Jones County Board of Education members unanimously approved and adopted their 2023 budget at a called meeting last week.
The June 21 meeting was called to order by Board Chairman Ginger Bailey. In addition to a called meeting, it was also the final public hearing for the 2023 Jones County School System Budget.
Board member Alfred Pitts took an opportunity to thank a group of school bookkeepers who were working across the hall. He asked the bookkeepers to come into the boardroom and personally thanked them for taking care of each school’s money and the children.
“I want you to know we understand that you play an important role in education and in taking care of our children. What’s more important than children and education?” he said. “We appreciate you.”
The bookkeepers meet once a month to assist each other in following policy and procedures for reconciling and double-checking bank statements and other accounts.
In his report, JCSS Superintendent Charles Lundy referenced a letter from the Georgia Association of School Personnel Administrations. The letter announced a Gold award received by the Human Resources Department of the Jones County School System for outstanding achievement in the area of employee recruitment.
Lundy said the award was received at the spring conference of the Georgia School Board Association.
JCSS CFO Tonya Merritt presented the draft 2023 budget figures. She said the estimated beginning fund balance is $22,805,314, and total revenues are $51,865,246. The total estimated expenditures are $56,674,776, and the estimated ending fund balance is $17,995,784.
Merritt broke down the estimated revenues with $13,494,905 coming from local revenues and $38,730,341 in state revenues. She explained that local revenue represents 26 percent and state revenue 74 percent.
The budget year for the Jones County School System runs from July 1 to June 30.
The CFO noted that the expenditures include an increase in teachers’ retirement fund contributions and a 3 percent increase for classified employees.
Action items
Lundy recommended approval of a one-year contract with Dreambox Learning to purchase Dreambox Licenses and Professional Learning for Jones County Grades K-5 for an estimated cost of $48,314, utilizing Title One funds.
He recommended approval of the contract with Howard Technology Solutions to purchase a Howard Server with a three-year warranty for parts and labor for the Technology Department for an estimated cost of $12,656, utilizing funds from the Technology budget.
The final action item was the approval of the 2022-23 budget. Each of the action items were approved unanimously by the board members in attendance. Board Member Mike Gordon was the only member absent.
The meeting was adjourned following the final vote. The next meeting of the Board of Education is scheduled July 19.
