possible signs of child abuse, many of which are behavioral and not always visible.
The board reviewed a purchase request for a portable air conditioning unit.
A quote exceeding $15,000 was presented for a large portable AC unit. Administration said this is a recurring need each summer when an HVAC unit fails. Because the purchase is above $15,000, it was required to go before the board.
The board discussed a proposed covered walkway for Club Wildcat, the district’s after-school program located at Collins.
The cover would run roughly 62½ feet along the rear pickup area, providing shelter from the weather for children and families during dismissal and drop-off.
Staff noted that the structure would not be a permanent brick-and-mortar build, but a cover that could be relocated if needed.
Board members asked about exact placement, width, drainage, and whether it would help address a standing water issue in that pickup zone.
Administration confirmed the project is intended to improve both comfort and safety.
The board also reviewed a request from Transportation Director Jason Arnold to remove certain vehicles from the Scottsboro City Schools fleet inventory.
The board discussed selecting a voting delegate and alternate for the Alabama Association of School Boards 2025 convention. The convention session the delegate must attend is scheduled for December 4 at 6 p.m. in Montgomery. The district must submit its delegate information to AASB by October 30.
Board members noted this overlaps with superintendent search time lines.
Candidate interviews are expected to begin in November, with finalist interviews projected for early December.
Arnold presented a detailed incentive and retention proposal for bus drivers and substitute drivers. He said Scottsboro, like districts statewide and nationally, is struggling to recruit and keep CDL-qualified drivers, which has already led to canceled or combined routes this year.
Key elements of the proposal include:
Trip pay: Raising field trip/athletic trip driving pay from $15/hour to $20/hour.
Substitute driver pay: Raising substitute daily pay from $75/day to $100/day.
Attendance bonus: A semester-based attendance incentive for regular route drivers, scaled by days missed: •No absences: $500 •One excused absence (doctor’s note, etc.): $300 •Two days missed: $200 •More than two: not eligible
Arnold said the goal is to reward reliability in a way similar to how schools recognize student attendance. He then explained more about the proposal which also includes the following:
Safety bonus: A $100-per-semester safety incentive tied to following transportation policy, including prohibited cellphone use while driving, safe loading and unloading, and incident-free operation.
Drivers could still qualify second semester even if they miss the first, so one mistake early in the year doesn’t permanently disqualify them.New driver hiring & retention bonus: Instead of offering a one-time $1,000 sign-on bonus up front (and risk training someone who then leaves for another system), Arnold proposed splitting it: • $500 when a new driver comes on board • $500 after one calendar year with Scottsboro, provided they’ve actually driven at least 20 days within that 365-day period.
He said the goal is to encourage CDL candidates to stay with Scottsboro instead of being trained here and then immediately leaving for another district.
Arnold also addressed game travel. Policy still gives regular bus drivers first right of refusal for athletic and extracurricular trips.
However, during postseason overlap, when baseball, softball, track, etc. are all traveling, the district sometimes simply doesn’t have enough available CDL drivers without pulling someone off an afternoon route.
Under the proposal:
•If no regular driver can take a trip, and a coach or staff member with the proper CDL drives that trip, that coach could be paid a four-hour minimum (described as $80 total for that minimum block).
•That pay would not come out of the athletic program’s budget.
• If a coach still chooses to drive voluntarily for free in order to save money for their program, they would be allowed to continue doing that.
Arnold stressed this is not meant to “skip over” full-time drivers. It’s meant to (1) keep regular routes covered so students still get home from school, and (2) keep teams from missing playoff contests due to transportation shortages.
Board members asked whether this model exists elsewhere. It was explained that Fort Payne has an incentive program for bus drivers that includes stipends (referencing a $1,500 stipend structure after a minimum service threshold), though Scottsboro’s draft is more targeted and performance-based.
Board members also asked whether the proposed incentives are sustainable. Arnold, along with CSFO Nicole Bruno, said they met in August and identified a transportation budget line that receives recurring revenue.
