001control. that we did. in October on Monday. Matthew has been sending us updates in this but we can't have Charlotte this weekend. It's going to be worse there. >> That little snow disappointed. Riley went out the door at church and turned around in the circle and went back in the church. And that revealed it. >> We had pastor's anniversary. So at the moon by the time we got to sunshine. >> So yeah, we get nothing. That was it. >> Okay, ladies and gentlemen, it is now 5:00 and we will call this meeting to order. >> And first on our agenda tonight, Dr. Williams, if you will introduce our guest. >> Yes, we have with us this evening, Miss Jennifer Wilson, our Burke County Middle School music teacher and director. And I believe joining us uh
002will also be Miss Rebecca Crows who's the Burke County High School music teacher and director and Miss Wilson. I'll let you introduce um student and parent if >> this is Jordan and his mother and Jordan. Jordan has >> You can come on up. >> Jordan has um attaining to something that's not easy to do. He has made all state chorus and I've had lots of students try out, not many make it. And he's worked very hard. I'm very proud of him. And he will get to go to Athens in February, the week we're off. You'll get to go to Athens together. And he will be a part of the treble mixed chorus. He's going to sing bass. >> And I'm he's uh he's got a second audition to uh Thursday, but he's very prepared. So
003I'm confident he's going to make it. And I'm just very very proud of him. I wanted to recognize him. Excuse me. >> Okay. At this time, we will have our invocation and we have our guest, Pastor Keith Cox from the First Methodist Church in Williamsburg. Welcome, Mr. C. Pastor Cox. >> Yes, ma'am. Thank you for having me. Um, my wife, April, is a educator. She's been teaching for 13 plus years. So, I'm a spouse of an educator. Uh she's a teacher for the deaf and heart of hearing and so I I understand exactly what it's like to be the spouse. Normally she's the preacher spouse but I get to be the teacher spouse. So I understand exactly what what you have to do here as a board. Before we pray, I just want to bring
004this scripture to you. It's uh Proverbs 24. It's just two verses. By wisdom a house is built and through understanding it is established. Through knowledge, its rooms are filled with rare and beautiful treasures. Now, a long time ago, schools were called school houses. Correct. >> Correct. >> And what I love about this, it says wisdom, a house is built on wisdom. The wisdom comes from the board. >> You represent wisdom. Now, you don't always get to make the the easy decisions. What you do is very difficult, you know, and it's very important. And what you do is a blessing to our community. This understanding and knowledge comes from the teachers and administrators. It says that they have their knowledge and their understanding that is established. The reason we do this is my favorite part of
005this verse is called rare and beautiful treasures. And that's the students. And when you make decisions, you have to remember why we're doing what we're doing for these rare and beautiful treasures. So let's pray. You know what? I give thanks for everyone in this room. Lord, everyone here is for a reason. They have one purpose and that's to provide the best wisdom and knowledge and understanding for our students and for their families. The reality is sometimes, Lord, it's not easy to make these decisions. So, I pray over each individual that you would give them your wisdom and your knowledge and your understanding. So as they make these decisions, it'll be a blessing not only for our students, but for our community. The reality, Lord, is as as they make these decisions, it's not just for
006now. They're they're leaving a legacy. And so help them, dear Lord, I pray. And realizing it's not always easy. It's not always they get accolades for what they have to do. But as we remember why we do what we do, these students are rare and beautiful treasures. They are a gift from you. allow this board, these school houses, this administrator, these teachers, keep that in mind. It's in Jesus name we pray. Amen. >> Thank you so much, Pastor Cox. At this time, we're ready for our pledge. Dr. Williams, >> we will have Mr. Doran Davis to come on back up front, and he's going to lead us in our pray this evening. Okay. I pledge alce to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation
007under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. Okay. At this time we will have roll call and the minutes will reflect. We are all present. Okay. At this time we need an adoption for our agenda. >> M chair move that the agenda be approved as is presented. >> Do we have a second? >> A second. >> We have a second and let's vote by show of hand. I assume there are no questions. We all favor at this time. We need a motion to approve the minutes as presented. >> Madam Chair, I just want to point out that we um just in case you haven't looked since the minutes were the agenda was sent last week, but there are two sets of minutes there. motion that we approve the minutes from board meeting
008for December 16th, 2025 as well as the call board meeting on January 14th, 2026. >> I second that motion. >> Okay, motion and second. We are now ready to vote. Show of hands. We're all in favor. At this time, we're ready for March with a financial report. >> Good evening. Good evening. Tonight I have the financial report for December 2025. And with the completion of the month of December, the year is 50% complete. If you'll please flip to your first page, you can see total revenues as of December 31st, 2025 were 9,822,471. That represents 8.2% of your general fund revenues. And as I've mentioned before, we will see that significantly increase in probably another one to two months if I had to guess. If you'll flip to the next page, please, you'll see total expenditures
009as of December 31st, 2025 were 37,739,223. That is 45.84% of your general fund budget. And again, we've completed 50% of the fiscal year. So, keeping the two in line, um, that spending looks good. If you will please turn to the next page, the general fund balance sheet as of December 31st, 2025. Total assets were 268,910,755 with total liabilities and fund equity equaling the same amount. On the next page, we have the changes in general fund equity. End of period general fund equity at December 31st, 2025 is $266,590,787. The next page represents investments in all funds. As of December 31st, 2025, total investments were $253,136,4461. The next seven pages represent your purchase order incumbrance report. These are liabilities. They are cumulative through December 31st, 2025. You are going to see this number start to increase in
010coming months because of end of the year spending that we have asked for. Do you have any questions about the report as of December 31st? >> Okay. >> And then your last several pages represent your vendor activity report. These are $5,000 and they are cumulative by vendor. And this is these are all expenditures for the month of December. Are there any questions about the vendor activity or the financial report? >> No, because I got my questions answered. >> Okay, great. >> There was one large one and I think it was the largest one. It was 430,750 and I discovered that it was for um consultants. It's for a program that's being used to track progress and that kind of stuff. >> Okay, fantastic. But that was just something that we just didn't know. >> Sure.
