CCBOE Regular Session Notes 9/10/2024
Call to Order
Invocation - In Focus Church Youth Pastor Kevin Carlie
Pledge of Allegiance - Baker Place Elementary School 4H Presidents
Special Recognitions (5:35pm-5:59pm)
Columbia County Teacher of the Year Finalists
Tawana Odom - Harlem High School
Kynisha Okonkwo - Harlem Middle School
Tabitha Purvis - Euchee Creek Elementary School
Debra Hunter Green - Martinez Elementary School
Rebecca Blumenthal - South Columbia Elementary School
College Board National Program Honor Awards
National Beta Club Convention Competition
Technet Augusta Capture the Flag Competition
Board Comments: All board members thanked teachers and families for supporting students. Board Members are proud of student achievements and the teacher of the year finalists.
Approval of Consent Items: 5 yay, 0 no
8/27/2024 Minutes
Fundraisers
Employee Travel
Program/camp/employee participation request
lease/use of facilities
Board Policies
Board Policies I, Instructional Program: 5 yay, 0 no
Board Policies J, Students: keep it open for more comments
Building Program Update
North Columbia Elementary School
Steel work on the 2nd floor
Slabs poured for kitchen
Plumbing going in for admin and classroom areas
Greenbrier High School
GRU Package is finishing up. Final walk through this week.
Lakeside High School
Steel behind the Performing Arts Center is installed
They are holding a large pile of dirt in the back. That will be moved when they start working there later.
Still plan on parking lot being ready be 2nd semester
On the right side of the building, they are putting in a retaining wall and doing some utility work. The road will be moved to the right when complete.
Evans High School
On the left side of the building will be the performing arts center, band and chorus rooms.
On the right side will be more classes.
Right now, there is parking in the back of the school and they are still working with the church for parking.
There will also be additional parking on the right side, when it’s complete.
Custodial Supplement
State funds $165,000 for the supplement but doesn’t provide for FICA.
Payments are made in December & June. Custodians needs to be on payroll during both months in order to receive the additional funds.
Vote to approve additional funds for supplement: 5 yay, 0 no
Safety/Security Discussion
Flynt: The district has been conducting additional reviews of their responses to crisis, as well as identifying and mitigating measures
There has been an uptick, not just in Columbia County, of threats against schools and poor behavior by students (I.e. making threats or treating it as a joke)
Safety is a shared responsibility and parents should reach out to their local schools with concerns
Board Discussion:
Dekle: Thank you for making safety a priority. He’s glad that we have robust safety plans in place.
Flynt: Westmon has a new full system (I didn’t catch the name of the system but it’s similar to the button system at Apalachee).
Alalof: 2 years ago, the FBI and law enforcement in the CSRA, as well as business leaders, formed a coalition including various agencies. It also includes some faith based organizations as well. It is focused on how to prepare for before, during and after a shooting event. The community is very proactive in preparing. CC School police force is very active with Strong Augusta, Inc…. should be receiving a federal grant from Homeland Security to cover training for CSRA. After Sandy Hook, parents formed Safety Hooks Promise, which is a program to train students and adults on the warning signs that someone may be a potential sh***er. We are very proactive in creating training.
Dekle: Thank you for getting that started and working on that.
Teasley: Safety isn’t something that we just think about after an event. In the schools, safety is something everyone thinks about daily. It’s important for parents and the public to know that we are limited on what we can about specific plans because we can’t broadcast our security plans. We will continue to make security a priority and everyone, including students, need to understand the seriousness of this. This is not something to make a joke about and there will be consequences for threats.
Flynt: Thanks the board for increasing funding on security projects over the previous years.
Baker: How do we fund the increases in security?
Flynt: Safety is not calculated as part of QBE formula but the State has been increasing grants. Some people don’t realize that having all new buses is an example of a safety investment, as just an example. Having our own police force costs about $2million out of our budget. We may see more grants in the future but there’s no guarantee of that funding when it’s grants and not calculated into the QBE.
Alalof: There is a federal grant for $700K to develop software to mitigate if someone wants to look into that.
Meyer: The eSplost money pays for some of it though… Not the personnel but the security technology and building upgrades.
Flynt: Yes, and we’ll be proposing additional upgrades soon which will be part of our presentations to the public. The relationships between the local community contributes to our safety/security. FBI, GBI and local police, work with our school police to provide support and information. We have been able to host full multi-agency training at old school buildings before they are torn down. There was also a simulation at one of the High Schools recently.
Campus Chief of Police: The hands-on training in those empty buildings was invaluable. It’s different to have a plan on paper and then to actually do it in-person and run through all of the drills.
Flynt: At the end of the day, we all need to work together. If you see something, say something.
Superintendent Reports
Website changes on the Board of Education Page
Board Meetings tab will have agendas, summaries, minutes and meeting presentations (with the slides at meetings), as well as special recognitions
HR Update
97.2% non-cert fill rate
99.6% certified fill rate
9/25 hiring fair
Discovery Center open & being utilized. Ran by volunteers
SLP Appreciation Week
School Cafe
Reduced Lunch eats free this year funded by GADoE
Forms still need to be filled out by parents
Public Participation: Several names were called but they weren’t there. Dekle said that the district contacted them so maybe it’s been resolved. The board always welcomes comments.
Executive Session: statement of nothing outside of approved topics discussed: 5 yay, 0 no
Personnel: 5 yay, 0 no
Legal
Real Estate
Adjourn