[{"_1":2,"_124":-5,"_125":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,76,88,100,112],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},"mediaId",6343886,"mediaKeyId","2251616-5161b6423620517495cbdd8b96ef8977","parentId",2251616,"title","Board approves Ward Scott Morris agreement for STARS Academy children’s-center relocation","audioSeconds",155,"startMs",4231000,"endMs",4386000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=2251616-5161b6423620517495cbdd8b96ef8977&start=4231&end=4386","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2251616-5161b6423620517495cbdd8b96ef8977/thumbnail_4231000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6343886/Alabama/Board-approves-Ward-Scott-Morris-agreement-for-STARS-Academy-childrens-center-relocation","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6343886-2bf40efaa701190c6176b31de2b9a77b/orig.mp4?Expires=1775548518&Signature=XPDVo-lD9ImGytHz0zHkGOwa1XOgtbmEUPVTzqiANcZMx60Rk6ftvpb63gGjucz4SwJ9vvp4UN8orKKroX0IiSWQIvHrJaxf6M8AIeCZkFAWkulGydJJLDx3ZVaKH~HiU-mJNTnatTBovAjoIeNfHTLHKSBScvlXHQ7h1WvUdq3qJh3X~O~hr9QrH9tIG8s178PDONzBLi8HbnWR~cFf11jWdJj64DV60AYwGMy9alRG7AUcm02kaei2RUN1nTZm-ti8nIZ0YAu~flepN9L1BkqJmXA7f7orIMvLFf4EV2WLK94sEbS5LK3LAreH7zgWFJrrESL2vqCudo1urmDDBQ__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Tuscaloosa City Schools, Alabama","date","2025-02-04T00:00:00Z","article","The Tuscaloosa City Schools Board approved an agreement with Ward Scott Morris Architects to support moving the district Children’s Center from Brookport to a STARS Academy location.

District staff said the relocation will occur in May and presented the contract for architectural services to support the move. A district representative praised staff and partners for determining a solution that preserved the Brookport program despite obstacles encountered in prior planning.

The board approved the agreement by voice vote; the transcript records members thanking staff and the architect team for work to keep Brookport operational and to support the relocation. No roll-call tally was recorded in the transcript.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Tuscaloosa City Schools Regular Board Meeting - February 4, 2025","oneSentenceSummary","Board approved an architect agreement with Ward Scott Morris to support relocation of the district’s Children’s Center from Brookport to the STARS Academy site; the move is planned for May and board members praised staff for preserving the Brookport program.","taxTitle","Tuscaloosa City Schools, School Districts, Alabama","taxId",13593,"location","Alabama","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":77,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":78,"_41":79,"_43":80,"_45":81,"_47":82,"_49":83,"_51":84,"_53":85,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":86,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":87,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6343890,"Leadership Tuscaloosa class, New Heights Foundation to fund pavilion and court at New Heights Community Center",436,3805000,4241000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2251616-5161b6423620517495cbdd8b96ef8977&start=3805&end=4241","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2251616-5161b6423620517495cbdd8b96ef8977/thumbnail_3805000.jpg","/articles/6343890/Alabama/Leadership-Tuscaloosa-class-New-Heights-Foundation-to-fund-pavilion-and-court-at-New-Heights-Community-Center","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6343890-ee5c2338b86f9f2ece9586e17b23148f/orig.mp4?Expires=1775548519&Signature=atG4m~XZc9c3otH0~27ZKUh95gGTMc2YWG3dZYFnAd1up53B2M9bhtr8Sru0S0AzIbAleJUe0itPZnW7o6xQ8d0H474an7JUenwS6WQUlLKylCEmjml0WfbvF3tnYUvKMRyNSKtR3ZgXol6KHhmFQdYoi9AYREN0q~zGtE-xOjNLzutr8NdOKg3NgWmsviq8P0LTl3C9raHrJBrf-QF8tL84wJ7aVWsFWpdxydjnJ0KSBpYp3-~0cjFom~YWFdZkzchFZ9y-tV5XZkQ2sE04aV8ejc7RDUzCpIdGNwACRIKrclJcnJNCdGToT4IjZMrr8mYHV7fgrHlBZXSNd4BITQ__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","The board approved a facility change and architect agreement with Ward Scott Morris for a New Heights Community Center project funded and led by the nonprofit New Heights Foundation.

