School System Gets Positive Health Report
The Jasper County Charter System board of education meeting opened with a positive health report at its business meeting Tuesday.
Superintendent Kenny Garland told the board that there had been a significant decrease in COVID-19 cases with only one reported case in the system this week making several schools have zero cases.
Mr. Garland noted that he has seen the shift of the population of student and staff cases go more toward a minimal to moderate spread as a county and he could not be more pleased with the progress from the last five weeks.
There was much discussion at the meeting about some incentive for the transportation as the system, as well as many others around the U.S., is in desperate need of transportation drivers. Mr. Garland brought a draft of a plan that would give a $750 check to current bus drivers and a $375 check to current bus monitors.
The board also discussed a perfect attendance incentive that will look at each nine weeks and then the entire year and offer monetary incentives at those times.
For recruiting of drivers, it was recommended that newly hired drivers were given $500 after successfully completing the training which includes a minimum of five skills days, two classroom days, two driving days and two days with students. After the driver passed their 90 day mark they would receive an additional $750.
Mr. Garland said that he is going to encourage current employees (teachers, coaches) to get trained. He also said that these people could be in a pool and have a day a month or more often on call where there is a stipend at the end of each month. He said that this was not to impede on their regular jobs, but that the system needs more transportation help.
The board reviewed the Three Year Academic Data across all schools and looked at years 2018, 2019, and 2021. 2020 was amiss due to the COVID-19 outbreak and an irregular schedule and limited testing. Mr. Garland said that the board set goals and as a system they are moving forward in the right direction.
Currently the system uses both Milestones and MAP testing to measure students. The Millstones are the state comparable assessments and MAP is a nationally based measure. Every system in the state of Georgia uses Milestones, while a smaller number use MAP testing and data.
There was much discussion amongst the board as to which we should use and it was noted that the data from each set was very different. The question that came out of the discussion was, “what do we want to compare and how do we want to compare it?” The board decided to meet as a subcommittee to discuss further and come back to the board with more detail.
The board members took action and approved the purchase and installation of a Cummins generator for the central office totaling $27,116. This was a need that as Mr. Garland explained was used in instances when there were utility outages, specifically power and internet. There have been several occasions where this item would keep the school functioning when maintenance was being completed and or in the event of outages.
The board voted to renew Supt. Kenny Garland’s contract for one year. The new contract will expire in 2024. Other personnel approvals included new hires, Leah Neff, Speech Language Pathologist at 37 percent time; Cassandra Dearro, substitute teacher; and Tori Thomason, substitute custodian.
Resignations included Cassandra Dearro and Krystal Capes, paraprofessionals; Christan Farrar, substitute custodian; Samantha Timberman and Deborah Freeman, custodians; and Michael Fleming, substitute teacher. Kathleen Hatchett, ESOL Coordinator (49 percent) was released from her contract.
The board also approved a CTAE vehicle purchase for the Agriculture program. They approved $43,000 to purchase a 2016 F-250 that will be used to transport trailered livestock to and from events.
The board approved a surplus bid for automotive equipment for $2,250 and voted to put surplus agriculture surplus items up for bid.
The next board business meeting will be Tuesday, Nov. 16 at 6 p.m.
