CCBOE, Regular Session, 10/8/2024
Board of Education Call to Order
Invocation: Christ Church Presbyterian Senior Pastor Robbie Hendrick
Pledge of Allegiance: Blue Ridge Elementary School 4-H Presidents
Approval of Agenda: Yay 5, No 0
Special Recognitions:
Georgia Art Education Association 2025 Art Educator of the Year & National Art Education Association Georgia Youth Art Month Award of Merit: Tiffany Weser, Columbia County Virtual Academy
National Merit Scholarship Program Semi-Finalists:
Lakeside HS: 4 Students
Greenbrier HS: 1 Student
Savannah River National Laboratory K-12 Catalyst Grant for STEM Education
Baker Place ES: Marie Blindauer, $5,000
Blue Ridge ES: Erica Cox, $5,000
Greenbrier ES: Allison Dixon, $2,500; Kristin Messer $5,000
Evans Middle School: April Desko, $5,000
Greenbrier Middle School: David Phillips, $5,000
Evans High School: Michael Dinkins, $5,000
Harlem High School: Laura Griffin, $2,500
Board Comments and Acknowledgements:
Alalof: Thanked the 4-H Presidents. Gave accolades to the teachers from 7 students awarded STEM grants and wished the National Merit Semi-Finalists good luck.
Baker: Commented that it’s been a really hard week but we’re a strong county and will get through this hard time. Gave thanks to everyone for giving the district patience and prayers while everyone navigates the situation. Thanks to the 4H Presidents. Congratulations to Ms. Weser and the grant recipients. Asked grant recipients to send the board with updates about projects and what they do with the grant $$.
Teasley: Having the meeting tonight is a great step towards normalcy. Ms. Weser taught a class to teachers which takes guts! Congrats to National Merit Semi-Finalists. Grants are hard to keep up with, so thanks so much to these teachers who did that. Appreciate our teachers coming back today and getting the schools back open.
Meyer: In awe of how Ms. Weser teaches art virtually. Announced Nic Carroll is leaving the district and she wished him well.
Dekle: Thanked all employees that stepped up for the hurricane response, getting our schools and transportation ready. He appreciates all the hard work and dedication.
Approval of Consent Items: Yay 5, No 0
9/24/2024 Work session Minutes
Employee Travel
Local Board Training Plan
Columbia County School District Hurricane Helene Response
Flynt: Thanked staff. They were all shocked Friday morning but by Friday afternoon, every school had been touched by a staff member. Workday for staff today. He visited many different schools and the staff were excited to have the day today to prepare. His heart goes out to everyone that’s been affected by the storm. There is continued outreach to families if they need additional support. Daily updates will continue thru Thursday. After fall break, on Tuesday, they are planning for a more typical school day.
Operations (Penny Jackson)
FMO
Site review emergency damages
Generators - freezers/coolers (were closely monitored the entire time)
Removal of hazards
HVAC, Roof, other structural damage
Outside - Athletics, portables, parking lots, playgrounds
Athletic fields (softball/baseball) had the most damage - fencing, batting cages, awnings,
Some portables were damaged
GA Power - staging and communication. GA Power was very responsive to the school district. They had a representative from Atlanta come over just to work with the school districts.
School Nutrition
Monitored Generators closely
Food distributors were not affected - able to get deliveries and have resources available.
Nutrition managers & health inspectors passed inspection today
10/9 Normal meal service
**ALL STUDENTS FREE LUNCH WEDNESDAY & THURSDAY**
Department of Transportation
Communication with roads & bridges
Trial bus runs on Monday & Tuesday
Shuttle buses for neighborhoods with closed areas where the buses can’t get through. They will have a pick up point (communicated with parents) and pick up all the kids for that neighborhood. Some spots, the shuttle will have 1 stop and pick up 20-25 students.
Employee transportation services are available for staff that might not have transportation right now.
Parents should watch the Bus App closely but also know that the internet might be spotty/problematic.
Athletic
GHSA changed the original football playoff schedule. Added 1 week to the season. Now last is Friday 11/8.
Softball adjustments (New)
LATSP date 10/12
1st Round 10/16-10/19
2nd Round 10/22-10/25
Each school will post the adjustments to their game schedule so keep tuned into the communication from your school
Curriculum, Assessment and Instruction Update, Dr. Kellye Bosch
ACE
District curriculum reviewed and adjusted curriculum for core content as needed
Modified ACE docs
ACE Curriculum teams to meet Friday
Dates:
10/11 QTR 1 Ends
10/15 QTR 2 Begins
10/18 Deadline to submit grades
10/22 QRT 1 Report Cards
11/8 Report Cards
Assessments Update
Benchmarks switched to 10/18: ***Benchmarks can help a student’s grade but won’t count against them***
SAT on 10/5 rescheduled - college board contacted those students.
PSAT rescheduled to 10/22
Dekle: Will the teachers need to have access to the internet to access the ACE changes?
Bosch: It’s on the intranet and that’s functional.
Teasley: If the College Board notified the students, are we checking to make sure the students received the emails… and the parents, because sometimes the student gets an email but the parent doesn’t?
Bosch: The principals are going to include it in their daily update to students to ensure communication.