011>> And so I got my questions answered. >> Okay, great. >> No other questions. We don't have any other questions. We need a motion to accept the financial report. >> Make a motion to accept the financial report as presented. >> Second. >> A second. >> Okay. >> We have a motion and it's been second. There are no other questions. We'll vote by show of hands. Right hand, please. We are in favor. Thank you. >> Thank you very much. >> No public participation. >> No publication this morning. >> Okay. No business and no. >> No. Wait. >> At this time, we'll hear from Early Head Start, Mrs. Willis. Yes. Happy New Year everybody. >> Happy New Year. And we are going to look at our December report as well. And so we have our funded enrollment
012is at 94. Our actual enrollment is 91. We have um homebased program children. There's still some slots open there. Um our on-site programming is completely full. And then we have our average average daily attendance for the month at 85. The number that's on our waiting list is eight. But these are families that do not want home base. They want on-site as I say monthly. Um a lot of our families just want to be on site. Um they don't want services at home. So we have those eight families there. Number of transitions is at eight. Um that number will increase as we move towards our transitioning for head start with our upcoming three-year-olds. Um our number of pregnant women are at nine. Health checks are up to date at 94%. Our shots are up to date
013at 100%. Monthly reportable center health incidents is at zero. Number of children with disabilities we are at 12. Staff training activities for 202526 is at four. Parent involvement activities were at five. I'm happy to report the inind um our inind total amount was at 228,113 and we collected uh in 2025 251,687 leaving our income remaining at $0 and left to collect zero um% for 2025. So yay there. uh school, no waiver needed, right? >> School nutrition um is all up to date there. We're serving our families um accordingly for our average daily attendance. And then if we turn a page there, we had no Walmart spending. There's zero there. And then um here I can explain this a little bit. Ending in December, we had a balance of $25,752.79. So that was um invoices that
014weren't paid out in time and so we had to roll them over. Um we got those paid as soon as our award monies were released and that was on January 5th. So you'll see um that cleared out at zero there. So all indirect costs there. uh for December, the month of December, our total expenditure there was $148,31861 for that current period. And then for the entire year of 2025, January through December 31st, our total expenditure was 1,772,83721. And then we have that encumbrance as you can see at the top where it says uh purchase professional tech services um that remaining balance was at that 25,369. So that has since been paid and Miss Pasha Norwood who is um my mentor trainee um that amount for 2500 was also paid out. So we are clearly at
015zero there. Do you all have any questions with the report I just presented? >> None. I always give a little jingle at the end. >> So, >> Early Head Start is having our first baby shower ever. Um, and we'll be putting that on this Friday, January 23rd. Um, it's going to be hosted by Medical Associates Plus and Air Group. So, I'm going to pl pass around this little flyer. Um, attached to it is some items that we did ask for donations for our parents. We also purchased. If you all want to drop off any of those items before Friday, if you have any of that in your possession, feel free. We also have a health fair that's going to be coming up um where we're going to service our families on February 13th. We have
016a total of now we're up to eight vendors in our community um which is including the YMCA, uh Georgia Department of Health, um our very own Miss Terry Black from Child Nutrition and many others that will be coming to service our families. So, if you are free on that day at around 11:30, um we're going to have a huge health fair. Our families would love to see you if you want to just pop in and take a look. Um we'll also on that day on February 13th have a sweetheart walk for our children. So they'll go around um we'll have tables decorated, candies, cookies, treats, and they'll kind of do it like trick-or- treat style and go around and fill their baskets. So a lot of fun events coming up. You are welcome to join
017us if you like. And I'm going to leave this little flyer with you all. Do you all have any questions with the report that I presented? I don't have any questions. Go ahead. >> I just want to make one comment to you. >> Yes, ma'am. >> I certainly do appreciate your cordiality. >> Thank you. >> And the manner and the contentment that you show us when you present this report. >> Thank you. >> I can't begin to tell you what my past experience has been, but thank you. >> Thank you. I appreciate that, Dr. Ruby. Thank you. >> Thank you very much. >> Thank you all. We appreciate you. >> I appreciate you all >> the senior citizens. >> Yes. >> I'm not talking. I'm just asking. >> Not you. Not you. But yes, you
018we're we're accepting senior citizens. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Thank you very much. >> Thank you. We need a motion to accept the early head start monthly report. I still move. >> It's been moved and second. >> Second. >> There are no questions. Let's vote by show of hands. Right hand, please. We're all in favor. Thank you very much. Thank you. And now, Dr. Yes, ma'am. >> Um, so it's that time of year where we have to elect officers for our board. And at this time, the floor is open for nominations for chairman of the Burke County Board of Education for the term of 2026. >> Make nomination for Miss Jackie Payton for chairwoman for 2026. >> Have one nomination for Miss Jackie Payton. Any other nominations? >> I close the nominations on said name.
019>> We already discussed this one. We have a nomination, a single nomination of Jackie Payeyton, but chairs for 2026. Um, no other nominations. The nominations are closed. Do I have a motion to elect or reelect? Miss Jackie Payton as chairman of the Burke County Board of Education for the term of 2026. >> I so move. >> Is there a second? I >> have a motion and a second. Any discussion? All in favor? >> That's 100% and so no oppose. And the motion passed by vote of five to zero. Congratulations, Miss Payton. Thank you all for having confidence in me. After one one year, you still want me again. So, thank you very much. I do appreciate the honor and I am honored and I will try my best to serve you in the manner that
020you would love to be served and thank you for all of your support. And if I call on you, please. They have something. Thank you. All right. The floor is now open for nominations for vice chairman of the Burke County Board of Education for the term of 2026. >> I nominate Mr. Delane. >> We have one nomination of Mr. Franklin Lane. Any other nominations? >> I oppose the 14 nominations. >> All right. Do you have another closure? >> All right. You have the single nomination of Mr. Franklin Lane as vice chair. Do I have a motion to elect Mr. Franklin Lane as the vice chair of the Burke County Board of Education for the term of 2026? >> Madame Superintendent, I move that Mr. Lane be elected as our vice chair for the Burke County
021Board of Education. >> Have a motion by Dr. Miles. Is there a second? Second. >> We'll record this as Mission. >> Oh, is on the vote. >> We have a motion by Dr. M second by Miss Buffston to elect Mr. Franklin Lane as vice chair. Any discussion? All right. All in favor if you would show by raising your right hand. That's 100%. No oppose. Congratulations Mr. Lane. >> You want me to keep them? >> Okay. Thank you. >> And with that uh we also um you the board also uh selects a member to um represent u at the GSBA um as the legislative liaison. So um any discussions at this time? Any nomination? >> I nominate Miss Jamie Muden. I hope I said the last name correctly. >> Not close. Okay, we have Miss Jamie
022Debie. Um, any other nominations? >> So, we have a motion. May I have a motion to um approve Miss Jamie Nedman as the GSDA legislative liaison? >> So, move motion by Dr. Miles. Is there a second? Second, >> second by Mr. Lane. Any discussion? >> All right. All in favor? No oppos. Motion passes. 5. Congratulations, Miss Leadman. And the board also um elects an alternate in the case where Miss Yetman is unable to serve. >> I nominate Miss Tony board Boston. >> Okay, we have a motion. We have a nomination. We'll close it. >> All right. Nomination closed. um have a motion to um approve Miss Bton as the alternate. >> I make a motion to approve Miss Buckton as the alternate TSB representative. >> Second. >> Any discussion? >> All right. All in favor?
