September 29, 2021 Committee Meetings

The Budget Committee submitted numerous items to the full board’s consent agenda including:  

-          $4.3 million in charter school facility grants.  

The Rules Committee submitted the following items to the consent agenda:

-          Initiated rule making for adding vaping and tobacco use prevention education (per HB 287) and for adding the Georgia Independent School Association to the list of accrediting agencies (per HB 606);

-          Approval to post revisions to the information technology pathways course standards; and

-          The appointment of Jodie Snow to the Georgia Foundation for Public Education Board of Directors. 

The District Flexibility and Chart Schools Committee submitted the following items to the consent agenda: 

-          Waivers from Georgia Kindergarten Inventory of Developing Skills assessment (GKIDS) requirements for the Calhoun City (charter system), Chattahoochee County (charter system), Colquitt County (charter system). They will be participating in a pilot program.

-          Mitchell County and Monroe County Schools applied to add college and career academies to their contracts.

September 30, 2021 Committee of the Whole and Full Board Meetings

Teacher of the Year Cherie Dennis was formally introduced to the State Board. She will act as an ex officio member of the State Board.

A public hearing for Student Support Team Rule amendment to include dyslexia screening was also briefly held.

Superintendent’s Report

The Superintendent introduced the new head of the Office of Rural Education and Innovation, Dr. Bronwyn Ragan-Martin, to the State Board. She was formerly the superintendent of the Early County School system. The Office of Rural Education and Innovation was created to focus on needs of rural districts.

School Bus Safety week is coming up in October. The Superintendent and State Board commended the work of school bus drivers and discussed the initiatives that schools have taken to decrease school bus related hazards. The Superintendent and Board also congratulated Gwinnett County student Huyen Pham for winning this year’s national school bus safety poster contest. 

Chair’s Report

The upcoming State Board retreat will be held at Jekyll Island. 

Full Board

Here is a link to the video recording of the meeting. Click here for a link to the agenda.

If you would like to see how much federal coronavirus relief funding a school system has received, check out the GaDOE’s new ESSER dashboard.