JACKSON -- The Jackson public schools' five wheelchair-bound students will move around school facilities a little easier following this summer's capital improvements.

The school board voted Tuesday to approve the list for the 1995-96 year, including $10,000 for districtwide renovations to bring schools further into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Vella Smith, whose ninth-grade son, Matt, must use a wheelchair due to a shooting accident, said the decision was an important one.

"If a child has to go through the school system, he should have access to every room and every activity," she said. "I'm sure I looked at it differently five years ago, before Matt was in a wheelchair, but now I want to make sure improvements are being done."

Her husband, Don Smith, said he toured schools with teachers to discuss changes for ADA compliance.

Superintendent Wayne Maupin said the board considers capital improvements like the ones Smith suggested and others long before work is scheduled.

Maupin asked teachers and principals in various buildings to examine their facilities and suggest physical changes. Maintenance Director Larry Barks makes suggestions, too, and then Maupin's staff decides which improvements the board should consider.

After board approval, the school system has to check prevailing wage rates and advertise for bids. Work begins in the summer.

The list approved Tuesday is round one for the year, Maupin said, and other requests will follow before June.

Included in the first group was roofing work at West Lane Elementary and Jackson High School, with an estimated cost of $58,000. The board also approved 25 air-conditioning units for the high school, which will make Jackson an air-conditioned school system, except for the high school's C Building.

The units and work will cost an estimated $25,000.

The board also heard from Dr. Dan Beard, Jackson Middle School principal, about the new middle school's curriculum.

Next year will be the first for the middle school, to be completed in April. Beard said the school's goals were to provide for the transition between elementary and junior high school education.

To do that, the school will offer a team teaching concept for sixth graders. The students still will have a main teacher, but two other teachers on the team will instruct them in other subjects. The system allows students to change classes while retaining the elementary concept of one main teacher.

Sixth-grade classes are: reading, language, spelling-vocabulary, science, math, social studies, physical education, music and art.

Seventh-grade classes are: reading-language arts, science, math, world geography, physical education, study skills, health, music, art, band, life skills and industrial technology.

Jackson Board of Education

Action

Tuesday, Feb. 14, 1995

Accepted the following notices of retirements: Pat Boyd, junior high foreign language teacher; Sherron Alexander, elementary teacher; and Bessie Buck, elementary teacher.

Approved capital improvement projections.

Canceled the Feb. 28 meeting of the board unless a called meeting is necessary.

Curriculum items for the Jackson Middle School, presented by Dr. Dan Beard, principal.