District Updates - June 8, 2026

I hope all of you are off to a great start to the summer. Madison City Schools is excited to offer several summer learning opportunities designed to support student growth, strengthen academic skills, and prepare students for future success. 

In the Elementary Summer Reading and Math Program, students receive targeted instruction from highly qualified teachers through evidence-based reading and math intervention programs designed to support proficiency and confidence in both subjects. In the elementary and secondary English Learner (EL) Program, students participate in engaging learning experiences focused on reading, math, language development, STEM, and college and career readiness skills. The elementary and secondary Extended School Year (ESY) Programs for our students with special needs provide specialized instruction and related services beyond the regular school year. Middle School Summer School provides additional academic support in English and Math for students in grades 6-8. High School Summer School provides a variety of opportunities for students to take summer courses and credit recovery courses. Students can choose from various core academic, career technical, elective, health, and physical education courses, along with Driver's Education and ACT Prep sessions.

As you can tell, summer is a busy time in the district. Currently, there are several maintenance and facility upgrades for the district. Discovery Middle School's roofing and HVAC project is being completed. This has been a two-year project. Plans at Discovery are to begin classroom renovations that will include new lighting, flooring, and painting. I appreciate the Discovery team for their flexibility during this work. 

The district is completing the renovations on the new Technology Department located in downtown Madison. This building will house all of our district support staff for technology and provide space for equipment and repair centers. 

A bid was recently approved for elevator improvements throughout the District. Currently, we are finishing a new elevator at Liberty and will begin the upgrades on elevators at Heritage, Horizon, Discovery and Bob Jones. 

Our architect and district team are working together to finalize bid specifications to turf the baseball and softball fields at Bob Jones and James Clemens and upgrade and install bleachers for Discovery, Liberty, and James Clemens. 

The Alabama Association of School Resource Officers’ Safe Schools Conference was held last week in Orange Beach. TAASRO is an annual event focused on the professional development and training of educators and law enforcement in the areas of school safety and security. This conference also helps to support the collaboration and partnership between Madison City Schools and the Madison Police Department. Attendees at TAASRO this year included school district leaders, local school administrators, police department supervisors, and school resource officers.  

Finally, I wanted to update you on changes the district has made to our hiring processes in response to the occurrence of three arrests of Madison City Schools employees near the end of the school year.

After these arrests, the Board of Education and I requested that Board Attorney Woody Sanderson conduct a review of the district’s hiring practices. Mr. Sanderson, along with H.R. Director Dr. Daphne Jah and Assistant Superintendent Eric Terrell, did a review intended to determine whether the established HR practices were appropriately followed in connection with the employment of the individuals who were arrested, and to determine whether the district’s practices could be improved to lessen the chances of similar incidents in the future. 

Mr. Sanderson presented findings in a public meeting of the Board held on May 29. His findings were based on interviews with HR personnel, review of documents, and personnel files of the employees who were arrested, a detailed review of current policies and practices regarding hiring, background checks, and onboarding.

The findings presented to the Board included the following:

The District’s review of other personnel files revealed no other significant process errors.

Recommendations were presented to the Board relating to revisions to the notices of vacancy posted by the Board and the application completed by candidates; the background check process; and the process for verifying licensure and certifications. There were also recommended improvements regarding the hiring of substitute teachers that include checking of references and prior employment history, the district’s interview process, onboarding and training, and assessment, observation, and monitoring.

Recommendations also included periodic auditing of personnel files to ensure policy and procedure compliance, and adding more resources to the H.R. Department to implement these recommendations.

Most of the changes recommended to the Board require no amendments to current policy and are already being implemented. A new H.R. Coordinator position is being posted, as well as a new H.R. Clerk. They will be charged with implementing the proposed changes, enhancing compliance auditing of personnel information, and facilitating improvements in onboarding and early assessment, observation, and monitoring of new employees.

We are already implementing suggested changes to our posting notices and applications. One such change is the addition of Student Safety and Security Statements and Candidate Acknowledgments to applications and position postings. This enhancement will put all candidates on notice of the District’s expectations regarding professional conduct and maintenance of appropriate boundaries with respect to their interactions and communications with students.

In addition to the inclusion of these statements, our substitute applications will now require detailed disclosure of prior employment history and references. This will enable our staff to more thoroughly vet substitute candidates.

Our online employment applications already include detailed questions regarding prior criminal history and administrative leave, suspension, or termination from employment. We have adjusted our internal review processes, however, to ensure that our software sends an alert to staff with respect to any “yes” answer to such questions. This will minimize the risk of a staff member missing or overlooking an issue that requires further investigation.

We already document that any candidate has a clear background check on file with the State Department of Education as required by law. We will now take the additional step of requiring that a new current background check be completed for any employees new to Madison City Schools, regardless of the recency of clear background checks initiated by other districts.

As our faculty and staff return for the fall semester, we will present enhanced training, onboarding procedures, and an improved process of assessing, monitoring, and observing new employees, including substitutes. We also expect to clarify by policy that the obligation to self-report any arrest extends to all substitutes as well as regular employees of the District.

We will continue to work diligently to identify and implement these and other enhancements to our hiring processes to reduce the risk that any student is subjected to inappropriate conduct from a teacher or employee. We thank you for your patience as we have worked through these issues and appreciate your continued confidence in Madison City Schools.

I certainly appreciate our administrators, teachers, and staff who dedicate their time and talents to providing our students with outstanding summer enrichment programs. I hope each of you enjoys a relaxing summer filled with opportunities for rest, refreshment, and rejuvenation as you prepare for another wonderful school year.

Ed Nichols

Superintendent