Board approves personnel changes, discusses teacher certification

The Fayette County Board of  Education approved a series of personnel recommendations during its June meeting, including teacher hires, resignations, summer program contracts and coaching assignments for the 2026-27 school year. All board members were present for the meeting. The board accepted the resignations of Jackson Elkins, countywide paraprofessional assigned to Fayette Elementary School; Harley Holsonback, teacher at Fayette Elementary School; Isabella Butts, teacher at Fayette Elementary School; and Bailey Burleson, teacher at Berry High School. Board members also approved the hiring of Summer Wilson as an elementary teacher at Hubbertville School, Emily Hines as an elementary teacher at Fayette Elementary School, Sheila Lowery as Child Nutrition Program manager at Berry Elementary School and JaLyn Shepherd as a practical nurse at Fayette County High School. Before approving four teaching positions, board member Portia Stowe asked that they be considered separately because the candidates’ certifications were still pending. The positions included Tom Hollinsworth at Fayette Elementary School, Francis Davis at Fayette Middle School, Adam Ingram at Hubbertville School and Carlee Holland Cain at Fayette Middle School. Deputy Superintendent Mary Raines explained that some of the applicants are recent college graduates whose certification paperwork is still being processed by the Alabama State Department of Education, while others are working through approved alternative certification pathways.