The Madison Record, Sept. 23,2020

Page 1

WEDNESDAY SEPT 23, 2020

36

0

PUBLISHED EACH WEDNESDAY

INSIDE

THEMADISONRECORD.COM

FREE EDITION

Schools hit by COVID-19

Rodney Smith takes smiles from lawns to Lay’s. Page 3A

Diamond Dig Trash Pandas to host “Diamond Dig” during their Oct. Movie Night. Page 5A

EDUCATION

MCS officials say 158 students and 12 teachers quarantined By JOHN FEW john@themadisonrecord.com

Rock Garden Community Rock Garden at Heritage Elementary adds beauty, civic pride. Page 6A

Chess Summer Knights Scholastic stands as first chess tourney in 2020-2021 school year. Page 6A

National Merit Scholarship 17 students in Madison City Schools among National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists. Page 6A

SPORTS

MADISON - The first week of elementary students returning to Madison City classrooms went relatively smooth two weeks ago. That was not the case last week after middle school students returned to their campuses in a phased in approach. By the end of the week, 14 students and one teacher tested positive for COVID-19, including nine Bob Jones High School football players. The presence of the virus caused the cancellation of the Patriots homecoming game against Florence on Friday, and this week’s game against Auburn. Also, high school students are being delayed by one week from

re-entering traditional classes. Students at Bob Jones and James Clemens High School were set to start back on Monday. Madison City Schools superintendent Dr. Ed Nichols Dr. Nichols said the decision to delay classes was made mostly due to a shortage in available teachers. “I know delaying the start of the high school rotation is not what any of us wanted this year. However, due to the loss of

teaching staff to quarantine and the shortage of substitute teachers, I felt the need to delay the high school rotation,” Dr. Nichols explained. “Madison is a small community and we are not sure how these positive cases at Bob Jones could affect our teaching staff in other schools.” Nichols said 37 Bob Jones and James Clemens teaching staff have accepted extra teaching assignments on their planning period to accommodate the scheduling demands of school-based and virtual classes. See COVID-19 Page 2A

Parker receives top superintendent award by state PTA By STAFF REPORTS MADISON – Former Madison City Schools Superintendent Robby Parker was presented the 2019-2020 Outstanding Superintendent Award by the Alabama Parent Teacher Association. Discovery Middle and Columbia Elementary won two other state PTA awards. The Outstanding Superintendent Award was given the visiting former superintendent at Thursday’s Madison City

Leadership

Nine Bob Jones High School football players tested positive for COVID-19last week, causing the team to forfeit two of their games and postpone homecoming to Oct. 23.

Board of Education meeting before a smiling MCS staff, many of whom Parker had hired and worked with for years. Parker retired Feb. 28 after 31 years in Madison City Schools. “This award recognizes one school superintendent in the state of Alabama as an outstanding educator and/or administrator in their support of PTA, effective advocacy, civic and community contributions and family involvement,” the award states.

Former Madison City Schools superintendent Robby Parker expressed his love for Madison and the school district while accepting the award at Thursday’s MCS school board meeting. The award recognized Park- ately needed schools to accomer’s frequent interaction with modate growth. “He fielded countless quesPTAs and his activism throughwith patience and out the community in promot- tions ing the 12-mil property tax. thoughtfulness, held several That measure was ultimately town hall style meetings to get approved by more than 70 per- community input and made cent of the vote, positioning the himself available to the stuschool system to build desperSee PARKER Page 2A

Sparkman’s Nick Sawyer leads Senators and preps for West Point leadership. Page 1B

Limestone at “very high risk” level of COID-19

Football Friday James Clemens Jets rebound against Huntsville, 35-14. Pages 1B

We have more online at themadisonrecord.com

CLASSIFIEDS FIND JOBS INSIDE: There are plenty of jobs within today’s classifieds pages. See page 4A.

INSIDE Record ............ 2A Editorial........... 5A Education ........ 6A Sports ............. 1B

Business ......... 3B Kids................. 5B Church ............ 6B Lifestyles ......... 7B

By STAFF REPORTS

OVER THE EDGE - Madison Chamber of Commerce Interim Director Merrill Wright, Madison Mayor Paul Finley and the Rocket City Trash Pandas mascot Sprocket were just a few of the many volunteers who went “Over the Edge” to help Kids to Love on Friday and Saturday. They rappelled 160 feet from atop the Regions Center in downtown Huntsville, overcoming any fear of heights to raise money for the non-profit organization based in Madison. After watching Over the Edge fundraisers in other cities over the years, Kids to Love Founder and CEO Lee Marshall knew Huntsville would be a perfect fit for the thrilling fundraiser. She said 100 percent of the proceeds that rappellers raised will go straight to the foster children and programs that Kids to Love supports. To learn more about Kids to Love and their programs, visit kidstolove.org. Their office is located at 140 Castle Drive in Madison.

MADISON - Limestone County, is at “very high risk” of COVID-19 transmission after the ADPH moved the county up three risk levels between Sept. 11 and Friday. The west side of Madison lies within Limestone County. Limestone was identified as very high risk because its daily rate of cases had been declining for fewer than six days as of Sept. 11, the cutoff date for Friday’s risk-level evaluation. Madison County was listed Friday at a “moderate risk” level.

TOWN MADISON The Heights at Town Madison Luxury Townhomes

The Brownstones from $390s Upscale amenities in the heart of Town Madison

For information: lmontoya@brelandhomes.com • 256.443.4450

368756-1

Spotlight

Nine Bob Jones football players and six others test positive for COVID-19 in Madison schools


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.
The Madison Record, Sept. 23,2020 by Madison Publications - Issuu