School Board Learns About CTAE & Engage

The Jasper County School Board regular meeting Tuesday offered much information to the board members and others present.

Tasia Ellis, the Career, Technical, A coordinator at Jasper County High School shared that it is CTAE month and named many of the activities the students are taking part in and actions the school is taking to recognize and support those programs

Ms. Ellis named the equipment that the program had already received through an $86,000 grant the school received. She said there is currently a logo contest going on for CTAE. She talked about the upcoming career day, and other events.

Ms. Ellis also said the program had established a scholarship with money from an anonymous donor. She told about online brain games available to the students. The games help the students determine their strong qualities and their challenges, and helps them determine future careers.

Ms. Ellis reported there is an advisory night on February 22, and they plan to get feedback from the community. With that feedback they may modify CTAE programs or add to them. Board member Erin Lynch asked if that gave her enough time, if a new pathway is determined, to develop a curriculum, and she assured her it was.

Board members also heard from representatives of the LSP3 architectural firm who talked about the roof project at the high school and drainage issues at the Board of Education.

The two representatives reported that although materials are hard to get and have gone up in price, so far they have managed to stay within budget. The representatives met with school-level personnel earlier in the day, showing samples of flooring to a team at Jasper County Primary School, and discussing project there.

They plan to renovate the kitchen, but said with the scarcity of supplies, that project will have to wait until next summer (2023).

Board members heard from Carmen Garland about a new program in place to help students in rural school systems. Engage Georgia Graduation Alliance. It is working with the school system to target any student with needs to help. The intent of Engage Georgia is “to provide an extra layer of support for K-12 students and their families to boost school engagement and academic success during the school year.”

She explained how the program works with the students to provide support such as

•Guidance on technical and teacher access

•Encouragement and motivation to help students stay on track with their studies

•Organization and study tips

•Educational resources and exercises to help strengthen reading and math skills.

•Referrals to local nonprofit organizations that can provide social-emotional support.

Engage Georgia is state-funded and completely free to students. The program has reached out to 2,176 students, and 765 have been reached. The program has made 17,325 outreach attempts. They reach out by phone, text, e-mail, snail mail, whatever works.

The program was designed by the state superintendent of schools and is dedicated to rural schools.

Mrs. Garland shared the results of the questions that participants answered, such as does the student need extra support in reading or math, does your student have reliable transportation to and from school, and many more.

Also during the meeting, Supt. Kenny Garland recommended a pay increase for substitute teachers. He explained with the high absences due to Covid, it is sometimes hard to get all the substitutes they need. He said another substitute teacher training is set for March. However, he said previously, they had several sign up for training, but not all followed through.

Mr. Garland reviewed the MAP goals for 2021-2022, which showed that many strides have been made, with some grades already achieving the year-end goals at mid-year.

In other action at Tuesday’s meeting, board members:

•Approved numerous fund raisers after a discussion about the number of them and how to avoid having so many.

•Approved use of facilities request.

•Agreed to surplus certain ag equipment items, including several MIG welders, and some bus surplus items.

•Agreed to purchase several doors to replace worn out ones.

•Heard from Supt. Garland that Covid cases are way down.

After a closed session for personnel, the board agreed to the following personnel business:;

New Hire

•Ashley Adams, teacher, Jasper County Middle School

•Margaret Henderson, Webmaster, Jasper County Board of Education

•Robbie Key, maintenance director, Jasper County Board of Education

Resignation

•Heather Battle, paraprofessional, Jasper County Pre-School