The Jones County Board of Education’s March meeting was filled with staff announcements and new policies that will impact the entire school system.
Jones County School Superintendent Dr. Jessica Graves announced the names of the two new assistant superintendents for the Jones County School System following a closed session at the conclusion of the March 10 meeting.
Graves stated Dennis Woolfolk will serve as Assistant Superintendent of Operations and Efficiency, and Katy Richter will serve as Assistant Superintendent of Teaching, Learning, and Whole Child Support. Both are effective as of July 1.
The superintendent said JCSS will continue its unwavering commitment to excellence.
“Under the expert leadership of Mr. Woolfolk and Mrs. Richter, I expect us to move even more efficiently and effectively as we develop systems to drive culture, which influences actions to drive outcomes,”she stated in a follow up March 11 email.
Woolfolk is currently Jones County High School Principal, and Richter is currently an assistant principal at Gray Elementary School.
During the March 10 presentation of action items, Graves announced new policies for the use of electronic devices by students, student code of conduct, nonresident students and internet acceptable use.
Chairman Ginger Bailey called the business meeting to order. In honor of Board of Education week, each board member found gifts in front of their seats as they entered the board meeting.
Graves previewed the centralized enrollment policy during her superintendent’s report and thanked Dr. Trevis Killen, who led the committee working on the policy procedures. Other committee members were Stacy Carr, Amy Clegg, Cheryl Dupree, Lou Lilian, Melody Nebel, Chance Scott, Melissa Skinner and Woolfolk.
She stated effective March 16, centralized enrollment is located at the Central Office for students K-12.
Graves said the residency reapplication window is March 16 through April 3. Per the new procedure, students on a residency affidavit will be required to reapply on an annual basis. The new procedure requires a new residency affidavit form and a home visit from a law enforcement officer to confirm the child has a place to sleep and the presence of clothing and personal belongings.
The superintendent said there is clear criteria for students who are not residents, including tuition, and school choice is allowed only if space is available.
She emphasized that Jones County residents would always be the priority.
“Creating a safe learning environment is our first priority,” she said.
Board member Brady Skinner stated the policy is not based on sports.
“We are getting back to education,” he said.
The meeting room was filled with Georgia College and State University student teachers who had been teaching at Gray Station and Clifton Ridge Middle Schools. Each of the groups gave a presentation about their teaching experiences.
The student teachers were in English Language Arts, Math and Social Studies classes, and they thanked the schools and their partner teachers for all their help and support.
SPARK Academy
Gray Station Middle School Principal Zachary Griffin and Clifton Ridge Middle School Principal Chance Scott spoke to board members about the SPARK (Students Pursuing Academic Rigor and Knowledge) Academy.
“What are we doing for the students who are doing it right?” Griffin asked.
Scott said middle school is a challenging time, and it is important to maintain rigor and not allow students to get bored. He said the target is students not in the gifted program, but are doing well.
“We need to provide the ultimate education experience for everyone in our district,” the principal said.
Griffin agreed and said many times high achievers are not challenged.
The principals said SPARK Academy will not be the same at the two schools, but they have the same goal. Students will apply to get into the programs that will launch this fall.
Finance report
JCSS CFO Tonya Merritt presented the report ending Feb. 28, which represents 66.67 percent of the year. She reported the total revenues $47,830,751 and total expenditures $45,105,914. The ending cash in the bank $27,766,662.
Education Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax collections for February were $345,066, and the monthly average ESPLOST collections $332,056.
Action Items
Graves presented four policies to be considered by the board. Three were policy revisions. The other was the result of a new state law about student access to person electronic devices that was expanded to include all students, K-12. The state law titled the Distraction Free Education Act covers K-8.
The new policy states students in grades kindergarten through 12 are not permitted to access personal electronic devices while on school premises during school hours.
The Student Code of Conduct policy is a revision of the current policy. The policy spells out the authority of principals and teachers. It also states that membership or affiliation with gangs is not permitted. Any student who violates the policy is subject to discipline including suspension and/ or expulsion from school.
The policy includes conduct on buses.
The revised nonresident student policy spells out provisions, including available space, no pending disciplinary action, nonresident tuition, and copies of critical records.
The final policy, Internet Acceptable Use, does not pertain to personal devices but computers and other devices accessing the internet. Its purposed is to make sure inappropriate content cannot be accessed.
Each of the policies were tabled until the next board meeting and placed on the website available for public review. The policies can be accessed from the JC BOE Simbli Page via the jones.k12.ga.us website. The Simbli Page is under the “About Us” JC Board of Education tab.
Other actions items recommended by Graves were contracts unanimously approved by board members.
• Approvalof contract with DELL Technologies to purchase Microsoft Office 365 Subscriptions and licenses under the state of Georgia contract for estimated cost of $30,986 utilizing funds from the technology budget.
• Approvalofthe request for an extension from the Georgia Department of Education Facilities Section in the development of a new five-year local facilities plan to be completed by March 15, 2027, as required.
• Approvalofcontract with Dell Technologies to purchase 25 Dell Pro 16 PC16250XCTO Base Laptops for the JCSS under state contract for an estimated cost of $17,938 utilizing funds from the technology budget.
• Approvalofcontract with Dell Technologies to purchase 180 Dell ProSlim QCS1250 laptops for the JCSS under the state contract for estimated cost of $126,795 utilizing funds from technology budget. At the conclusion of the agenda items, the meeting was adjourned to enter closed session.
The next meeting of the board is April 14.
