State superintendent highlights healthy school year, Hays K‑8 turnaround and student events

Dr. Mackey, the state superintendent, used the June 8 meeting to deliver a summer-end report highlighting health and student engagement across Alabama schools.

"It's been our first school year ... that we did not have 1 single, closure for COVID," Dr. Mackey said, reporting that the state also saw "very few closures for flu this year." He described the year as the healthiest since before the pandemic and said educators and communities contributed to that outcome.

Dr. Mackey highlighted Hays K‑8, a turnaround school, and shared a staff photo and a billboard posted by the Hays alumni association celebrating faculty and staff. He described Hays as a high-poverty, high-transience community where the department continues to invest. "We don't give up," he said of support for turnaround schools.

The superintendent also noted the Future Farmers of America convention in Montgomery, reporting roughly 2,000 students participated and praising the organization as providing leadership and career opportunities. "I believe in the future because I believe in you," Dr. Mackey told the assembled board and students present, quoting the FFA creed theme he referenced during remarks.

Dr. Mackey said a student voices summit organized by A+ (A Plus) was taking place in town and that students would meet with board members for photographs and to discuss leadership and school policy. He closed his remarks by thanking staff and students and noting that the department remains focused on supporting turnaround schools and student opportunity programs.

The board recorded no formal action tied to the superintendent's report; the item concluded with scheduling of the next meeting.