Karen Berkley, a member of the 2024–25 Leadership Tuscaloosa class and a representative of the New Heights Foundation, asked the board to approve adding a roughly 55-by-100-foot outdoor basketball court and a 20-by-30-foot open-air wood-frame pavilion adjacent to existing parking. Mark Simpson of Scholl Engineering described the site as largely flat and accessible from the parking lot, and Nathan (last name not specified) said the project would include light site work and a concrete court pad.

Berkley said the project cost estimate ranges between $50,000 and $77,000 and that fundraising was already underway. \"We have raised $13,000 plus Tony's company is gonna donate all of the lumber,\" she said. Berkley said the New Heights Foundation is a 501(c)(3) and will run the donations and construction fundraising.

Doctor Daria (transcript reference) and other board members praised the Leadership Tuscaloosa class for the community project and approved the architect agreement and facility change by voice vote. Board members asked staff to explain the New Heights Foundation's role for public viewers; a district representative described the project as community-funded and not using Tuscaloosa City Schools dollars.

The architect contract and facility change were approved by the board; the transcript records a voice vote with no roll-call tally in the public portion of the record.","Board approved a Ward Scott Morris architectural agreement and facility change to add a basketball court and open-air pavilion at New Heights Community Center; the New Heights Foundation will fund the project and has raised early donations.",{"_33":89,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":90,"_41":91,"_43":92,"_45":93,"_47":94,"_49":95,"_51":96,"_53":97,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":98,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":99,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6343895,"Board approves personnel changes, delays vote on central-office reorganization",524,3210000,3734000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2251616-5161b6423620517495cbdd8b96ef8977&start=3210&end=3734","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2251616-5161b6423620517495cbdd8b96ef8977/thumbnail_3210000.jpg","/articles/6343895/Alabama/Board-approves-personnel-changes-delays-vote-on-central-office-reorganization","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6343895-048f42ac7f025aa346a7ac421957f40b/orig.mp4?Expires=1775548519&Signature=ajj8kGKYlZJGpWUWJeV2zV3yS~botaCDDXrx6K00FlPvPbkvfWlAg9PY-Ozedxu8C2uhF3N8XOvnVgs-ZiC2mvM4IQjyqX9P4~fA4l2SeUoAHVDBM-QV7x2EW9ZQDTIutBWMk4UnJUiZlq9OSVm8ERjna1cDzu7sJKZrpULm9A6BspkZ7cQEttdPzZIk4zcNSl5MxZ5gJJ0s~12cbEQj08Zs~NzfJa9yb87NP8m~Zc-nQiYHkp~nTKSAb8uAR~l9XeZdkBoteZLly-ZmiRBI2OBIinCc6GVu8ndH~L1TfoKgG-WZh8oKPBrIZBp-bFBdSQwNu5LLMiZ1AwkYafIfug__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","The Tuscaloosa City Schools Board approved a slate of personnel recommendations from the superintendent and adopted a revised job description for the secretary/chief school financial officer and bookkeeper, but members removed a proposal to make a central-office reorganization permanent to allow more discussion.

Doctor Cameron, a district staff member presenting the superintendent's recommendations, outlined the personnel slate (one retirement; nine resignations; two new support personnel; one new certified staff; two reassignments; 29 part-time extended-day tutors; additional supplements and contracted positions). The board voted to approve the personnel list by voice vote. \"Hearing none, I'll call for a vote. All in favor. Aye. Anybody opposed? Those will be approved,\" the chair said; the transcript records a voice vote and no roll-call tally.

On a separate agenda item, Cameron presented a recommendation to make several temporary central-office staffing adjustments permanent. \"This recommendation will save the system, approximately a hundred and $46,000 and decrease the overall expense for the system,\" Cameron said, describing title changes and responsibility shifts (for example, eliminating a social services coordinator position and having the assistant network administrator assume IT security specialist duties funded by the state; changing a coordinator of people services and attendance to director of student services; and renaming mental-health coordinator to administrator of social services and mental health).

