Schools To Get ‘Charter’ Designation
The Jasper County Board of Education members honored the Jasper County Middle School Boys Basketball team for its championship win and for being #1 in the PAC Conference this season, at the beginning of their regular meeting Tuesday night.
Team members and Coach Yelberton Frazier were in attendance and thanked the board on behalf of Coach Rufus Whitlock. He thanked the board, the school, the parents that endured six days a week practices, along with the fans for all of their support this season.
Athletic Director Jim Strength opened by saying that they had a great season, 17-0 in the region and 19-0 overall. He said that he was proud of the kids and of the coaches. He also commended the parents for being supportive and for the “great turnout.”
Dr. Mike Newton, Superintendent said “we appreciate all that you’ve done this year and what outstanding young men you are. You have represented us [Jasper County] well and have shown outstanding sportsmanship all season. I also commend you coaches and parents because to have a program this good, to go undefeated, it is a commitment.”
During the business portion of the meeting Tuesday, the board voted unanimously to pursue the Charter Schools flexibility option. This vote was necessary because of new state law which states that local school boards must make a choice for future school years before July 1. The board was given two options including a charter system and Investing in Educations Excellence (IE²).
The charter flexibility option entitles the board to waivers and allows for local schools to have more governance and authority as to decisions made here in this district. With the charter systems, charter boards are formed at each individual school and the members of those boards are the decision makers, then the recommendation will go before the BOE.
The state is encouraging the schools to pledge to achieve higher student performance. For this pledge the board is allowed flexibility when it comes to compensations, certifications for instructors and more sayso of where money is spent.
Dr. Newton said that this vote is just the beginning, and that he will declare their decision to the state and the planning process will begin this summer and throughout the next school year. He did indicate that he will ask for waivers for the coming school year, some which the system already does, including certification of instructors, class size, financial, and scheduling.
The board voted on the following new hires, Iesha Nix, custodian, Jasper County Primary School (JCPS) (part-time) and Paulette Lumpkin, School Clerk/Student Data Clerk, JCPS. They also voted to approve the resignations of Robyn Mullis Thomas, principal at Jasper County High School (JCHS); Jolynn Aubry, Executive Director of Student Services; Dusty Pinholster and Dana Mason, teachers at Jasper County Middle School (JCMS) and Cynthia King, food assistant.
The board approved the retirements of the following which will be effective in May. Retirees include Michelle Conwell, teacher, Washington Park Elementary School; Susan Smith, paraprofessional, JCMS and Marcia Hopper, teacher, JCHS.
There were many updates on facilities given to the board members during their work session last Thursday. They also gathered as a board to discuss the upcoming budget planning as far as wants and needs for Jasper County Schools as a whole and individually.
Dr. Newton told the board that the finances looked to be in good financial standing. He said, “I can’t say this enough, Angela Walsh is doing a great job. I appreciate all that she is doing for the taxpayers and the children in this county.”
He said that over 82 percent of the budgeted amount of ad valorem taxes had been collected which was a great number. The expenditures showed to be at 55.5 percent and revenues at about 69.26 percent on the school year. “I feel good about this. Revenues are coming in and expenditures are staying low,” said Dr. Newton.
As far as facilities, Perry Hyde, Maintenance Supervisor reported to the board that the bidding for the new HVAC at JCPS would begin as the state had authorized that process. He said that it would be about $300,000 for equipment.
He said that there have been contractors and electricians out to look at the job and had voiced concerns about time issues. Mr. Hyde said that the option was given to them to complete the work during second shift with an approximate timeline of eight weeks to completion.
Dr. Newton and the board commended Mr. Hyde on the continued good job he is doing and set a called meeting to review the bids Friday, March 6 at 2 p.m.
Mr. Hyde also told the board that Parrish Construction had been out to look at and repair the roof at the high school. It has been leaking since its construction in 2008 and the president of Parrish had been contacted and said he would “try to make this right.” As of Thursday there had been some Parrish contractors on the roof and repairs would be monitored, according to Mr. Hyde.
Dr. Newton informed the board about the budget timeline for this year and that the schools had already gotten their instructions on what types of things they wanted. The board members then voiced what they wanted for the upcoming year. Some of the requests were additional school days (180 for kids), the multi-use facility; teachers having adequate supplies (no out of pocket expenses), more diversity within the staff, technology being and staying current, a decrease in “extra” testing, better math scores, expanding fine arts (drama, debate, etc.), and having foreign languages introduced/taught at lower grade levels.
All of these were listed on a working board and will be visited throughout the budget season. The individual schools will turn in their requests and the list will be updated and a consensus of what is needed will be budgeted for the upcoming school year.
The next board meeting will be the called meeting Friday, March 6 at 2 p.m. and the regular work session is Thursday, March 12 at 6 p.m. and the business meeting is Tuesday, March 17 at 6 p.m. All meetings are held at the board room, 1411 College St., Monticello.
