The Jones County Board of Education received reports and assessment updates for the Jones County School System at its October meeting.
The Oct. 8 meeting began with a report from Board Chairman Ginger Bailey. The chairman said the Georgia School Board Association asked her to attend a webinar to discuss ideas and thoughts on how the Jones County School System engages with and welcomes the community.
Bailey praised District Family Engagement Coordinators Shelley Edwards and Shelby Henderson for their pivotal roles in successfully engaging the community.
“The minute the webinar started, I immediately thought of Shelley and Shelby and all they do to help bring our community together. They have a very interesting online toolbox and resources with information on how to get the community involved. We have a lot of opportunities,” Bailey said.
The other board members provided their reports.
Mike Gordon commended the Jones County High School College and Career Academy for providing students with “opportunities to develop their academic knowledge, technical skills and knowledge and employability skills,” according to the Jones County College and Career Academy webpage.
“I have always thought this was the missing link for public education,” Gordon reported.
The board member continued to say he spent three hours visiting JCHS-CCA classrooms.
“I visited the welding class, construction class, robotics class, the heavy equipment operators’ class, which I thought was great - all of them were fantastic, reinvigorating students’ learning,” Gordon said.
Kimbrell Washburn spoke about the recent hurricane events and how blessed the Jones County area is to remain protected from the harsh weather.
Dr. Nancy Nash thanked the school system maintenance and operations staff and custodians for ensuring the school facilities were as weather- safe as possible.
“Those are the behindthe- scenes guys who could often go unnoticed, but they sure do a lot for us, making sure we are always ready and prepared,” Nash said.
Alfred Pitts expressed his gratitude to all the teachers in the school system.
“As we approach fall break, I would like to thank our teachers. I hope they get some rest, spend time with their families, and feel rejuvenated when returning to school. We have some of the best employees, and we need to do everything we can to keep them here,” he said.
Pitts also thanked Washburn for his help with local ministries in collaboration with the school system to provide backpacks with supplies and food to students.
“That is a good program that you all are working with to meet the needs of our children, and we appreciate you.”
Superintendent Charles Lundy touched on topics the other board members discussed previously.
“I would like to express how fortunate we are that we did not experience damages like other counties and school systems due to the hurricane,” he said.
Lundy applauded school system Maintenance Director Joe Evans and his team for ensuring water could not get underneath doors and that all facilities were safe for students returning to school. He also thanked Technology Director Adam Barnett for shutting down the school system network to avoid damaging power surges.
The superintendent briefly discussed the state of the school reports, saying each school has done an excellent job. He also touched on the success of the recent homecoming activities, providing fun to the school system community.
Lundy thanked Greenwood Baptist Church for providing breakfast to the Central Office that allowed conversation and fellowship to start the morning right.
The superintendent presented the financial report in the absence of Chief Financial Officer Tonya Merritt. He said Sept. 30 marked 25 percent of the school year.
“If you look at our total revenue, $12,936,953, that is 20 percent of the revenue we should receive this year, so we are tracking a little bit behind. We are also tracking behind in some expenditures. Total expenditures are $15,070,209. That is only 23 percent of the budgeted amount with an ending cash balance of $21,737,840,” he said.
Lundy further explained that the school is tracking under budget for major functions, including instruction ($9,724,149), maintenance and operations ($1,436,592), and student transportation ($837,876). They are currently awaiting federal program funds for Title I, Title VIB, Federal Preschool and Vocational Grants, which expected to begin funding next month.
He said regarding SPLOST funds, there is a remaining balance of $3,505,894.09 from SPLOST 2019, allocated for high school renovation projects and $905,041.16 from SPLOST 2024. This month, they collected $331,792.63 in SPLOST revenue, with an average monthly SPLOST revenue year-to-date of $320,229.92.
Lundy said state revenue is tracking as expected, federal revenue has not been received yet and local revenue will increase as taxes start coming in November through January.
For the last report item, the school board received an assessment update of students’ state testing results from Executive Director Charlotte Foskey, Literacy Specialist Kristen Beaver, and Math Specialist Alisha Gordon.
Foskey began the discussion by applauding the school board for being deemed exemplary by the Georgia School Board Association. Then, the executive director discussed how student test scores have begun to rise in recent years “We used to be so excited when we met the state average with our test scores. That felt like a great achievement. Now, we are not just looking at a state average anymore or satisfied with being average. Our results show it,” Foskey concluded.
Beaver discussed the district data from the ELA portion of the Georgia Milestone state test. 77 percent of third-grade students, 64 percent of fourth-grade students, 74 percent of fifth-grade students, 66 percent of sixth-grade students, 71 percent of seventh-grade students, 77 percent of eighth-grade students, and 72 percent of high school American Literature students are reading at their grade level or above.
“Overall, across the grade levels, an approximate average of 75 percent of our students are reading on grade level in each grade,” she said.
Beaver said one of the main focuses is to work with developing students who are reading below their grade level at every school campus to help them advance to the proficient level.
“These students are primed and ready to move toward proficiency. We have practices in place that will hopefully move them to the next level,” the literacy specialist said.
Gordon discussed the district data from the math portion of the Georgia Milestone state test. 59 percent of thirdgraders, 56 percent of fourth-graders, 39 percent of fifth-graders, 37 percent of sixth-graders, 39 percent of seventhgraders, 49 percent of eighth graders, and 50 percent of high school algebra students scored at the proficient level or above.
Gordon said for transitional years, such as fifth grade to sixth grade, test scores are almost even with the state, and they have identified areas of improvement to assist students in boosting test scores. Beaver and Gordon’s cohort data shows most grade levels have made significant improvements in test scores over the past three years, and they strive to have this pattern continue.
For district data about NWEA MAP reading and math test scores that measure academic progress, Beaver and Gordon reported that there are areas for improvement. However, data shows students are foundationally strong in skills. “They are demonstrating they can read and write, and we will work on comprehension skills,” Beaver said.
Gordon shared similar data for NWEA MAP math test scores.
“There are significant improvements in some areas and there is very little you would call lagging, and we compare where students were last year and where they are this year,” Gordon said.
Chairman Bailey praised Beaver and Gordon for an excellent job, and the board moved on to action items.
Lundy recommended the approval of printing for the new math K-12 curriculum units, utilizing an estimated cost of $27,462.86 using ESSER 3 funds, which the board approved.
The superintendent recommended the approval of purchasing 20 teacher desks for the Jones County School System, utilizing an estimated cost of $12,300.99 using ESSER 3 funds, which the board approved.
Lundy also recommended the approval of purchasing 200 student desks and chairs for Jones County High School for an estimated cost of $57,946, utilizing funds from ESSER 3. The board approved.
Finally, Lundy recommended the approval of purchasing DreamBox learning for Clifton Ridge Middle School, Dames Ferry Elementary School, Gray Elementary School and Gray Station Middle School for an estimated cost of $50,795.75, using Title I funds, which the board approved.
The school board then adjourned to enter into executive session.
The next meeting will be a regular board meeting Nov. 12 at 6 p.m.