023All right. That's 100%. So, no oppos. Congratulations, Miss Bustling. And then the next item on the agenda is to set the monthly meetings for 2026. >> I meant to ask you for is that going to be okay with you where we are now because we set this at first for your convenience. >> Yes, ma'am. >> And it's been great. It gives people an opportunity to get the reports together. So if uh everyone is pleased with that, u madam chair, I move that we continue our meetings on the third Tuesday in the month at 5:00. And we did that so that our own employees can go home at a reasonable hour and not have to wait around until 6:00. you know. So, thank you. So the third Tuesday at 5:00 >> and there is a I
024know there was some discussion about before we uh set that the February meeting is during fall when >> um do we want to keep it on the third Tuesday before so we don't have to change >> no conflict >> do we want to what I'm sorry >> keep because if we change it later consider to change. But if we said it now, >> we're good. Everybody's good with the third Tuesday. Yeah. Okay. >> Do we have a motion? >> What motion are we doing? >> Not for the February >> just for the third Tuesday of the of the month. >> We're changing it from our regular time to a different time or the same. Keeping it the same. I'm good with keeping it the same. Okay. >> Okay. Motion for the third Tuesday of each
025month at 5:00 for our board meetings. >> Okay. We have a motion. We need a second. >> A second. >> There's been a second. No discussion. Let's vote. Let's show our hands. We all in favor? >> All right. And then um there were there are two additional items. One is a field trip addendum. Um as you see there in the note, we have three um high school students who have participated in the IB career program are scheduled to present at Winter Gale February 2nd, but that was not on the original list of field trips that you all approved back in um August. And so we're asking for approval of the additional field trip for these students to go to Wintergale on February 2nd. >> I make a motion to approve the field trip for three
026students to winterale. I need a second. I second a motion. We have a motion and a second. Is there any discussion? There's no discussion. Let's vote by show. Okay, we all in agreement. Thank you. And the last item there is for use of the uh Burke County Middle School gym. And this request is coming from uh the principal, Dr. Atkinson is requesting permission for an AA team to utilize the gym for practice for a tournament that they have coming up this weekend. Um the team is made up of Burke County High School students. Um and he is has committed to being present for all of the practices. Middle school. >> Middlestone. >> And by all practices, how many practices are we lifting? So you said this week this like like three days from now weekend.
027>> I'm sorry. The tournament is in like three days or next week. >> No, the tournament is this Saturday and we've been running into some conflict. Of course, you know, they're finishing up the season, but it's it's difficult to get in to Columbia County over Columbia, but it'll make more sense if we just use our I am the coach and I also can be president. Of course, will be president for all practices. This year we're entering a national aa schedule the Adidas circuit. In the past we've been practicing over at park uh outside in the heat during the summers. Uh it's been hot. Um, so we're trying to figure out a way not having to because it's only been one additional coach uh tag team to get these students up to Augusta for two nights
028a week, then have to bring them back to B County because of course parents working and then of course we we still want these kids to be active. So it'll it'll eliminate a whole lot of travel back and forth from me. uh and also give them an opportunity to practice inside like everyone else. Uh last year we competed as national level, came in third, uh beat uh a couple of the ranked teams which is Kevin Durant and team unloaded to get us to this particular point, but all everything's pretty much paid for for the kids. We don't have to pay for hotel and everything. We just got to make sure that we maintain that competitiveness when it's it's becoming a burden to have to again come down here pick up boys and get them back
029to Augusta for practice for two and a half hours and then ride them back. >> So I certainly want to see and I certainly want to see our boys succeed, right? Um I want to make sure that you understand where my questions are coming from. So we we got a lot of requests from AAOU teams about using our facilities. Um we spent spent a lot of time on policy uh KG policy KG. Um so that's where these questions are coming from because we we I feel like we have to differentiate the school from this AAU. >> Correct. Okay. So, insurance, >> are you insured? >> Yes. >> Okay. Uh, so we would certainly need a copy of that. Um, you answered my question about the age group because I I wasn't sure what age we
030were talking about. >> And and they're all middle school Burke County middle school students. >> 12 of them. >> It's 12. It's Yeah, 12. 12 between six and seven. And then follow-up question then what if what happens when this weekend is successful? >> When this weekend successful, we probably have to come back and ask again. We're looking for ongoing home. Um and and so I would ask it more if you could revisit that that policy and and I'm even open to hey if you we're going to open up for all the a team I'm fine with that if I need to be there I'm good with that too. since our kids don't have anything to do. And then in the summertime is when we in the bulk of our season and we're like literally at
031park and it's like 100 degrees and we try to find cooler time but it's it's not working out because you know people still have jobs but we we just looking for a home if all possible. >> Understand? Um I would ask that you allow us to deliberate. I have some questions for Mr. Hy. >> Yes, sir. >> And get back to you after the meeting. >> If anybody has any questions, I would take the floor. >> I did have one more question, but instead of between now and how many practices would you have between now and then? >> Uh, two. >> And when is the latest date you would need an answer? sooner the better. But hey, I mean, if if I can't get an answer today, if I can have something moving forward so
032that way we can kind of work these schedules out, uh, it'll be because I mean, we we got a tournament this weekend. We have another national tournament in March. Uh, and we have to successfully be in the top 10 and one of them to make it through the gut. And, and that's a whole summer season. We probably play about 100 games over the summer. So, we'll probably have to practice at least two days to be ready. >> Thank you. >> All right. And so, we have um our other three schools. Uh you heard elementary last month and um starting us off tonight will be Dr. Cherry, president of B County Life Center. Hello everyone. Good evening. Okay. Um today I will share a midyear update on enrollment, academic progress, instructional programs, student supports, and organizational
033improvements at Burke County Life Center. Where we are, we currently serve 54 students. Three seniors have already completed graduation requirements and 10 more are on track to graduate this year. After Thanksgiving break, we transitioned into the back building or the annex. >> Um the move went smoothly with minimal with minimal disruptions and we continue continue refining operations as we prepare for future facility improvement. instructional programming. Our instructional approach blends daily core instruction with credit recovery, structured interventions, project-based learning for engagement, and mandated digital citizen citizenship instruction to support student success beyond academics. Goal area one, student achievement. By the end of first semester, students completed 50% of attempted courses. Because many students enrolled academically behind and mid semester, we have implemented stronger accountability structures for second semester to increase completion rate. Course completion trends. When
034we look at historical trends, semester 1 course completion has improved from 43% two years ago to 50% this year. While we are not where we want to be yet, this shows positive momentum. With strengthened accountability strength systems and expanded academic supports now in place, our goal to continue increasing this rate moving forward. Our goal is to continue in increasing this rate moving forward. Course completion reflects program participation and credit recovery progress to measure academic skill growth. We also use standardized assessment data. Before reviewing those results, I want to briefly explain how star growth metrics are interpreted. Next, understanding star growth data. Student growth percentile shows how much growth students made compared to peers nationwide who started at similar academic levels. A score of 50 represents typical growth while anything above 50 reflects above average progress.
