The Troy Board of Education discussed the latest “report card” grade released by the Alabama Department of Education during its Monday meeting.

The school continued its upward trend in grading, up to an 85 for 2018-2019 from an 82 grade for the 2017-2018 school year. The 2016-2017 grade for the system was a 79.

“This is a testament to the teachers and especially to the students,” Hicks said. “Our students don’t let poverty or socioeconomic or any other aspects of their lives keep them from being successful. We have great things going on here. It’s a testament to administrators that work hard every day; we can’t thank you enough for being so pro-active.”

Hicks said that the system is constantly trying to hit a moving target of what criteria is considered successful and that administrators and teachers excel at adapting to keep up.

Hicks specifically thanked new CFO Patricia Norman, giving her credit for working hard to close out the fiscal year after the retirement of former CFO Mickey Daughtry.

Hicks also referenced some confusion and “mistruths” about the school system.

“It is unfortunate there are so many mistruths and uninformed individuals out there,” Hicks said, making reference to a recent question abut whether the Troy Career Tech center had closed (it hasn’t).

The board also established October 28 through November 1 as Red Ribbon Week in Troy City Schools, encouraging students to “say no to drugs.”

The board also awarded a garbage pickup contract to Mark Dunning Industries for $27,000 annually. Hicks said the school shave been using this provider for several years and that the prices are reasonable and that the service has been wonderful to work around the system’s needs.