BOARD OF EDUCATION
Jones County Board of Education members began the second semester of the school year with a renewed focus.
Board Chairman Ginger Bailey called the Jan. 9 meeting to order and started the meeting with her chairman’s report. Bailey said she was relieved school students were safe following the weather issues that morning.
“The children, faculty and staff were able to stay home, and now it’s all behind us. It’s apparent that everyone comes together to educate and keep our children safe,” she said.
The chairman added that the state legislature was back in session, and she would be watching the education issues.
Board member Dr. Nancy Nash said she was inspired by the Jan. 4 work session and the hard work that went into it. She said she plans to work harder as a board member.
“I want to be accountable and make sure all I do is with integrity,” she said.
Board member Alfred Pitts talked about the challenges teachers face and his hope they will let the board know what they can do to help.
“I want teachers to know we want to support you, but we can’t if we don’t know,” he said.
Pitts said the school system has strong programs but also has children who need help.
“We need to find someone who can help them.”
School Superintendent Charles Lundy said he was invited to a 21st Century Partnership luncheon. He said his focus was on workforce development opportunities.
“They talked about differences in mechanics and the need for a STEM-capable work force,” he said.
The superintendent went on say the main discussion was about the new mission on Robins Air Force Base to replace the JSTARS program. He said the discussion was about a possible partnership with Georgia Tech and other colleges and may be a regional career academy.
The goal would be to fill the high-tech needs of the Air Force base.
Lundy expressed his appreciation to everyone who helped get the notice out that schools were closed that morning.
He announced that a hard copy of the Cognia report was available, and Jones County received a score of 315. The superintendent said the highest score was 317, and the network average score was 253.
“I’m proud of that; it’s certainly an accomplishment,” Lundy said.
Finance report
CFO Tonya Merritt presented the finance report for the month ending Dec. 31, which marked 50 percent of the school year.
She said the total revenues were $34,186,037 and total expenditures $28,876,222. The cash in the bank was $24,429,422.
Merritt said that balance included the Treasury note that was purchased last year. She said it matured and added back with interest to the general fund.
Education SPLOST collections for December totaled $300,001, and the average monthly collection is $305,745.
Merritt also explained a budget amendment that would be voted on later in the meeting. She said the amendment included acceptance of state grants that totaled $1,021,280. The funds included $550,624 for an employee retention supplement and an adjustment between departments due to personnel transfers.
Merritt said the supplement from the state covered 498.57 of the county’s 740 employees.
Action items
Lundy followed the financial report with a request to extend the state supplement to all Jones County School System employees. He said the cost to the county would be $269,125 and would come from ESSER III funds. The request was unanimously approved by Board of Education members.
The superintendent recommended the following items, which were all unanimously approved:
• Contractwith Gallopade to purchase grades 6-8 Social Studies Digital Course Licenses for Gray Station Middle School for an estimated cost of $22,733 utilizing funds from L4GA
• ContractwithTrafera to purchase 45 HP Chromebooks and Google Chrome Management Perpetual EDU licenses for Jones County High School under state contract for the estimated cost of $11,205 utilizing funds from L4GA
• ContractwithHand 2Mind to purchase Interactive Decodable Test Set Bundles and Math Manipulatives for Mattie Wells Elementary School for an estimated cost of $12,239 utilizing funds from Title 1
• AdoptionoftheJCSS school calendar for 2024-2025 school year
• Approvalofthe2023– 2024 amended budget as presented
• ContractwithAceof Gray to purchase a Grasshopper Zero Turn Mower for the Maintenance and Operations Department for an estimated cost of $11,423 utilizing funds from the M&O budget
• Qualifyingfeesof$108 for Board of Education members in Districts 2 and 4. The meeting was adjourned to go into closed session. The next meeting of the Board of Education is scheduled 6 p.m., Feb. 13.
