The Board of Education’s March meeting celebrated young authors, heard a partnership plan with the county and listened to public concerns.
The March 11 meeting was the first board meeting that was not only available to view via Zoom but was also recorded and available to view on the Jones County School System website.
Chairman Ginger Bailey called the meeting to order.
The room was filled with parents and family member with their young authors, and Bailey welcomed them to the meeting. In her chairman’s report, she talked about the Jones County High School JROTC Ball that she was invited to attend.
“It was a great event.
It was wonderful to see the students engaged and thriving in this program,” Bailey said.
Board member Mike Gordon said he was privileged to present to the Jones County College and Career Academy on behalf of Triple-S Steel.
“We have a lot of bright kids in our school system. They are so impressive,” he said.
Gordon also gave a shout out to Dylan Crumbly, who finished first in the region in a public speaking event, and to Ashton Jones, who will be appearing on American Idol.
“We don’t recognize our outstanding students enough,” he said.
Board member Brady Skinner said he was glad to see all the people at the meeting, “I hope you stay interested,” he said.
School Superintendent Charles Lundy started his report by expressing his appreciation to Gray Station Middle School Principal Leigh Ann Knowles and staff, Dr.
Trevis Killen and the crisis team that provided support to students following the death of Rylee Baird.
He said the students and faculty members would continue to receive support as needed.
Lundy thanked the presenters at the March 7 work session for all their hard work, and he announced a recent award received by JCHS.
The superintendent said State School Superintendent Richard Woods recognized the high school as a 2025 AP Expansion School. The school expanded its AP program by 25 percent for the year to achieve the recognition.
Lundy said construction for the renovation project at JCHS began in the gym March 3.
He gave board members a rundown of upcoming meetings, including State of the School events March 18 and 25, budget meetings March 13 and 20 and Featured Independent Research Expos (FIRE) presented by gifted students at both middle schools March 18.
“There will be a lot of good projects displayed,” Lundy said.
Young authors
Literacy Specialist Kristian Beaver presented the awards to Georgia Young Author winners.
There were 13 recipients, ranging from kindergarten to seniors. In addition to those winners, six students placed in the region. Two of those winners placed first in their grade levels, third grader Autumn Allen and senior Carter Graczyk, who will move on to the state competition.
JCPW partnership
JCCCA CEO Lisa Collins and Jones County Public Works Assistant Director Laurinda Mason presented a joint project to board members for their consideration. Collins said Mason was looking into an excavator training simulator for her department until realizing the cost to purchase one.
The CEO said Mason found out about the simulator at the high school and paid the CTAE department a visit to see how it worked.
Mason said the simulator was what they were looking for, which led to the idea of a partnership.
The program would be a pilot training program.
Collins said the idea is to work together to support other county agencies.
CTAE instructor Michael Denaro said the training would be two four-hour sessions at a cost of $100 per hour. The plan is for the sessions to take place after this year’s school year is completed.
“I look forward to seeing out this works out,” Denaro said.
With the approval of the board members, the agreement will be taken to the Jones County Board of Commissioners for their approval.
Meetings of the Board of Education are now available to view online Mason said she tried the simulator and feels it would be a good tool for beginning the training to operate the heavy machinery.
“It’s not the real thing, but it’s a good start,” she said.
Mason said she hopes the county can work with students for the next step of real-life training on the equipment.
“The goal would be to attract students to the job,” she said.
Skinner expressed his support.
“It’s important to have the Board of Education and the Board of Commissioners working together,” he said.
Mason said it is possible there may be student scholarships available through the American Public Works Association.
Collins said this would be an example of the power of partnerships.
“We are always better when we work together,” she said.
Instructional materials
Beaver and K-5 Curriculum Director Teresa McCuen gave a presentation on the complicated and extensive process of selecting high quality instruction materials. They walked board members through the numerous steps that began last year, reviewing products from suppliers and the highly qualified team selected to review the materials.
Beaver said they worked to prioritize student need over their preferences.
“No single core program is adequate for phonics and comprehension,” she said.
The end result she said was a unanimous decision on the selection of 95 percent Phonics.
McCuen said the program was expensive and gave a ballpark estimate of $600,000 to put the materials in all four elementary schools for five years.
She said the work was not done because next was the search for a knowledge building curriculum. The director they would be back in April with that information.
“We need to put the best possible materials in our teachers’ hands,” McCuen said.
Skinner asked about results from school systems that had used the materials, and McCuen said the results were strong.
Beaver said they are looking at professional learning components to make sure the teachers know how to use the materials.
Finance report
JCSS CFO Tonya Merritt presented the financial report for Feb. 28, which represents 66.67 percent of the school year.
She said total revenues were $46,804,936 and total expenditures $41,258,413. The cash in the bank was reported at $29,398,948.
Merritt said the month’s Education Special Local Option Sales Tax collection was $270,793 with the average monthly collection $309,870.
Action items
Lundy recommended and received approval for the following purchases and contracts:
• Contractwith CDW- Government to purchase 139 HP Chromebooks and Google Chrome Education Upgrade for Dames Ferry Elementary School under the Sourcewell Contract for an estimated cost of $41,765 utilizing funds from Title 1
• ContractwithCoastal Sports Turf LLC to purchase 2018 John Deer 1200A infield machine under state contract for JCHS Athletic Department for an estimated cost of $13,500 utilizing funds from the maintenance and operations budget.
• ContractwithTRANE U.S. Inc. to purchase 15 Water-Source Comfort System HVAC units under the Omina Racine cooperative contract for the JCCS for an estimated cost of $62,634 utilizing funds from the maintenance and operations budget
• ContractwithHoward Technology Solutions to replace the old network equipment in the data closets at Clifton Ridge Middle School and JCHS for an estimated cost of $49,204 with $39,363 from ERATE funds and $9,840 from the technology budget
• ContractwithDellTechnologies to purchase Microsoft Office 365 licenses for the JCSS staff and students under the state contract for an estimated cost of $30,301 utilizing funds from the technology budget Board members listened to public comments from Bryan Marshall. At the conclusion of the comments, the meeting was adjourned to enter closed session.
The next board meeting is scheduled at 6 p.m. April 15.
