BOARD OF EDUCATION
Jones County Board of Education members listened to curriculum updates and testing results in January’s work session.
The Jan. 4 meeting was called to order by Board Chairman Ginger Bailey and Superintendent Charles Lundy started with information from the state. He said Gov. Brian Kemp had announced a $1,000 stipend for state employees, but it did not cover everyone.
Lundy said the Jones County School System plans to cover to fund the stipends for all employees. He said the additional money would be taken from ESSER funds.
The superintendent said Jones County scored well when the Nov. 27 COGNIA package was unpacked. He said the county scored 315, and the network average was 253.
Board member Alfred Pitts said he was all for the bonuses but was concerned that it needed to be made clear the county was only able to do it because of the additional ESSER funds.
“The ESSER well will run dry,” he said.
Bailey agreed and stated that the stipends would probably be the last the board would be able to give out.
Curriculum
Literacy Specialist Kristen Beaver talked to board members about updates that would take place for English Language Arts in the 2025-26 school year. She said the curriculum changes were the result of HB 538, also known as the Georgia Early Literacy Act, and included changes in instructional materials.
The bill addresses early literacy instruction, new ELA standards and required screening for students.
Beaver said the changes had been talked about for a year, and all teachers were well informed.
“They all know their part,” she said.
The specialist said the instructional materials would be changed, and their plan is to adopt a curriculum bundle to include supplemental resources.
“We are looking at options,” Beaver said.
Beaver talked about the Lexia LETRS course that is being taken by a co-hort of 15 Jones County teachers. She said it is a two-year commitment, including 100 hours, and has been made possible because of a REI grant.
The specialist is taking the course with the teachers and said it is phenomenal. She said it delves into how students learn to read.
Beaver said literacy needs to be in all content, and that is a goal the entire school system is working toward.
Alicia Gordon spoke about mathematic updates. She said each unit has multiple learning plans, and, in K-12, all but one subject has changed standards.
Gordon said teachers are getting more confident, however.
“Their primary concerns are a lack of time,” she said.
She said teachers’ planning days had been modified to help with that.
Data
The discussion moved from the updates to looking at the data. The information included reading and math in Jones County High School, middle schools and elementary school.
An analysis of the information was presented by curriculum directors Mary Frances Stewart and Teresa McCuen.
The report also compared scores from the beginning of the year to the middle of the year. Jones County was consistently above the state average, with but one exception, in all the categories.
At the end of the presentation, Lundy said the results were the culmination of the hard work of teachers, coaches and administrators.
“We aren’t where we want to be, but we are glad we are not where we were,” the superintendent said. “This speaks volumes about the work being done. I’m pleased with the scores but there is still work to do.
“I feel like we are in a good place.”
