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The ADVANCE, August 30, 2023/Page 4A
MCBOE Recognizes Beta Club Excellence
Photo by Makaylee Randolph
SCHOOLS OF DISTINCTION - Assistant Superintendent Beverly Faircloth presented each school Beta Club sponsor
with a plaque to display in the school lobbies in honor of their earning the title of National Beta School of Distinction.
Lto R: Board Chairman Henry Price, elementary school Beta sponsor Whitley King, middle school Beta sponsor Leslie
Thomas, high school Beta sponsor Kerri Anderson, high school Beta sponsor Rebecca Phillips, Superintendent Stan
Rentz.
Photo by Makaylee Randolph
DISTRICT OF DISTINCTION - Assistant Superintendent Bev
erly Faircloth (left) presented Superintendent Stan Rentz
(right) with the National Beta Club District of Distinc
tion award, which will be displayed in the Montgomery
County Board of Education office.
By Makaylee Randolph
Staff Writer
mrandolphadvance@gmail.com
At its regular monthly
meeting on August 21,
the Montgomery County
Board of Education recog
nized the Beta Club spon
sors in the school system
for their work in helping
the district earn the cov
eted District of Distinc
tion National Recognition.
According to Assistant
Superintendent Beverly
Faircloth, the school sys
tem has received the award
for six years, which she said
is a true accomplishment
because of the selective
ness of the title. “We have
a very robust Beta Club in
Montgomery County. As a
matter of fact, this is a Na
tional District of Distinc
tion Award and there are
over 7,700 clubs in the na
tion - we are 1 of 42 in the
nation that got this award,”
she remarked.
Montgomery County
Elementary School Beta
sponsor Whitley King,
Montgomery County
Middle School Beta spon
sor Leslie Thomas, and
Montgomery County
High School Beta spon
sors Kerri Anderson and
Rebecca Phillips received
plaques to place in their
respective schools com
memorating the honor.
Public Participation
During the public
hearing before the meet
ing, citizens Amie Vassey
and Linda Page both
spoke to the Board about
their concerns with taxes
and transparency.
Vassey began the con
versation, stating, “I think
the budget looks great.
I’m not asking you guys to
make any type of changes
to the budget that would
shortchange the educa
tion of any of the students
in this system in any kind
of way. I am simply asking
that you get creative in the
way that you fund it,” she
explained.
“I respectfully request
that you take $190,000
from the [General Fund]
balance and apply it up
under the Revenues to
offset the ad valorem tax
needed from the residents,
so that you can charge 14
mills instead of 15 - that
is the ask,” Vassey contin
ued. “We do not want 0.25
mills, we don’t want 0.50
mills [lower], we want an
entire mill - that is what
we are asking for. We are
asking you to use money
that you have already
taken from us in previous
years that is in the fund
balance - which is more
than double what the state
recommends - and use it
this year to give the resi
dents in this county a tax
break.”
Superintendent Stan
Rentz also commented
on the upcoming budget
and millage rate decision.
He began by referring to
a handout he provided at
tendees which detailed the
difference between Geor
gia School Board members
and other elected officials.
“School board mem
bers are different than
any other county officials
- that’s county commis
sioners, that’s city council
man, that’s senators and
congressmen. They are the
only elected special pur
pose government in this
state,” he explained.
Rentz referenced both
Georgia laws and guide
lines from the Georgia
School Board Association
that emphasized these
differences. According to
the state law, “the motiva
tion to serve as a mem
ber of a local board of
education should be the
improvement of schools
and academic achieve
ment of all students.” The
Georgia School Board As
sociation elaborates on
this principle, as it states,
“Because school board
members are responsible
for making decisions for
the greater good, they do
not make decisions just
so they can get re-elected
or at the benefit of special
interests or lobbyists....
While school board mem
bers represent everyone
in their districts, they are
charged with making sure
the students’ needs in their
school system are first and
foremost their top priority.
“I certainly under
stand that everyone in
this audience, and, quite
frankly, everyone at this
table, wants to pay the
least amount of taxes pos
sible. I don’t think there
is any argument from any
of us in this room,” Rentz
added. “I know that there
is some anger in this
room - at least there was
some anger in this room
- directed at the initial as
sessed value of property -
much more than many of
you thought was fair, and
quite frankly, much more
than a lot of our board
members thought was fair.
Of course, as y’all know,
the Board of Education
has nothing to do with
assessments and valued
property. We do approve
a budget and we set a mill-
age rate, and I understand
that that’s why we have
people here tonight.”