035Scale score rates of change measures how quickly students are gaining academic skills over time. A positive rate indicates learning gains while a negative rate signals the need for additional instructional supports. The intervention category identifies students requiring targeted academic supports. As we look at our star reading growth in reading, more than half of our students demonstrated above average growth compared to peers nationwide. The positive scale score rate of change indicates meaningful academic improvement within a short assessment window. I do want to brag. I did have one or two students who did um their um scores were um above high school or 12th grade reading levels. So I do want to brag about that. >> Star math growth. Math remains a key focus area. While only onethird of students showed above average growth, the overall negative rate
036of change highlights the need for more targeted math interventions moving forward. Um we have been um working with the high school trying to get the high school teachers doing um I know uh Mr. Matt Bride has come over a couple times as well as we're also thinking about doing um Google Meets um with those math courses to um ensure that our students have the math um instruction that they need to um improve program adjustment after and after school accountability based on semester performance data. We strengthen account um academic accountability by requiring additional instructional supports for students not meeting expectations. This ensures students receive the time and structure ne necessary for success. If you all see um I have had two sets of students. I had half day students and I had all day students. Any
037half day student that did not complete any coursework or all of their courses for the first semester, I automatically put them on full day. It didn't matter. Any student that was full day that did not complete all of their coursework, I ensured that they had after school um mandatory after school sessions starting um last week and that that's going to be on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 2:15 to 5:30. So, I'm trying to put things in place to ensure that they complete all courses when when they supposed to um complete them as well as be able to move forward in a timely manner. School climate and discipline. While overall referral numbers remain relatively low given our population, lost instructional time is a concern. We continue focusing on preventative strategies, behavior expectations, and student student accountability. As
038you can see, uh most of the referrals because um the well basically I have 10 referrals. Uh I have Coach Springs eight, Miss Gerald two. Um but most of them the breakdown of it is the two fights and most of them are coming from the vapes that we're finding in the buildings as well as um of the student in civility. We've had a couple students um like I said refusal of comp refusal to comply and one threat or intimidation. Goal area two, student, family, and staff supports. We prioritize um staff support and safety readiness because strong adult capacity directly impact student outcomes. These efforts help create a stable and prepared learning environment. Um again, um after having conversations with Collins, you know, uh I decided monthly we'll try to do something for the staff, you
039know, just to ensure that we try to uh keep up the ma morale and as well as um show appreciation. Um we've had the CPR AED training um as well as the stop the bleed with, um nurse Tinsley. So there are se several things that's going on within the building. stakeholder engagement. Um, we continue strengthening family and stakeholder engagement through consistent communication, academic progress updates, collaboration with Burke County High School as well as with the district partners to support student success. Um, we we're using the parent square. Uh I also have uh teachers make sure they made frequent contact with parents especially about uh attendance as well as academics. Uh they have to uh conference with students weekly to ensure that um the progress or they're making the um the progress that they need to
040make um in edenuity. That's goal four, organizational effectiveness. We have strengthened accountability structures by implementing consistent note-taking expectations, weekly academic progress monitoring, and having students actively participate in reviewing their own performance data. These systems allow us to quickly identify concerns, adjust supports, and continue monitoring student engagement and academic success. And moving forward, based on current data trends, targeted reading intervention through read 180 appears to be positive or positively impacting um student growth. As a next step, we are exploring the potential implementation of math 180 to provide similar structured intervention support for mathematics. This would allow us to address math gaps with the same level of intensity and consistency that we do for the reading and for our literacy program. That is our priorities for our the rest of the school terms. Are there any questions,
041comments, or concerns? >> Madam Chair, how many people on your in the staff? >> How many people? >> There are only It's about eight of us over there. >> So that's it. >> Um, you mentioned you have full day instruction and half day instruction. I know last year sometime you guys had like the every other day. So you have that schedule anymore? >> I don't have that schedule anymore. That schedule works. Okay. So, basically when students came over, so I'm always trying to make changes. So, when students came over, there was a big fight or something over at the high school. So, instead of having all of the students >> in the building together, >> that's when we tried to come up with the AB schedule. >> Those come on Monday, Wednesdays, the others come
042on Tuesday, Thursdays, and we um the other days were virtual. if we're doing we're working with um attendance that could be an issue >> because that you know not just making sure that the students are there every day >> would be better for me. Um so we do not have any students that's there that's um been in a in a fight. >> So I I'd rather go back to the half day and the whole day. half day. Um it's only a privilege for those students who are on track and there are 11th and 12th grade students who are on track. No one else. There's they have to be on track. If they're not, they can't qualify for um half day. So again, that's why I say state that it's a privilege. >> Do they come
