The Pike County Board of Education approved the school calendar for the year 2013-2014 at its Monday meeting.

Dr. Mark Bazzell, superintendent of education, said the restricted starting date will be Aug. 19, 2013 but, because there is no restriction on the ending date, the board was able to restore several holidays.

“We are feeling the stress of having to cram in days in the spring,” he said. “The most common suggestion was that Labor Day be taken out as a holiday and Good Friday added. That will give a break during the spring.”

Bazzell also brought the board up to date on efforts by Goshen High School parents and community members to build a softball field on the school campus.

“Back in 2004, the girls’ softball team was practicing and playing in Troy,” he said. “So, the board entered into a lease agreement with the Goshen Lions Club and the Town of Goshen for the use of the Lion’s Club field.”

Bazzell said the field and concession stand were in bad shape and the school board invested about $50,000 into getting the field back in shape and the concession stand usable.

“Our lease expires in 2015 and we had hoped to be able to extend the lease,” he said. “But we support the efforts of the parents and the community to raise funds for a softball field on campus and, it might be possible for the board to kick in funds for the project.”

However, Bazzell said the project is not a school board project and he wants to make sure that vendors, who do business with the board of education, know that this project will have no impact on their relationship with the board.

The board gave its approval for the Pike County Schools to partner with the City of Brundidge to provide a summer school program at Pike County Elementary School.

The summer school program will be from 8 a.m. until noon and the summer feeding program will be from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. and from 11:30 a.m. until noon.

Bazzell said there will be a cap of 120 students on the summer school program with 60 of those slots reserved for students with academic needs. The other slots will be reserved on a first-come basis.

“We appreciate the City of Brundidge partnering with us,” he said. “The city will pick up half the cost of the program.”

In other business, the board:

*Awarded bid for diesel fuel and gasoline to Russell Petroleum for the 2013-2014 school year.

*Awarded the bid for propane to Thompson Gas for the 2013-2014 school year.

*Approved the purchase of seating for the new Goshen High School gym from Alabama Contract Sales, Inc. in the amount of $87,530.

*Approved the request for about 15 students from Goshen High School to attend the State FFA Convention and State Competition from June 4-6 in Montgomery.

*Approved the request for Goshen High School JROTC cadets to attend the JCLC Summer Camp at Fort McClellan in Anniston for the Cadet Leadership Challenge May 27 to June 1.

*Approved the request for the Goshen High School football players to attend a football camp at Auburn University June 6 and 7.

*Approved the requests for Lee Scott, Wanda Corley, Willie Wright, Shondra Whitaker, Warren Weeks, Major Lane, Anita Grant, Shantell Rouse and Dr. Mark Head to attend the CLAS Convention and for Warren Weeks, Major Lane, Anita Grant, Shantell Rouse, Sharon Sullivan, Carol Macchia, Pamela Franklin and Dr. Donnella Carter to attend the Mega Conference.

In personnel action, the board:

*Approved the hirings of Pamela Franklin for the instructional support specialist position and Mitzy Ditzel for the central office bookkeeping position. The board also approved the hiring of Mike Waters for the position of physical education teacher at Pike County High School.

*Approved the resignation due to the retirement of Angela Smith, Banks teacher.

*Approved the 20-day contract extension for the high school counselors, Buffy Lusk and Sharon Sullivan.

*Approved the change in track supplement for Goshen High School.

*Approved catastrophic leave for Carol Coleman.

*Approved Molly Casey to work 10 days during the transition period for the new hire for the position of bookkeeper for federal programs.

In other business, the board:

*Approved the extension of the custodial contract with Eagle Cleaning Service.

*Approved the request for Goshen High School varsity cheerleaders to attend the Universal Cheerleading Association Camp from June 29 to July 2 in Auburn.

*Approved an overnight trip for Goshen High School varsity girls’ softball team for the state play-off games on May 15 and 16.

*Approved the request for the Goshen High School volleyball team to attend Team Camp at Wallace of Hanceville July 29-31.