School board talks land, staff at monthly meeting

HOUSTON COUNTY, Ga. — The board talked about money, land matters and upcoming events while taking the time to thank some of their staff.

On July 18, the Houston County Board of Education held its monthly meeting, except for Board members Lori Johnson and Mark Ivory who were absent.

After the pledge of allegiance, the board discussed new teacher orientation at Veterans High School, which will take place on July 24. The district’s Opening Session at Southside Baptist will occur on July 26 at 9:00 a.m. Also, meet and greet events will take place; the date and times of these can be found on www.hcbe.net.

Attending the meeting also was the district’s technology staff, which the Board took the time to thank for their hard work, giving them a round of applause.

“It seems like anytime we had a situation where we need to call all hands on deck, y’all always respond in a great way and do an excellent job,” said Dr. Mark Scott, the Superintendent of Schools. He also took the time to congratulate Board Chair Helen Hughes on her upcoming birthday.

After recognitions, they moved on to new business, making several approvals:

-Approval of the 2024-2025 school calendar.

-The GSBA Exemplary Board Application was approved.

-Acceptance of the May 2023 financial report.

-Approved July 2023 purchases, with a financial impact of $847,37.94.

-Authorized the Voluntary Student Accident Insurance Plan, which can reimburse children for medical expenses.

-Personnel reports were approved.

-An agreement between Flint EMC and the Houston County School District regarding underground right-of-way easement, which will service Elementary #14.

-Accepted a certificate of completion for multiple capital outlay projects for Bonaire Middle School renovation and roofing, Feagin Mill Middle School renovation and roofing, Northside Elementary renovation and roofing and Bonaire Elementary heating, ventilation and air conditioning.

-Approval of amendment 5 to a contract with Altman + Barrett Architects for capital outlay projects to include phase 4 HVAC upgrades for Houston County High School, Warner Robins High School, Huntington Middle School, Thomson Middle School, and Warner Robins Middle School.

-Authorization of an agreement with Tommy Gibson Builders for FFA support building upgrades at each high school. The financial impact of this capital outlay project is $1,031,590.

-Policy revision to the policies DJB, DJEA, JGCD, DK, DL and JKB, The new revisions affect policies related to accounting, fund management, student fundraising, and medication.

-Rescission of policy JHB because it is a duplication of policy DK, both related to student fundraising.

-Motion to give Dr. Scott the authority to negotiate and purchase a land parcel for up to $700,000.

“This kind of goes along with our theme ‘here we grow.’ We grow students and academically, but we also have the foresight and the forethought to think ahead when we see things that might help us with our expansion,” said Hughes.

With that, new business was concluded and the meeting was adjourned. These meetings happen once a month, on the second Tuesday of the month and may be watched at www.hcbe.net/boardmeetingvideo or attended at 1100 Main St.

HHJ News