The December meeting of the Jones County Board of Education was brief but significant in welcoming the new school superintendent.
Board Chairman Ginger Bailey called the Dec. 9 meeting to order and spoke about her concern with legislation being considered by the General Assembly.
At the conclusion of her chairman’s report, Bailey wished everyone a Merry Christmas and thanked educators for all their hard work.
Board members joined in the Christmas wishes and thanked schools for the gifts that were stacked around them. Board member Mike Gordon said he enjoyed the learning sessions he attended in the recent Georgia School Board Association conference in Atlanta.
Board Member Dr. Nancy Nash noted that being able to attend the sessions in person made a big difference, and board member Brady Skinner agreed that he learned a lot.
Bailey explained that board members are required by the state to attend 12 hours of training each year.
In addition to the classes at the conferences, the Jones County board recently had a three-hour training session presented locally in its board room.
The Dec. 9 meeting was the first attended by the new superintendent of the Jones County School System, Dr. Jessica Graves, who was officially sworn into the position Dec. 1 by Probate Judge Lewis Patterson.
Graves started by saying thank you for the welcome she received and got to work reading announcement of surplus equipment that included outdated Chromebooks, fax machines and even typewriters.
The superintendent said she had spent her first week putting her mission in place and committing to shared goals.
Graves already started her mobile office hours, which includes visiting every school.
She began with Clifton Ridge Middle School and by Christmas break will have visited every school.
“We have links to ‘Finding our Greyhound Groove’ kicking off, sharing what is happening around the district, and ‘Greyhound Gratitude’ for sharing the great work being done in schools,” she said. “This week we are showcasing Jones County High School.”
The superintendent said another link, Greyhound Grind, would respond to feedback and share information. She said those links will be available to everyone.
School system CFO Tonya Merritt presented the finance report for the month ending Nov. 30, which marks 41.67 percent of the school year.
She reported total revenues of $23,690,686 and total expenditures $27,699,554. The cash in the bank is $21,062,956. Collection of the Education Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax for November was $345,066, and the monthly average collection is $322,240.
Bailey thanked the community for its support in buying local.
With no other business on the agenda, the meeting was adjourned to enter into closed session. In addition to personnel, board members had three student tribunals to consider during the session.
