By Jamie Gardner
The Appling County Board of Education (BOE) held a regular monthly meeting on Monday, January 23. During the meeting Superintendent Scarlett Copeland submitted a priority list for the proposed Education Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax IV (ESPLOST). The priorities include intermingling technology, textbooks, and transportation and establishes the following project priorities: 1. Technology (system-wide); 2. Altamaha Elementary projects; 3. Appling Primary/Elementary Complex projects; 4. Appling County High School projects; 5. Appling County Middle School projects; and 6. Bus Shop/ Bd. Office.
Board of education prioritizes ESPLOST
Voters will decide whether or not to continue the collection of the special tax on March 6. (See page 10b for more information about the special referendum to be voted on March 6.)
Other business
The board elected District 3 BOE Member Scottie Ammons as the 2012 Chairman of the Appling County Board of Education. Ammons abstained from voting. 2011 Chairperson Minnie Barnes thanked the board for the opportunity to serve this past year and for working together, as a board, well during the year. On a split vote, the board elected Randy Crawford as the Vice-Chairman. Barnes, Ammons and Randy Sellers voted in favor of the motion. Crawford abstained from voting. BOE Member M.C. Barlow voted against the election of Crawford. Barlow expressed concern that his term, as well as Barnes’ and Crawford’s terms, would be up this year.
The board established the second Monday of each month as the date for regular scheduled meetings for 2012. The start time of the meetings will be 6:00 p.m. Sellers questioned if the new start time would allow opportunity for the working public to attend the meetings. Copeland stated that she felt that the public gets off from work by 5:00 to 5:30 p.m. and this start time would still give opportunity for the working public to attend meetings.
The board approved a recommendation from Copeland to purchase weight room equipment for Appling Middle School at a cost of $22,439.00 from Gopher Sports. State funding will be used to pay for the equipment.
Board members approved leave of absence requests from staff members Amanda Swain, Lisa Herndon, Glenda Reeves and Violet Marchman.
The board accepted the resignation of Louise Crosby, a receptionist at Appling County Elementary School. Members also voted to open the position for hiring.
Board members unanimously approved a fundraiser request for the Appling High School Spanish Club.
A change to BOE Policy JB, which deals with student attendance, was unanimously approved.
Financial reports for the months of October, November and December 2011 were approved.
The board approved to pay for an additional 18 days for CTAE employees in order to operate the Canning Plant this year. The local cost is $7,700.99.
The board approved low bids for fencing at Appling Primary in the amount of $16,894.00, a mobile wheelchair lift to be used at the Appling County Complex in the amount $5,499.00 and parking lot striping at various facilities at a cost of $6,134.00
The board approved a recommendation to purchase two buses (one seventy-two passenger and one sixty passenger Special Education bus) at a total cost of $191,270.00. BOE Transportation Director Richard Riddle informed the board that the state would reimburse the system $152,439.00 for the buses purchased in 2012. Riddle also shared that the system could finance the remaining $38,831.00 for a period of one year at 2 ? percent for a total repayment of $39,833.00 that could possibly be funded with ESPLOST IV funds. The board voted to go ahead and purchase the buses now and use funding from ESPLOST III to pay the difference.
BOE members approved proposed re-districting maps for Appling County Districts.
Information items
Georgia School Board Association (GSBA) representative Stan Dejarnet joined the meeting via teleconference and answered questions from board members about GSBA’s Vision Project. Following discussion about the concerns board members had, such as appointing a state superintendent instead of electing the position and performance-based pay for teachers, Dejarnet told BOE members that they could exclude parts of the Vision Project and still vote to accept the project overall with the included exclusions.
Information was shared by Copeland about Benchmark Testing in system schools. Copeland stated that the schools are identifying areas of concern and addressing these issues.
Student and staff attendance reports were shared with BOE members.
The proposed 2013 School Calendar was presented to board members for review.
The board voted to enter into a closed-door session for personnel and litigation purposes. No action was taken following the session.
Other business
The board elected District 3 BOE Member Scottie Ammons as the 2012 Chairman of the Appling County Board of Education. Ammons abstained from voting. 2011 Chairperson Minnie Barnes thanked the board for the opportunity to serve this past year and for working together, as a board, well during the year. On a split vote, the board elected Randy Crawford as the Vice-Chairman. Barnes, Ammons and Randy Sellers voted in favor of the motion. Crawford abstained from voting. BOE Member M.C. Barlow voted against the election of Crawford. Barlow expressed concern that his term, as well as Barnes’ and Crawford’s terms, would be up this year.
The board established the second Monday of each month as the date for regular scheduled meetings for 2012. The start time of the meetings will be 6:00 p.m. Sellers questioned if the new start time would allow opportunity for the working public to attend the meetings. Copeland stated that she felt that the public gets off from work by 5:00 to 5:30 p.m. and this start time would still give opportunity for the working public to attend meetings.
The board approved a recommendation from Copeland to purchase weight room equipment for Appling Middle School at a cost of $22,439.00 from Gopher Sports. State funding will be used to pay for the equipment.
Board members approved leave of absence requests from staff members Amanda Swain, Lisa Herndon, Glenda Reeves and Violet Marchman.
The board accepted the resignation of Louise Crosby, a receptionist at Appling County Elementary School. Members also voted to open the position for hiring.
Board members unanimously approved a fundraiser request for the Appling High School Spanish Club.
A change to BOE Policy JB, which deals with student attendance, was unanimously approved.
Financial reports for the months of October, November and December 2011 were approved.
The board approved to pay for an additional 18 days for CTAE employees in order to operate the Canning Plant this year. The local cost is $7,700.99.
The board approved low bids for fencing at Appling Primary in the amount of $16,894.00, a mobile wheelchair lift to be used at the Appling County Complex in the amount $5,499.00 and parking lot striping at various facilities at a cost of $6,134.00
The board approved a recommendation to purchase two buses (one seventy-two passenger and one sixty passenger Special Education bus) at a total cost of $191,270.00. BOE Transportation Director Richard Riddle informed the board that the state would reimburse the system $152,439.00 for the buses purchased in 2012. Riddle also shared that the system could finance the remaining $38,831.00 for a period of one year at 2 ? percent for a total repayment of $39,833.00 that could possibly be funded with ESPLOST IV funds. The board voted to go ahead and purchase the buses now and use funding from ESPLOST III to pay the difference.
BOE members approved proposed re-districting maps for Appling County Districts.
Information items
Georgia School Board Association (GSBA) representative Stan Dejarnet joined the meeting via teleconference and answered questions from board members about GSBA’s Vision Project. Following discussion about the concerns board members had, such as appointing a state superintendent instead of electing the position and performance-based pay for teachers, Dejarnet told BOE members that they could exclude parts of the Vision Project and still vote to accept the project overall with the included exclusions.
Information was shared by Copeland about Benchmark Testing in system schools. Copeland stated that the schools are identifying areas of concern and addressing these issues.
Student and staff attendance reports were shared with BOE members.
The proposed 2013 School Calendar was presented to board members for review.
The board voted to enter into a closed-door session for personnel and litigation purposes. No action was taken following the session.
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