Jones County Board of Education members reported on the recent Georgia School Board Association Conference in Savannah and looked toward the next school year at their June meeting.
Board Chairman Ginger Bailey called the June 13 meeting to order and spoke about the conference that was held the previous week. Bailey explained that board members received six hours of training at the conference. She said they would receive another six hours of board training in an Atlanta conference and another three hours of whole board training locally to meet their annual requirement.
Bailey said she attended classes concerning new laws that would affect education.
“I’m glad to see how the laws are changing. As laws change, our policies must change with it,” the chairman said.
Board member Alfred Pitts said he is proud of the way the board keeps up, and it is important to keep the community informed.
“I talk to people of other school systems; that’s when you find out how blessed we are,” he said.
In his report, Superintendent Charles Lundy went over important events for the next school year, including visits from the Georgia Regional Educational Services Agency, board member visits to each school and principal visits to the board.
Lundy added Jones County received a pre-K grant for a 13th classroom, which is part of a pilot program.
Pitts said he appreciates it when the principals come to the board.
“They tell us what we can do to help them improve. It also gives us a chance to let them know our expectations,” he said. “They come to us, and we go to them.”
Pitts said it is the board’s job to make policy for the schools.
“I’m so glad we can add a pre-K class. This way the state gives us the money to do it,” he said.
Jones County College and Career Academy CEO Lisa Collins shared a PowerPoint presentation by Central Georgia Technical College President Dr. Ivan Allen with JCCCA FY23 dual enrollment updates.
The college partners with five career academies in central Georgia: Baldwin, Bibb, Houston, Jones and Putman. Since being established in 2017, JCCCA became the fastest growing in the delivery area and has the largest number of accelerated career diploma students for the past two school years.
JCCCA students also have the highest success rates.
Collins said there is power in partnership.
“This program provides our students with a competitive edge,” she said.
Finance reports
School system CFO Tonya Merritt presented board members an overview of the 2024 budget during the second hearing on the draft budget.
Merritt said the estimate for property tax collections for 2023 was $12,224,193. Adding in other local taxes, earnings on investments and revenues brought the total from local resources to $14,068,589.
The draft budget has a bottom-line estimate of available resources at $76,764,824. Those resources include funds from local and state revenues.
Those resources are projected to be $849,529 more than was received the previous year.
The estimated beginning fund balance for 2024 is $19,280,850, compared to $22,429,057 for the 2023 school year.
The first public hearing was held June 5, and the 2023-24 budget was approved by the board later in the meeting.
Following the presentation of the draft budget, Merritt gave the monthly financial report for the month ending May 31, which represents 92 percent of the school year. Total revenues were $52,168,994 and total expenditures $50,933,128.
The ending cash balance was $6,701,247, which does not include a treasury note in the amount of $16,963,677. Education SPLOST collections for May were $304,681, and the average monthly collections are $290,426.
That average monthly ESPLOST collection is more than $40,000 over the 2022 average monthly collections.
Bailey once again took the opportunity to thank Jones County residents for their support in spending their money locally.
Public comments
Donald Black, president of the Maggie Califf Alumni Association, addressed the board concerning the donation of portion of the Maggie Califf Complex to the association. He said he graduated from the school in 1963. He said before it was built, Jones County had 24 black elementary schools.
Black asked the board for an update on the process.
Lundy said there has been progress, which currently is a title and deed search for the property.
“We are moving forward,” he said.
Bailey added that the board would let Black know when that was completed.
Lamonica Sanford had a question about the criteria that identifies the students who take the seventh-grade tests. She said she was not notified her son was not included until after the testing was completed.
“I ask you to consider more than test scores,” she said.
Action items
Lundy recommended and received unanimous approval for the action items presented.
• ContractwithDell Technologies to purchase 29 Precision 3660 towers for JCHS engineering lab for an estimated cost of $53,821 utilizing the technology budget
• Contractwith Scholastic Literacy Initiatives to purchase My Books Summer Sets for Turner Woods Elementary at an estimated cost of $16,546 utilizing funds from L4GA grant
• ApprovalofJCSSFY24 Strategic Improvement Plan
• WorkersCompensation renewal with a premium of $166,878 and general insurance with Liberty Mutual with a premium of $322,822 for the 2023-2024 school year
• Three-yearcontract with Lightspeed Systems to provide internet filtering for JCSS at estimated cost of $153,518 utilizing funds from the technology budget
• ContractwithGeorgia Specialty Equipment to purchase furniture for MWE Media Center at cost of $95,682 utilizing funds from M&O budget
• Contractwith Donaldson, Garrett & Assoc to provide survey services for JCSS for estimated cost of $21,900 utilizing funds from M&O budget
• ContractwithAIOS group LLC to provide and install fiber and equipment for JCHS replacement scoreboards for estimated cost of $30,054 utilizing funds from M&O budget
• ContractwithShaw Integrated Solutions to replace flooring at TWE Media Center ($39,795), MWE administrative offices ($13,479), TWE computer lab ($19,827) and Jones County pre-K Media Center ($60,913) utilizing funds M&O budget
• ContractwithAce Hardware of Gray to purchase 2024 American Landmaster L4 4x4 and accessories for JCHS JROTC Raider Challenge Course for estimated cost of $14,073 utilizing fund from M&O budget
• Contract with Mike’s Golf Carts LLC to purchase two 2023 Club Golf Carts for JCHS at estimated cost of $25,848 utilizing funds from M&O budget
• ContractwithVirco to purchase 300 student desks for Gray Station Middle School ($49,584), 300 desks for Clifton Ridge Middle School ($49,584), 200 desks for JCHS ($49,832) utilizing funds from 2019 ESPLOST
• Approvalof2023 – 2024 budget as presented to include a 3 percent increase for classified employees totaling $62,189,210
