BOARD OF EDUCATION
Board of Education members were in a ‘thanks-giving’ mood at their November monthly meeting.
Chairman Ginger Bailey called the Nov. 8 meeting to order, and her chairman’s report was a short greeting that included that the holidays are coming and wishing everyone a blessed Thanksgiving Day.
Board member Dr. Nancy Nash said she was glad to be at the meeting and stated she was thankful for the school system.
Board member Alfred Pitts said this was the perfect time be thankful.
“What we do is important; people trust us,” he said. “We want to make kids’ futures better than our past.”
The board member went on to say that he is thankful for Jones County teachers and what they do in the classroom every day.
Superintendent Charles Lundy said he was in a meeting Oct. 17 with engineers for the upcoming renovation projects at Dames Ferry Elementary School.
“It was our first time together and was a very productive meeting,” he said.
Lundy said Oct. 28, he, Nash and others attended an economic development meeting in Macon.
“We heard ideas of ways to think about economic development. It was more of a conversation, but we came away with a better understanding of what it takes to have economic development,” he said.
Nash said she was surprised at how the rankings of what is important to promote economic development had changed.
“To have a top labor force, it’s all about soft skills: being honest, on time and showing up for work,” she said.
Lundy said a work force development presentation last fall also emphasized soft skills.
“Being on time, polite and dealing with people is a big challenge,” he said.
Nash said that is information to share. “That’s our message to parents. Those things work,” she noted.
Lundy said legal issues would be discussed at a Georgia Education Conference in Atlanta Nov. 3-4. He said the work session Thursday would be about bond training.
The superintendent talked about Veterans Day.
“We are thankful for our Veterans and want to recognize them with programs in our schools,” he said.
Lundy said Reach Scholarship recipients would be announced Nov. 17, and the annual GSBA conference would take place Nov. 30 – Dec. 1-2.
“The Jones County Board of Education once again achieved the designation of Exemplary Board.”
He ended his report with information of older chrome books being designated as surplus and that the Heath Department was unpacking and getting settled into its temporary location on the Pre-K campus.
Finance report
CFO Tonya Merritt presented the finance report for the month ending Oct. 31, marking 33.33 percent of the school year. The total revenues are $13,945,111 and total expenditures $18,441,567. The ending cash balance is $7,967,925.
The collection of the Education Local Option Sales tax funds for October was $271,274 and the monthly average collection for the school year is $279,351.
At the conclusion of the report, Bailey thanked the people in Jones County for their continued support in buying local.
Action items
The superintendent recommended items for the Board’s approval.
• ContractwithCogniatopurchase Professional Services for the District Accreditation Review for the estimated cost of $17,500, utilizing funds from the General Fund
• ContractwithLexiatopurchase Lexia Core5 Reading Unlimited School Subscription renewal with Implementation Success Partnership for Wells Elementary School grades K-5 for an estimated cost of $11,900 utilizing funds from Title I
• ContractwithIXLLearningto purchase IXL Site License renewal for Gray Station Middle School for an estimated cost of $12,914 utilizing funds from Title I
• ContractwithIXLlearningto purchase IXL Site License renewal for Clifton Ridge Middle School for an estimated cost of $10,350 utilizing funds from Title I
• ContractwithPortionPacChemical Corporation to purchase SFSPAC Food Safety and Sanitation System for the JCSS Nutrition Department of an estimated cost of $14,880 utilizing funds from the School Nutrition Budget
• ContractwithAiOSGrouptopurchase and install boring pipe and multimode fiber optic cabling for the JCSS Transportation Department for an estimated cost of $13,954 utilizing funds from 2014/2019 ESPLOST
• ContractwithDELLTechnologiesto purchase 45 Chromebooks and Google Licenses for Clifton Ridge Middle School under the State of Georgia contract for the estimated cost of $13,996 utilizing funds from Title I
• JonesCountySchoolSystemtojoin the National Purchasing Cooperative operating as “National BuyBoard”
• NewpolicyParticipationinBoard Meetings (BCBI) New policies for Parents’ Bill of Rights (JRB) and Material Harmful to Minors Complaint Resolution Process (IKBC) to be tabled for public review and comment until the next regular board meeting.
Following the unanimous approvals of the actions items as presented the meeting was adjourned to enter into closes session.
The next Board of Education meeting is scheduled Dec. 13.
