(The Pierce County Board of Education discussed and/or voted on the following during their monthly work session, Thursday, July 10 and their regular monthly meeting Monday, July 13. The meetings were delayed a week due to the July 4th holiday.)
Closed session and personnel: The board adjourned into a three minute closed session Thursday morning to discuss personnel. After the closed session, the board voted to hire Melissa Herrin as a teacher at Patterson Elementary, Randi Dixon and Mia Roberts as paraprofessionals at Blackshear Elementary, Kalie Humes as custodian at Blackshear Elementary, Jennifer Strickland as administrative secretary at Midway Elementary, Cheyenne DeJaynes as a paraprofessional at Patterson Elementary and Lora Taylor and Candi Walker as food assistants for school nutrition and Pamela St. Thomas and Rita White as school bus drivers. The board also approved the resignations of Deighton Bryant, as school psychologist assistant at the central office, Sada Brown and Megan Johns May, as paraprofessionals at Blackshear Elementary and Skylar Norman and Sarah Turner as bus drivers. The board also adjourned into a three minute closed session Monday night to discuss the personnel. After the closed session, the board voted to hire Marenna King as a paraprofessional at Blackshear Elementary, Landon Spencer as a paraprofessional at the middle school and Doris Ramsey as a school nutrition food assistant. Logan Berryhill was approved as boys track head coach, boys basketball assistant varsity and head JV coach,Lauren Whitaker was approved as girls basketball assistant coach and Constance Drew was approved as community coach for girls basketball and Michelle Brewer was approved as community coach for girls volleyball, all at the high school.
Bid openings: Steel Structures of Baxley was awarded the bid for 3o’ by 30’ metal storage buildings at Blackshear Elementary and Midway Elementary for a total of $89,750. Steel Structures of Baxley bid $34,962 each for a 20’x30’ building and $44,875 each for a 30’x30’ building. Charlton Enterprises of Folkston was the only other bidder at $122,852 each for a 20’x30’ building and $136,528.56 for a 30’x30’ building. Barber Tennis of Lakewood Ranch, FL was awarded the bid for tennis court repairs at the high school. Barber bid $36,000. Two other bids were received. Eco Premier Coatings of Metter bid $72,000 and Court Services (El Faro) of Green Cove Springs, FL bid $71,920.
Security and Energy Systems of Patterson was the winning bidder for video surveillance improvements at Patterson Elementary and Pierce County High School in the amount of $26,480. The only other bidder was School Specialty of Greenville, WI at $52,430.42 The improvements will replace some cameras and re-aim and refocus some cameras.
Property tax relief for timber: The board approved temporary property tax relief for eligible standing timber located on a disaster area in Pierce County. The relief is offered for growers who suffered damage in Hurricane Helene last September. The school system will receive a grant from the state reimbursing the amount lost in timber tax collections.
Bright from the Start grant: The board approved the Bright from the Start grant. The grant funds the system’s pre-k programs.
Policy changes: The board held first readings on a new policy for salary deductions and a first reading on revisions to its existing employee leaves and absences policy.
Consent agenda: Several items were approved under the consent agenda. They include:
• approval of contracts for several contracted services for special education for the coming school year. The school system will contract with Allied Instruction Services for orientation and mobility services for students with disabilities, Dr. Eleanor Jordan of Ware County Schools for physical therapy services, Heather Tomlin and Charlton County for deaf/hard-of-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.
• approval for school nutrition to participate in the commodity processing co-operative with Carrollton City Schools and Lowndes County Schools.
• approval of three memoranda of understanding. The first is an agreement between Pierce County Schools and Coastal Plains High School. The agreement allows Coastal Plains to serve PCHS students who struggle in a conventional school setting. The goal is to help struggling students earn their diplomas. The second allows South Georgia State College to offer college credit courses on the PCHS campus. The third allows Unison Behavioral Health/Georgia APEX to provide counseling services to students on campus.
• approval for using high quality instructional materials to address early education literacy as required by a new state law.
• approval of two non-resident tuition applications including a kindergarten student at Blackshear Elementary and a sixth grade student at Pierce County Middle School.
• approval of two field trip requests for the PCHS Wrestling Team to attend camps at Yulee High School in Yulee, FL Dec. 12, 2025 and Jan. 2, 2026. All out-of-state field trip requests require board approval.
• 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.
Reports: Finance Director Melanie Helms gave the system’s financial report. The school system reported revenue of $45.02 million and expenses of $41.38 million through May. The system had $19.1 million in reserves. Helms reported the system’s sales tax revenue was $249,273 in May down $29,000 from April. The board approved the financial reports as presented. Facilities director Harbin Farr announced the construction/renovation of the Pierce County Indoor Sports Building (the old high school gym) is now complete and was under budget by about $63,000. Farr reported the flooring projects in the school system are underway and will be complete this week. Playground equipment at Midway is expected to be installed soon and mulch will be added to the playgrounds at Blackshear and Patterson. Touch up painting projects are also underway at several campuses and will be completed in time for the first day of school.
Public participation:
There was no public participation. Minutes: The board approved minutes for June’s
meetings.
Information:
Superintendent Bennett announced pre-planning for the 2025-2026 school year will be July 28-August 1. The county-wide meeting will be held July 28. A prayer walk is planned for all schools and the central office Thursday, August 3. The first day of school for the new school term will be Friday, August 4.
Next meetings: The August work session will be held at 8 a.m. Thursday, August 7. The August regular meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m. Monday, August 11. All meetings will be at the BOE central office on Main Street.
