BAY MINETTE — As the Baldwin County Board of Education continues its push for a 1-cent referendum vote in March, board members voted unanimously Jan. 21 to re-establish how some of its elementary school teachers are paid, freeing up money in the system’s general fund while securing federal funding for the 39 jobs affected.

Thirty of the 39 jobs that were “re-established” are Title I teaching jobs, system communications director Terry Wilhite said, at schools in the county that serve low-income and at-risk students, including Bay Minette Elementary, Bay Minette Intermediate, Delta Elementary and Stapleton Elementary.

By re-establishing the jobs as federally funded positions, the teachers no longer have to be paid from the school system’s undersupplied general fund. Instead, they can be funded by nearly $500,000 in federal stimulus money, allowing the teachers to keep their jobs, Director of Business and Finance Jean McCutchen said.

If not used for personnel purposes, Title I schools have the option to use stimulus money for numerous educational services, supplies, equipment and programs. The decision to allocate the money for the schools’ teachers instead of educational services for students, Wilhite said, was based on the critical need for teacher funding facing the system.

“There is some discretion where (stimulus) dollars can be used,” Wilhite said. “We made the decision to use, where allowed, some of the dollars to retain employees with the thought that programs without people are worthless.

“With stimulus dollars it’s not really a matter of cutting a federal program. It’s a matter of choosing option A, B or C where to use the dollars. Baldwin County has determined that the best use of the federal dollars in this case is teachers.”

The move comes two months before a county referendum will be put before the public proposing a three-year, one-percent tax hike to recover some of the money lost due to dwindling sales and property taxes that make up the bulk of the system’s general fund.

The board has said that the tax would enable the system to restore teachers, special education aides, nurses, custodians and child nutrition workers that have been let go and that there would be a recovery of financial stability and fund balance within three years.

Other business conducted at the regular meeting included the approval of a video surveillance system for Fairhope Elementary School and the three-year extension of Spanish Fort Middle School principal Carol Palumbo.

Bay Minette Middle School teacher John Hope was honored at the meeting as the ALFA Teacher of the Month for December 2009. Eight public school teachers — one from each of eight districts in the state — are chosen for the award each year. The award carries a $1,000 prize for both Hope and the school.

“Mr. Hope is a prime example of the dedication and the talent we have in our building. He is a true teacher-leader and he leads by example,” Bay Minette Middle School principal Tammie Fleming said.

Three proposed calendar options for the 2010-2011 school year were tabled. The meeting was the first conducted by interim superintendent JaNay Dawson.