SATSUMA, Alabama – City council members heard the newly formed Satsuma School System’s year-1 report card on Monday night during a dual work session that School Board President Linda Robbins described as “priceless.”
Board members, joined by Superintendent Dr. Joe Walters, briefed the city council on where the school system stood going into its second year since splitting from the Mobile County Public School System, entering into what the board called a “season of growth.”
“Last summer was a blur in many peoples’ minds, but it was a wonderful blur,” Robbins told the council. “(It) was a fantastic year, even beyond what our expectations were.
“It was a total community commitment.”
During the work session at Robert E. Lee Elementary School, where the system’s central office is also located, Walters presented the council and the few citizens on hand a breakdown of its student demographics, as well as attendance figures from both the elementary school and nearby Satsuma High School.
Eighty-eight percent of the system’s students are white, Walters said, and while that closely resembles the city’s breakdown, there needs to be a push toward greater diversity.
“We need to encourage minorities,” Walters said. “That’s how we are going to help our children understand the cultural diversity” of our area and region.
When it comes to non-resident students – the elementary school has 17.58 percent from outside Satsuma, the high school has 32 percent – a majority of those from outlying communities are coming from Axis and Creola, he said.
Parents and guardians seem pleased with the Mobile County School System’s elementary schools, “and sometimes the middle schools,” Walters said. “(But) when it comes time to go to high school, they would rather come to Satsuma or Saraland, which is good.
“For people who live in Creola, it’s a long way to Citronelle.”
According to the system’s Chief School Financial Officer Jean McCutchen, those non-resident students help the system exceed the 40-percent poverty threshold requirement, which qualifies it for Title 1 federal funding. During her presentation to the city council, McCutchen said that, among resident students, only 33 percent are below the poverty line.
The non-residents at 10 percent to that number, which qualified the school system for almost $322,000 in Title 1 allocation during its inaugural school year, she said.
“If it goes below 40 percent, we don’t get reduced funds, we get zero funds,” McCutchen said.
For Walters, another crucial issue heading into the 2013-14 school year is absences. Nearly half of those recorded at Satsuma High School were unexcused, he said. At Lee Elementary, there were less than 40 percent unexcused absences.
“The best education in the world is useless if you’re not there to take advantage of it,” Walters said.
The school board and city council discussed technical training for high school students at length, after Councilman Mike Butler brought up the status of an Alabama Industrial Development Training program trailer, which is parked on the high school’s campus. Walters explained that the trailer allows students to take courses towards eventual certification in welding.
If they start learning the trade as juniors, they could graduate only one or two semesters short of certification and, within five years, could be earning as much as $100,000 a year, he said.
“We’re committed to helping children become successful adults,” Walters said. “A child that comes out of school doesn’t necessarily need to go to college,” but does need to earn a living and provide for their family.
A similar program for nursing assistants could be in the works this year as well, he said.
The upcoming school year will be one of growth and increased capability, according to the school board. Having weathered the initial hiring phase of more than 60 teachers, this year they only had to bring on 22, and had more than 200 applications for those, Robbins said.
After borrowing more than 700,000 to start the school system off – and repaying it in full in February – it should need around $500,000 this year in total, according to McCutchen.
Councilman Tom Williams said that, when it comes to keeping the momentum going toward the positive, he’d rather the board ask for as much as it previously did, as opposed to chancing an underestimation of its needs.
“This council is fully supportive of this school system,” Williams said. “We have every confidence.”