043to detect the ones who on the half day are they just out or they go to jobs? Most of them go to jobs. >> Most of them have jobs. Um, some are interested in doing dual enrollment. Um, they work with Miss Parker and what she does is make sure that their GPA is high enough to in order to enroll as a dual enrollment student. You have to have that GPA. Um, >> that's right. >> To to participate. >> U Dr. Cherry, there was something that you mentioned which I thought was really wonderful. You getting that support from the high school in math. >> Yes, ma'am. You got a national teacher over there. He now has another position and the kids talk about him and his math the math skills. >> Yes, >> they really talk
044about him. Is there any way that you can talk and smile and talk? Exactly. >> You saw how I gave him that glance back there >> because that would be because he has a way also of knowing how to communicate and make kids involved and >> get them stirred up. I don't know what he does. >> Kids talk about him. >> Yes, ma'am. >> And what he does. >> I just was thinking because you mentioned that and I was just trying to think how could we reach out. I'll aggravate him. >> I'm sure he'll work with you. Yeah. And whatever he can do. >> Yes, ma'am. >> All right. Anything else? >> Good job. Thank you. Thank you, Dr. >> All right. Have a nice day. >> Okay. Good evening. >> Good evening. >> I'm
045so happy uh school board recognition month. Appreciate all you guys. Can y'all believe we've been on this journey for four years. This is my fourth year B enjoying every moment of it. So, uh real quickly, I'm gonna talk to you guys about the state of Burke County middle school. Of course, I will be again with my top priorities. Of course, we want to create that safe nurturing environment for our students to have access to the learning. Also, we want to make sure we increase our students of reading and math readiness. Uh our goal is 85% for all grade levels and creating creating sustained community partnerships. We wanted three VIP partners. We didn't want people who just come in and donated some donate some items or give us some money. We wanted three VIP partners to
046invest in what we're doing over at the school. I'll show you them in a few. And increase the proficiency levels of all of our uh CCPI uh our content on the Georgia Milestone by 10%. So those are parts in which we work from each and every day. I got this work. >> No. Oh, I'm sorry. >> So, this past year, we received some recognition from our GDO. Uh we got the high school achievement. We're one of the uh math leaders uh for the state of Georgia. And then you go to the next one. Uh we were recognized by GO as a beat the odds school. There are two schools that serve as beating the odds as us blank. Being that we are the only middle school in Burke County, I wanted to take a look
047at how do we rank or where do we fall within our recent our main goal is to be the best middle school in the nation. But in order to do that, you got to look at what's around you and conquer them first. So I looked at about six school with the same demographic makeup and this is where we fail as it relates to the CCPI for last year. Content mastery, we number three. Progress, we were number two. Closing the gaps, we were number one. In readiness, we fell I think two or three. So according to the schools that with similar demographics far as content mastery, we were only down six points to the school Thompson McD. We're poised. We're poised to make that jump to be the number one middle school in the CS for
048schools with similar demographics. Next slide. So I asked my staff at the beginning of the school meeting what do we need to do and what will be one barrier and so I just told him give me a few words and if you ever if you've ever seen this if you put in the word the word that shows up the most become the largest. So of course we needed a sense of urgency and I asked what would be that one barrier and you can see complacency. Sometimes people think that we can continue to do business the same way or or not have the urgency to to change our practice. So we want to take away the complacency and replace it with urgency. Student achievement show you where that poise come from. Over the last three years,
049we've raised the CCRPI by 10.1 points over three years. teacher attendance have been steady. Go to the next one. So at the beginning of the year, we took a STAR assessment and Dr. Chair, thank you for doing an amazing job explaining that I wouldn't have to. Uh so we take it in math and we take it in reading. This assessment is given three times a year and it tracks the readiness of our learners. So at the beginning of the year, you so you see the results at the top. It had about 67% of all of our scholars that took that assessment for math scoring below grade level. At the middle of the year, we decreased that number by 7%. We had a 7% increase of our of our scholars for math to go over to
050the old boy well grade level or above. And same thing for real. You click the next slide. This is interesting. So, we did a a great job with our regional teachers in their focus and partner with visible learning to to support some things that we're doing and and so teachers use the strategy sign and note strategy and we've been doing that consistently and we see the results 21%. >> Strategy here >> uh it's uh it's about five of them right there. notice and note strategy is what we've been uh working with in all of our reading classes. Um and we've created an initiative uh through Beanstack because I want to get uh our scholars reading more. Uh so we we have a program online program beat that they can go in and they could log
051in their minutes. So we've come up with different challenges for the entire year. So every month and I'll show you that in a second. But if you look at 21% of your your your your building, I mean, we're we're poised to make gains, significant gains if we continue this trajectory uh before we take the Georgia milestones. This is all about readiness, getting kids reading on grade level, having them math skills on grade level. So 21% increase in a half of a year is is astounding. And so again, we partner with um visible learning, of course, that's one of our VIP partners who come in and work with our teachers and our staff. Um we have all PL targeted around clarity. And then we we have uh Dr. Andre Bonito Mountain. He's going to come in
052and work with our reading teachers uh to expose them to an additional strategy that they could use to support. and of course our own schoolwide PL uh with the support of our district uh teaching and learning partner. And of course, you know, we got to celebrate. We got to make sure we can't wait to the end. Per usual, you got to celebrate success along the way. And so, uh we we put out these reading challenges every month. And of course, kids who show top reader, they get an award. Top class, they get an award. Top grade, they get an award. And so, what we wanted to do on the picture on the left is encourage our students before they took that STAR assessment. Kids will do a lot for you for a couple of dollars.
