The Jones County Board of Education recently held a work session to discuss a revised millage rate, ESSER funds, federal programs and family engagement and student enrollment.
Board Chairman Ginger Bailey called the Sept. 5 meeting to order.
The meeting began with the introduction of Jones County Tax Commissioner Brian Jackson, who explained the need to adjust Board of Education millage rate slightly, changing it from 16.315 to 16.312 to ensure accuracy in the tax digest and comply with state regulations.
Jackson noted that they run preliminary numbers in July to help Board of Commissioners and Board of Education members understand expected budget growth. At the end of August, they adjust the numbers after settling appeals. Jackson said they settled enough appeals to require a change in the millage rate.
Despite the minimal adjustment, he emphasized that the change is revenue-neutral, meaning it will not result in any gain or loss of revenue. The tax commissioner requested a new resolution from the Board of Education that was unanimously approved, officially adopting the new millage rate.
ESSER funds
Executive Director of Support Services Raymond Braziel discussed all things ESSER. The Jones County School System received three pots of money from ESSER funds, including ESSER 1, initially called CARES 1, providing the school system with $700,000; ESSER 2, providing approximately $3,000,000; and finally, ESSER 3, providing around $7,000,000. The total amount the Jones County School System received was $11,333,203 in ESSER funds since 2020.
JCSS used ESSER funds in numerous ways, including purchasing cleaning and disinfectant supplies, upgrading school technology, and providing take-home technology for students. They used the funds to replace, upgrade, and purchase additional AEDs on school campuses and to replace and upgrade radios throughout the district. They completed renovations at Dames Ferry Elementary School, including replacing all window coverings and making custom blinds for all classroom windows and doors. They installed security doorstops and acquired vacuums that can reach 15 feet in the air to clean vents and preserve air quality. The funds also covered antichoking training kits and training for the Jones County High School welding teacher to achieve certification and for a hearing-impaired teacher to obtain certification in ASL at the same school.
Additionally, they invested in literacy leadership training and various endorsements, including reading, gifted, dyslexia, transition specialist, coaching, and more. ESSER 3 helped the school system manage learning loss, as it was a requirement to spend 20% of ESSER 3 funds on learning loss. JCSS spent well over the 20 percent requirement, according to Braziel.
“Most schools used ESSER funds to touch all areas of learning, including PE classes, art classes, and computer classes. Every area and everyone was touched with a form of ESSER. You name it, we purchased it when it comes to instructional supplies,” he said.
The director said JCSS provided every employee with a $1200$1250 retention bonus in January with the funds. Various forms of school supplies were purchased and renewed from new audio and visual technology equipment at the high school to instructional carpets in kindergarten and first-grade classrooms.
Braziel said the purchases also included sensory classroom materials to help students with sensory issues, aiding teachers and students at all grade levels.
“The list goes on and on - this is just scratching the surface. When asked what we have done with this money, it has all gone to improving our students’ learning and environment and helping teachers be successful. That is what we have accomplished with ESSER funds,”
Family Engagement
After Braziel concluded discussing all things ESSER, Charlotte Foskey, Leslie Poythress and Shelley Edwards of the District Family Engagement Team discussed federal programs and family engagement in the school system, beginning with discussing Title I.
Foskey was the first to speak to board members.
“We do all things through Title I that provide services for students in our schools, but we don’t limit it to what we do within the walls of the schools. A large part of what we do with Title I is what we do for families,” she said.
Foskey added research shows the impact it makes when families are engaged in student learning and what is happening in schools.
“Students do better in school. We want families to engage in what their students do at school,” she said.
The team recently traveled to each school campus to discuss with faculty and staff the importance of family engagement and share the vision and initiatives they have in place as the facilitators of Title I on each campus.
Edwards said every parent should leave a Title I family engagement event with a new tool in their box to help their student’s learning at home.
“We stress this to our teachers through professional learning what family engagement truly means throughout the year,” she said.
There is a family engagement team at the district level and family engagement teams at each school campus, comprised of liaisons who meet with the district team each month to discuss improvements and initiatives.
Edwards said volunteer coordinators help get volunteers actively involved at the schools, and the team provides parents with virtual resources and physical resources at elementary schools that they can take home and use with their children.
