CCBoE 03.11.2025 Notes
Regular Session
Notes: Conversations not transcripted and will update with slides once posted on website.
Call To Order
Invocation - Central Church of Christ Minister Craig Middleton
Pledge of Allegiance - Lewiston Elementary School 4H Presidents
Approval of Agenda (added Homestead Exemption): Approve: Yay 5, No 0
Special Recommendations
Meredith Henson - Assistant Principal Harlem Middle School. Approve: Yay 5, No 0
Special Recognitions:
Special Olympics State Bowling Tournaments
Advanced Placement Honors Schools: All High Schools recognized
Georgia Science Teacher Association Teacher of Promise Award
Emily Flynt - Greenbrier High School
Georgia Sports Hall of Fame 2025 Inductee
Terry Holder, Evans High School & Greenbrier High School Retiree
Recipient of 2025 John W. Harris Leadership Award
Evans Middle School Junior Beta Club
Club Advisor - Lisa Shouse
Principal - Dr. Michael Carraway
Board Comments and Acknowledgements: All board members thanked Minister Craig Middleton for his inspiring prayer. All board members expressed gratitude and excitement for the achievements throughout the district.
Approval of Consent Items: Approve: Yay 5, No 0
Minutes of 2/25/2025 Work Session Meeting
January Financials
Fundraisers
Employee Travel
Program/Camp/Employee Participation Request
Lease/Use of Facilities
Homestead Exemption: Increasing Homestead Exemption from $2K to $10K. Approve: Yay 5, No 0
Dekle: The exemption has been set to $2K for 40 years. They want to do something to provide some tax relief to homeowners. The County is going to do something similar.
Voting on this tonight because they need to put a notice in the paper, have a local legislation in by 4/4, so there can be a referendum to voters on the November ballot. Gary Richardson will introduce legislation.
This will apply to all homeowners who are eligible for the Homestead exemption.
Learning Resources for Pre-K, Frog Street (Dr. Bosch): Approve: Yay 4, No 1 (Katie Allen)
2/12-3/7 Curriculum available for public review, 3 members of the public left feedback
One comment that the vendor was affiliated with “conscious discipline”
Parents of Pre-K students
Parents agreed that the resource aligns with standards
One parent concerned that time spent playing vs. teaching as a concern
Discussion (not transcripted):
Allen: Community concern expressed to her that “conscious discipline” was embedded in the curriculum due to the affiliation of the vendor.
Bosch: “Conscious Discipline” is a separate resource from Frog Street and we’re not using that part of the curriculum. There was an instance where a teacher can use it to teach students how to share, as a strategy. However it’s not prevalent in the curriculum.
Teasley: How many did we start with for these curriculums?
Bosch: We started with 12 but 4 were no longer available. The curriculum committee overwhelmingly chose this curriculum.
Kent: Will this require an additional investment later on?
Bosch: No, we’re using State funding for this curriculum. We might need a small update later but nothing substantial.
Teasley: In Pre-K if the kids are learning while they are playing, is that still OK?
Bosch: Yes, it is PreK.
Allen: I received some additional feedback from the community. Everyone agrees it’s a very attractive curriculum however there are concerns with some of the anti-bias and conscious discipline embedded in the curriculum, with the president’s recent EO not allowing anything with anti-bias in it, or losing federal funds, would we be taking a risk by purchasing this curriculum? When I looked up conscious-discipline, this is 25 years old and that’s a red flag to me… it delves into the psychiatric component. Has there been enough time to research? Is this going to be a secondary discipline method that counters the school discipline policy?
Bosch: We’re not requesting approval of the conscious discipline resource that is optional along with Frog Street.
Teasley: It’s not unusual to pick and choose what you need from the curriculum. The State has already addressed the EO and this curriculum is approved by the State. If we’re following policy and State law, we should be fine.
Allen: But this is a curriculum with an anti-bias platform. Then we could have funding problems.
Dekle: But it’s already approved by the State. When would we start training?
Bosch: Yes, we start training in Spring.
Kent: How often is the Pre-K curriculum changed or renewed?
Bosch: Our current Resource is 10 years old. Usually it’s about 6 years.
Kent: Are there “outs” in the contract?
Casado: Yes
Allen: But there’s conscious-discipline embedded in the curriculum. Have there been psychological studies?
*Brought to a vote*
Building Program:
Project Update
N Columbia: Classroom wings, metal flashing, painting indoors, brickwork done in lunchroom, roof on
Lakeside HS: Classroom addition coming in, parking going well, expanded media center
Baker: Are there issues with runoff?
Flynt: No but there is more visibility with neighbors houses/yards due to the number of trees that came down during the hurricane.
Evans HS: Left side - footings and foundation for performing arts center, roof soon on gym
Baker: How is it going with the practice fields?
Jackson: Use the church parking lot for games. Scheduling has worked with sharing fields.
Allen: How often do we reach out to contractors for updates?
Flynt: Daily. There are times for completion in the contract, so verification for that. Contractors meet with principals when student movement needs to be coordinated.
Allen: Is there a way to say what percentage is complete?
