Page 10 January 14, 2024 StarNews www.starnewsgaonline.com
County school board voted to accept new district line adjustments, any students affected
may remain in their current school if desired but must provide their own transportation
story by Janice Daniel
The Carroll County Board of Education met
on Monday, December 11, 2023, at 12:00 noon
for a monthly regualar meeting. Board
Member Bart Cater was absent. Board
Member Kerry Miller was present by phone.
All others were present in person at the meet
ing. The meeting was pushed forward from
5:30 p.m. to 12:00 p.m. to allow those who
wanted to see the State Championship football
game at Bowdon to be able to attend.
Under Business Items, Superintendent Scott
Cowart reported that he had met with the prin
cipals and all affected by the proposed District
Line Adjustments, and said they were not sur
prised, but after many questions, accepted that
it is the right thing to do. He said the adjust
ments need to be approved quickly due to all
clusters’ connection to the budget process in
allocation of teachers, et cetera. He also
advised that any student who wishes to stay in
their current school will be allowed to do so,
but must provide their own transportation. He
also said a lot of time was spent with the trans
portation department to get them in line with
the changes. In a roll-call vote, the Board
accepted the District Line Adjustments
unanimously.
Delene Wolfe gave the Linancial Report as
follows:
General Lund Revenues $41.4 million
General Lund Expendi $ 14.4 million
General Lund Balance $45.9 million
$4.3 million in encumbrances
She reported that the SPLOST5 expendi
tures were $250,900 with a balance of $1.9
million for upcoming projects. Wolfe also
reported that the school system had a clean
audit report with no findings of error.
The Board Meeting Calendar for 2024 was
approved unanimously, as well as the 2023
Master Plans for every site owned by the
school system. Cowart will now work on get
ting plans updated on the system’swebsite.
Cowart reported that Open Bids were in for
a 4-classroom addition and connection of the
science hall with the music hall at Villa Rica
High School, and also 2 new classrooms on the
CCA, which will free up the 2 classrooms they
are now using, and give the Villa Rica High
School even more space. As part of the Bid on
this project, the VRHS cafeteria and media
center will be renovated.
J&R Construction won the bid at a construc
tion cost of $6,890,000 with fees and contin
gencies bringing the total to $7,369,000, which
is actually about $300,000 less than had been
anticipated. Mr. Cowart said this project will
start in January if approved, which it was
unanimously approved in a roll-call vote.
In his discussion about the bid for Phase II
of the Operations Center, Cowart said they’re
using a Guaranteed Maximum Price (GMP)
Construction Management Process due to the
project being broken into several different
pieces. Lirst was purchase of the property, sec
ond was the work on the drive and road. Now
the bid is coming before the board for renova
tion of two metal buildings that were on the
property when it was purchased. The larger of
the two will be the bus garages and space for
maintenance and repair on the buses, and the
smaller one will be office space and a training
center for the transportation people.
Cowart said the site utility work had to come
in on this phase, and it greatly increased the
anticipated cost, actually by double. He said
the City is requiring a larger water line than
had been anticipated, and the site utilities has
to include the anticipated School Nutrition
Center as well as the Alternate School, which
are slated to be put at the Operations Center at
County school board hears presentation on “Pocket Talks”
translation device to aid students with language barriers
story by Janice Daniel
The Carroll County Board of Education met
for a monthly work session Tuesday,
November 14, 2023, at 5:30 p.m. All were pre
sent, Board member Kerry Miller by phone.
Linancial Report showed Year-to-Date
Revenues of $28,669,765, or 16% of Budget,
and Expenditures of $39,573,529, or 22% of
Budget, resulting in a new Lund Balance of
$18,896,563; $4,627,334 in encumbrances.
Probate Judge Edie Haney was present for
the swearing in of Interim District 4 School
Board Member Lawana Knight.
Heather Dukes gave an explanation of the
grants the School District received from the U.
S. Department of Education:
- Title I, which goes toward the academic
achievement of students who are economically
and educationally disadvantaged. All elemen
tary and middle schools in the Carroll County
District are Title I Schools
- Title II, which is used to increase academic
achievement of students by improving the
effectiveness of teachers, principals, and other
school leaders
- Title III provides a supplement for English
learners and their teachers and families, beyond
the local obligation
- ESSER-American Rescue Plan is provided
to support areas where the academic and non-
academic components of school districts had
learning loss impact due to COVID-19.
- McKinney Ventro Education for homeless
children and youth, to address the problems
homeless children and youth face in enrolling,
attending and succeeding in school.
Jenny Edwards, principal of Bowdon
Elementary School, was there to let the board
know about the success of Parent Night, an
event where non-English-speaking parents and
children met with teachers and other school
workers to try and establish better communica
tion for this group. Edwards said there were
over 200 people in attendance for the special
night of involving parents with teachers and
methods that are available. They introduced
Pocket Talks, a translation device that is able to
translate over 70 languages simply by speaking
into it in English and the device will immedi
ately translate what was said into the language
chosen. April Price and Cindy Wilson were
also recognized for working with the children
and parents facing language barriers.
Terry Jones said the Phase II bid for renovat
ing the buildings at the Operations Center
should be ready by the December meeting. He
also asked that the field trip requests and fond
raising requests be placed on consent agenda.
Jones also advised the board that the Temple
High visitor side bleachers have a value greater
than $10,000, and he has to get the board’s per
mission to take them out due to the new water
main that has to be installed there. He said the
new bleachers will be raised up higher than the
old ones were, and that the old ones would cost
about as much to disassemble, remove and
reassemble as new ones, so he doubts anyone
could use them. He asked this item to be put on
the consent agenda.
Jones also reviewed a new Transportation
Communication System Request to replace the
CB radio-type system in the buses currently.
He reported that AT&T’s First Net Service will
See COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD page 23
a later time. J&R Construction also won this
bid at a cost of $6,373,000, and with architect
and other fees and contingencies, the total is
$6,800,000.
Wolfe then presented Budget Amendment
#1 to the Board, advising them of the updates
to revenue and expenditures. She said the most
significant amount, $4,000,000, was due to
bringing outstanding purchase orders into the
correct fiscal period, and the new additions to
the Operations Center accounted for
$2,700,000. She said the storage building for
the District Office, the purchase of mobile pods
and the cost of moving them, with cost coming
out of SPLOST funds, was $262,400.
In answer to a question by Board Member
Bernice Brooks, Cowart advised that the cap of
what the School District could spend from
SPLOST was $102 million. In a roll-call vote
the Board approved this Budget Amendment.
After going into Executive Session, the
board came back to regular session and voted
to approve the personnel actions presented by
Superintendent Cowart.
Board Member Brooks gave a report on the
last Georgia School Boards Association
(GSBA) conference which she attended, and
said the subjects were: Legal Workshop,
Removing Books, Student Discipline, Parents
Rights , and AI (Artificial Intelligence). She
remarked, “We have to be mindful of book
rights” and thinks the possibility of school dis
tricts being involved in lawsuits may become
higher.
With no further business to discuss, the
meeting was adjourned.
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