Board of Education members had a short meeting last week, taking care of several items of business in preparation for the beginning of school only a few days away.
The July 23 meeting was called to order by Chairman Ginger Bailey, and the first item of business was the approval of school fundraisers. Some of the fundraisers were for specific items, such as a T-Shirt sale at Gray Elementary during the first month of school to support an annual field trip. Others, like the after-school program at Mattie Wells, lasts from August to May, supporting general supplies and salaries.
The list includes snack shacks and holiday shops as well as staples like 50/50 raffle books and sales of flowers and doughnuts.
All the fundraisers were approved by consensus of the board.
There were only two action items on the agenda, beginning with approval of a one-year contract for renewal of the MAP (Measures of Academic Progress) Growth License Renewal for the Jones County School System. Superintendent Jessica Graves said the annual license was for the areas of math, language, reading and science, and she recommended approval.
The reason given for the renewal was it is the most trusted assessment for achievement and growth in those subjects for K-12. The estimated cost of the contract renewal is $66,250.
Board member Mike Gordon made the motion to approve the contract, and the vote in favor was unanimous with attending board members.
Board Member Kim Washburn was not in attendance.
Graves next recommended approval of the corrective action plan for the FY25 audit finding.
JCSS CFO Tonya Merritt explained the finding during a report about the audit at a previous meeting. The issue was the need for a quick repair at one of the schools during which the bidding process and pre-approval were not followed.
Board Member Dr. Nancy Nash asked if there was a way to prevent this from happening again.
Graves said the amount of money involved was $6,000, and if the repair had been marked as an emergency, the purchase would not have been questioned.
The corrective action was implemented as required with a motion by Nash, and the vote to approve was unanimous.
At the conclusion of the agenda, Graves recommended adjournment of the meeting to enter closed session to discuss personnel. The meeting was adjourned at 6:09 p.m. and was reopened at 6:44 p.m.
Gordon made the motion to approve the personal actions as detailed in closed session. The motion was unanimously approved, and the meeting adjourned.
