(The Pierce County Board of Education discussed and/or voted on the following during their monthly work session, Thursday, February 5 and their regular monthly meeting Monday, February 9.
Closed session and personnel: The board adjourned into a 12 minute closed session to discuss personnel. After the session, the board voted to hire Katie Bartram as receptionist at Patterson Elementary, Robert Smith as a full-time teacher at the high school and Shirley Blackmon and Amber Corbitt as school nutrition food assistants, all for this year. For the 2026-2027 school year, the board voted to hire Blair Hubbard and Macey Martin as teachers, Ashley “Parker” Smith as speech language pathologist and Ashlee Barrow as school nurse, all at Blackshear Elementary; Anna Lisa Sturdivant and Douglas B. Williamson, both as teachers and Rebecca Davis and JoNisha Palmer as paraprofessionals all at Midway Elementary; Brianna Raithel and Ava Whitaker, as teachers at the middle school and Briana Turner as school nurse and Britt Williamson as assistant track coach, both at the high school. The board voted to accept the resignation of high school principal Kelly Murray (See related story.) The board also approved the resignations of teachers Logan Berryhill and Cameron Moore, both also at the high school; Lauren Hyers as assistant principal at the middle school and Pamela Huff, teacher, also at PCMS; Emily Ray as speech language pathologist and Jessica Hayes as paraprofessional, both at Blackshear Elementary, Candice “Sunny” Oliver as bookkeeper at Midway and Patterson Elementary Schools; Helen Sirmons as school nutrition food assistant and Heather Mcfarland as a bus driver. The board approved the retirements of Nancy Smith, teacher at Blackshear Elementary and Tina Cravey, teacher at Pierce County High School. The board approved recommendations for returning staff for all schools in the system including Yvette Newton, assistant superintendent, Melanie Helms, director of finance and human resources, Teresa Dixon, director of instruction and assessment, Becky Swain, school nutrition director, Dr. Anita Harris, director of special programs, Sarah McIntosh, director of student services, Lauren Taylor, school psychologist, Jennifer Johnson, social worker and PBIS coordinator, Mandy Williams, Blackshear Elementary principal, Dr. Brandi Todd, Midway Elementary principal, Amanda Lankford, Patterson Elementary principal and Amanda Gay, PCMS principal along with certified staff for all five schools. In separate votes, Board chairman Duward Boatright abstained in the vote for his daughter-in-law, Nancy Boatright, media specialist at Patterson Elementary, second district board member Perry Tison abstained on the vote for his daughter-in-law, Virginia Tison, teacher at the high school and third district board member Chip Griner abstained on the votes for his daughter and son-inlaw, Ella Griner Teston and Beau Teston, teachers at PCMS. Griner also abstained on the vote for the retirement of his wife, Julie Griner, a teacher at Patterson Elementary. All five votes were 4-1. Abstentions count as no votes for recording purposes. The board also adjourned into a five minute closed session for personnel at Monday’s meeting. Following the session, the board approved the hire of Kyler Allen as assistant principal at the middle school, Garrett Anderson as a teacher at the high school, and Lori Edwards and Mandy Gill as school nutrition assistants. SaraCoggin was approved as a community coach for the girls track team at the middle school and Sarah Walley was changed from a paraprofessional to a teacher at Blackshear Elementary. The board also accepted the resignations of Larry Insalaco, teacher at the high school, James Douberly custodian at the middle school and Abigail Burkett, school nutrition assistant.
Non resident tuition: The board approved the out-of-district tuition for 2026-2027 school year.
PCHS shade canopy bids: Bliss Projects of Lithia Springs was awarded the low bid for installation of a shade canopy at the PCHS softball fields. Bliss bid $40,608.43. Six other bids were received. including Safe Place Solutions of Canton at $44,080, Playworx of Canton at $48,940.20, Korkat of Carrollton at $55,051.66, BSN Sports of Farmers Ranch, TX, T&T Fencing of Waycross at $56,000 and H.E. Hodge and Company of Cumming at $89,000.
Surveillance video bids: The board voted to reject bids for surveillance video. Two bids were received ranging from a low of $132,195.70 to a high of $217,315.15. The surveillance equipment will be used for security purposes at all five schools. After reviewing the bids, Technology Director David Pittman found the bid specs were much more complex than needed locally. For example, he said one of the schools had 30 cameras, but the specs were written for 150. “I think we can rebid this item and get a much better price,” Pittman said.
Surplus tractor bids: Anna Saucedo of Pierce County was the high bidder on a surplus tractor in the amount of $3,500. The only other bidder was Daniel Hampton, hometown unavailable, in the amount of $610.
Mental health services contract: The board approved a mental health services contract with Keyanna English in an amount not to exceed $37,500 for the year. English will provide mental health services for the middle school and high school.
Audit corrective action plan: The board approved a corrective action plan for a state audit report item for 2024. Finance Director Helms said there were two findings in the 2024 audit related to the information technology general controls and internal controls. She reported the finance department has already taken steps to correct known issues, but will continue to develop procedures to strengthen controls on the technology related areas noted as well as the internal controls procedures to correct the risk associated with this finding. The state requires a corrective action plan be approved by the state.
Consent agenda: Several items were approved under the consent agenda. They include:
• approval of the Georgia Parent Mentor Partnership Grant for 2027 for a mentor position. The grant will provide $18,400 and the local match will be $12,500 for a total salary of $30,900.
• approval of a non resident student, a third grader at Midway Elementary.
Reports: Finance Director Melanie Helms gave the system’s financial report. Revenue was at $17.97 million for December, while expenses were $21.46 million. The school system has a reserve of about $14.75 million. The system has been utilizing reserve funds for operations until county tax revenues begin coming in. Helms reported the system’s sales tax revenue was $277,836 in December up $11,600 from November. The board also reviewed school activity account financial reports. The board approved the financial report. Facilities director Harbin Farr gave an update on the installation of two storage facilities at Midway and Patterson Elementary Schools. Concrete is to be poured for both buildings by this week. He also reported on various cold weather related issues, including a burst pipe at the high school and minor heater problems throughout the system. He said he expects to receive bids for construction manager projects at Patterson Elementary and the middle school in coming weeks.
Public participation: There was no public participation.
Minutes: The board approved minutes for its January meetings.
Information: Superintendent Dara Bennett announced all schools and the central office will be closed Monday, February 16 for President’s Day. Students will also have holidays Tuesday, Feb. 17 and Monday, March 9, but staff will report for a professional development day. Bennett also announced report cards will be issued March 23.
Next meetings: The next work session will be at 8 a.m. Thursday, March 5. The next regular meeting will be at 6:30 p.m. Monday, March 9. Both meetings will be held at the central office.
