An unofficial summary of discussions, presentations, and actions of the Columbia County Board of Education

August 2005

PUBLIC PARTICIPATION:
There was no public participation.

BOARD ITEMS:
The Board will consider Wayne Bridges as a legislative liaison for the 2006 General Assembly Session. 

The next Town Hall Meeting will be in District 5 on Saturday, Sept. 10 at 9:00am at Greenbrier High.

BOARD APPROVALS
Consent Items.  The Board gave final approval of consent items: minutes of 6/28/05, 7/12/05, and 7/19/05,  June financials, employee travel, fundraisers,  and school/business partnerships.
Budget Amendments/Transfers. The Board gave final approval to the following General Fund or Special Revenue Budget Amendments/Transfers:  Budget Amendment No. 42 - Transfer funds to cover legal expenses for the year ($22,500-FY05);  Budget Transfer No. 1 - Transfer funds for River Ridge Elementary start up funds; Budget Amendment No. 4 - Budget difference in budgeted ad valorem tax revenue and actual ad valorem tax based on approved tax digest ($1,864,642); Budget Amendment No. 5 - Budget tape back-up system to work with servers and Hayes Tip Web server ($9,140).
Contract Bid Awards. The Board gave final approval for intercom systems and awarded the contract to both bidders based on the lowest price for each school at a total price of $157,890. Southeastern System Technologies was awarded to NHE, MES, and STC. Dixie Communications was awarded to BRE, BES, and CMS.
BOE Policies.  The Board gave final approval for the following policies: Policy JBCCA - Assignment to Schools; and Policy JS - Student Fees, Fines, and Charges.  BOE policies and any revisions can be viewed by going to: http://www.ccboe.net/boe/policies/home.html

BOARD DISCUSSION
Response to Recommendation from Stevens Creek School Council.   Stevens Creek Elementary requested that the Board match funds that have been secured through federal, state, or private funded grants and awarded to individual schools.  After much discussion with input from schools and the instructional department, Mr. Price reminded the Board that they already award each school an additional $10,000 to help fund special school improvement initiatives.  Also, our system is operating in a deficit mode due to austerity reductions, and it would be difficult for the Board to budget for unknown possibilities with the Stevens Creek Elementary request.  The Board asked Mr. Price to review an alternative to the Stevens Creek proposal that would set limits that could be budgeted and planned.

BUILDING PROGRAM
Project Update.   Mr. Price updated the Board on the various building projects going on within the county: painting at Harlem and Evans High, EHS Re-roof/HVAC & Evans Middle (projected completion date of 7/1/06, and the New Administration Building (projected completion date 5/17/06).
Change Orders.  The Board approved two change orders for the Administration Building for a total increase of $2870.

SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT
Opening of Schools.  Mr. Price reported to the Board that our system gained approximately 700 students since last year.  The system had projected an increase of a little over 500.  The schools that have experienced the greatest increase are: RRE, SCE, GTM, HMS, RMS, EHS, and GHS. 

• LES and RRE are at capacity.
• Additional textbooks were ordered for World History.
• Transportation is running 165 routes with 155 drivers.

Wireless Internet at LMS/LHS.  Since the Board has called for a technology audit, Mr. Price has withdrawn the request from LMS/LHS to pilot a wireless internet and wait to further study security issues and review results from the technology audit/plan.