Members of the Jones County Board of Education recently met for what was described as a board retreat, but the session also included staff and community members in an effort to improve transparency.
Board Chairman Ginger Bailey called the May 21 meeting to order, and Superintendent Dr. Jessica Graves spoke about the purpose for the retreat. She said there were two goals for the meeting: the first to work on staff and stakeholder engagement and the second was to write policy.
The superintendent introduced Donna Hinton, senior board development specialist with the Georgia School Boards Association, who was there for whole board training with Jones County Board of Education members, which is part of their annual training requirement.
The meeting was held in the Community Room of Jones County High School. It began at 3 p.m. and concluded at 5:45.
Hinton said the meeting was taking place at a good time of year, the close of one school year and the beginning of another.
“We have one focused effort: a good education for children,” she said.
Hinton said board of education members are required to receive nine to 18 hours of training each year, depending on their position. She said the Jones County board has participated in training every year.
The speaker said this meeting would focus on governance, which is a key to a high-performing district.
“Policy is powerful, but it is so overlooked,” she added. Hinton said there are nine standards for effective governance of Georgia school system, but this session would deal with the first three domains of structure, strategic planning and community relations.
“It’s important to focus on the right stuff,” she said.
Graves divided participants into five groups representing students, teachers, leaders, families and communities. Her focus was on core beliefs. Each group gathered at a separate table and was assigned tasks. First was to make a list describing their beliefs about those represented by the group name, and each group came up with a long list.
The first group described their beliefs about students with adjectives including deserving, capable, resilient and representing the future of the community.
Teachers were described as experts and data driven professionals valuing integrity. Leaders were described as accountable, effective communicators and lifelong learners.
After the groups completed listing the descriptors, they were asked to narrow their lists down and lastly to write a sentence including those beliefs.
The sentence to describe leaders included “experienced leaders who are instructionally sound life-long learners who communicate effectively to all.”
The communities group’s sentence was followed by a statement.
“We owe it to ourselves to find every way possible to educate our children, always.”
The end goal is to have functioning adults in a community that are contributing and not dragging it down.
Hinton led the next segment looking at governance team operating norms and protocols.
Participants were divided into different groups this time, each including a board member.
The groups looked at the Governance Team Operating Norms and Protocols of the Jones County Board of Education. Each group was assigned a different section of the norms and protocols to evaluate and make any changes needed.
Graves said all the information from the sessions would be compiled and brought before the board for the purpose of writing policy.
Hinton thanked everyone for “coming to the table.”
“This is good productive work,” she said. The specialist made suggestions for the future policies. She said to remember the people not in the room when writing policy and policies need to be able to be understood by the community.
“Teaching soft skills needs to be consistent across the district,” Hinton said. “But most important is what is good for our children.”
She said having a new superintendent means Jones County has a new team and new culture. Hinton stressed that board members need to work together, and the Governance Team is made up of the superintendent and the elected board members.
“Board members are elected by stakeholders and their constituents,” she said.
The speaker pointed out the superintendent works with the personnel of the school system, and there is a steady flow of management information. “Management falls to the superintendent. The board determines the quality of work, but the power of the board is in the vote.”
At the conclusion of the retreat, board members adjourned to enter a closed session. When the meeting reopened, the following staff changes were approved and announced:
• ChanceScott–principal,JonesCounty High School
• MarkHigginbotham–assistantprincipal, Jones County High School
• LaMishaClark–assistantprincipal, Jones County High School
• KristenJones–assistantprincipal, Jones County High School
• DougPieterick–assistantprincipal, Mattie Wells Elementary School
• JeremyDockery–assistantprincipal, Clifton Ridge Middle School
