The Brantley County Board of Education discussed/voted on the following agenda items during the Monday, June 15 work session and regular meeting.
• Superintendent’s update: The board recognized the two-time state champion Brantley County Herons’ tennis team, the Brantley County Student of Excellence recipient, the 2026 Valedictorian and Salutatorian, and a former superintendent who recently celebrated a 90th birthday.
Dr. Kim Morgan introduced new Brantley County High School Principal Justin Drury, who then talked about the tennis team’s accomplishments.
“Our boys and girls tennis teams have been tremendously successful in the last several seasons,” said Drury. “We’re specifically going to take note of what the boys did this season. They finished 24-2 and won the Region 1 championship — their sixth consecutive region title.
“They finished runnerup at the Jekyll Jam. The biggest accomplishment is they became state champions in back-to-back years.”
The 2026 team was comprised of seniors Jayce Chapman, Jett Florey, Yog Patel and Peyton Perez. The juniors were Owen Spradley and Evan Payne. Miles Florey and Layton Myers represented the sophomore class. There were six freshmen — Ashton Tyler, Alex Keen, Owen Wildes, Bish Allen, Jeel Patel and Caiden Aldrich.
‡ Wendy Lee spoke about Blake Franklin, who was unanimously selected as the Brantley County Student of Excellence recipient.
“Each year, our high school student services staff nominate a senior to be recognized for showing strong work ethic while making accomplishments in and out of the classroom,” said Lee. “This year, honor graduate Blake Franklin was unanimously selected. He was acknowledged in a ceremony locally.
“Blake, who was unable to attend, was also selected to represent our GLRS district at the Awards of Excellence ceremony at the Georgia Department of Education. All of this occurred while we were in the wildfires. So, it kind of got downplayed, but that’s a huge accomplishment for this young man, and we wish him the best.”
Dr. Angela Haney, Director of Curriculum & Instruction and System Assessment Coordinator introduced the Class of 2025 Val and Sal.
“ I have the privilege of recognizing two students whose achievements reflect years of this dedication, perseverance and excellence,” she said. “Through the years of hard work, determination, and commitment to repeated excellence, they have earned the distinction of being Salutatorian and Valedictorian of the class of 2026.
“First, I’d like to introduce our salutatorian, Cohen Carter. Cohen is the son of Chris and Amy Carter. He achieved a 4.010 GPA. He will be attending Georgia Institute of Technology this fall, and plans to pursue a degree in Electrical Engineering.
“Our valedictorian, Yog Patel. He is the son of Chaya and Priscilla Patel. Yog earned a 4.012 GPA. He will also be attending Georgia Institute of Technology and pursue a degree in Electrical Engineering.”
‡ Dr. Mogan introduced the final honoree — Al Ferguson — the last elected superintendent.
“Mr. Al Ferguson was my principal when I was a little girl at Hoboken Elementary School,” said Dr. Morgan. “Then he was superintendent when I was hired at the young age of 22 as a teacher. After I missed his birthday party because of a school event, I thought I would invite him to a board meeting.”
Ferguson said he was hired by then superintendent Mrs. Mable Moody in 1966.
“I think she was the last female superintendent here,” said Ferguson, “so, we’re very proud of her (Dr. Morgan). Her accomplishments are just thrilling to me to see a former student rise through the education system, teacher, principal and superintendent.”
• Adoption of agenda, disposition of minutes from previous meetings: The board unanimously approved the adoption of the agenda along with the minutes of the Thursday, May 7 work session; Monday, May 11 regular meeting; Wednesday, May 27 called meeting; and Wednesday, June 3 called meeting.
• Financial reports: The board unanimously approved the May financial reports.
The SPLOST (Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax) report showed $157,481.97 was collected with another $97,629.80 in Ad Valorem Taxes for a total of $255,111.77.
•Software program licenses renewal: The board, on the recommendation of Superintendent Dr. Kim Morgan, approved the renewal for both Edulastic and the Lexia Learning Systems for a combined payment of $31,625.
Edulastic is used for teachers to create assessments with a cost of $13,075, explained Dr. Morgan. Lexia Learning is literacy instruction that’s used mostly at the primary schools. The cost is $18,550.
• Tyler Technologies routing/Fleet Management software renewal:
Board members, on the recommendation of the superintendent, unanimously approved the $6,835.56 quote from Tyler Technologies for the Routing Fleet Management soft software renewal.
Dr. Morgan explained the software is used for keeping record of school system’s fleet of busses, as well as the program that helps with routing, scheduling bus routes.
• South Georgia State College MOU: Dr. Morgan’s recommendation to approve the SGSC Memorandum of Understanding was unanimously approved.
The MOU is an annual agreement between Brantley County High School and South Georgia State College allowing professors to come on to campus and teach, so BCHS students can get college credit for enrollment.
• GSBA subscription renewal: The board unanimously approved the superintendent’s recommendation for the Georgia School Board Association subscription renewals.
“These various renewals will provide for services for our system to include policy maintenance services, risk management, coverage, worker’s compensation, cyber security, and our Simbli subscription that we use for our school system policies and board meetings,” stated Dr. Morgan.
• Heggerty Phonics refill: On the recommendation of the superintendent, the board unanimously approved the Heggerty Phonics refill kits in the amount of $14,570.40.
According to Dr. Morgan, the kits are for the three schools which have primary grades and two elementary schools.
