BOE Discusses Gaggle, Securly, Cell Phone Policy and GLHS Assistant Principal Appointment

Laura’s Notes on the 06/11/2026 BOE Meeting

The June 11 meeting of the BOE started in the GL auditorium honoring the retirement of 9 employees. The regular meeting resumed in the GL Cafeteria where the Superintendent honored the student representatives and the stellar swim coaching career of David Closs.

During the public hearing on agenda items, I questioned the resolution under finance for a contract with Securly, with the BOE approving a 24-hour AI-generated monitoring service, Gaggle, at the last meeting. Feltre responded saying that the two services are not duplicating each other and that Securly is a continuation of the program all BHPS staff use to monitor student activity on Chromebooks, push material and ensure students are staying on task.

The report of the Business Administrator commended the hard work of central office staff and the entire custodial department. Nicholson reported that there was one correspondence to the Board from Susan Poage with regard to a hire on the agenda.

Mr. Morales apologized to his fellow Board members and the public for his two consecutive absences at meetings, citing a death in the family and a required work hazmat training in Alabama.

The Finance report included the appointment of a new auditor. The committee did not see a need to raise district activity fees.

The Athletic committee reported that locker rooms, equity in sports and the lack of any interest in fan buses was discussed.

The Personnel committee reported they discussed the new CMS Principal hire and salary in addition to custodial contracts and job descriptions for new positions. Bradford reported the Board will discuss a salary increase for Dr. Feltre during the executive session following the meeting.

Ms. Akiri made a resolution to amend the appointment of the interim assistant principal at GLHS to begin on August 1, 2026 and end on December 31, 2026. The student representative advocated for the current Assistant Principal to fulfill the full-year term and not have the position expire in December of this year, noting that such a termination would make students unhappy. Terrero questioned the student’s comment about students being unhappy with a departure in December versus June 2027. The student cited that during his 6 years through middle and high school, he had a different principal each of those 6 years.

Another student spoke in favor of keeping the Assistant Principal.

Akiri responded by saying that the issue isn’t about a person but a line item in the budget.

The resolution to amend the appointment did not pass.

The student representative recommended establishing a class rank to provide an advantage by showing where a student stands as opposed to their peers.

The District Policy on taking photos and videos of students and staff on personal devices is being amended and updated to include the use of personal devices with a timeline for uploading media to a school-issued device.

In regard to the upcoming cell phone policy, the student representative commented that students should be allowed to use cell phones on the bus and during lunch or free periods because many students use phones to do school work or study. Dr. Foregger recommended eliminating the bell if the state law mandates cell phones are prohibited “bell to bell,” giving the District the ability to create a policy that works best for the community.

A motion to amend Policy 0149 (Retiring Board Members) was made by Dr. Foregger, which included “a member with a prior conviction under the school ethics act with a sanction of censure or worse shall not be eligible for this benefit.”

Stanley, who would be ineligible to reap the benefits of this policy if passed as amended, questioned what this language is attempting to accomplish. Foregger argued that if a BOE member is found in violation of the school ethics act, which they took an oath to uphold, they should certainly not reap any benefits.

The amendment did not pass, with only Morales, Akiri and Foregger in support of changes.

During the second citizens hearing, John asked about Gaggle and how the reporting will be transmitted and stored. He also questioned if staff emails and communication will be included. He continued by asking how the district will report incidents and show what is legitimate versus a false flag and where this data will be kept. High Impact Tutoring benefits were also raised and requested to be brought back by making budget cuts to help our students.

The public meeting ended and the Board moved into executive session to discuss personnel matters.

See Notes on the 06/11 Meeting Agenda