She explained that, since the beginning of the school year, the team coordinated a Back to School Bash in July and curriculum nights at each school to demonstrate standards being taught in the classroom, how children are being assessed, and how parents can monitor their progress.
“The curriculum nights are a wonderful and fun way for parents to be involved. We have developed more of a party atmosphere for these events by having Kona Ice at different schools and games to boost engagement, making learning fun,” Edwards said.
She said another significant factor of family engagement is the partnership between the schools.
“Our elementary schools invite the cheer teams to conduct a cheer clinic or invite the FFA livestock team to come over while the parents are at curriculum night. They are providing childcare and learning for the kids while families are learning about what their students are doing.”
Another family engagement initiative at the district level is to partner with programs that promote prevention and instruct families about the dangers of vaping and cigarette use and suicide prevention. Leaders in the Village is a program that helps foster parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents in the district who are raising children.
Family Engagement also started a three-year initiative to satisfy needs that were not being met with help from community organizations, including twelve local churches and civic and business partners.
Enrollment
The final speaker of the meeting was the Executive Director of Accountability and School Enrollment, Clinton Burston, who discussed student enrollment.
He said the student population for the current school year is above where the JCSS ended last year and can grow or decrease as the school year progresses, with factors such as Jones County becoming a more ‘transit community.’
Bailey noted that the lack of affordable housing affects both student enrollment and the amount of faculty.
Burston explained the main reasons for student withdrawal from the JCSS, including attending home study, transferring to private schools, and transferring to another public school system in Georgia.
He said the number of withdrawals for the current FY25 school year is still pending.
The director said there are plans to implement an exit survey for people who withdraw to determine why they are leaving Jones County schools. He has also been figuring out ways to prevent and lower the dropout rate at JCHS by collaborating and conversing with some high school employees to determine ways to keep children in school.
Classroom sizes were also a point of discussion. Bailey said they do not want to overload teachers. She said JCSS works to manage classroom sizes with a growing student population and a lessening teacher population, a phenomenon not just in Jones County but nationwide.
“We appreciate this information because it is important and vital to our school environment,” the chairman said.
Burston said he also tracks student attendance progress.
“Attendance is not much of a problem when it comes to funding, but it is a problem when it comes to academics and engagement,” he said.
The director said from last year’s report from the state, what the state considers a chronic attendance issue is missing more than 10 percent of enrollment days.
He said Clifton Ridge had 111 students who missed 18 or more days last year. Dames Ferry had 74, Gray Elementary had 71, Gray Station had 98, JCHS had 479, Mattie Wells had 78 and Turner Woods had 61 students miss more than 18 enrollment days, excused or unexcused.
Bailey said this is a problem all over Georgia.
Burston said JCSS is following through with the repercussions for lack of attendance and will heavily focus on the issue this school year. The director sent a list of those reported students to school principals so at-risk students from chronic lack of attendance can receive help and guidance.
Superintendent Charles Lundy said school attendance is not respected as it was in the past. He said it is an issue JCSS seeks to rectify with collaboration from families.
“It is an issue you must put teeth into,” he added.
Burston said the school system is exploring options to promote positive attendance.
“We have certain things in place. Anytime a child is absent, the parent automatically gets an email that goes into the contact log so we can see every email and verify we made contact,” he said. “Attendance is an issue we are striving to resolve.”
The director went on to discuss JCSS’s growing population of students with disabilities. He mentioned that the numbers are a bit skewed about the school system’s gifted population because they must have employees certified to serve these students.
Burston said the location where the issue is most prevalent is JCHS where there are fewer gifted certified teachers.
“We must become creative with how we serve these children,” he added.
Burston discussed the graduation rate, with the prediction of the rate decreasing from last year’s 87.53 percent.
“At the end of the summer, I have to do a full report withdrawal. That is anyone who should have graduated in 2024 who enrolled with us in ninth grade and dropped out. Dropouts and fifth years all count toward this rate,” Burston said.
The meeting concluded with a conversation about the number of retained students.
“Everybody was above 91 percent,” Burston said.
Bailey shared a piece of a conversation she had with a principal from one of the elementary schools.
“He gets on the phone with every parent to discuss the importance of school. If it is that important to teachers, it is that important to families. It has definitely helped improve,” she said.