• FY27 Teledenistry program MOU: The board unanimously approved the FY 27 Teledentistry program Memorandum of Understanding on the recommendation of Dr. Morgan.
“This partnership allows our students, who may not otherwise have access to dental health care, to be able to get appropriate and regular dental screenings,” explained the superintendent. “They get their teeth cleaned and they’re screened to see if they need additional services.”
• Musical instruments: On the recommendation of the superintendent, the board unanimously approved the $11,996 quote from O’Malley Musical Instruments to purchase four tubas for the band.
• Edgenuity Learning Platform: The board unanimously approved a quote of $27,192 from Edgenuity Learning for the Edgenuity Learning Platform on the recommendation of Dr. Morgan.
According to the superintendent, the instructional program is used in some of the labs at the high school, particularly for credit recovery or credit repair. It’s also used in alternative school.
• Wireless infrastructure upgrade project: Board members, on the recommendation of the superintendent, unanimously approved the quote from Howard Technology Solutions.
The price was $267,532 with an E-rate reimbursement of $212,000 for a school system net cost of $55,532.
According to Dr. Morgan, the wireless upgrades will happen at all seven schools along with the Board office, Transportation office, Maintenance and Technology offices, and should help the school system run smoother with technology.
• SNP cooler and freezer monitoring equipment and installation: The board, on the recommendation of Dr. Morgan, approved the quote of $4,335 from from Human Tech Corporation for the monitoring equipment and installation.
“This monitoring system is actually going to be a new one to replace the one that we’re having a few issues with,” stated the superintendent. “It will allow for Dr. (Christopher) Harris (School Nut rition Director/Operations) and our cafeteria managers to get notifications when the coolers or freezers are not working so we can quickly attend to the problem and not lose any food.”
• School Nutrition program contract renewals: On the recommendation of Dr. Morgan, the board unanimously approved contract renewals with Williams Institutional Foods, Suncoast Paper, What Chefs Want, Lowndes County SNP/SFSPac for Chemicals and Flowers Bakeries Sale.
According to the superintendent, these are annual contracts the SNP gets for food, where they’re going to order their food, different small wares, appliances and supplies.
• Sandy Hook Promise Anonymous Reporting system: The board unanimously approved the implementation of the Sandy Hook Promise Anonymous Reporting system on the superintendent’s recommendation.
“Implementing this anonymous reporting system will meet the requirements of House Bill 268,” said Dr. Morgan. “We’re excited to implement it this upcoming school year.”
• FY27 contract renewals: The board, on the recommendation of Dr. Morgan, approved FY27 contract renewals for the Special Education and Student Services Department for physical therapy services, speech and language services, and occupational therapy services.
Approved for physical therapy was Mary Parker, Morgan Heyman and Michelle Mitchel for speech and language services, and Brandy Watson for occupational therapy.
• FY27 Allied Instruction Services (AIS) contract renewal: Dr. Morgan’s recommendation to approve FY27 Allied Instruction Services (AIS) contract renewal was unanimously approved.
“This company provides a service to us for our students with visual impairments, or deaf, hard of hearing impairments. We’ve been very satisfied with the service.”
It will be funded through Special Education funds.
• Firewall renewal: The board unanimously approved the $28,008 quote from Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia for the Halo Alto Networks firewall renewal on the recommendation of the superintendent.
“The firewall protects our district network by providing access to critical security updates, threat prevention services, software upgrades, and vendor technical support,” explained Dr. Morgan.
• No Kid Hungry grant: Board members, on the recommendation of the superintendent, approved the “No Kid Hungry” grant for $23,750.
“This is a grant that Dr. Harris wrote,” said Dr. Morgan. “It’s going to provide some additional equipment and supplies to make our summer feeding program even more efficient.”
The school system is providing approximately 15,000 meals per week with its summer feeding program to students.
• Truck purchase for FFA: The board unanimously approved the purchase of a truck, not exceed $70,000, for the FFA program on the recommendation of Dr. Morgan.
According to the superintendent, Transportation Director Jeff Jones will begin looking for a truck to replace the primary truck that is used for FFA.
“It’s reaching its age limit to be able to transport students, so we need to have one purchased by the end of December,” explained Dr. Morgan.
• Contract agreement with Brantley County Commission: The superintendent’s recommendation to approve the contract agreement with Brantley County Board of Commissioners for a 4-H program assistant was unanimously approved.
“We partner with our county government to pay a portion of this salary,” stated Dr. Morgan. “Our portion of the salary and benefits is 13,332 They (commission) pay the majority, but we do contribute that amount annually.”
• Folding tables for JROTC: The board unanimously approved the recommendation of Dr. Morgan to purchase nine tables for the JROTC classroom in the amount of $3,707.53 from Uline.
“The current tables are definitely aged out,” she explained. “They’re no longer durable, so it is time to get this classroom some new tables.”
• Executive session: The board returned after a 30-minute executive session to discuss personnel.
They unanimously accepted the resignation of Nahunta Elementary School parapro Emma Weger.
The board unanimously accepted to hire Lauren Stuckey as a teacher at Waynesville Primary School; Joseph Bell as a teacher at Atkinson Elementary School; Shea Wilson as Business teacher at Brantley County High School; Dr. Donna Waters Gibson as part-time Pre-K director.
The board unanimously approved athletic addendums for Brooklyn Wildes as an assistant softball coach at Brantley County Middle School and Garrett Cox as assistant athletic director at BCHS.