They estimated that, even if every eligible driver maxed out attendance and safety bonuses, the total cost would be roughly in the $20,000 range.
According to Bruno, that transportation account was sitting around $172,000 at the time of their budget review and has since grown to just over $185,000, with roughly $53,000 in expected revenue this year.
Arnold said based on those numbers, the program “should be able to take care of itself.”
The board discussed timing. One option is to let the plan sit as an information item and bring it back in November as an action item for a December vote and January rollout. Another option, raised by a board member, was to move faster by placing the proposal directly on the next agenda for action so incentives could begin sooner. Multiple board members signaled support for acting quickly.
In his interim superintendent’s report, Hass said the district has now submitted its official 20-day enrollment snapshot to the state. That number, which the state uses to calculate teacher units for the following year, was 2,412.
He noted that last year’s 20-day number was 2,456, but the district actually ended last school year at 2,388. By that measure, Scottsboro is up compared to where it finished in May, even if it is down compared to last fall’s count.
Hass said enrollment has fluctuated this fall, with daily membership ranging from the upper 2,390s to around 2,428 during the first weeks of school.
At Scottsboro High School, the combined average daily enrollment for grades 9–11 is currently 511.4. Because state calculations for high school teacher units are based on grades 9–11, he said that SHS should qualify for five full teaching units per subject area category rather than being forced into cuts. He noted that number is closely watched.
Hass also addressed a trend that has been widely discussed at the state level: Alabama public schools are down approximately 5,700 students overall this year compared to last year. He said state officials have attributed about 3,000 of those losses to the CHOOSE Act (the state’s education savings account/voucher program), another 600 to increases in homeschooling/virtual schooling, and roughly 2,100 students who are simply “unaccounted for.”
According to what Hass relayed from State Superintendent Dr. Eric Mackey, some of that missing 2,100 is believed to be students from immigrant families, possibly including families without legal status, who have not re-enrolled their children. Hass warned that when the state’s foundation money is tied to enrollment, those kinds of losses could translate into lost teaching positions statewide.
Hass said Scottsboro has not seen the kind of dramatic drop that would immediately threaten staffing.
The interim superintendent also re-stated the district’s Continuous Improvement Plan (CIP) goals that were recently filed with the state. He said all federal dollars must tie back to these goals:
•Academic achievement
•College, Career & Readiness (including expanded Career Tech and STEM)
•Safe and supportive learning environments (discipline, attendance, climate)
•Culture and communication
He clarified that these targets drive how money can be spent, including intervention programs and staffing.
The school district shared several key dates:
Scottsboro’s 2024–2025 state report card (system and school level) becomes available to the district this week. It will be embargoed at first and not immediately public, but administration plans to present it as soon as the state allows release.
Schools will be closed Tuesday, November 11, 2025 for Veterans Day; November 24-28 for Thanksgiving Break
Secondary semester exams are scheduled for December 18–19. Those two days will operate on an early-dismissal schedule similar to homecoming with elementary release at 11:15 a.m. and secondary release at 12:05 p.m.
December 18 will be the main elementary classroom party day (board members joked about how “fun” those days are).
Student Christmas Break runs December 20, 2025 through January 1, 2026.
Staff professional development day is January 2, 2026.
Hass noted that was part of the “trade-off” that allowed the system to offer a full fall break in October.
Students are scheduled to return Monday, January 5, 2026.
During board member comments, several members thanked staff, principals and the public for their patience with the long executive session and for staying to hear the work session.
Board members also thanked everyone who responded to the community superintendent search survey. One member said they feel good about the process, are expecting strong applicants, and are confident the board will “get the very best person for our community.”
The board reaffirmed that National Principal Appreciation Month is being observed this month and publicly thanked school administrators for keeping day-to-day operations running smoothly “in the halls… in the trenches… in the classrooms,” even while the district is in transition at the central office.
