(The Pierce County Board of Education discussed and/or voted on the following during their monthly work session, Thursday, November 7 and their regular monthly meeting Monday, November 11.
New board member: The board appointed former middle school principal Perry Tison to fill the vacancy in the district two seat on the board of education.
(See related story.)
Closed session and personnel: The board adjourned into a seven minute closed session to discuss personnel at Thursday’s meeting. Following the closed session, the board approved the hire Kara Heath as school nutrition manager and Dawn Rowland and Xavier Wyatt, both as custodians, at Blackshear Elementary, Kellie Crump as a food assistant at Midway Elementary, Helen Sirmons as a custodian at the middle school and Tracey Williams as a food assistant at the high school. Klay Allen was approved as a community coach for baseball and Anthony Smith was approved as a community coach for girls basketball, both at the middle school and James Cox as a community wrestling coach at the high school. The board also voted to accept the resignations of Blake Cady as a custodian at Blackshear Elementary, Laura Monteleone as a custodian at the middle school and Veronica Cribb as a bus driver. The board also approved the retirement of Sheree Mobley, bookkeeper and human resources director at the central office.
Consent agenda: The board approved several items under the consent agenda including:
• setting the meeting dates for 2025. (See related story.)
• approval of evaluation and assessment instruments for the Georgia School Board Association (GSBA).
• approved declaring a steam kettle at Patterson Elementary as surplus for school nutrition. The steam kettle was originally purchased in 1982.
• approval of instructional resources for English/ Language Arts Literacy for grades K-3.
• approval of an intergovernmental agreement to allow the county recreation department to use the school system’s gymnasiums. It was reported the department recently used Bear Stadium for the Buddy Bowl football games.
Reports: Finance Director Melanie Helms gave the system’s financial report. The school system reported revenue of $5.74 million and expenses of $6.5 million through September. The system had $15.6 million in reserves. She reported the system’s sales tax revenue was $233,775 in September, down $12,100 from August, likely due to Hurricane Helene. The board approved the financial reports as presented. Facilities director Harbin Farr gave an update on the PCHS gymnasium project and progress on repairs from hurricane damage around the system’s campuses.
Discussion on House Bill 581 on tax relief: The board discussed the passage of House Bill 581, which was approved by the voters. The bill includes a new statewide homestead exemption (which local governments can opt out of), and a local option sales tax aimed at providing property tax relief.
Helms said Pierce County homeowners already have a homestead exemption “freeze”, which means HB 581 and the approved amendment won’t have much effect locally.
Recognitions: The board recognized all schools in the system for earning Georgia Accrediting Commission accreditation.
Public participation: There was no public participation.
Minutes: The board approved minutes for last month’s meetings.
Information: Superintendent Dara Bennett announced Nov. 22 will be an early release day and schools will be closed for the Thanksgiving holidays Nov. 25-29. An early release day will be observed Dec. 20 and Christmas holidays will be Dec. 23, 2024-January 3, 2025. Staff development days will be January 6-7,2025. Staff will report, but students will have a holiday.
Second semester will begin January 8, 2025. School will also be closed Monday, January 20, 2025 for Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
Next meetings: The next monthly work session will be held at 8 a.m. Thursday, December 5. The regular meeting will be held at 5 p.m. Monday, December 9. The time of the regular meeting was moved up an hour and a half to avoid conflict with the annual Christmas parade. All meetings will be at the BOE office.