053It don't have to be a whole lot, but it just give them a couple of dollars. Uh we told every scholar uh if they increase by 25 points on their star assessment, we'll throw their names into a hat and we'll do a raffle. And so I think I did a I want to say, and don't quote me, the kids may ask for some more money. I think we did a $50 raffle and then my assistant principal, he matched it with a 25. So, we gave away $75. I don't know who got what, but they both had a few dollars uh to take home at the meeting. Next slide. Yeah. Stakeholder engagement. Our number one stakeholders are our babies, our children, I'm sorry, our scholars. Those are our number one stakeholders. And so, we did something
054a little different with our student leadership. They went through a training, intense, targeted training. Uh, didn't have all the pictures to put up there because I know y'all don't want to hit me all all he even, but they went in through went through a intense training and they have leadership goals now. They have to do service and I'll show you guys that in a few minutes because I didn't have I didn't upload it where it needed to be so it's on the tail end. Sorry D but you had you had already I wasn't bothered. Uh back to school bash gay families to come support. Every Wednesday is popup Wednesday. Of course we take pictures of any parent that come visit their kids. The building is open Monday through Friday, but on Wednesday they know to
055come with a little more pedazzle or little give a little bit more elegance so we can uh post their pictures on Facebook. And what we've done for our parents as well, we've hosted home ownership. Um we've done immunization nights. We've invited partners to come out and uh do those for us so that way parents won't have to take off from work and try to find all the meds for free for the for for the uh parents as well. Uh every week we send out a newsletter uh to go home with we we use parent square to do that. So we we have our newsletter and of course we monitor it use utilizing parent square. We talk to parents with parent square. I talked to my scholars using parent square. Um it's a it's a it's
056a great tool and I and I think uh we we've had a lot more communication because of it. And again this was what the uh service learning projects our scholars had to do. Uh they actually on December 10th and December 11th uh we part we we visited the library and then they also went to the animal ship to to to do some community search. So we want to try to get them out there exposed exposure to a lot of different things. Uh but these there's a list of some other things that they're in control of like our clothes closet is one big initiative that our student uh leaders they love it. So they have that and then keep going down under staff students. Uh we do a raffle, believe it or not. Uh we we
057do a shoe raffle right now. We do it Monday, Wednesdays, and Friday. So I had an old pair of Jordies. Um I'm sorry, the Kobes. That's what they are. That my son couldn't wear anymore. you know anything about a Jordan or a cold, they going to cost about $250. Could have easily resold them on stockish. But I said, okay, I'll just get these to a kid at school. So I I brought them to school walking around. Hey, what size you? Hey, what size you like? I'm like, man, I be here all day trying to do that. Sent out a uh email to to the kids. Hey, if you sign such such, let me know. And then I said, well, wait a minute. I just raffle them off. So, what we do, we put a shoe
058in the middle of the comments of the school. I put a t a tag as to to the sides and the kid just come write their first and their last name. That's the only requirement. And they have to be able to to uh actually fit the shoe. So, >> and I didn't know this was going to go the way it went cuz uh right now my office is like a a mini foot locker. But we started out with just our staff and then I put it on Facebook like, hey, contact school if you want to get involved. And so now parents are are bringing in. They either have to be brand new or gently worn, meaning that don't give my babies nothing that you really want to throw away. They have to be like mint
059condition. >> Yeah. And so >> for Christmas, I was giving out from December till we got out for Christmas, I did a pack every single day. And again, my staff bring me shoes. Uh I've had district leaders bring the shoes. And this is going to go on as long as, you know, God allows us to keep keep the shoes. And they they they they and they just keep coming. I think I'm gonna have to do one every day this week because I got four new pair. Uh two this morning and two on past Friday this past Friday. I said I need to get some room so I can see my floor. My superintendent come over here kick me out of the building because I got shoes everywhere. But this is something that our kids enjoy.
060And then for them to have a pair of nice shoes that they could wear. Parents love it. I've had a parent say, "Thank you. Thank you. I was just thinking about how I was going to buy my baby a pair of shoes." And it's free. >> So, we do this every single every single week. And again, that's that'll continue. If you want to get involved, please remember that have to either be brand new or gently worn no matter the size. So, next one. All right. So, these are our partners. You see, Augusta University, they came and they and they've been coming monthly. Uh we have uh the resilience team who works with about 20 of our sixth graders. And then our family connection support from Miss Teresa Carter has been remarkable. like we've partnered with
061her to to she's she's been she's been >> she's been my my ace. She's been my ace. So, uh and then we we had some two two young ladies who attended our uh entrepreneur day. They've actually decided to mentor uh uh two two young ladies in our in our in our building. So that partnership has turned into a a VIP partner because they want to really invest in our in our scholars. Next slide. Doc and assistant family. So ever since I've been here, we've been giving our scholars something for Christmas every year. >> And so this year um somebody said, "Want to do something Thanksgiving?" >> And I was like, "What can you give a kid for Thanksgiving? You can't. That's not. And then I thought about it. You know, of course, it's a time
062where I think inflation had just hit. Eggs were like $12, all that good stuff. 12 hours. I just stop eating. >> And so I said, "Okay, well, we'll do a a turkey drive." Done it before. Um, it should be easy. And my people thought I would crazy. I said, "No, we'll get it done." you know, and so we only partnered with partners, business owners. We went out into the community, talked to the people that service and who who gained uh a lot of financial stability from the parents of our scholars. So, we talked to you Walmart, your KJS, your uh local restaurants and uh partner with SRP. They are they they they they have always committed to supporting uh Burke County Middle School. We talked to the sheriff's department was on board. People just started
063giving, giving and giving and turkey time came and we had over a thousand turkeys to bless every kid, every worker that worked in my building. And of course it went around the school district because we had more than enough. Um and so uh that was something that was big for our school. And thank you to our superintendent and uh Miss Buckston coming out getting their exercise in. They walk back and forth the cars uh the whole time. So appreciate you guys uh for coming out for that. But we we did a turkey uh drive to support our families this year. They want to do it again, but it's a lot of work. Uh so think I might move it back to every other year and just go do Christmas. So that's a little easier. You
064go to the next slide, doc. And organizational effectiveness. Of course, discipline is always what hinders school from making the progress you want to see. I'm happy to announce that we see decreases in every office referral, minor incident, and of course, fight. Those were some of the major things that we've been trying to tackle since I've been there. So, we're we're decreasing in all areas. As you can see, the percentages there. Teacher attendance, of course, staying afloat. We're over 90%, we want to see it improve. Our goal is 90% 96% for the excuse me for the month of January. So every month we do a targeted goal for attendance as well for teachers and kids. Next slide doc. And of course we got to celebrate our teachers for the hard work that they do. We do
