Student engagement, pay raises and more: Highlights from Montgomery school board meeting

As Montgomery Public Schools close out the first semester of the 2023-24 school year, parents, administrators and other school officials are reflecting on what they’ve learned over the last four months.

The district implemented several changes at the start of the year, including Yondr phone pouches and new STEM labs. Now, the school board is checking back in to see what progress has been made with Montgomery’s students.

These topics, among others, were discussed at the final Montgomery County Board of Education meeting of 2023. In case you weren’t able to attend the meeting yourself on Dec. 12, here are the highlights:

Good grades for Yondr phone pouches

Back in July, the board voted to approve a contract with Yondr, which manufactures magnetic phone pouches that can keep kids off of their phones during the school day until they are given access to an “unlocking base” at the end of the day. Since the start of the year, students across MPS middle schools and high schools have been utilizing the pouches.

MPS Chief Technology Officer Michael Powell issued a survey to all middle school and high school teachers this month to determine whether Yondr was actually having the intended impact in schools. 59 teachers responded.

The survey showed that 68% of respondents agreed students are more productive when their phones are in the pouches. Over 50% of respondents said that the pouches have been “highly effective” or “effective” in keeping students engaged in class, and over 70% said they believe MPS should continue to utilize Yondr.

“There's been a benefit to the climate of the school, and that has manifested itself in a decrease in disruptive behaviors,” Capitol Heights Middle School Principal Aurelio Harrison said. “This is a two-edged sword, so I say to teachers, ‘You have their attention. Now what are you going to do with it?’ There is a level of accountability that rests on the adults in the building.”

STEM labs in every MPS elementary school by fall

Out of the 28 elementary schools in the district, 17 of them currently have STEM labs — dedicated space for students to develop skills around science, technology, engineering and math.

By next fall, School Improvement Specialist Shaniece Williams said the remaining 11 STEM labs will be in place.

For the initial cost of $38,000 per lab, each school receives: a set of 30 virtual reality headsets, 10 iPads and a charging station, four lab tables, 28 adjustable bar stools, Breakout EDU educational gaming software, a 3D printer, a storage rack, clear storage bins, 30 different K-5 STEM kits from Lakeshore and Eduporium, multiple coding robots and a STEM-themed area rug.

Williams said the annual maintenance cost for each lab is an estimated $1,500 to $2,000. She noted that all materials apart from the furniture have already been purchased for the 11 remaining labs to be put in place.

“No matter what the cost,” District 1 representative Lesa Keith said to Williams, “it’s money well spent. You’ve always done excellent presentations, and I just wish we could clone you.”

District 7’s Arica Watkins-Smith echoed Keith’s praise and added that bettering STEM education was one of the promises the board made to the community when voters opted to increase their property taxes to benefit the schools in 2020.

Competitive pay raise for certified tutors

Montgomery’s chief school finance officer Arthur Watts brought before the board a recommendation to double the district’s pay for board certified teachers who have retired but still work as tutors for MPS.

Watts said the district did not differentiate between what the tutors were making during the summer and what they were making during the school year, which meant tutors could get paid more for the same work in surrounding school districts.

“We ended up losing a few of them to Pike Road and to Autauga County, and we were alarmed that that was what was going on,” Watts said. “We kind of told some of them, ‘Just hold on. We’re going to the board.’”

The board unanimously approved the request, increasing pay from $25 per hour to $50 per hour.

Valiant Cross golf coach wants golf program at MPS

Quincy Leonard addressed the board to propose the implementation of golf programs at MPS. He is the founder of LEO Golf Academy at Gateway Golf Course and has been the golf coach at Valiant Cross Academy since its founding in 2015.

As a lifelong golfer himself, Leonard said the sport can be a powerful tool as a businessman, calling golf courses “the green boardroom.”

“This is where businesses and relationships are formed,” he said. “We just want to introduce these young people to the game. We're looking at having about 20 people to partner with us to do a pilot of this program. That’s four schools with at least five players per school.”

Leonard said the program could start in middle schools and expand to high schools later on, which is how Valiant Cross developed its program.

Several school board members spoke up in support, but no formal decisions were made.

Board member Claudia Mitchell honored

During the December meeting, Montgomery district leaders honored Mitchell for her selection as an Alabama Association of School Boards All-Star School Board Award winner, the organization’s highest honor.

Mitchell has served six years on the board, and her colleagues spoke of her influence in getting the 2020 ad valorem tax increase passed.

“I hope that my legacy will be that we were able to change the direction that the school system was going,” she said. “In the beginning, we were in crisis, and now, our motto is ‘With MPS, there is more.’ Believe me when I tell you, there actually is more.”

Hadley Hitson covers the rural South for the Montgomery Advertiser and Report for America. She can be reached at hhitson@gannett.com. To support her work, subscribe to the Advertiser or donate to Report for America.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Highlights from Montgomery County Board of Education December meeting