Alabaster City Schools (ACS) provided our staff and students with an all-inclusive continuum of services during the 2020-21 school year.  This was due to the guidance and emphasis on safely reopening schools by our Superintendent, Dr. Wayne Vickers, our Chief Operations Officer, Dr. Jeff Atkins, and the hard work of our maintenance and custodial staffs. ACS understands the importance of our students being in school and we are always looking for equipment and services to ensure that occurs.  In this budget, we are looking to purchase air purifiers to be used in all schools at the cost of $261,816.35.  The purchase of air purifiers, along with the health, safety and cleaning protocols we already have in place, will enhance the quality of our in-person instruction for our school staffs and students. 

Alabaster City School (ACS) provides our students with the opportunity to enroll and participate fully in all educational services provided by our school system. Students are not secluded or labeled based on racial or ethnic groups, gender, the basis of income, migrant status and/or experiencing homeless or foster care needs. All students are able to receive a full, free, appropriate public education.  ACS address the needs of all students through our system strategic plan and in our system LEA Continuous Improvement Plan (CIP) and then each respective school addresses the needs of its students in its school plan. A comprehensive evaluation of these plans occurs each year to determine their effectiveness.  As a part of these plans, students are identified by our teachers and administrators, instructional coaches, WST teams and school counselors so that support and assistance can be provided, as needed, regarding academic, social, emotional and mental health needs. These students are monitored closely to ensure the support provided is helping them to be successful.  And parents are communicated with to ensure all needs are met in an equitable, systematic, and timely manner.

It is important that as a part of the process above, that as a system we address the impact of learning loss and lost instructional time through the use of specific, evidence-based interventions.  ACS has budgeted the following in our ARP ESSER $’s to ensure this occurs:

The purpose of 20 U.S.C 1228A is to assist the Dept. in implementing its mission to ensure equal access to education and to promote educational excellence throughout the nation.  Complying with these requirements, Alabaster City Schools (ACS) provides our students with the opportunity to enroll and participate fully in all educational services provided by our school system. Students are not secluded or labeled based on racial or ethnic groups, gender, the basis of income, migrant status and/or experiencing homeless or foster care needs. All students are able to receive a full, free, appropriate public education.  

In order to remove barriers to enrollment, registrars work with counselors and district personnel during the summer, before school begins and throughout the school year to assist families so that students can start school on time; Transportation is arranged if needed and to ensure immediate enrollment and educational continuity, birth certificate & immunization extensions are provided.  Copies of necessary documents & previous school records are obtained for the current school to assist parents. Special attention is given to students enrolling at Thompson High School so attendance/loss of credit issues do not prevent them from enrolling &/or graduating. Protocols have been established for records & enrollment procedures so that students needing special services do not have any lapse in services during the transition period. 

The vision of Alabaster City Schools is to partner with families and the community to inspire and prepare graduates to be responsible and productive champions of their future. We work closely with our families to ensure that students have all that they need to help them be successful.

Alabaster City Schools (ACS) has monthly board meetings where financial data, reports and information are presented.  Finance conducts monthly budget analysis and financial reports are posted on our ACS website following the monthly board meeting. 

See below:

https://www.acsboe.org/domain/102

As stated in the above question, the vision of Alabaster City Schools (ACS) is to partner with families and the community to inspire and prepare graduates to be responsible and productive champions of their future. We work closely with our families to ensure that students have all that they need to help them be successful. Our vision is not just something to put on paper, but it is well articulated and actively communicated among internal and external stakeholder groups as an ongoing collaboration focused squarely on student learning. We engage all stakeholder groups in ways that support the school systems mission, vision and beliefs.  As documented on the Alabaster City Schools Strategic Plan Summary, critical initiatives are engaged in to ensure that stakeholders are actively involved in empowering our school improvement process and student success.  

ACS involves stakeholders in supporting our purpose with a wide variety of opportunities. Our Parent Teacher Organizations (PTO) are actively involved at each school in conducting a variety of activities to support our vision statement.  School newsletters and websites provide information on how parents can stay informed of events going on at each school and be involved. At the beginning of the school year, parents are invited to attend Parent Nights/Academies and are presented with informative presentations by school administrators and teachers.  Another example of our commitment to stakeholder groups is evident in our collaboration with the Parent Teacher Leadership Academy (PTLA) and the University of Alabama, which includes community-based projects.   District Leadership teams and leadership teams at each school consist of central office administrators, school administrators, grade level and committee leaders, as well as parents to ensure parents understand our system's commitment to partnering with our families to ensure student success.  

ACS will continue to meaningfully engage with families and the community during the life of ARP ESSER funds by providing support needed to students through staffing, purchased services, support services and materials and supplies. Through the use of these funds, we will be able to work with and help our families, as we work together, in our pursuit of excellence to ensure that all students are equipped with the skills needed to be college and career ready.