065it all day every day certificate for every employee that make the effort to be be there all day every day. And then also if you are you enter into a raffle u it's a 50 30 20 uh dollar raffle every month uh that we give to employees. So we just you there every day put your name in this raffle and then we draw. And then also um for our teacher of the month and staff member of the month of course they choose that person their peers and we give them $25 uh gift certificate and also a certificate as well. And then every month we feed them. Of course we they we love to eat. So we we feed them every month. We had a partner come over and say, "Hey doc, I just grill for
066everybody." >> I said, "Oh, okay. They do it." So uh that that happened. I'm trying to find another partner for this mother to do something for us. Um but again that last slide in and as we move forward I just want our board members to know our superintendent to know our peers to know we move with urgency. Uh the job has to get done and we want to be the ones that do it. And in order to do that of course we got to remove complacency. So always know that we're chasing greatness and it's not a cliche it's a way of life. Thank you. >> Thank you. Thank you. >> Any questions? I'm sorry. Another question for me. I I just had one but you answered it and I was asking how in the world
067we came up with the shoe route. >> So you answered it. Okay. Okay. >> All right. And if you want to get involved >> school was not on the needing improvement list. The Bounty Middle School. You said >> there was it was not there was some type of program that the middle school exceeded the score and was not on the need. >> Oh, you referring to the go the ghost score. >> Yeah. And we weren't but if you look at our numbers we need approvement like we Yeah. But we we weren't on that list. Thank thank you God. So but we we are moving in the right direction >> and there were other systems that were but I g >> we were not. >> Thank you Jesus. >> Good good improvement. Thank you. >> Yes
068ma'am. Anything else for me? >> Great. >> Thank you. >> Good evening. >> Evening. Good evening. my wonderful colleague boy. You always brother our father. But nevertheless, um Burke High School and Burke County Life Center, they're together because we're working in collaboration with each other. And uh first of all, before I get into our um presentation, we may have the large number of slides, but I'm going to go through them quickly because I want the slides to be for you all to look at at your own time. But there's a couple of things I want to share with us. Um we our vision at Burk County High School is teaming. So we working as as a collaborative team and our rational behind that is so if we tear things that it will come down through
069a mushroom approach and therefore everybody can get it. So as what we did with our presentation was basically look at our school improvement plan and um and just went through each particular goal. What we've done in that effort is um goal one is student achievement. our assistant principal, Miss Avery, over she runs that. Goal two is um student and family staff support. Mr. Boyd, he's over that as as an AP. Third goal is uh stakeholder engagement. Dr. Hankerson oversees that and organizational effectiveness. Uh Mr. Fulture or Coach Fulture as he's affectionately known oversees that from an administrative stance. And then once we've done that, we've breaking that down with our teacher leaders to be a part of each of those areas. And Dr. Cherry is a a very vital part of that, working in collaboration
070with uh goal three for us as we move forward. So we'll get started. Uh um goal one, our student uh achievement. Um basically what we have done is look at what we're trying to do schoolwide and uh we established a schoolwide goal of making certain that um by May of 26 we will increase the percentage of students overall from 39% to 65%. And as we process through this we want to make sure that um this is what we're doing. Piggybacking off what been said prior to me coming up, everything we are doing is with a visible learning twist to it. Um, in terms of what we're doing too, um, goal priorities, um, unfortunately we are on the list for now. Um, therefore, our goal priorities are to improve the literary rate and, uh, ELA content
071mastery. Um, as you can see in in the green for 25 uh 2025 is uh our goal. Uh what we're shooting for in 26 is that particular number there. Same thing with um American lit. Uh there we fell short of our target um down at the bottom. That was the actual outcome. And as you can see that we're looking for our goal there in a realistic po form in terms of that 3% in every area. Um goal B uh prior to go uh prior to goal B would be to improve uh mathematics content mastery. Um you can see we uh fell short there. Um but that was our outcome in terms of where we at with the 45.61% at 61%. Um, and then you can see our goal for the um upcoming year. Priority C,
072improve science and social studies content mastery. Um, biology, we we fell below the mark there. Um, but we're working in those areas to get those areas up. And everything we're doing is through uh teacher clarity and just basic tier one instruction to improve. And you can see our goal for 26 um US history. Um interesting enough, this has always been one of our stronger areas. Um you can see our outcomes there. We met our target, but we not by much. So you can see the goal that we're shooting for in 26. prior to goal D. Um we're going to continue to implement professional development with uh to improve pedigogy, instructional strategies, and content knowledge. And and what we're doing there is intentional professional developments. So we're going to continue along those lines. You can see
073the things that we've done from November of 24, January 25, and to May of 2025. and that we be will be picking up tomorrow and Thursday with our consultant from visible learning prior to E to increase post high school readiness. Um as you look there you can see we did fairly well in every area except for college career readiness. We fell short in that particular area, but you can see the target goal that we have for that as well as the target goals and literacy and all the other particular area that we're looking at in that particular category. Um, as we look at prior to goal E to increase post high school readiness. Um, as we look at our EOPA data, uh, this is the first part and you can see what we've done in
074those areas as it relates to our construction area in terms of our students taking the exams, the percentages of of pass fail. Uh, we got a lot of work to do in some of our areas, but that's where we at there. And we feel very confident that by the second portion of the school year, those numbers will increase drastically. looking at next steps. What we we're looking at doing is uh in each area that we we try to do, we were looking at next steps in terms what we're going to work on doing our EOCC uh participation and data rate. We're looking at that to improve in those areas and we're targeting those EC course EOCC courses in an area to improve across the board. there you can look at what we're doing in terms
075of tiering instructional plans uh the support that we're providing for our teachers along those lines. So we're going to continue along those in terms of instructional practices we're going to be more intentional with a number of things we're doing providing uh during the learning process and uh we will continue along those lines uh targeting those particular areas and our next steps in student achievement. Um along the lines of student achievement, uh Muscogi County was one of the schools that came in to visit us as a certified uh visible learning partner school. And uh that's just some pictures of some of the things that we've done. And this will be the segue into some of the things that we're doing with our students. We're pushing the the the concept of belonging. Uh wanting our students to
076feel a sense of belonging as well as the staff itself. Next, we started a a coffee uh snacks and chat. Um we started that in the mornings at 7 and we had parents to come in uh teachers to come in as well as students to come in. And basically the purpose for this is having them come in to give them a voice so we can look at and understand the things that they're saying so we can have a better understanding of making sure that we satisfy the clients and stakeholders that we serve. Goal number two, student, family, and staff support. Um, as you look at our data as it relates to um, ISS cost days, we're progressively looking at decreasing those days in terms of the target. We're trying to establish that based on where
077we at this point. That data will be forthcoming. as well as uh our school suspension days. We'll continue to decrease those and our targets for the second half will be forthcoming as well. Priority a strengthen relationships among staff, students, and families. That was one of the things I mentioned earlier about the belonging piece. So, as we look at what we're trying to do as it relates to students who feel comfortable and knowing what's going on with adults and who they feel comfortable that they can talk to and need and meeting their needs and needing help, we're working on improving that because that's part of getting the students to move stronger academically when they feel comfortable in the setting that they're in. um students who report feeling connected to others at school. Um you can see
