(The Pierce County Board of Education discussed and/or voted on the following during their monthly work session, Thursday, July 9 and at their regular monthly meeting Monday, July 13.)
Board attorney: School superintendent Dara Bennett introduced Adam Ferrell as the new school board attorney. She also announced currently board attorney Dan Bennett Jr. stepped down from the role July 1. (See related stories.)
Reserve funds transfer: The board approved the transfer of $3 million from its cash reserves to its general fund.
Breakfast price increase: A 25 cent price increase for staff and visitor breakfasts was approved by the board.
Closed session: The board adjourned into a nine minute closed session to discuss personnel at Thursday’s meeting. Following the closed session, the board The board voted to hire Jerrian Waters, as a 49 percent time literacy intervention specialist at Midway Elementary, Tina Cravey as a teacher at the high school, Randal Cribb as a custodian at Blackshear Elementary and Jane Barrett, Derica Harris, Patricia Perry, Tiffany Romero and Ruby Nicole Van as food assistants for school nutrition. Extended day was approved for the year for Amy Day, Candace Douglas, John Dupont, Ryan Herring, Kiley Hodges, Becky King, Robert McCoy, Swane Morris, Randall Shoultz, Deprise Tomberlin and Malayna Wetherington and for Leslie Crane and Heather Rios for first semester. Approved for extended day for 12 weeks (July 28-October 16) are Mandy Beverly and Katelyn Scott. Estella Ashley was changed from bus monitor to bus driver Erik Thumann was changed to an 11 month contract. Coaching recommendations include John Williford as assistant coach for boys soccer at the middle school, Roderick Ringold as boys track head coach and Jon Jordan as a community coach for football at the high school. The board also voted to accept the resignations of Amber Jackson, teacher at Patterson and John Williford as boys head track coach at the high school. Williford will continue to teach at PCHS. The board also voted to accept the resignations of Casey Burney and Madeline Whitley, custodians at the middle school and Tinesha Warren, custodian at Blackshear Elementary.
Special education contracts: The board approved contracts for several contracted services for special education for the coming school year. The school system will contract with Dr. Eleanor Jordan of Ware County Schools for physical therapy services, Heather Tomlin and Charlton County for deaf/hardof- hearing services, Phyllis O. Brown for orthopedically impaired services, Ware County Board of Education for Project SEARCH and Marlee Bedford for speech language pathology services.
Surplus van bids: Tyrone Harris was the high bidder for a surplus 2001 Ford Econoline van. Harris bid $2,500 for the van other bidders were Larry Walker at $1,330, Jamie Henderson at $1,000, Kelvin Jones at $751 and Lamar Thigpen at $300. The van has 51,000 miles on it and was used by the school nutrition department. It was declared surplus in May and advertised in June, but no bids were received. The maintenance department put a new fuel pump on it to get it in operating condition and it was re-advertised leading to the five bids which were received.
Patterson Elementary air conditioning bids: Intech of Buford was the apparent low bidder to replace the air conditioning in the cafeteria at Patterson Elementary. Intech bid $61,014 for the job. The only other bidder was air management systems of Baxley at $112,755. The old air conditioning unit in the cafeteria was 21 years old and could no longer be repaired. The system failed the last week of school.
IEP and IDEA support at the high school: The board approved contracting with Mysti Walker for special education documentation and Individual Education Plans (IEP) and Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA)compliance support at Pierce County High school for up to 10 days at a cost of $384 per day.
ManageEngine Log 360 software subscription: The board approved the purchase of a software subscription for Manage Engine Log360 in the amount of $13,784 for this year. The software program will be purchased under a state contract. The program provides cybersecurity, threat detection, compliance and accountability for the district’s entire computer network.
Patterson Elementary Multi-purpose Room ceiling: The board approved seeking bids to replace damaged ceiling tiles in the multipurpose room at Patterson Elementary.
Federal program monitoring: The board approved a contract with Sonya Mixon to monitor compliance oversight and implementation of federal programs within the Pierce County School System.
Special recognition: The board recognized the state champion Lady Bears and Bears tennis teams.
Consent agenda: Four items were approved under the consent agenda. They include:
• renewal of the high school’s driver education program for the coming year was approved by the board.
• approval for school nutrition to participate in the commodity processing co-operative with Carrollton City Schools and Lowndes County Schools. The system purchases mainly chicken, pork, beef and cheese through the co-operative.
• approval of a pair of memoranda of understanding. The board approved a memorandum of understanding with the University of West Georgia In Carrollton to allow the university’s students to participate in field experiences within teacher education, school-based speech-language pathology and counseling programs. The board also approved a memorandum of understanding for Unison Behavioral Health to provide mental health services to Pierce County Schools.
• approval of its exemplary board application to the Georgia School Board Association. The application confirms the Pierce County BOE has met all requirements for exemplary board status.
• approved three non-resident tuition applications including two third grade students at Midway Elementary and a freshman, a sophomore and a senior at the high school. Nonresident students have to have administrator approval, no discipline referrals and have to pay non-resident tuition.
• approval of its standard, annual agreement with the Bright from the Start. The grant funds prekindergarten for four year olds in Pierce County.
• approval of a contract between the school nutrition program and Action Pact/Head Start to provide meals for the Head Start center in Blackshear.
Reports: Finance Director Melanie Helms gave the system’s financial report. Total year-to-date revenue was at $45.28 million through May, while expenses were $43.93 million. The school system has a reserve of about $19.74 million. Helms reported the system’s sales tax revenue was $268,375 in May, down about $23,400 from April. The board approved the financial report.
Facilities Director Harbin Farr announced work is underway on the building projects at Patterson Elementary and Pierce County Middle Schools. He also reported repairs to trouble spots on the flooring in the kitchen at Midway Elementary are currently being worked on. He also said work is underway on improving one of the bathrooms at Blackshear Elementary.
Information: Superintendent Dara Bennett announced pre-planning and professional development will take place July 28-August 4. First day of school will be Wednesday, August 5.
Minutes for June were also approved.
Public participation: There was no public participation.
Next meeting: The next work session will be held at 8 a.m. Thursday, August 6. The next regular meeting will be at 6:30 p.m. Monday, August 10. Both meetings will be at the central office.
