The Jones County Board of Education started the new year with a new board member and three meetings in a two-week period.
The board’s first meeting was a Jan. 9 work session that started with the swearing in of new board member Brady Skinner and returning board member Kimbrell Washburn by Jones County Probate Judge Lewis Patterson.
Skinner represents District 2, formerly represented by Alfred Pitts, who retired in December following 40 years of service as an educator. Skinner defeated two opponents to win the May 21 non-partisan election.
Washburn was not opposed in 2024 to represent District 4.
Joy Carr of Jones County Family Connection and Dr. Martha Tingen of Augusta University represented the Jones County Suicide Prevention Coalition at the work session. The purpose of their presentation was to bring attention to the number of deaths by suicide that occur in Jones County and a request for the implementation of the peer-led HOPE Squad at Jones County High School.
Dr. Lauren Sheffield gave the board an update on the activities of the Special Education Department.
Board meeting
The Jan. 14 Board of Education meeting was called to order by Chairman Ginger Bailey. She called on board members for their reports, beginning with Mike Gordon.
Gordon spoke about the previous work session and expressed his appreciation for the information presented.
Washburn agreed with Gordon.
“When we have the opportunity to get things right, we need to do that,” he said.
Washburn added that it was an honor to serve with Pitts, and he was proud to serve with Skinner.
Board Member Dr. Nancy Nash talked about the Exemplary Board award received at their recent conference and her appreciation for the added effort it represents.
Skinner thanked the board for making him welcome and also expressed his appreciation to the community for reaching out with support. Bailey talked about the first day of the Georgia legislature. She said there were several education bills proposed that she would be watching carefully.
“It’s important to understand the legislature tells us how to run classrooms,” the chairman said. “I’m big on local control.”
Bailey said she would be sending out legislative reports to board members.
School Superintendent Charles Lundy welcomed Skinner and went over important dates coming up for educators. He also noted that a second student in this year’s JCHS welding class had been hired.
“That translates into success,” he said.
Finance report
Lundy presented the financial report. He said Dec. 31 represented 50 percent of the school year. He stated the total revenues were $35,298,609 and total expenses $29,713,063. The total cash in the bank was $29,453,930.
The ESPLOST report was Dec. collections of $298,608 with average monthly collections of $310,466.
Action items
Lundy presented contracts, items and purchases that were each unanimously approved.
• ContractwithArey Jones Educational Solutions to purchase 100 HP Chromebooks and Google licenses for Turner Woods Elementary at an estimated cost of $24,252 utilizing funds from Title I
• ContractwithZaner Bloser to purchase K-5 Word Heroes Vocabulary Reading Strategies Workbooks for Mattie Wells Elementary at an estimated cost of $11,952 utilizing funds from Title I
• 2025-26school calendar
• Taxsettlementpayment schedule with the county of once per month for the previous month’s collections at the request of the tax commissioner
HB 581 public hearing
The Board of Education held the first of three of its public hearings at 6 p.m. Jan. 16. The public hearings are a requirement to opt out of the bill. The Board of Education, City of Gray and Jones County Board of Commissioners each made the decision to opt out of the bill, and each is holding three public hearings.
The city held the first hearing at 10 a.m. that morning. That meeting was attended by two citizens.
Lundy called the 6 p.m. meeting to order. No one from the public other than this reporter was in attendance. Nevertheless, the superintendent gave a brief overview of the bill. He noted the information was gleaned from presentations he previously attended.
The superintendent stated the bill does not affect any exemptions homeowners currently receive. He said it caps increases going forward based on inflation rates. The problem is the result of those floating exemptions would be inequities in the tax base that would greatly impact the tax digest of the county and board of education.
Lundy said it would create a situation where identical homes in the same neighborhood would end up with very different tax liabilities. He added that farmers, business owners, rental property owners and first-time homeowners would all experience much higher tax rates.
“Equitable tax liability should be a goal of any taxing entity. Opting out guarantees local control over taxing policies, enabling us to tailor tax rates to the needs of our community,” he explained.
He said there is provision for a one-time opt out.
“If we don’t opt out now, we will never be able to opt out,” he said.
The dates for the remaining HB 581 public hearings are:
Board of Commissioners at Government Center
• 6p.m.Jan.28
• 6p.m.Feb.4
City of Gray
• 6p.m.Jan.27atCity Hall
• 6p.m.Feb.3atD.V. Childs Civic Center
Board of Education at Professional Learning Center
• 6p.m.Jan.23
• 6p.m.Jan.30
