MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The Alabama Board of Education met Thursday in Montgomery for their regular meeting and work session, saying goodbye to longtime members, setting the stage for new ones, updating old standards and recognizing top-performing schools. Here’s a look at what happened and what’s on the horizon.
Fifty schools get recognized for report card grades, improvement
Alabama Superintendent Eric Mackey announced the 50 schools receiving monetary awards in the Legislative School Performance Program during the board of education work session.
Lawmakers created the program alongside the school grading system and allocated $250,000 for the program for 2024.
Awards were announced for two groups of schools: The top 25 schools based on grade from the 2024 report card and the 25 schools with the greatest grade improvement. Representatives from all 50 schools will be invited to attend the February board meeting to be recognized.
The 25 most improved schools will receive $8,000. Click here if you are unable to see the table.
The top 25 schools in Alabama will each receive $2,000. Click here if you are unable to see the table.
Stephanie Bell ends service as longest-serving state board member in the country
Alabama Board of Education member Stephanie Bell, whose district includes Montgomery and central Alabama, attended her final state board meeting as an elected member of the board, marking the end of her historic tenure. First elected in 1994, Bell is the longest-serving state board member in Alabama history, and, according to State Superintendent Eric Mackey, the longest-serving in the nation.
Belinda McRae, who represents parts of north Alabama, also attended her final meeting, after serving since her election in 2020. Both Bell and McRae did not seek reelection.
In recognition of their service, Mackey presented Bell with a state Senate resolution honoring her contributions, which was sponsored by Senate Education Budget Chairman Arthur Orr, R-Decatur.
The Board approved resolutions honoring both members, highlighting their accomplishments during their time in office.
Thank you to our outgoing ALBOE Members. Stephanie Bell has left a lasting legacy on education during her 30 yrs & is AL & the nation’s longest serving board member. Belinda McRae has served on the state board for 4 years & is a career educator who has made an impact on education pic.twitter.com/M5f2fkU6jR
— Eric Mackey (@egmackey) January 9, 2025
Two new board members, Allen Long, R-Florence, and Kelly Mooney, R-Indian Springs, will be sworn in later this month and join the board during its February meeting.
Board sets retreat agenda
The board has a retreat scheduled for Jan. 28 and 29 at the Marriott Hotel in Prattville. The board typically holds retreats in January and August.
On Jan. 28 at 3 p.m., newly elected board members Allen Long and Kelly Mooney will be sworn in along with re-elected members Jackie Zeigler and Tonya Chestnut. The ceremony will take place in the old House chamber, followed by a reception.
On Jan. 29, board members will receive updates from leaders of the Office of Mathematics Improvement and the Alabama Reading Initiative on implementation of the Alabama Numeracy and Literacy Acts. The retreat will also include discussions on legislative and budget updates.
Mackey is scheduled to present the K-12 education budget to the Legislature on Feb. 5 at 2:30 p.m. in Room 200 in the Statehouse.
Re-write of teacher education preparation rules considered by board
During Thursday's meeting, the Board announced its intent to adopt rewritten and recompiled rules for teacher preparation. The updated 100-page document represents a comprehensive review of current teacher preparation program rules, eliminating outdated regulations and ensuring consistency.
“Where changes had been made from one place to another, there were inconsistencies. There were actually places where it would say something in one part of the chapter and then another part it would say something totally opposite of that,” Mackey said.
The recompilation reflects input from department staff but also deans of colleges of education statewide, Mackey said. The revised rules address a wide range of topics, including required coursework for teacher certification and alternative, non-traditional pathways to becoming a teacher.
“It deals with the code of ethics for teachers, too,” Mackey told reporters after the meeting. “We have a very strict code of ethics for teachers. We hold teachers to a higher account than anyone else who works in our school systems."
The public has 35 days to comment on the proposed changes. The document was not yet available online at the time of publication. The board is expected to vote on the updated rules in March.
School counselor standards to be updated in 2025
During the work session, Mackey told board members that work to update the school counselor standards will start in March. The current counseling standards were adopted in 2003.
Mackey explained that he plans to wait until the two new board members are seated before starting the process. He aims to present a draft of the revised standards for the board in September, with a possible vote in November, following a similar timeline to other subject area updates.
