Athletic Complex Budget Up To $11.75 Million

The Jasper County Board of Education approved an amendment to the budget to encompass the remaining costs of the new athletic complex during their business meeting Tuesday.

The amendment approved expenditures not to exceed $11,750,000 for the complex and was recommended by Superintendent Kenny Garland. The recommendation came before the board after it was determined that there were some final costs identified to complete the project which included the purchase of lockers, training room equipment, a washer and dryer for the field house, additional concession equipment and possible fencing.

The amendment is 6.4 percent over the initially proposed cost. The work to the athletic complex continues with masonry work beginning the end of this week and continuing into next week.

With the approval of the amended $11 million budget for the athletic complex, the board had to approve moving $1,670,555 from Ameris Bank to the Bank of Monticello. The board did not have enough to cover the $11.7 million sitting in the latter account, therefore needed to move the funds to cover that money to cover that cost.

During the financial portion of the meeting Mr. Garland informed the board that TABT tax revenue collection had already exceeded the amount projected for the fiscal year and he attributed this growth to the growth in the county and the increase in the economic growth as well.

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To date the county has collected $372,252 which is well over the anticipated $275,000 projected. Mr Garland committed to the board that he would work to try and get this to balance for the next year and address/prioritize needs and what to do with those excess funds for the upcoming budget year.

The board also voted to increase the school nutrition employees’ pay scales beginning this month. The board voted based on Mr. Garland’s recommendation for those increases at a cost of approximately $11,000 with the current staffing. Zero dollars of this increase are coming from local funds, but from grants and income generated from that department.

Monthly reports on enrollment and attendance, which are both higher than this time last year, and personnel were reviewed. A good news report included a General Assembly update that proposes a fiscal year 2021 raise for teachers.

After a short executive session, the board approved the following new hires: James McMichael, head groundskeeper and Larry Cottingham, groundskeeper for the Jasper County Maintenance Department; Kaitlin Mize, paraprofessional at Washington Park Elementary School (WPES); Tony Tanner, substitute teacher; Katherine Thomas, bus driver, Sharon Byrd, substitute bus driver and Kimberly Merry substitute bus monitor.

The board also approved the resignation of Ty Snyder, Executive Director of Teaching & Learning and Mark Smith, groundskeeper. Brenda Jackson’s transfer to registration clerk from paraprofessional at Jasper County High School was approved as well as the retirement of Jeanette Dupree, custodian.

Other items of discussion included numerous policy first read reviews and approval to the Professional Personnel Work Loads.

JCHS and JCPS were recognized as receiving a Five Star School Climate Rating for 2019. Dr. RaNae Fendley explained that this recognition is a part of CCRPI – the state recognizes a 5-start climate rating. The rating is based on results from student, parent, and personnel surveys, school discipline, safe and substance-free learning environments and school wide attendance numbers. The honor is in conjunction with Positive Behavior and Intervention Strategies (PBIS). Each school received a sign to be displayed for this achievement.

Jasper County High School was also recognized for “Beating the Odds.” Beating the Odds is a measure in performance contracts between schools and the State Board of Education. JCHS beat the odds as they predicted a CCRPI score of 73.7 and beat that score by four points achieving a 77.7.

Mr. Garland also shared with the board the PSAT results for current sophomores. He said that anyone is eligible to take this test, but that this system focused on tenth graders. Mr. Garland said that 91 percent of the sophomores took the PSAT which exceeded the state overall participation rate by over 11 percent. Twenty-six percent of local students beat both benchmarks which were slightly under the 29 percent of the state average.

Evidence Based Reading and Writing scores exceeded the state average by three percent, while math was below the state average by three percent.

The next board meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 11 at 6 p.m.