Dekle: If parents have questions, who do they talk to?
Bosch: Parents should always reach out to their local school teachers or administrators first. They can reach out to us too if the school is unsure.
School Improvement Update, Dr. Kristen Carroll
Focused on communication with principals. All of our principals are so amazing. We recently visited several schools and saw all of the practices that are ongoing.We are ready to welcome students back to school and give them a sense of security and calm, knowing some have had a really hard time.
Flynt: Admin and custodians came in on Friday. We had a meeting on Monday with all of the principals.
Carroll: Yes, we welcomed the principals back and shared the reopening plans. They received briefings from nutrition, curriculum, and transportation. *NO CHARGE FOR LUNCH THIS WEEK*
HR & Finance Update, Alex Casado
Communicating with insurance carrier in order to maximize reimbursement
Payroll - September payroll had already gone out. They are working diligently to ensure that 10/15 payroll goes out on time. It’s a top priority.
9/30 Reports were already submitted to the State before the storm. Working diligently to ensure October reports are not late.
Before/After school care resumes: NO CHARGE THIS WEEK AND LAST WEEK
Dekle: Will FEMA & GEMA reimburse any of the costs of the damage that is not covered by insurance?
Casado: Most covered by insurance. There are some leaning trees not near buildings that they are negotiating with insurance about. Debris pick up though FEMA/County will save quite a bit but he’s not sure beyond that.
Dekle: Did we have any food losses?
Casado: There were a couple freezers that were questionable. There may have been an issue with the generator, so we just threw all the food out in those freezers rather than risk it. FMO did an excellent job refueling the generators. By the time they finished refueling, they would have to start back at the beginning so they were just on a constant loop of refueling generators during the power outage. We had a good fuel supply to tap into though.
Dekle: Was there damage to any buses?
Transportation: No damage to any of the buses.
Flynt (I didn’t quite understand this discussion but I’ll do my best): This is October, so wanted to mention about the FT Calculations. The State is working with the district. There is a delay in getting it in - scheduling the highest cost services is very important for this calculation. There’s a software estimate of the QBE Funding to select the best window of student counts. It’s important to get it right because if it’s off, a district could lose $2-3 million if it’s not accurate. We’re going to make sure it’s right. QB Formula runs 2x per year. The dates that the students come back doesn’t affect the formula. We just have to select the correct data.
Human Resources
Less than 4% of certified teachers will be absent this week and many of the subs are ready and non-classified can also fill in.
98% of bus drivers are at work this week
SPED - 10% of paras will be out potentially which could impact SPED this week
Extending open enrollment - looking into
State Health is the only 1 that is strict on dates.
Usually, Mid October - Mid November
Baker: Will there be delays in transportation?
Flynt: We have advised the buses to go slow. Parents should follow the tracker and expect some delays. There will be depot stops and with an influx of people from Florida, there will be more traffic.
Teasley: Can we find out how many parents have that app on their phones?
Transportation: Yes, I can get that
Technology Update, James Van Meter
Friday morning, I was notified that the network went down. Checked everything Friday & Saturday. The servers were fine. Wednesday, 10/2 power came back. District network was back up by Wednesday.
Dekle: Did the data center in Appling sustain any damage?
Van Meter: Surprisingly, no.
Did an AAR
StarLink - For communication, we might consider getting StarLink. It wouldn’t be enough to power the entire district but would allow for communication if cell towers are down.
Will see some anomalies with power fluctuations.
Teasley: Was the security of the system maintained?
Van Meter: We had 1 risk but we fixed it immediately
Chief Owens
We used the communication system through Columbia County Sheriff’s office and the communication network never failed.
Sheriff’s office reached out to supplement their office. District officers helped to secure buildings and provide additional support to CC Sheriff’s office.
Transportation helped with community buses creating a blockade.
Flynt: State Superintendent reached out and offered support on Saturday, as well as GSBA. GA Power was very responsive.
www.ccboe.net/hurricane All communication regarding Hurricane Helene is here
Building Program
N Columbia: 2nd floor steel work, lightweight concrete, brickwork in classroom areas
Lakeside High School: Large staircase in the back, then final paving of parking lot.
Evans High School: Right side - cafeteria, gym getting level. Left side - grading work. Some trees are gone but they needed to be removed anyway.
Bid Result, 5 yay, 0 no
ARUBA Clear Pass Network Access Control policy management platform and support, $261,897
Baker: This allows us to limit devices?
Flynt: Yes. Helps limit what gets on network and outbound traffic. It’s a device that connects to the network that authenticates and also limits the spread of viruses. It gives us more control over which devices are allowed on the network.
Superintendent Reports
2024 Graduation rate increased 1.3% to 93.4%
Columbia County School District Teacher of the Year Celebration moved to November 4. New invites will go out.
Columbia County School Board has been recognized by the Georgia School Board Association as an Exemplary Board for 2024. (More information about the program can be found: https://gsba.com/awards/)
Public Participation: None
Executive Session:
No illegal discussions, Yay 5, No 0
Personnel: Yay 5, No 0
Board Items:
Meyer: Thanked staff for working so hard through their own personal losses.
Adjourn: Yay 5, No 0
Next work session board meeting, 10/22/2024