Education

Hundreds of competitors and their supporters flooded the auditorium at Collins High School Saturday for one of the state’s largest VEX Robotics Competitions.

Coaches Tim Oltman and Shane Ware said 71 teams from across the state turned out for the district’s largest and the state’s third largest VEX competition since the program came into existence more than a decade ago.

“Five to six hundred people attended,” Oltman said.  “Shelby County teams did really well.”

The Shelby County Board of Education gathered with members of the budget committee for a formal work session during its regularly scheduled meeting Thursday and learned their recommendation included a two percent teacher raise. The proposal, however, was a double-edged sword as it accompanied the recommendation of generating those funds by increasing the county’s property tax by the maximum four percent rate.

Rates can be increased by more, but would require a public vote, not just action by the school board.

Shelby County Public Schools announced Heritage Elementary School’s Julia Lyles as the 2016-17 Teacher of the Year.

Surrounded by friends, colleagues and family members, the third grade teacher was recognized Thursday evening at a ceremony honoring each school’s selected teacher of the year, following a brief video in their honor.

Lyles said she was honored to receive the recognition.

Some parents gearing up to send their little one to kindergarten in the upcoming school year might have to hold off on their school supply shopping for another year.

Starting this coming school year, children must be five years old on or before Aug. 1 to enter kindergarten.  Previously, the cutoff was October 1.

In 2012, however, the General Assembly changed the law with the mindset that younger students may not be ready for kindergarten.

That law is set to go into effect for the 2017-18 school year.