Board members asked procedural questions and requested more time for discussion. One member said they preferred additional conversation before making permanent changes; another noted the temporary arrangement was already in place through May 2025. With a motion and second on the floor, the board ultimately rescinded the motion and removed the reorganization item from the agenda to allow further discussion at a future meeting.

The board then approved revisions to the secretary/chief school financial officer and bookkeeper job description. Doctor Cameron said the revisions update a job description last revised in 2005, create cross-training optimization and make no pay or organizational-chart changes.

The transcript records approvals by voice vote; no roll-call tallies for these approvals are recorded in the public minutes in the transcript.","The board approved the superintendent’s recommended personnel changes and a revised school financial officer/bookkeeper job description but withdrew consideration of a permanent central-office reorganization after members asked for more discussion; staff said the temporary staffing model is already in effect.",{"_33":101,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":102,"_41":103,"_43":104,"_45":105,"_47":106,"_49":107,"_51":108,"_53":109,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":110,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":111,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6343899,"CSFO: Early property-tax collections and modest sales-tax growth keep district revenue healthy",420,2757000,3177000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2251616-5161b6423620517495cbdd8b96ef8977&start=2757&end=3177","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2251616-5161b6423620517495cbdd8b96ef8977/thumbnail_2757000.jpg","/articles/6343899/Alabama/CSFO-Early-property-tax-collections-and-modest-sales-tax-growth-keep-district-revenue-healthy","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6343899-1b277d5a8c7f98be05259b7035b20043/orig.mp4?Expires=1775548519&Signature=PkTXISMMHF~dAjK334wmD5kZ3KPY4ZF3yB05gOpGff71pJ0gqrgSdPDTG~6jg0KGVtWSjULt-x3iIOiKxsiL0yCVJG6UDV2yGOfLtqsuQtcV3N~gEX3arU2rGJrFd1eB2oXpHopPeGW29vv7xFvH5vdiqhLV2fNSgwIaaRxAimPRgR9rbyROi6dM7ZKscNzlNdv6RqzaRY5mauvaRKmKdga5i7CWanLNH~dl7obBSuUU4y85dpC2lxlB4mcVvvtLMFf3TKmhd0jYDdQVKHunjmpR8horqEiOnnNhlAEmeiabA~p4S86EwhB3brOZSlKGZwzXxbKh7EOhVVjI-hKtrw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Chief School Financial Officer Jay Duke presented financial reports for the months ending Oct. 31 and Nov. 30 and told the Tuscaloosa City Schools Board that revenue and expenditures are tracking close to budget early in the fiscal year.

\"At this point, we are 2 months in our fiscal year, which began Oct. 1 and again ending Nov. 30. So we're 16% into our budget year,\" Duke said. He said property-tax collections are coming in \"healthy early compared to the last few years,\" and that the district's budget for property tax this year is $33,500,000.

Duke reported modest movement in other revenue streams: automobile tag revenue showed a slight decline year-over-year for November, and sales tax was up about 1.5% over the first two months compared with the same period last year, roughly a $61,000 increase. Overall general-fund expenditures were about 15.6% of budget while revenue collections were about 16.7% of budget at the two-month mark.

Duke also reviewed longer-term context, showing state foundation per-pupil funding in raw dollars has risen since 2007 but falls when adjusted for inflation. \"Now factor in inflation ... that line ... is going in the opposite direction when you factor in inflation,\" he told the board, noting the 2025 Alabama legislative session had just started and that the district would monitor any changes to the funding formula.

Duke closed with a snapshot of the Child Nutrition Program (CNP), a special-revenue fund: revenues for October and November were about $1.85 million with expenditures near $1.8 million, both near budgeted levels. He noted the district's comprehensive F2A state report shows a larger aggregated number of roughly $75 million across funds, explaining much of that total is earmarked across different funds and that one-time technology advances are part of the current-year increase.

