Food insecurity was one of the topics discussed at the Jones County Board of Education’s September business meeting with one school putting forth the effort to do more than talk about it.
Chairman Ginger Bailey called the Sept.9 meeting to order and welcomed those in the audience.
“It good to see a full house,” she said.
Bailey said she has been visiting schools, and people are working hard. She thanked all school employees for what they do.
“All jobs are important if you are working for Jones County,” she said.
For their board member reports, Mike Gordon, Kim Washburn and Dr. Nancy Nash said they were happy to be at the meeting.
Board member Brady Skinner said he had been in conversation with a contact in Atlanta about the ownership situation with the Maggie Califf School building. He said he was told they needed contact the state to get the property deeded back to Jones County.
“Somehow it got deeded to the state, and it was never sent back to us. I’m going to work more on it next week,” he said.
Bailey thanked Skinner for his update.
Interim School Superintendent Clinton Burston began his report, noting it was the 20th day of the school year. He said it had been a smooth start and thanked all faculty members, transportation, maintenance, nutrition and technology departments.
He said enrollment to date is 4,967 students. Buston said he appreciated the presentation from the school principals Sept. 4 about the data.
“I admire the drive the administrators have taken,” he said.
The superintendent also recognized Alisha Gordon for heading up and organizing the focus walks with the central office.
“I think we are off to a great start and headed in the right direction,” he said.
Shaome presentation
Turner Woods Elementary Principal Keisha Pitts gave a quick overview of the GROW (Growing with Real Organic Wisdom) raised-bed garden and introduced Chelsea McClain with the Shaome Cooperative.
Pitts said she was approached by a parent, Rusty Bresse, about the project. She said the entire project will be funded by Bresse and would be at no cost to the school. Pitts said she first met Bresse when three of his children when through the Jones County Pre-K.
Pitts said the school is providing the space to plant and the students.
McClain spoke about the Shaome Cooperative.
“Our mission is to create food security in Georgia. The schools are a great place to start,” she said.
She said there is no food secure state or city in the United States.
McClain talked about food forests that start with a central element, such as a fruit tree, and builds six layers around it. She said a food forest takes three years to establish, but after that it takes care of itself.
“That’s the only true way for sustainability,” she said. “If you can’t grow enough food for your family, you’re food insecure.”
The project started with raised garden beds to allow the students to be hands-on. McClain said the students are excited to get their hands dirty and learn how to grow food. She said the goal is to get the program in every elementary school.
Pitts also introduced Bresse, who talked about why he wants to be involved. Bresse said he moved to Jones County in 2003 because of the schools.
“I’m a guy who came up in the projects of New York. We didn’t have gardens,” he said.
Bresse said has been blessed and always wants to give back. He said in the past he fed people on Thanksgiving, but after the death of his mother and COVID, that stopped.
Bresse talked about when he met McClain.
“As soon as I saw what she was doing, I said I’m in. That’s because of the children,” he said. “It’s an opportunity for kids to get out and learn something.”
He said teaching children how to feed people is better than doing it on Thanksgiving.
“If we can change just one child’s mind while we are doing this, it’s worth it.”
Bresse said he is in it for the duration.
“I want to see how this goes, and I hope we can grow to other schools,” he said.
Finance report
CFO Tonya Merrit presented the finance report. She said Aug. 31 is 16.67 percent of the school year.
Total revenues are $8,974,307 and total expenses $10,883,506. The ending cash balance is $23,202,055.
Education Special Purpose Local Option collections for August was $336,846 and the monthly average collection is $324,508.
At the conclusion of the approval of action items, the meeting was adjourned to enter closed session at 7:15 p.m. The board meeting reconvened at 7:45 p.m.
Board after thoughts
After the closed session and approval of personnel recommendations, Burston was asked about the dates of the annual State of the Schools presentation. He said the dates were set but not the format. That sparked a candid conversation among board members.
Skinner said he would rather see what the students are doing than hear a bunch of numbers recited, and Washburn said he feels like they disrupt instruction when they go into the classrooms.
Skinner stated he would like to see demonstrations about what is actually being done in the classroom, and Nash suggested elementary schools demonstrate the work they are doing with the new curriculum.
Burston said he likes the idea, and he would also like for central office and other departments to show what they are doing.
The conversation included different ways to showcase the work in the classrooms, with the possibility of a teacher and representation of students to demonstrate.
Washburn said he appreciated the transparency from the principals, referring to a Sept. 4 work session where spring GMAS data was presented to the board by school principals.
“We know we have been in a dark place, but what we want to see is the needle moving. We want to know what we can do to help the schools be better,” he said.
Nash said the board needs to know the root cause for why the data is bad.
Washburn said the information showing black students not doing as well as white students in several areas broke his heart.
“I feel like we heard their hearts last week, and I like to see someone who is passionate about what they are doing. It gets robotic when someone is reading numbers,” he said.
The board member said it is his opinion that problems start from the top down.
“Every one of us bears responsibility for where our schools are and where they are not. This has been happening for a long time,” he said. “If we don’t do something, it’s going to keep happening.”
Washburn said getting the information is important even when the news is discouraging.
“We have ownership around this table,” he said.
Skinner said community involvement is important.
“It’s not a popular, thing but one way to get involvement is town halls,” he said.
The Sept. 4 Board of Education meeting can be viewed in its entirety on the website jones.k12.ga.us. Go to the ‘About Us’ tab, then JC Board of Education and follow the arrow to JC Board of Education meeting recordings.
The next board of education business meeting is scheduled Oct. 14. All board of education meetings are open to the public.
Action items
Burston recommended approval of the following items, and all were approved unanimously.
• ContractwithEmerald Services to purchase an evaporation coil replacement for Clifton Ridge Middle School for an estimated cost of $12,102 utilizing fund from the Maintenance of Operations budget
• Revisedpolicieson Absences and Excuses and Internet Acceptable Use. Both policies were tabled at the August meeting for review
• ContractwiththeSign Store to purchase a digital school sign for Gray Elementary for an estimated cost of $37,831 utilizing funds of $18,915.50 from GES and $18,915.50 from the M&O budget
• ContractwiththeSign Store to purchase vinyl window tinting film for Gray Station Middle School for estimated cost of $25,955 utilizing funds from the state QBE Security funds
• Subscriptionrenewal with Educational Networks Inc to manage the district website for JCCS for estimated cost $16,500 utilizing funds from the technology budget
• ContractwithRush Truck Centers of Georgia to purchase four 2024 IC CE buses and one 2026 IC CE SPED bus for the transportation department for an estimated cost of $527,100 utilizing funds from the transportation budget
• ContractwithAtlanta Access Controls Inc to purchase door access control equipment and installation for JCHS for an estimated cost of $14,017 utilizing state QBE Security funds
• ContractwithDaikin Applied Georgia to install nine Water Source Comfort System HVAC units throughout JCSS for estimated cost of $47,520 utilizing funds from M&O budget
• ContractfromIXL Learning to purchase IXL Site License Renewal for English, Math, Science and Social Studies for Mattie Wells Elementary for an estimate cost of $12,925 utilizing funds from Title 1.
• ContractwithCAPIT to purchase K-1 CAPIT Reading Curriculum and RTI CAPIT License for Mattie Wells Elementary School for estimated cost of $12,100 utilizing fund from Title 1
• Amendfunding source of contract with Houghton Mifflin Harcourt to purchase one-year subscription of Math 180 and Read 180 for Clifton Ridge Middle, Dames Ferry Elementary and Gray Station Middle for revised estimated cost of $84,115 utilizing funds from the General Budget
