HCBOE honors scholars

PERRY, Ga. — On May 10, the Houston County Board of Education held their meeting for the month, and since it was the last meeting of the school year, there was no shortage of honors for students in area schools, especially their top scholars. Houston County high schools recognized their valedictorians and salutatorians for the year.

First up was Houston County High School. Shiv Patel was this year’s valedictorian, and Melissa Do was named salutatorian.

Shiv plans on attending the University of Georgia as a biology major. Do plans on studying biomedical engineering at Georgia Tech and is aspiring to go to medical school.

Ishaan Vyas and Heta Patel were named valedictorian and salutatorian for Northside High School. Vyas will study biomedical engineering at Georgia Tech. Heta will study public health at the University of Georgia and wants to go into the medical field.

At Perry High School, Preston Prater was this year’s valedictorian, and Caroline Gallemore was this year’s salutatorian. Prater will attend Auburn University and major in civil engineering. Gallemore plans on attending the University of Georgia for biochemistry and wants to become a physician assistant.

Haley Tayag and Sam Guimond were named valedictorian and salutatorian for Veterans High School. Tayag hopes to work in cyber security and will pursue a computer engineering degree at Georgia Tech. Guimond wants to become a history major at the University of Georgia.

Finally, at Warner Robins High School, Timothy Howell was named valedictorian, and Chris Hyde was named salutatorian. Howell will attend Troy University to study music, and Hyde will pursue a computer science degree at Georgia Tech.

The Board also recognized Georgia Scholars. To qualify as a Georgia Scholar, a high school student must complete eight sets of criteria: required credits and coursework, a score of 1360 or higher on the SAT or a 31 or higher on the ACT, a 3.75 GPA, voter registration if they turned 18, a heart for the community, participation in at least three competitive extracurricular activities and leadership positions in two organizations in the school and two outside of school.

Only 216 students statewide received this achievement, with 12 of those students hailing from Houston County.

The Board also recognized Future Farmers of America students from Mossy Creek Middle School and Houston County High School. They also recognized the winners of a recent school bus safety artwork contest, the JROTC State Cadet of the Year and the FBLA State award winners for 3D Animation.

After all the students were recognized, Chairman Fred Wilson extended his congratulations.

“You all are perfect examples of high achieving students, that we as a school board, a school system want to be a part of, so congratulations once again to our high achieving students,” Wilson said.

After the recognition, Wilson made a few comments about a recent board retreat. At the retreat, the School Board received information about the school system’s academic growth, its mission and vision statement, financial statements, values and goals and team evaluations. He assured the public that the school district is doing well financially, and making strides in current projects.

After Wilson spoke, Superintendent Dr. Mark Scott extended his congratulations to the district’s high achieving students and the students who made All-State Choir. The choir performed the National Anthem at the start of the meeting.

In the Superintendent’s report, he recognized recent winners of Outstanding Principal Awards, recognizing the principals from Huntington Middle School and Bonaire Primary School.

The awards did not stop there. Langston Road Elementary School won a Military Flagship School Award, and The Houston County Sharks won the State Wheelchair Football Championship.

The Superintendent also spoke on a recent Mental Wellness Summit, upcoming graduation ceremonies and a retirement banquet. According to Scott, around 2000 students will graduate this year.

He also highlighted special dates for Teacher Appreciation Week, National School Lunch Hero Day, School Nurse Appreciation Day, School Communicators Day, National Police Week and Armed Forces Day. After the Superintendent’s report, the Board moved on swiftly to new business.

The Board held a public hearing at the meeting to address comments and concerns about the budget for the 2023 fiscal year. There were no comments against the budget.

Stephen Thublin, the district’s assistant superintendent of finance and business operations, addressed the board and spoke in favor of the budget, saying that the budget is beneficial for both students and employees. He said that the budget includes a $15 million cost of living raise for the school system’s employees.

“As a result, our teachers and certified staff start at 18.8% more on the salary scale, with no experience and a bachelor’s degree, and this jumps to 23.5% with more experience and advanced degrees,” Thublin said.

He mentioned that staff would work a full 180-day school year, with no furloughs or adjustments made to the calendar. He also said 30 new positions would be added to the school system: 18 teachers and 12 support staff positions. According to Thublin, the total budget for the year will be around $515 million.

The school board tentatively approved the budget for the year, with a final budget adoption scheduled for June’s meeting. The board also approved March’s financial and purchasing reports.

The board took 19 school buses out of their fleet that are either broken or have high mileage, and they also planned on selling or demolishing 31 portable buildings that require substantial repairs. The board chose the Young Group to provide voluntary student accident insurance.

The board approved bids for six upcoming improvement projects: an entrance modification for Houston County High School; site work at the upcoming Houston County Aquatic Center; site upgrades at Westside Elementary School; and Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning upgrades to Perdue Primary School, Lake Joy Primary School and Kings Chapel Elementary School.

The school board also approved a measure that would sell surplus land for $97,000 and appointed new three assistant principals throughout the district.

On the employment front, the school board made changes to various terms in their job descriptions, modifying the job descriptions for the Curriculum Integration Specialist, Network Engineer, Coordinator of Technology, Lead Counselor, School Bus Driver, School Bus Monitor and District Intervention Specialist positions.

They added a Coordinator of District and School Effectiveness position to the school system, and took out the Coordinator of Technical Support and Coordinator of Cyber Security job positions, replacing them with the Coordinator of Technology position.

Finally, the board revised their Independence Day celebration agreement with the City of Warner Robins. In the agreement, the Board will allow the city to use McConnell Talbert Stadium, Warner Robins High School, Transition Academy, C.B. Watson Primary School and Pearl Stephens Elementary School for their Independence Day event on July 2.

After new business, the meeting was adjourned.

HHJ News