Board members asked whether timing of property-tax receipts explained year-to-date variances; Duke agreed timing (for example, a large taxpayer paying earlier) could explain the early uptick and said collections should level out across the year.","Chief School Financial Officer Jay Duke told the board that early property-tax collections and slight sales-tax increases have kept fiscal-year revenue on track two months into the year; staff highlighted per-pupil funding trends when adjusted for inflation.",{"_33":113,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":114,"_41":115,"_43":116,"_45":117,"_47":118,"_49":119,"_51":120,"_53":121,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":122,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":123,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6343903,"Tuscaloosa City Schools reports midyear gains on Pathways to Proficiency assessments",1817,919000,2736000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2251616-5161b6423620517495cbdd8b96ef8977&start=919&end=2736","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2251616-5161b6423620517495cbdd8b96ef8977/thumbnail_919000.jpg","/articles/6343903/Alabama/Tuscaloosa-City-Schools-reports-midyear-gains-on-Pathways-to-Proficiency-assessments","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6343903-683764b5c4e051bd14f233fb097c3634/orig.mp4?Expires=1775548519&Signature=I7OtpUazylKyz9c9BI9jHQUMBMziBHQXWrycFOgyFvA9kvS3DBT3XTT3F4GK25yO0PabIYNBGQrgcWuyoJv0-55~Wu0pdW2kBxv0JRjKOqCNKghXg2F5VlJpyP5EhGjn4U0bB3OuYZYp4CqDgxE5cFKYbZtsX8ZSt9W03-KyIHsZRh12CyKRkDY2juzfNZOJifmjoZtz5YIKObI4L1BEaWJLEmNWP~lja-NsYFuXMmqQSh8qYm2WpAh2VZwkvLKpsB1Ip1I8haiY0gQqu8HN2H9FWJjFXnqaxvhQEeUOv2rrCGDtwKvewVGjFYhePV6G7tEBEDcOAZqTTaNTXfn0lw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","The Tuscaloosa City Schools Board of Education received midyear assessment results on the Pathways to Proficiency benchmark during its meeting. Doctor Fulton, a district staff member, told the board the district is at 43% proficiency midyear compared with 37% at the same point last year.

The midyear assessment, given in December, measures student performance on grade-level state standards (for grades 3–8) and ACT-aligned standards for 11th grade. \"Every school grades 3 through 8 had to take it, with ACAP standards, and eleventh grade ... was ACT standards,\" Doctor Fulton said. The district uses the results as a \"temperature check\" to identify standards already taught and areas that need targeted instruction before spring state assessments.

School-level results varied. Fulton highlighted several elementary schools that showed notable midyear gains, naming Arcadia (increase in students at the \"2\" band from 29% to 37%), MLK (24% to 30% midyear) and Marquette Poorey and Whitlam Forest as identified for improvement or recognition. Fulton said teachers use \"stepping stones\" and a standards-attainment chart to track which students have mastered particular standards and to guide interventions.

Board members pressed for clarifications about how midyear percentages are calculated. Doctor Fulton said elementary percentages represent the average of grades 3–5 within a building, middle-school figures are an average for grades 6–8, and high-school figures reflect eleventh grade only. Fulton also explained that some schools following alternative pacing guides (for example, schools using an \"A-plus\" program) may show lower midyear scores because certain standards had not yet been taught; end-of-year testing will align on all standards.

Fulton said math and ELA trends are converging: districtwide proficiency was about 46% in ELA and 43% in math at midyear. He emphasized the numbers are a midyear snapshot and that February and April assessments will give fuller pictures after additional instruction and pacing adjustments. Fulton said the district will provide more detailed grade-level and teacher-level progression data to board members on request.

The presentation closed with an invitation to a future data session for deeper analysis; board members were told that staff will return with more detailed growth and intervention data in a follow-up session.","District staff presented midyear benchmark results showing increases in proficiency on district-aligned Pathways to Proficiency assessments, with district-wide proficiency up from 37% to 43% at midyear; schools and grade bands show mixed progress and some pacing discrepancies.","actionData","errors"]

Article not found

Board approves Ward Scott Morris agreement for STARS Academy children’s-center relocation

Leadership Tuscaloosa class, New Heights Foundation to fund pavilion and court at New Heights Community Center

Board approves personnel changes, delays vote on central-office reorganization

CSFO: Early property-tax collections and modest sales-tax growth keep district revenue healthy

Tuscaloosa City Schools reports midyear gains on Pathways to Proficiency assessments