Superintendent Shawn McDaniel Addressed the Recent Arrests of Employees at Board Meeting

BY DONNA BAIN

Staff Writer

The Pickens County Board of Education held its monthly meeting on February 18, 2026, at Aliceville Elementary School.

The Board was welcomed by Aliceville Elementary School students and enjoyed an entertaining perform- ance by the 5 th and 6 th Grade Elementary Student Band. The students did a fabulous job playing upbeat music and received a standing ovation from the audience.

Superintendent Shawn McDaniel addressed the Board and those in attendance about the arrests that have been made of several employees in the district. He said that his number one responsibility is the safety and well-being of students.

“We are actively working to seek quali- fied, substitute teachers within the instructional content areas,” said McDaniel.  “We are expanding online access to learning for our students. In addition, our district is bringing in the mental health team that we have here, as well as outside resources, to assist our students. We are looking to make behavioral mental health an issue for our faculty and provide them with the appropriate services that they need.”

“The actions of a few people do not define the character of this community,” added McDaniel. We have an overwhelming majority of faculty and staff who serve across this district who are of the highest expectations, and they do an outstanding job of supporting our students. We ask you today in moments like this, when our reputation seems to be at its worst, that we begin to rebuild. We build strength, we rebuild together in this community, and we stand together in trans- parency, accountability, and professionalism. In times like this, we don’t need to retreat or walk away. We need to come together and be a stronger school and a stronger community. As the Board of Education, as your Superintendent, as faculty and staff, and to the parents that are here today, I want you to understand that we are going to teach your child, lead your child, and do everything in our power to support them with a model of integrity as we move forward. God bless you.”

Superintendent Shawn McDaniel rec- ommended that the Board approve the termination of Personnel Number 2 from the Jan- uary meeting. Board member Susan Estes made the following statement: “I move to rescind the motion adopted on Jan- uary 14 regarding the retention of Personnel Number 2, and I further move that the individual’s employment be terminated immediately.”

The second was made by Board member Gene Dawkins. It was unanimously approved.

In reports, Byron Fair spoke to the Board about the great things going on at the Career Center because this is Career Tech Education Month. The Career Cen- ter currently has five students who will be getting an associate degree in computer science. They also have two students who competed in an Apple App contest. There were 28,000 students who competed in this from around the country. Claire Rubric and Kaitlyn Bryant finished in the top 200. The Career Tech program was recognized for these students’ achievements. Fair explained that there will be 9 graduating this spring with an associate degree in industrial maintenance. He said the Welding department has a new instructor who is in the process of making the Career Center an AWS testing site, which is very important in the welding world. This will allow students and community members to take this test right here in Pickens County. He said there were 3 seniors in the Teacher Cadet program that are participating in the program with the University of West Alabama, taking advantage of the scholarship, which gives them the opportunity to get their tuition paid for if they come back to rural Alabama and teach.

Another big success is the nursing program. Eleven students have passed their PCA tests, and nine have passed their MAT tests. Next year, the Career Center will add a PN program. In this program stu- dents will finish all their academic classes as 11 th graders. As seniors, these students will be taking classes at Bevill and taking their nursing classes only. They will take two classes the next summer and will then graduate with an LPN degree.

Pickens County Career Center will be the first one in the state of Alabama to accomplish having this PN program. Chasitie White of LEAN Frog reported on the district-wide compensation study that was done recently, evaluating the district’s salary schedule. The district is ahead in some areas and behind compared to other districts’ salaries in other areas. The Board will take these recommendations into consideration.

In other business, payroll and the financial summary were approved with a motion from Board member Frankie Spencer and a second from Board member Estes.