078where we're progressively at there and looking to improve those areas as well. Uh prior to goal B, um the improve peer-to-peer and student staff relationships and their interactions. Um we're working diligently to uh improve along those lines. This is a part of what we have been doing more intentional this year is we do a teacher staff person of the month and we do a student of the month from each grade level. And from as a result of that we meet with these students and uh those staff individuals and we highlight them and take the necessary pictures. And also the adults will receive um a $50 gift certificate and the students each receive a $25 gift certificate. As we look at priority B, we did that. See, >> priority C priority C to increase awareness of
079and access to student support resources. Um utilizing our counselors more this year. um having them to do um classroom guidance and also tracking what they're doing with students beyond the scheduling piece so that therefore um students voice can be heard and uh we're increasing those numbers in the classroom meeting with uh setting up tables during lunch and we've taken room 600 that on the end of the hall down by the bus dock that once was our workbased learning room classroom we're now using that for opport opportunities for counselors to meet with students, staff members to meet with students during the lunch hour. >> Uh as we as we look at our discipline, um certainly we can always improve. There's a tremendous amount of work we need to do there. Um to this point, uh first
080semester we had no tribunals. Um we praying hope we can continue along those lines. I think we're scheduled for one on tomorrow and uh prayerfully uh we'll move forward in those areas to decrease uh in the discipline. All right. Look, as we look at next steps, um we're going to continue to do the kinds of things that we're doing. Um uh Heath, our consultant from Corin, will continue to be in for staff development. Um, we'll continue to use um our increments of uh growl as we look at how we're going to improve along those lines. Um, I think our PBIS celebrations will continue. Um, I think they've been very good because it uh let our voice be known that we appreciate what you're doing. And uh parent meetings, I think that's been one thing we've
081done better job this year. Um and as we move on through a couple of slides, you'll get a chance to see that as we continue to move along those lines. Um school climate support, uh we we involve in our school council, um this year we've got our finally got our parent council um and community council up off the ground and it we had our first meeting last semester and we feel good about that and we look forward to continue along those lines. um our health survey will continue along those lines to uh make sure that we can meet those in a timely fashion and based on the percentages that we're at, I feel very comfortable and confident that we'll get that done. Goal three, as we look at stakeholder engagement, um as my Carly mentioned
082before, we're utilizing every particular um social media, every contact and everything that we can utilize to um stay in touch and be open with our parents. But every social media and everything that we using to reach parents, our greatest success have been open the school doors and welcoming parents in for things that we hadn't done in the past such as those chats in the mornings, um our open house, uh curriculum nights, and we'll talk a little bit more about that. Okay, Parent Square has been a godscent. Um I think enough been said about that. you can see our numbers and how we're utilizing that and we certainly what we did. Um we we had our first curriculum night um last semester and we thought that went extremely well and we're looking forward to um our
083another curriculum night this this uh semester. And what curriculum night is basically um an open house kind of like on steroids. Um, so as we we'll get more information out and we'll do a much better job of advertising it and getting it out for general public. Um, this is a a parent engagement center that we're trying to renovate. Um, we initially got it set up down on 400 hall, but we're going to look at changing that so it'll be up on the front end of the building. So therefore, parents will have to walk through the building to get to that. So, there's some renovations that will be taking place. And this is something that came from our parent coordinator and um Mr. Boyd, who's the uh the AP that's over that area, giving them a
084voice. And primarily, we started looking at this from the standpoint of completing those surveys, but we realized that we can do a whole lot more with that. So we will next steps we'll just continue to um make this available continue to utilize the portal and make certain that our parents will have access to these things. But in addition to that I think number four continue to train the teachers on the use of schoolwide things so we can disseminate information in a timely manner and that we can utilize everything to make certain that we get this information out to parents. Goal four, organizational effectiveness. Um this is an area that that we're working on tremendously. Um and a couple things out of organ organizational effectiveness that came about is um coach Fry heads that area up
085and what we've been doing is working in collaboration with the life center making certain that we are training folk in various areas. And if you turn over into our next steps, we're looking at next steps because our original plan is to um continue to grow this area. One of the things that we put a lot of emphasis on is you you uh we have to unite students in the event of an emergency, a unification plan. Um we're working on that and as you can see um we we're doing small grills with small groups uh faculty and staff. We'll continue along those lines and um as we continue, I think this will help us um have a better understanding, god forbid, in the event of an emergency. We continue with our fire drills and things like
086we normally do. Uh we have various plans in place for that and those things are working well, but we're trying to put in place plans for the uneventful. As we look at our next steps on the organization effectiveness, we're going to continue everything as I stated before is driven by teacher clarity. So every e everything we do, we will have a learning target as well as to set criteria as it relates to whatever we're doing as it relates to a training. Um, as I stated earlier, we'll continue to uh work in collaboration with our staff as well as life center staff to ensure that our office managers are trained and crossrained. Um, you mentioned about the size of the staff. So, we try to collaborate as much as we can to utilize those resources because
087they are still our students and we have to work in collaboration to see they're successful. um and we'll develop emergency protocols as as we see fit because god forbid if we have to move in that phase we have to continue put these things in place and um that's our report and a glimpse any question >> I don't have a question but I u I was listening very closely to how you're utilizing your counseling because I remember being at a GSBA conference when the students had an opportunity to talk and that was one of their complaints as how they could never get to a school counselor. So I like the way that you're utilizing your school counsel. >> Thank you. And I appreciate the coordination because when we discovered that you had already had the a
088FICA workshop for parents and children and some of our kids missed it. So we got with the counselor and she has another one planned and they're just coordinating the services. And when I say our kids, it means our organization of kids because they are a high school student. And we do appreciate Dr. that Mason that keeps us from having to spend extra money to have this person come in to do a workshop for our groups. I appreciate it. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> That's it. Thank you very >> I know. I know that was a long section. >> That's it. Uh thank you ladies and gentlemen. It's now in our open meeting and we are now ready to go into our executive session. So we need a >> make a motion that we go
089to executive session for personnel. >> I second that motion. Thank you. There's the motion of the second vote. >> Okay. We all agree. Thank you. I know tonight I'll be I think my