School Board Hears from Citizen on Budget
During a public hearing of the Jasper County Board of Education, one citizen spoke to the board about the proposed budget, and their use of it.
Ms. Jane Alexander said, “the school system is given a blank check to do with what they want.” She explained that the test scores continue to drop and the taxes continue to be increased. She asked the board if upping the taxes three mills would result in three percent better test scores. She tasked board members to look at the budget and to cut it where it needed to be cut. She closed with the request for the schools to “focus on a quality education – not just spending money.”
Board member Bill Schilling replied to Ms. Alexander saying, “Amongst the board, we have nine children in the system and that their education and the budget was close to their hearts.” “We’ve restored days back to a full calendar, we’ve increased pay and recruitment efforts in the recruitment of our teachers, giving the first raise in more than a decade.”
Superintendent Dr. Mike Newton also commented noting that the system has “navigated difficult financial times,” and that they have remained solvent. He said that they’ve managed to have a balanced budget each year and were very cautious to not get into situations that some surrounding systems did.
Board Chair Dr. Shannon Barton said that “it’s eye opening. Many people don’t know that it costs $75,000 for each day of school. It makes a big difference in days and costs.”
Dr. Newton also added that this is a large county and the cost for transportation is greater than other counties.
After the public hearing the board held its regular business meeting for June where the school was awarded a Certificate for Excellence in Accounting. The certificate was acknowledging the “excellent financial reporting, free of deficiencies, or findings and a clean audit.”
Two representatives with the Georgia Dept. of Audits and Accounts gave the board and Anne Harrison, Financial Director, the award. They noted that only 20 percent of districts receive this honor. The board members offered their congratulations to the finance department for the Jasper County Charter System.
During the meeting there were several approvals needed for renewals. The board approved the Georgia School Board Association (GSBA) membership as recommended by Dr. Newton. He stated that the board had been a member for many, many years and that they were professional learning advocates to boards of education.
The board then approved the GSBA Workman’s Compensation policy which increased in price because the cost is based on salaries and those had increased. The cost is $189,638. Dr. Newton noted that there had been no problems with GSBA and that this was budgeted for.
The board then approved the GSBA Risk Management policy which also increased. The policy covers both buses and school buildings.
There was discussion amongst the board members about “shopping” both risk management and workman’s compensation for cheaper rates. Lewis Rice, board member, said that “insurance companies compete for your business all the time. He said that increases come up each year and before you know it you’re paying more money for half of the coverage.
Dr. Barton also chimed in saying that just because GSBA was better at doing school coverages; it didn’t make it necessarily cheaper. Dr. Newton and Ms. Harrison said that it hadn’t been shopped in some years, and the board asked that it be shopped next year, but approved it for the upcoming year.
The board discussed facilities, and getting a proposed updated list of priorities. Some projects have already been completed, and the board wants overall priority based on maintenance and school preference. The updated consensus would provide the board with a better track of what projects need to be done when. The board asked that the School Governance Teams get together and map out the priorities.
There was also discussion about two estimates that would add to the athletic facilities at Jasper County High School. Parrish Construction gave a detailed estimate of $8,954,244 for the school plans. Another architect firm that the school has used gave a very vague estimate of $4,306,000 for just the construction of the new areas.
The athletic complex would include a new football stadium, baseball and softball fields, a new track and tennis courts, all surrounding the high school. Dr. Barton said that “it’s not getting cheaper, and you all know that I want it.”
Board member Bobby Norris, said “winning promotes these things. People support winning.”
Dr. Newton said that the board needed to get a timeline and decide funding. It was noted that it may take two Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) cycles.
There was some discussion as to the Stanton Springs Revenue Sharing Agreement in which Dr. Newton informed the board that he had reached out to county Manager Mike Benton about discussion on how the revenues are distributed. Currently the County Commission will collect 100 percent of the revenues here in Jasper while other counties “are splitting the money like regular ad valorem.”
There was much discussion on the Head Start and Pre-Kindergarten budgets. These two programs are funded differently and Head Start is to receive $6,145 additional for FY18. On the flip side Pre-Kindergarten is funded by “Bright from the Start” and are “struggling to balance,” according to Dr. Newton. There was discussion on ways to make the programs self-sustaining. The board approved, by consensus, to cut the days that the director and secretary work, as well as reduce the staff by one paraprofessional allocated for FY18.
The board approved the following new hires for the upcoming school year:
•Mary Harris, math teacher, Jasper County Middle School (JCMS);
•Jeanne Howell, substitute teacher;
•Courtney Greene, first grade teacher, Jasper County Primary School (JCPS),
•Camilla Moss, speech language pathologist.
Transfers of positions approved included Jessica Ravenel from teacher to Instructional Coach and Claudia Weathers, teacher to Instructional Coach.
The board also approved the resignation of Merilou Middlebrooks, school nutrition assistant.
Also during the meeting the board:
•Heard that the Access growth in ELA for Hispanic speaking students had increased. Kathleen Hatchett explained that there was growth in the students in the areas including listening, speaking, reading, and writing with projected growth for next year
•Met and spoke to Susan Stone the new principal at Washington Park Elementary School
•Put policy BBFA on the table for recension in 30 days
•Discussed giving principals additional personal days throughout the year.
