(The Pierce County Board of Education discussed and/or voted on the following during their monthly work session, Thursday, September 5 and their regular monthly meeting Monday, September 9.
Closed session and personnel: The board adjourned into a 13 minute closed session to discuss personnel at Thursday’s meeting. No action was taken after the session. After the closed session, the board voted to hire Nicole Sweat as a paraprofessional at Pierce County Middle School and Heather McFarland as a bus driver. The board also approved Daniel Warren as a community softball coach at the middle school and Evan Chaney as a community swim coach and Sarah Davis as a community girls basketball coach, both at the high school. The board also accepted the resignations of Lanie Lightsey, paraprofessional at Midway Elementary, Mary Wanczak, nutrition assistant at the high school and Karla Harris, bus driver.
Public hearing on millage rate: No citizens came to discuss the proposed 14 mill millage rate at the work session or the regular meeting.
Patterson Elementary concrete grinding: The board rejected a bid from Georgia Boys Solutions in the amount of $38,511 for concrete grinding at Patterson Elementary. The bid was rejected as being too high for the budget for the project. The project was estimated to cost less than $20,000. The grinding would remove and smooth out staining painted on the concrete about 10 years ago. The staining was applied to make it match existing concrete along the front of the school. The staining has broken down over time causing the “splotchy” appearance.
Achieve3000 literacy: The board approved renewing the Achieve3000 Literacy subscription. The annual $12,000 program is used to improve literacy at Patterson Elementary. Achieve3000 will be paid for from federal funding.
New Midway paraprofessional position: The board approved a new special education paraprofessional at Midway Elementary. The position is needed for a special needs student who recently transferred to Pierce County Schools.
Consent agenda: The board approved several items under the consent agenda.
They include:
• approval of five nonresident student applications, including a kindergartner and fifth grade student at Blackshear Elementary, a sixth grader at the middle school and a sophomore and a junior at the high school. Superintendent Dara Bennett explained several students were found to be enrolled in Pierce County Schools, but lived outside the county and were not paying tuition. They were given the option of applying for non-resident status and paying tuition or returning to their home counties.
• approval of professional development resources from ReadSource. ReadSource provides training to help dyslexic students improve their reading and spelling skills. ReadSource will be paid for from federal funding.
• approval of memorandums of understanding for Coastal Pines Technical College dual enrollment program, the Coastal Plains High School and South Georgia State College and Unison Behavioral Health/Georgia Apex. Coastal Pines pays $10,125 to the school system for instructor pay for college level classes provided at the high school. The system has an agreement with Coastal Plains High School to assist at risk students in earning their diploma and graduating from high school. The agreement with South Georgia State provides college level courses at the high school. The Unison agreement provides behavioral health services for students in the school system. The services must be parent approved.
• approval for three field trips. Midway Elementary second-fifth grades will visit the Museum of Science and History in Jacksonville, FL Oct. 10. The Pierce County Middle and Pierce County High Future Farmer of America (FFA) chapters will attend the National FFA Convention Oct. 22-28 in Indianapolis, IN. All out-of-town field trips require board approval.
Reports: Finance Director Melanie Helms did not give a monthly summary as the system is currently in the process of closing out the books from fiscal year 2024. She reported the system’s sales tax revenue was $238,798 in July, up about $3,400 from June. The board approved the financial reports as presented. Facilities director Harbin Farr reported the system will apply for bids for flooring at Midway Elementary School. The bids will provide for refurbishing the polished concrete floors and taking up all carpet and LVT due to moisture issues. Farr announced the demolition of the old high school is complete with just block grinding and site work remaining. Work on renovating the old gym and related are will begin soon. Farr also reported on efforts to resolve issues with the air conditioning system at the high school. The units are efficiency models and in high humidity, the units sense they are not operating efficiently and shut down. They have to be manually restarted and the units are on the roof. The vendor for the air conditioners is suppose to make a site visit soon.
Special recognition: The board recognized the system’s teachers of the year for each school. The system also received the National BETA district of distinction.
Public participation: There was no public participation.
Minutes: The board approved minutes for last month’s meetings.
Information: Superintendent Dara Bennett announced schools will be closed for students and staff October 14-15 for fall break. Students will also be out of school October 16, but staff members will have a professional development day. Bennett also announced report cards will be issued October 20.
Next meetings: A called meeting will be held at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 17 to set the millage rate. The next monthly work session will be held at 8 a.m. Thursday, October 3. The regular meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m. Monday, October 7. All meetings will be at the BOE office.
