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

December 2005

PUBLIC PARTICIPATION:
Lesley Troope, a Transportation Workers Union (TWU) attorney, spoke on behalf a group of bus drivers and expressed   concern about perceived disparity treatment of drivers who are members of TWU.

NEXT MEETING:
The next scheduled Board meeting will be a Special Called Meeting on January 5, 2006 at Harlem High School at 8:00am.

The agenda for the next BOE  meeting can be found here and is updated by the Friday before the next BOE meeting.

BOARD APPROVALS
Consent Items.  The Board gave final approval of consent items: minutes of 10/25/05, and 11/08/05, October financials, employee travel, fundraisers, gifts and donations, athletic camps, and school/business partnerships.
Budget Amendments/Transfers. The Board gave final approval to the following General Fund or Special Revenue Amendments/Transfers: Budget Amendment No. 17 - Request matching grant funds for Stevens Creek Elementary ($750); Budget Amendment No. 18 - Budget the Title I School Improvement Grant for Grovetown Middle and Harlem Middle Schools ($95,000);  Budget Amendment No. 19 - Budget the difference in the estimated Title III LEP budget and the actual allocation received ($7,264); Budget Amendment No. 20 - Budget the difference in the estimated K-8 Reading & Math grant and the actual allocation received ($-838).
Bid Results for School Nutrition. Mr. Price reviewed the bid results for school nutrition food bids.  The Board approved and awarded a contract to US Food Service for $1,348,879 through June 30, 2006.
BOE Policies. The Board gave tentative approval for Policy GBI - Evaluations and Policy; and JN - Awards and Scholarships.

BUILDING PROGRAM
Project Update.   Mr. Price updated the Board on the various building projects going on within the county: painting at  EHS and HHS; stage additions at EES NCE, and NHE; EHS Re-roof/HVAC-skylights; Evans Middle (projected completion date of 7/1/06) and the New Administration Building (projected completion date 5/17/06).
Approval of Change Orders. The Board approved the following change orders: Change Order No. 4 - New Administration Building for 3rd floor restroom floor drains ($495.50); Change Order No. 1- Evans Elementary ($-2,100); Change Order No. 2 - North Columbia Elementary to reroute sewer line around stage addition ($2,903); Change Order No. 2 - Evans High to replace 15 skylights above commons area ($6,000);
Construction of New Schools and Classroom Additions. Mr. Price reviewed the proposed construction schedule, which consists of a new middle school (Blackstone camp road area) and a new elementary school (Grovetown) in 2007; Classroom additions at Lewiston Elementary and River Ridge Elementary in 2008; and a new high school in July 2011.  The Board authorized Mr. Price to move forward with planning specifications for the next new elementary school in Grovetown using the same model as River Ridge Elementary.

SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT
Annual Report 2004-2005 (Phase II).  Mr. Price reviewed phase II of the Annual Report which includes information from the Human Resources and Student Support.
Special Events.  Mr. Price reminded the Board of the System-wide Business Partner Breakfast held at Brandon Wilde on December 15, 2005 at 8:00am.

PERSONNEL RECOMMENDATIONS
On the recommendations of Superintendent Price, the personnel recommendations were approved as presented. 

This newsletter is produced by the Superintendent's Office.  Any questions can be directed to Karen Ribble at karen.ribble@ccboe.net

Columbia County Board of Education,
6430 Pollards Pond, Appling, GA 30802, (706) 541-0650