Board of Education recognizes student achievements, remarks on recent school shooting

PERRY—The Houston County Board of Education recognized many students’ achievements and premier sponsors in its regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 10. 

The Board celebrated students from Thomson Middle School, Bonaire Middle School, Warner Robins Middle School and Perry High School who represented Houston County at the Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) competition. These students either placed first, second or third in the competition.

The Board also congratulated Mia Loyd from Bonaire Middle School for winning a Future Leaders of America (FBLA) National Award and Nora Schuber, also from Bonaire Middle, who won the National School Bus Safety Poster Contest. 

Next, the Board recognized the Houston County School District’s 2024-2025 premier sponsors who have contributed $5,000 or more. 

“Many of our sponsors give above and beyond the amounts we will recognize today,” Superintendent of Schools Dr. Mark Scott said. “Several also support individual schools, give gifts to our teachers and employees of the year and support our District in many other ways. We are grateful for our premier sponsors.” 

The premier sponsors include the Development Authority of Houston County, Flint Energies, H.E.A. Federal Credit Union, Houston Healthcare, Parrish Construction, The Roderick Group, Southside Baptist Church, TOTEM Solutions and Yancey Bus Sales. 

After the agenda was adopted and the minutes from the previous meeting were approved, Board member Dave Crockett spoke briefly about the tragedy at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia. 

“My heart was broken when I heard the news about the tragic event that had taken place in one of our sister Georgia School Districts. I almost immediately sent a text to Dr. Scott saying ‘I hope we hadn’t grown complacent and that we were ever vigilant in our responsibility to protect our district family’,” Crockett said. 

He said Scott told him they would have an emergency safety meeting that morning with all of the appropriate agencies. 

“We appreciate y’all always being prepared,” he said. 

Dr. Mark Scott opened the Superintendent’s Report by recognizing September as National School Attendance Awareness Month. 

“Our schools are using this to remind families of the importance of regular school attendance,” he said. “It may not seem like it, but absences add up, and we encourage families to prioritize school attendance.” 

Scott then mentioned Sept. 17 is National IT Professionals Day. 

“Our technology department does a phenomenal job supporting instruction in our classrooms as it’s essential for our students to be able to learn in an engaging way through the use of technology, and this department makes sure our teachers and students get the tools they need,” he said. “We are so very thankful for what you do each and every day.” 

At the end of his report, Scott also expressed his thoughts on the tragic event in Winder, Georgia. 

“This is something no educator, student or parent wants to ever think about happening,” he said. “Over the years, our Board has prioritized safety of our students and staff by adding additional School Resource Officers, purchasing a crisis alert system in all of our buildings, providing more secured vestibules to our school entrances and also a variety of other security measures across our school district. I ask that we all keep the Barrow County community in your thoughts and prayers.” 

The next Houston County Board of Education meeting will be held on Tuesday, October 1st, at 1 pm. at 1100 Main St. in Perry. 

The agenda of this meeting can be found at https://simbli.eboardsolutions.com/SB_Meetings/ViewMeeting.aspx?S=4089&MID=120143