Flynt: There are different phases. There are hard deadlines over the summer because of classroom spaces. So far, on schedule.
Bid Results:
Fire Alarm Systems for Bookwood ES and Riverside ES. Lowest bidder was Southern Signal. (will post numbers once slides are posted.) Approve: Yay 5, No 0
Teasley: Are these 14K Gold Fire Alarms?
Flynt: They have to be approved specifically for schools. These 2 existing systems are in danger of failing so they need to be replaced.
Teasley: When will they be installed?
Flynt: Over the summer.
Kent: Are these companies reputable?
Flynt: Yes
Allen: Is this from the General Fund or eSPLOST?
Casado: eSPLOST
Furniture: $1,637,752.20. Approve: Yay 5, No 0
Flynt: This is mostly N Columbia but also Riverside is on the district replacement cycle.
Kent: Where is the vendor from? Always looking for ways to support local business.
Casado: Because of the amount of the contract, we have to put it for bid on the GA Procurement Registry, so it goes out to everyone in GA. We’re always looking for the best furniture at an affordable price. Some vendors might have local offices.
Flynt: We do extensive reviews. We’ve been changing how we educate in some classrooms so we take that into consideration also.
Jackson: We get input from teachers and principals. We also make changes based on feedback from Westmont. We don’t buy a bunch of different colors or anything. We have a County standard.
Kent: How long will [the furniture] last?
Casado: About 20 years. We change furniture at about 1-2 schools per year.
Jackson: We also order replacement furniture during the budget process. The principals will give us feedback… tell us what they need.
Allen: I see that we had $750K budgeted for N Columbia. If it comes in too high
Flynt: We rebid with the fire alarms because, if you remember, the first bids were way too high. There’s really not enough time for this.
Allen: What was the budget for Riverside ES?
Casado: It’s usually about $400-450K to replace an elementary school furniture. We go and look at the school. We don’t replace something that is only like 5 years old. The cost has changed in recent years with inflation but it’s starting to stabilize.
Superintendent’s Reports
HR Update: Increase staff without increasing cost - using QBE Formula. Asking to go ahead with hiring? Grow by 6 teachers this year. 184 student growth next year.
Interdistrict employee transfer process started
March - School Social Workers Month
National School Breakfast Week - “Clue In”
Top Golf Tournament - $20K. 132 golfers
next year 3/16/2026
Career & College Expo
GA School Board Appreciation Week
Columbia County School District invited to GA School Board of Governance Excellence
Important upcoming dates
Pre-K Registration: 2/24-3/21
End of 3rd Nine Weeks: 3/11
Early Dismissal/Parent Conferences: 3/14
Report Cards: 3/18
Special Olympics, 3/21 at Lakeside HS starts at 8:15AM
Teaching as a Profession (TAP) Talks, 3/26
Pre-K Drawing, 3/28
Spring Break 4/7-4/14
Public Comment:
Janet Duggan: Wants more transparency in budgeting process
Jessica Fisher: Concerns about benchmark testing, transparency in budgeting, and teacher salaries.
Executive Session: Only talked about approved topics: Yay 5, No 0
Approve GA Power Easement as discussed: Yay 5, No 0
Personnel: Approve: Yay 5, No 0
Employees 190-day contract. (Dekle recused) Approve: Yay 4, No 0
Board Items:
Allen: A letter went out about a student being found with a $1 with fentanyl. How can parents follow up with certain events?
Flynt: We’ve been adding the consequence to letter in response to events. We can’t share more details. The letters are more pre-emptive. The student discipline reports are not growing. There’s still bad behavior but we haven’t seen an increase.
Allen: Are drugs the reason lockers are no longer in use?
Flynt: We stopped using lockers during COVID. It cut down on discipline problems. Lockers are available upon request. It’s not a drug issue.
Allen: Someone mentioned drug detection dogs? Have we used those or considered using them?
Flynt: We don’t use them here. It’s mostly a scare tactic and it disrupts instruction for 1-3 days and it’s usually a very limited payoff. We’ve found parent outreach initiatives to be more effective.
Allen: Let’s say a student gets caught - do they fall under criminal laws or under the code of conduct?
Jackson: Both. Under the code of conduct, 7 is drugs, there are immediate consequences. We work with the RSO and it depends….. was there distribution? amount? depends on the DA’s office. The range of consequences are in the code of conduct - long term suspension, expulsion. They can get in trouble too with over the counter medication without the proper paperwork, which isn’t criminal.
Allen: So, do we start with code of conduct and then to RSO for criminal?
Flynt: If it’s egregious, then straight to RSO and maybe booking. Then, there can be code of conduct consequences after that.
Allen: A student recently showed inappropriate images on their phone in an elementary school?
Flynt: A younger child, there will be external agencies to assist based on severity.
Teasley: There are links on the website with all of the code of conduct online if parents have questions. I just want to state to everyone that this is just a discussion. We’re not saying any of this is definitely a course of action or that we’re setting policy or anything right now. It’s just a discussion.
Dekle: We have training in Atlanta early in the morning and a lot of us are driving tonight or leaving early in the morning to drive over.
Adjourn: Yay 5, No 0