Board of Education congratulates State Champions, holds second public hearing on opt out of House Bill 581

PERRY — Houston County Board of Education held its second public hearing on the School District choosing to opt out of House Bill 581 while also recognizing a few state champions in the first meeting of 2025. 

Board Attorney William R. Jerels, Jr. said the Board policy for the first meeting of the year is to call for nominations of the Board Chair and the Vice-Chair. 

The Board then nominated Helen Hughes as Board Chair and Dr. Rick Unruh as Board Vice-Chair. 

“Thank you to my fellow board members for allowing me this opportunity. It is very humbling and one of the greatest honors I have ever had to serve as the Chair of the Houston County Board of Education,” Hughes said. “I know Dr. Unruh feels the same as well. It’s a great team and we work together very well.” 

Hughes recognized the newest Board Member Clyde Jackson. Jackson was elected to represent District 7. 

“We are certainly looking forward to working with you and having you a part of this team,” she said. 

The Board welcomed the guests from Langston Road Primary, Lake Joy Primary, Russell Elementary, Warner Robins High School and Warner Robins Middle School. Each school principal brought their teacher of the year and two of their star students. 

“Thank you to each of our guests as this is what makes our meetings so enjoyable, which is when we have our principals, students and teachers visit us on a monthly basis,” Hughes said. 

Superintendent of Schools Dr. Mark Scott then congratulated Houston County High School and Warner Robins High School for winning their State Championships in One-Act. They also recognized students who have achieved All-State in Theater:

• Houston County High School: Abi Bragg, Addie Paige Munn, Catherine Nix, Miles Stelson and Brycen Warren
• Northside High School: Remelie Heide 
• Veterans High School: Jackson Sawyer 
• Warner Robins High School: Annabelle Petersen, Addyson Simon, Gavin Steedley, Tarikk Taylor

Board Member Dave Crockett provided the comments for the meeting centered around the beginning of a new year. 

“We celebrate the victories of 2024, learn from its challenges and move on starving to make 2025 even better,” he said. 

Crockett then posed a question on how we can make 2025 count. He said to remember this story. 

“Every morning on the Serengeti in East Africa, rises a gazelle that realizes that it must run faster than the fastest lion or it would be eaten that day. The same morning rises a lion that also realizes it must run faster than the slowest gazelle or it would starve and die that day,” he said. “The moral of the story is no matter who you are and what you’re doing, when you wake up in the morning, you need to be running.” 

Crockett said we must be up and running to be successful. 

“Houston County, we can make 2025 a record-breaking, banner year if we get up, dress up, show up and never give up in helping our students and District be the best they can be, so the question is, do you have on your running shoes,” he said. 

Dr. Mark Scott’s Superintendent’s Report started by congratulating the Bonaire Middle School boys and girls soccer teams for being county champs. Scott also gave recognition to Quail Run Elementary, Feagin Mill Middle, Perry Middle, and Bonaire Middle for their achievements in their academic bowls. Scott said both Bonaire and Perry Middle are advancing to the state competition later this month. 

Scott also announced the application opening for Houston Virtual for the 2025-26 school year. It will be from January 17-31 for rising sixth through twelfth-grade students. 

To end the report, Scott congratulated the Houston County School Board for being recognized by the Georgia School Board Association as a 2024 Exemplary School Board. 

“Our Board has received the highest designation available by the GSBA since the Exemplary School Board program began,” he said.  

The Board was also runner-up for the 2024 Governor’s Team of the Year. 

“I’d like to thank [the Board] for your unwavering support of the School District and for the countless hours that you spend on behalf of the students of Houston County, and I want to speak on behalf of the entire district and say thank you for that,” he said. 

In new business, the Board held a second public hearing about the District’s choice in opting out of the recently passed House Bill 581. The first hearing was Monday night. 

Chief Financial Officer of the Houston County School District Michelle Morris spoke in favor of the opt-out. 

According to her presentation, House Bill 581 focuses on the changes to property tax laws and aims to limit increases in property tax assessments for homeowners who have qualified for homestead exemptions. Morris said the bill also caps annual increases in assessed home value at the rate of inflation. 

“If the statewide homestead cap was in effect for the 2024 tax year, Houston County Schools would have lost $4 million. By limiting the values of properties with homestead exemptions, this reduces the revenue the School District receives when setting the millage rate,” she said. “In order to maintain the level of educational services and resources for our students, we would have to consider increasing the millage rate. The millage rate of the school district has not increased in the past 16 years. The millage has either decreased or stayed the same.”

On why the District has chosen to opt-out, Morris said the Board of Education is a wise steward of our tax dollars and the District values community input and local control regarding the millage rate and their budget. She also added the legislation does not have a sunset clause, which means the funding gap would continue to grow. 

“We do not have additional resources to replace the lost revenue, and we also need long-term fiscal stability to continue providing a high-quality education for our students and to attract and retain the best teachers and support staff.”

The third and final public hearing will be held on Jan. 22, at 2 p.m. at the Houston County Board of Education in Perry. 

The next Houston County Board of Education meeting will be Feb. 11, at 1 p.m. To view the full agenda go to simbli.eboardsolutions.com/SB_Meetings/ViewMeeting