In its regular meeting March 7, the Franklin County Schools Board of Education approved the calendar for the 2023-2024 school year, including the following out-of-state trips:

• Phil Campbell High School, 12th grade, to New York City, April 17-21
• Tharptown High School, 11th and 12th grade, to New York City, April 17-21
• Vina High School, baseball team, to Tremont, Miss., March 11; Thrasher, Miss., March 25; and Smithville, Miss., April 15
• Red Bay High School, 11th and 12th grades, to Mississippi State University Starkville, Miss., April 25
• Tharptown High School, ninth through 12th grades, Six Flags Over Georgia–Education/STEM Day, Atlanta, May 12
• Vina High School, softball team, to New Site, Miss., March 20, and Freeport FLA Tournament, South Walton Beach, Fla., April 1-8
• East Franklin Junior High School, ninth grade, to Pigeon Forge, Tenn., May 16-18
• Franklin County gifted students to Nashville April 23-24
• Vina High School Pre-K to Buffalo Park, Tupelo, Miss., March 30
• Red Bay High School, physics class, to Grammy Museum Educational Workshop, Los Angeles, Calif., April 10-16

The board also approved the following bids:

• Suburban Propane as lowest responsible bidder for Liquefied Petroleum Gas and Equipment for school buses at bid price of $.55 markup per gallon.
• Clearwinds as lowest responsible bidder for network switches for East Franklin Junior High School, Phil Campbell High School, Phil Campbell Elementary School, Red Bay High School, Red Bay Elementary School, Tharptown Elementary School, Vina High School and Franklin County Career Tech Center at bid price of $37, 557.98, pending ERate approval

In other business, the board approved:

• Resignation: Tanna Benford as varsity girls basketball coach at Tharptown High School
• Suspension: Candi Fuller, teacher at Red Bay Elementary School – suspension for 20 work days without pay
• New teacher substitutes: Kathryn Bragwell, Sherry Cason, Casey Edwards, Amber Hallman, Kasey June, Ashley McGuire, Michelle Maddox, Addison Page, Ashley Richardson, Rachael Scott, Susan Strickland, Laura Hodge, Karen Nichols, Jessica Bullard, Krislyn Dodge, Jakelin Gonzalez, Jessica Harper, Tierney Lewis, Julie Madden, Krystal Mason, Amy Rhodes, Melissa Roberts, Mallorie Simmons, April Tucker, Christian Hill and Jamie Tepoel
• New CNP substitutes: Mindy Parker and Shelly Wellington
• Volunteers: Abby Ward as volunteer assistant track coach at Vina High School and Wanda Raper, as volunteer assistant softball coach at Vina High School
• New 21st Century Community Learning Centers hires: Cimberlyn Davis as aide at Phil Campbell and Elisabeth Lerch as teacher at Belgreen

The next meeting of the FCBOE will be April 18, with the work session starting at 5 p.m. and the board meeting immediately following.