He continued, “There
is a reason why there are
five Board members, and
that reason is collectively,
this group can make better
decisions than any one in
dividual. You’ll frequently
hear me say - not only to
this Board but to our staff
- that ‘None of us are as
smart as all of us.’ Let that
soak in for just a second -
collectively, the diversity
of this Board and experi
ence of this Board helps us
make far greater decisions
than anyone in this room
could do. I firmly believe
that, it’s my mantra, and I
live it every single day.”
Rentz said that when
making tough decisions,
he did not singlehand-
edly determine what the
best option is - he con
sults with others. “I want
as much input as I can get
to help make smart deci
sions,” he emphasized.
“If the primary goal
of anyone up here on
this Board was to get re
elected, I think we know
the easy way to do it. You
start talking about slashing
budgets, lowering millage
rates - that’s going to be a
very popular opinion with
taxpayers, especially those
who don’t have kids in
school or don’t really care
about public education,”
Rentz continued. “I’m
thankful that this Board
recognizes that they are
different than any other
elected officials. They are
charged with making sure
that the needs of all our
students are first and fore
most their top priority,
and that’s directed by the
state code of Georgia. Of
course, they also know we
want to do it as efficiently
as possible.”
He informed attend
ees that the Board had
instructed him to encour
age employees to seek out
grants. He shared that a lot
of necessary funding had
come from grant money
that the staff themselves
had applied for. Recently,
this funding included
$190,000 for School Food
and Nutrition to improve
the district’s lunch pro
gram and over $150,000
for the Department of Ex
ceptional Learning to as
sist students with special
needs. “House Bill 538 re
quires literacy training for
all teachers in [kindergar
ten through third grade].
Having the very best
training would have cost
us over $70,000. Dr. Fair
cloth contacted the state,
and as a result, our RESA
- which is a collection of
schools in the area - was
able to bring the training
to us at our RESA district
for no cost,” Rentz elabo
rated. “All of those things I
just mentioned were need
ed for our students - not
extras.”
He added, “There’s
other examples [of these
grants] right now. There’s
playground equipment at
the elementary school that
we could have gotten by
without, but a grant paid
for that. The Board has
directed me to [have staff
seek these grants], and our
folks take it very seriously.
We try to use as much out
side funding and grants as
we possibly can because
we understand that the
more that we can do that,
the less we have to spend
out of our budget.”
Rentz commented on
the passion and character
of the Board members,
noting that the position
was often a “thankless
job,” but they continued
to serve selflessly. He also
assured the attendees that
the board members are
committed to learning
and being knowledge
able about school finance,
as he explained that the
group had asked that their
state-mandated “Whole
Board Training” hours be
focused on learning more
about the financial side of
the school system.
“So here is my ask of
the public: I ask that you
trust the officials who were
elected by you to make the
best possible decisions for
our school system. I find
an irony in this - the year
that we are slashing this
budget, at least federally,
by almost $2 million, and
have committed to lower
ing the millage rate, yet for
some, that is not enough.
If your opinion is differ
ent, I respect that. Quite
honestly, I don’t believe
there is a right or wrong
on this. But I tell you that if
you disagree with the deci
sions, you deserve to know
the reason the decision is
made. I treat my folks like
that - if we make a deci
sion, I want to know why.
We can disagree civilly and
respectfully, but you need
to know why,” he contin
ued.
Rentz told the audi
ence of several challenges
the school district is fac
ing - classified employ
ees’ benefits will double
within the next two years
and Montgomery County
school teachers are the
lowest paid teachers in the
state.
“We believe in trans
parency. We’ve shown
you some of the chal
lenges that we know are
coming. Those that have
been in the Board the lon
gest have seen those hard
times, they know those
challenges. They have seen
those times we had to fur
lough teachers and take
10-15 days not only from
our teachers, but from
our students for instruc
tional purposes. I believe I
speak for the whole Board
when I say that we believe
the responsible and most
prudent thing to do is to
move cautiously, but with
purpose - not to react,
but to be proactive,” Rentz
added.
He encouraged the
public to speak with the
Board members which
represent their districts.
“I can assure you this -
they’re going to listen. If
it’s a policy issue, I want
you to talk to them. If it’s
[an issue with] day-to-day
operations, I’m the person
to be speaking to. We can
certainly learn from each
other. Your opinion does
matter. It is valued,” he em
phasized. “The children of
Montgomery County de
serve no less than the very
best.”
Citizen Linda Page ad
dressed the Board about
her concerns with the rise
in taxes, citing her experi
ence with education. “I
taught as a high school
dropout, who was put out
of school because I got
married at 15. [I went back
and gained my education,
and was able to teach sev
eral years.] I can tell you
what an education does for
people. I stand here able to
pay the rise in taxes, but
there are a whole lot of
people in the County who
can’t. There is a friend of
mine who lives beside the
railroad tracks who is wor-
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