BOE to request classroom waiver for Comer Elem.

The BOE voted Tuesday to request a waiver for Comer Elementary School, where it is two students over the limit for third grade.

Leniency in classroom sizes helps school systems avoid the expense of creating additional classes and hiring additional instructors.

“It’s a lot cheaper than getting a new teacher,” Madison County Schools superintendent Dr. Mitch McGhee said.

In other business conducted Tuesday night, the board of education:

•heard from Madison County Middle School teacher Michelle Krolikowski who wrote a history paper linking math to Appalachian folk pottery methods. She’s presenting her research at a conference in Washington, D.C., in January.

•honored Madison County Middle School Future Farmers of America students Zack Tankersley, Kevin Jones, Brooke Adams, Austin Saye and Tyler Arnold who were winners at Georgia National Fair in Perry last month. This is the first year the middle school offered an agriculture program. Madison County placed first in Perry with its junior team.

•heard from Freshman Academy media specialist Martha Vaughn who thanked the school board for its support of the ninth grade media center. “I can’t tell you how much I appreciate that. It made me feel like you really did think that this was something worth investing in,” she said. Among other things, Vaughn noted that 1,000 books were checked out of the library during the first two months of school.