CCSD BOE approves District 4 board member

BY JOHN BRICE

THE LAFAYETTE SUN

CHAMBERS COUNTY — Chambers County School District Superintendent Sharon Weldon made a special mention of the visiting Tunnel to Towers Never Forget 9/11 Mobile Exhibit in her report to the Board of Education at its Sept. 11 meeting.

“If you have the opportunity, [try] to go to the 9-11 Tunnels to Towers display and the museum that is set up,” Weldon said. “It is in the parking lot of Southern Union and it is emotional.”

Weldon talked about the opportunity many of the area’s eighth graders had to experience the exhibit.

“We have the opportunity for many of our eighth graders to go visit it,” Weldon said. “We have eighth graders that are going from W.F. Burns, some of the eighth graders from LaFayette High are also going to have the opportunity to go down there and walk through [it].

“Walking the track, all the people, just seeing name after name of the people that were lost. When you are walking through the place and you see ladders that were destroyed, just the visuals of things. You touch some of the broken glass, it is worth it to go down there and walk through it. It is moving. I am so excited that we have some of our eighth graders that are going to have the opportunity to go down there and be part of that.”

Later in the meeting, Board President Vicki Leak addressed the board and attendees in regards to the criteria that they were following for the appointment of a replacement board member for District 4.

“Let me say before we get started that we conferred with our board attorney and made sure that we were doing everything in a transparent way, a fair way,” Leak said. “There is Code of Alabama, Section 16-8-6 which it talks about how you fill vacancies for elected board members when there is a seat empty. We chose to interview everybody, we want to be as fair as we can. We are going to ask each applicant five questions.Answer those questions and then we will have a board discussion and Mr. Newton will be in charge of tallying.”

Each of the candidates were interviewed with the same five questions asked by the sitting board members. Jody Jennings received the most votes after the interviews had all been conducted, which resulted in his appointment to replace Jay Siggers in District 4. He was sworn in by Probate Court Judge Paul Story.

Having worked as a self-employed plumber for the past 25 years, Jennings resides in Lakeview and indicated that he would support the court order to consolidate the two Chambers County high schools when asked.

“First thing I would do when they called is listen, see what they had to say,” Jennings said. “If I immediately didn't have the answer to that, I would ask them to respectfully give me time to think about it and talk to my colleagues and get back with them.”

Jennings was asked how he would handle the situation if he were presented by a stakeholder with a complaint about something that had happened in a board meeting.

“I would look at our laws that we have to follow, talk to the attorney we have and go by their recommendations,” he said.

In the fifth and final question, Jennings was asked why he had decided to apply for the interim board position. He said the impact that Inspire Academy had on his life was why.

“I have been a member of Chambers County for a long time,” Jennings said. “It has given me a lot. I just want to give back. Also, being self employed I have seen a lot of young men coming out of school, everybody is not made for college. I know when I was in high school, I came here for my two years and it taught me a lot. I am a plumber by trade now and that is how I make my living. I still use the skills that I learned over here piddling at the house.”

In other business

- The board approved a motion for Huguley Elementary fifth grade students to travel to the Alabama 4-H Center in Columbiana, Alabama, April 22 through April 24, 2026, to participate in 4-H learning activities.

- The fiscal year 2026 budget was approved.

- The superintendent’s recommendation to name the LaFayette High School football field in honor of Coach Ike Grant was tabled pending further consideration.

- The board approved a proposal from Cooper Carry Design Services proposal for the construction of the new consolidated high school.