Boyd English said he has made some major strides during his first week in Crenshaw County as superintendent. He toured the Crenshaw County schools and attended his first Crenshaw county school board meeting.

“It’s been great to see the summer activities going on at all the schools,” said English, “and seeing all the quality students Crenshaw has.”

He will attend his second meeting next week. Crenshaw County Schools will have a special called board meeting at the Joe R. Sport Administration Building Tuesday at 5:30 p.m.

The purpose of the meeting is to discuss personnel. English’s first order of business was getting all of the school’s personnel in order.

“First thing that is critical is getting your personnel taken care of,” said English. “We’ve taken some major steps with that.”

The new principal hires for Luverne and Brantley were at the top of his list.

English also announced that he would be implementing fine arts into the school systems. There will be the addition of an art academy to Luverne High School, a vocal academy added to Brantley and a new performing arts academy for Highland Home.

English believes that implementing a focus on the arts is critical for students.

“When we came in and assessed everything that was going to be a focus, immediately it went to enhancing the arts,” he said. “Implementing the focus on the arts is critical.”

The academies will be exclusive to one school. However, English hopes that through pursuing innovative scheduling, students who have a desire to learn another art will be able to get help from a teacher at their school.

His hope is that in a few years the program will grow enough so all three academies can be at each school.

For more information regarding the Crenshaw County school board or the superintendent, please contact Crenshaw County Schools at 334-335-6519.