The September meeting of the Jones County Board of Education began with a spotlight on Dames Ferry Elementary School and a focus on the success of students and faculty.
Board Chairman Ginger Bailey called the Sept. 14 meeting that followed a workshop on district facilities and future ESPLOST projects.
Bailey touted the work session and the public participation.
“That kind of participation is what we were looking for,” she said.
That sentiment was echoed by board members Mike Gordon, Kim Washburn and Dr. Nancy Nash. Board member Brady Skinner also thanked the public for the support of the recent volleyball bingo fundraiser. “They did a great job,” he added.
In her superintendent’s report, Dr. Jessica Graves said they are learning the need to create space and thanked everyone for coming to the work session.
“We are better together,” she said.
Graves said the charts and information from the work session would be compiled and then a survey put out for input for anyone who did not attend. She said that information would be distributed to board members prior to the Oct. 13 meeting, during which the board would do a deep dive on the projects and how to fund them.
The superintendent said everything is driven by the strategic plan, and with that in mind the board members would be focusing on key areas with district contacts. Bailey and Nash will focus on student achievement and success, Gordon will work with organizational effectiveness, Skinner stakeholder engagement and Washburn high-quality personnel.
Graves talked about the financial situation of JCSS. She said the analysis of the last five years shows that recent feedback has been misleading. The superintendent pointed out that, during those five years, JCSS has been under budget at the end of each year with the only exception being last year.
She also noted the fund balance increase over those five years by $1.2 million and is currently sitting at $22,826,957.
Graves said during that same period, teachers have received raises totaling $1,092,500, and the cost of health insurance has increased by $1,530,730.
“While you may hear a level of concern, based on the history, we are so financially sound,” she said.
Graves said, going forward, financial information will be available on the website.
State of the School
Dames Ferry Elementary Principal Zachary Griffin began the presentation, stating “It’s a great day to be a Dragon.”
He talked about the JCSS mission, vision and collective commitments, then moved to school spotlights. The student spotlight was Dallas Carey, teacher spotlight Candice Doerhoefer and community member spotlight Emily Neblett.
Griffin talked about achievement data showing improvement on content mastery from 2022-26.
“Dames Ferry is well beyond state average, but we are better than that.
A lot of great things are happening,” he said.
The principal said they do not wait until the end of the grading period but regroup every three weeks. He also noted that DFES is a STEM-focused school, and that is from kindergarten on up.
Presenters in addition to Griffin were Molly Batchelor, Nicole Cobb, Leslie Clifford, Stephanie Davis, Ashley Ivy, Stephanie McGehee, Jennifer Tanner and Danielle Wheeler.
Finance report
Chief Financial Officer Tonya Merritt presented the report as of Aug. 31 and stated that marked 16.67 percent of the school year. The total revenues were $9,055,427 and total expenditures, $11,280,201.
The ending cash balance was $22,474,004.
Collections for the Education Special Purpose Sales Tax for August was $346,018 with the average monthly collections $341,968.
Action items
Graves recommended and received unanimous approval of the following items.
• ContractwithJones and Bartlett Learning LLC for the purchase of CTAE textbooks for JCHS at an estimated cost of $3,763 utilizing funds from ESPLOST
• ContractwithChild Help Prevention Education to purchase Child Abuse and Prevention Safety Education programs for JCSS at an estimated cost of $10,500 utilizing funds from Title I.
• Approvaloftherevised policy on Promotion and Retention IHE
• Tableoftherevised policy on Purchasing Authority (DJEA) until the next regularly scheduled board meeting.
• Approvalofpolicy on School Board Governance (BAB)
• Publicationofthe FY2026 Statement of Actual Financial Operations
• ContractwithRush Truck Centers of Georgia to purchase two CE PB110 passenger school buses for Jones County Transportation under the state contract for the estimated cost of $372,000 utilizing funds from the transportation budget
• Contractwith Communication Technologies to purchase 3 CEIA Opengate Weapon Detection Systems for JCHS, CRMS and GSMS for an estimated cost of $73,489, utilizing funds from State QBE Security
• Renewsubscriptionwith Educational Networks Inc. to manage the district website at an estimated cost of $16,500 utilizing funds from the Technology budget
• Tabledraftschool calendar for 2027-28 school year
• Tablerevisedpolicyon Fraud Prevention (DIE) until the next regularly scheduled board meeting
• Tablerevisedpolicyon Federal Funds (DFC) until next regularly scheduled board meeting After approval of the action items, the meeting was adjourned to enter closed session at 7:13 p.m.
The meeting was reconvened at 7:55 in order to vote on the personnel items discussed in closed session. Following Graves’ recommendation and the vote to approve those items, the meeting was again adjourned.
