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LaFAYETTE — During Thursday’s school board meeting, Superintendent Dr. Kelli Hodge said this year’s Pre-K drawing will proceed as scheduled at 9 a.m. CDT on Friday, March 27. It will be a virtual event on Facebook. Parents whose child is selected for Pre-K will be notified by email.

Hodge announced that all school system personnel would be paid on the usual schedule, or March 27.

“I want to thank you and the Central Office staff for keeping us informed,” said Board Member Vicki Leak.

Hodge said Chambers County schools would be closed, effective Thursday, March 19 and would remained closed at least through April 6. An announcement will be made later whether the shutdown will continue or if the schools will reopen.

The Alabama State Department of Education has directed that all school-sponsored activities such as field trips and athletic competition have been suspended through April 30.

Hodge said that a large percentage of students had been out on Monday and Tuesday. An estimated 60 percent of Chambers County students were present for class on Monday but that number had dropped to 20 percent by Tuesday.

“We will keep everyone informed through this shutdown,” she said. “We will let you know as soon as we can if anything changes.”

Board members agreed to go on with a training session they were to receive from the state on April 8. Rather than being a sit-down session, they can receive it at home or at the Central Office on WebX.

The system’s February payroll was just under $3 million and the current Net Fund Equity is a little over $6 million or some half-million dollars over last year’s figure.

At the start of the meeting, Hodge noted that the seating arrangements were different from normal. Everyone was spaced at least six feet apart.

“We are taking all the precautions we have been asked to take,” she said. “Everything has been cleaned in here. There are bottles of hand sanitizer on the tables anyone can use. We hope, and pray, we have done everything we needed to do.”