Huntsville City School Board & Chapter Merger
/CRITICAL ALERT FOR NORTHEAST ALABAMA
THE FIRST BIG ISSUE IS THAT THE HUNTSVILLE CITY SCHOOL BOARD RAISED NEW FEES!
The school board started a brand-new building use policy on August 1, 2019. They decided to charge all the character-building organizations fees for the use of classroom space. This would include the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, CEF and other similar non-profit organizations. For the North Alabama region of CEF, we will have charges for about $9,000 for the 2019 – 2020 school year for our five schools in the Huntsville City School District. We have plans for three or four more schools starting in January for the remaining school year, which could add up to $5,000 more dollars. So, we are looking at adding $9,000 to $14,000 to our budget this year. We had not planned for this or known of this until September when we first discovered this new policy. We have been doing all we can with legal advice to get this situation changed, but currently, we see no evidence that anyone is willing to change the policy.
THE SECOND BIG ISSUE IS THAT WE ARE JOINING WITH NORTHWEST ALABAMA AND WILL BE COMBINING THEIR 2 EMPLOYEES WITH OUR STAFF AND SEEKING TO COVER THE 14 COUNTIES OF NORTH ALABAMA! KATHRYN BURLESON WILL BE OUR GOOD NEWS CLUB COORDINATOR AND TRAINER AND VICKIE HOOD WILL BE OUR OFFICE MANAGER!
Our new budget needs to cover all the 14 counties, the schools, and the area churches to reach the children for Christ in the approximately 200 schools in our new area. At a minimum, we are seeking to raise $145,000 for the 2019-2020 budget. This includes the new fees being charged. With the increased fees and the increased territory, we will need to raise an additional $55,000 to reach the children for Christ in North Alabama. Please prayerfully consider everything that you can do to help partner with us. We have churches and individuals in the area that are helping and other friends of CEF throughout the Southeast that are giving financial support, adding their prayers and godly influence when and where they can, but we need more help!
PLEASE CONSIDER HOW YOU CAN HELP US!
Ask the Lord to show you how you can help us meet the need of the new fees and the new, larger organization trying to reach even more of the children in North Alabama. Our goal is to reach “Every Child, Every Nation, Every Day.” We are starting with the schools, but we are also holding 5-Day clubs in the summer and beyond, as well as sharing Christ at the Madison Street Festival every October, and are looking for even more ways to partner with churches and individuals and other organizations to reach the children in the area where God has given us the challenge and the opportunity!
Serving Christ and the children with you,
Dr. James R Simoneau
Director, CEF of Northeast Alabama, Jsimoneau1980@gmail.com, 334-399-1733
For donations send to CEF of Alabama, North Chapter, PO Box 2034, Huntsville, AL 35804
