001Call this February 9th regular session to order. >> Need a motion to approve the agenda. >> So moved, >> Mr. Tulle. >> Second, >> Mr. Hammond. All in favor? >> Pass 5-0. >> Also need a motion to approve the minutes from the January 12th regular session. >> So moved. >> Mr. Hammock. >> Second. Miss Parish, all in favor passes 5-0. Recognitions, Mr. Coch. >> Thank you, Mr. Ransom. Good evening, board members and Dr. Butler. We have several folks to recognize this evening. So, if you'll join us up front as you do so, I will note that the art display this month is provided by students from Okone County Middle School. Their instructor is Chad Willingham. Their artwork will be on display at the ISC throughout the month. We thank these talented students for sharing these
002pieces of art with us. First this evening, the board will recognize the February Pursuit of Excellence Award winner, school nutrition manager Casey Guest of Okone County Primary. [applause] He is receiving a $50 Visa gift card, fleece blanket, stainless steel mug, and tote from Pete State Federal Credit Union. Additional gift cards from Chops and Hops and Rosy's Hometown Meets and a plaque from Okon County Schools. Casey from the nomination form. Here's some words that folks wrote about you. Casey has been such a ray of sunshine for the primary. In his short time with us, he has gone above and beyond to provide engaging experiences for our students in the cafeteria. From tray of the day winners to the Polar Express hot chocolate cart, our students are excited about eating school lunch. Casey truly goes above and
003beyond for our students each and every day. He brings energy, creativity, and heart to the lunchroom by incorporating fun incentives that make students excited about meal time. Students are always greeted with a smile, kind words, and a welcoming presence. He makes every child feel seen and valued. He creates a positive and loving environment where students are comfortable and happy. His interactions with students go far beyond serving meals. He builds relationships and fosters a sense of belonging within the school. His dedication, warmth, and commitment to the students make him an incredible asset to our school community. Casey is dedicated to mastering his craft and holds himself to a high standard of professionalism and professional excellence. The February Pursuit of Excellence Award winner, Casey Guest, [applause] [applause] >> [applause] >> Next order recognize Okone County High School
004tuba player Josiah Owens for being chosen to the 2026 Music for All National Honor Band. As the TUBA principal chair, Owens has been joined by Aiden Jennings, who plays alto saxophone, and Corey Gray, who plays trumpet, on the 2026 GMEA Allstate Band. Olan Alman is the band director. [applause] [laughter] >> [applause] >> Next, the board will recognize the class 3A state champions in boys cross country from Okone County High School. Micah Dixon, Nolan McCulla, Garrett Torres, Dayton Blo, Zack Ferguson, Noah Jenkins, Payton Murray, Noah Dixon, Connor McMahon, Lucas Wikovich, Eli Bell, Aaron Brick, Malcolm Cohen, and Samuel Hasted. Brick also led the team to the state championship as he claimed the individual state title. The coaches are Jake Forester, James Norton, and Kendra H. Hotton. [applause] >> [applause] [applause] [laughter] [applause] >> Next, the board
005will recognize the class 3A state runners up in girls cross country from Okone County High School. Mary Ellie Nicolik, Caroline Stinson, Laya Andrews, Lex Johnson, Ruth Sherard, Bailey Wagland, Mary Joe Wood, Reagan Gilmore, Amanda Cizer, Maggie Shy, Annaval, Wick Torski, Addison Mooney, Caroline Sherard, and Alyssa Tan. The coaches are Jake Forester, James Norton, and Kendra H. Hot. Hotton [applause] >> [applause] >> Next, the board will recognize Okone County Middle School's Felix Dong on being named to the 2026 GMEA Allstate Band. John Cotton serves as band director. [applause] >> [applause] [applause] >> