Board Okays Make-Up Days In February and May

The Jasper County School Board, with new members Shannon Barton and Lewis Rice approved make up days due to inclement weather be February 21, 22, and May 9.

The two days in February are the Monday and Tuesday of the school calender’s winter break, and Monday May 9 was initially built in for an extra day for weather or other need for make-up.

Dr. Mike Newton, superintendent of schools, acknowledged that May was a given day, but there were still two additional days to make-up. He came up with the recommendation of the two days in February after polling faculty and staff and taking into consideration all suggestions and requests. He said that he did not like to touch spring break, and the consensus was that there were less conflicts putting the children back in school for those two days in February.

He did note that there were some exceptions with staff having already made plans that could not be changed and said that he “wants to be fair to those who have already made arrangements. That he by no means wants anyone to lose money that they may have already put into a vacation or travel plans.”

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Those faculty who do have non-refundable plans are not to be penalized and are able to take either personal days or if all of their days are expired, they are allowed to have a leave without pay day.

The 12-month employees will have the additional Wednesday and Thursday, Feb. 23 and 24 to make-up as they were already required to work on the 21 and 22.

The board also approved the resignation of Henry Odum, teacher at Washington Park. He was then approved to be employed as a teaching assistant at Jasper County Primary School.

The board voted again to appoint Phyllis Norwood Board Chair for the fiscal year 2011, and Paul Kelly as Vice Chair. They are required to do this at the first business board meeting of each year.

During the meeting, the Special Education program for Jasper County Schools was recognized by meeting two state targets for educating students. Jasper County was recognized for educating students in the least restrictive environment and for meeting or exceeding state achievement standards for English/Language Arts on the Georgia High School Graduation Test. Mrs. Jolynn Aubrey was on hand to accept the certificate and letter from Dr. Newton.

Mrs. Joan Thornton was also on hand at the meeting and said that the Food Service Review was a success. This is a review that is done every five years and it is a rigorous review. All accounts over meals and reimbursements were reviewed, recipes, supplies, and breakfast and lunch counts were all reviewed. She reported that they had no findings and had a great review of the Food Service program. Dr. Newton commended Mrs. Thornton and her staff and added much thanks for her leadership and service.

They also voted to approve a Fraud Prevention Policy to be placed on the table for 30 days before being approved for use. They also approved to surplus technology equipment as per a presentation from Morad El-Jourbagy.

In a work session that was held last Thursday, the board discussed the new board members and welcomed them to the board. They reviewed the financial reports as well as a health services report as they do each month.

The back to school after the snow was discussed and although there were still a lot of rough spots, the buses did well and there were no accidents. Dr. Newton said that there were a lot of parents who disagreed with his decision to return to school on last Wednesday. He said that he and Mr. Arena as well as Jerry Williams, transportation director were all out riding the roads and knew which ones were passable and which were not. Dr. Newton also noted that there was about 75 percent attendance across the school district with the lowest attendance numbers being in the preschool and the high school.

The board has previously asked for a list of extra-curricular activities along with all of the fees associated with each activity and it was reviewed. There were athletics, clubs and other organizations that were on the list with the biggest concern coming from cheerleading costs that begin in middle school. Board Member Bobby Norris commented on the $800 it costs to cheer in middle school and goes into the upper of thousands in high school.

He noted that a child that has talent may not be able to participate due to costs. There was discussion among board members and principals in attendance in that cheerleading is not a revenue generating sport, and the costs are provided up front with a chance to raise up to half of the $800 through fund raising.

Tracy Trovillo-Norton was in attendance as she represented Family Connection’s request for the school board to be the fiscal agent for Family Connection. Family Connection had previously fallen under the DEFCS fiscal agent and that relationship was ending. The school would only be responsible for minimal accounting (as their budget is roughly $42,000) and the board would have to provide a facility in-kind, along with electricity. Dr. Newton mentioned that the mobile units at the middle school were already being maintained and that would be a possibility for Family Connection. It was asked by Mrs. Norwood how they were funded and Dr. Newton noted that it was through a state grant and that the school was not responsible for any operating costs. Mrs. Barton asked if the school assumed any of the liability, in which she was told not any.