Morgan County elections: First female school superintendent has big plans

Nov. 9—Tracie Turrentine will become Morgan County's first female school superintendent after officially winning the position Tuesday and said she plans to address learning loss from the pandemic, introduce more students to dual enrollment courses, and follow through on building a new Priceville Junior High and refurbishing Union Hill Elementary during her four-year term.

Also on Tuesday, all three school systems in Morgan County got a boost when voters approved a constitutional amendment that gave permanence to a local law directing most of the online sales tax revenue to the schools.

Turrentine, 43, faced no general election opposition after winning the Republican primary in May with 52.2% of the vote. She will continue to serve as assistant superintendent until taking office Jan. 1.

"I think it's good to keep things simple, so right now what we want to focus on is safety, school culture and classroom instruction," Turrentine said on Tuesday.

She will succeed appointed Superintendent Robert Elliott, who did not seek election to a full term.

In the two contested countywide races, voters reelected District 1 Commissioner Jeff Clark to a seventh term and District 2 Commissioner Randy Vest to a fourth term.

Turrentine previously said she wanted to bring a mix of traditional and technologically based teaching to Morgan County classrooms and said she is already working with her administrators to establish a strategic plan.

"We're setting up a plan of what we want to do instructional wise in the whole-group classroom and what we think it should look like in small groups," Turrentine said. "We want to make sure we're using technology and getting kids ready for the workforce but also hands-on in having them college ready and career ready."

To address learning loss resulting from the pandemic, Turrentine said her district hired a total of 17 interventionists with federal funds to work at every school in the district this school year.

"Also, with the Literacy Act, we already have reading specialists in all eight K-4 schools," Turrentine said. "I want to look at adding instructional coaches to our high schools and also math coaches as well."

Turrentine said she will have over 15 seniors in her district who will graduate next month because of their involvement in dual enrollment courses since they were freshmen.

"We had a lot of kids double up on classes and also take college classes so they'll be graduating at Christmas," Turrentine said. "Most of our dual-enrollment is through Calhoun Community College, but we've also worked with Wallace State (Community College) and the University of North Alabama."

The new West Morgan High School is slated for completion sometime in the next school semester and Turrentine said she is considering installing some career tech courses in the new building such as welding, nursing, and veterinary science. The district's technology park is currently located at Brewer High School.

The district has gone to the bond market to prepare for building a new Priceville Junior High School adjacent to Priceville High. It plans to use local money for adding classrooms at Union Hill Elementary.

"We are replacing an old existing building (at Union Hill) with a new wing that will include 10 classrooms and a work room," Turrentine said. "That will be a $9 million project and Priceville Junior High will be a $30 million project and we hope to have it built in two or three years. That all depends on the supply chain though."

The district is also building a $9 million, 39,784-square-foot athletic facility at Danville High School, and Turrentine said she also plans to have an athletic facility constructed at Falkville High School during her term.

Turrentine and her team introduced the peer counseling program in Morgan County Schools this year and said it has been vital in addressing school safety concerns and student mental health.

Morgan County school board Vice Chairman John Holley said he expects Turrentine to lead in a "conservative" manner, being mindful of the district's budget.

"Just watching and managing finances, but at the same time making sure we get every resource we can that teachers need to see progress in their students," said Holley, who was unopposed in winning reelection Tuesday.

Morgan County Schools improved this year in both English Language Arts and math proficiencies over the last Alabama Comprehensive Assessment Program taken the previous spring. ELA proficiency was at 47.34% and math proficiency was at 27.68%, up from 42.57% in ELA last year and up from 18.54% in math.

"We're headed in the right direction with some of our scores and stuff ... but we need to see improvement," Holley said. "I think that's what the board expects the superintendent to do."

Elliott is being paid $140,000 annually. Holley said the board will set Turrentine's salary before her term begins. Elliott was appointed superintendent by the board in September 2020 after Bill Hopkins left the elected position to become director of the Fayetteville, Tennessee, school system.

Turrentine was promoted to assistant superintendent in July after serving as principal at Eva School since 2020. She was assistant principal at Priceville Junior High from 2016 through 2019.

Turrentine, who grew up in Morgan County, is a graduate of Samford University and has been an educator for 18 years, previously teaching in the Tuscaloosa City school district for 12 years. She is married to Josh and they have two children. — Local amendment

Voters on Tuesday approved an amendment that gives constitutional force to a local law that requires the Morgan County Commission to distribute most of the online sales tax revenue it receives from the state to school systems in the county, with a smaller portion going to volunteer fire departments. Other county commissions in the state are able to keep the county share of online sales tax revenue.

Over the last 12 months, according to state disbursement records, $3,114,440 from online sales taxes has been forwarded to the County Commission, 95% of which it then was required to forward to schools and volunteer fire departments. — Commission races

Clark's District 1 covers the northwest and north-central parts of the county, including Decatur, Trinity and Priceville. He has been on the commission since 1998. He received more than 80% of the vote Tuesday in his race against Democrat Samuel T. King.

"We're going to keep doing what we've been doing, trying to be responsive to the problems that crop up in the county," Clark said. "We try to keep roads and right-of-ways clear and also try to encourage not just residential growth but industrial growth as well."

Vest's district covers much of the middle of the county, including Hartselle and Somerville. He received more than 89% of the vote in his race against Libertarian Jonny Letson.

"We're hopeful that the people will see the work we've done with the commission and we definitely don't take the trust that people put into us lightly," Vest said. "We want to continue the work we've been able to do and continue to provide services and make sure we have a balanced budget in order to do those things."

Other unopposed county candidates were Commission Chairman Ray Long, District Attorney Scott Anderson, Sheriff Ron Puckett, Coroner Jeff Chunn and school board member Paul Holmes.

— wesley.tomlinson@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2438.