On the same day as the Pope Benedict XVI announced his resignation as spiritual leader to the Roman Catholic Church, Hartselle Superintendent Dr. Mike Reed, Ed.D., announced his resignation from his position leading Hartselle City School System.

Superintendent Reed publicized his resignation Monday, Feb. 11, during, a longer than usual, regular school board monthly meeting held at Hartselle Junior High School. He said his goal was to retire after the new high school is completed and occupied, leaving his official intended retirement date for June, 30, 2013.

He said he was proud to be leaving Hartselle City Schools in exceptional academic and financial shape and is looking forward to spending time with his family and grandson.

“It’s been a pleasure serving and leading this district. The kids, parents, teachers and administration are all top class,” Reed said.

School Board member Dr. James Joy said Reed should be proud of the “legacy of people” who he has placed in the system.

“One of my greatest pleasures I’ve had is trying to put the right people in the right position,” Reed said.

“We’ve really appreciated what you’ve done,” Joy said.

There is still no set date for students to occupy the new high school on Bethel Road. However, the board did hear updates on the completion progress from construction manager Jim Maynard.

They are in the “punch list” phase of completion in the academic areas of the school, Maynard said, preparing for the building and elevator inspections from state inspector John Vandever , to take place two to three weeks after he is requested to inspect. Maynard said the furniture and kitchen equipment should arrive and the practice and competition gyms should be striped, this week, while the auditorium and cafeteria areas will be the last completed sections of the school.

The school board also voted to approve a $226,000 expenditure package, to be taken from the system’s $8 million reserves, for the field house at the new high school. The extra expenditure to the $2 million field house is due to changes made by architects Goodwyn, Mills, and Cawood of Birmingham, approved by the board in January, to make the field house meet federal Title IX requirements.

The board called a special work session on Oct.8, 2012, in which parents, coaches, and other parties of interest crowded the central office to voice their concerns on the inclusion of the girls’ softball team in the plans for the new field house. Now, football, baseball and softball will all three be housed in the facility.

The approved extra expenditure was not without opposition, passing 4-1. Board member Randy Sparkman voted against the extra spending at the new high school, citing his ongoing concerns about the current upgrades needed at the existing schools in the system.

During a heated work session held Thursday, Feb. 7, Sparkman, along with board member Venita Jones, both said they had concerns about additional spending at the new high school when they did not have definite plans on what would be improved or upgraded at the existing schools. However, Jones voted for the expenditure.

In January, the board voted for architects to begin the bid process for a new heating and cooling system for the current high school on Sparkman Street, which will be Hartselle Intermediate School in August for the seventh and eighth graders. The heating and cooling system is estimated to cost about $1.4 million.

In addition to the upgrade expenditure, the board voted unanimously, Feb. 11, to spend $5,000 from the reserve funds for wooden lockers for the new high school field house. H & H Enterprises of Boaz will install 200 wooden lockers in the field house for $80,000, with $75,000 already allocated for the lockers, Reed said.

In other business, the board also approved the following items:

• To spend $5,000 to hire Alabama Association of School Boards to conduct the search for a new Chief School Finance Officer. CSFO Sarita Tapscott announced her intended resignation last month saying she will take a CSFO position with Alabaster City Schools in March.

• A $10 fee for Spanish courses at Hartselle High School.

• The proposed calendar for the 2013-2014 school year.

• Out-of-state field trips for: AP Biology, Anatomy and Medical Internship students at Hartselle High School to travel to Atlanta, Ga., on March 15, 2013, to visit the Bodies Exhibit at Atlantic Station; and Hartselle High School Band to travel to Orlando, Fla., from April 24-28, 2013, to visit Walt Disney World’s Epcot Center and Animal Kingdom, Old Town, and Universal Studios, as well as, lead the premiere Character Parade at the Magic Kingdom.

• The request for Hartselle High School students to travel to Germany on June 2-16, 2013.

• Memorandum of Agreement between Hartselle City Schools and Auburn Montgomery Center for Government and Public Affairs.

• The first reading of the Hartselle School Board Code of Conduct.

Personnel items approved were:

• Leave requested from Casie Kimbrell, fourth grade teacher at Crestline Elementary School, for unpaid Family Medical Leave, after all leave days are depleted, from Feb. 4 – May 3, 2013.

• Resignations for: Linda Orr, custodian, based at the Central Office, currently assigned at F.E. Burleson Elementary, effective July 1, 2013; Jack Orr, custodian, based at Central Office, currently assigned at F.E. Burleson Elementary, effective July 1, 2013; Janice Terry, custodian, based at Central Office, currently assigned at F.E. Burleson Elementary, effective July 1, 2013; Sarah Wiley as seventh grade cheerleader sponsor at Hartselle Junior High School, effective, March 22, 2013; and Sarita Tapscott, Chief School Finance Officer, effective Feb. 28, 2013.

• Volunteer coaches: Danley Bradford as volunteer coach for baseball at Hartselle High School for the 2013 season; and Kevin Howard as a volunteer coach for the junior varsity tennis team at Hartselle Junior High and Hartselle High schools for the 2013 season.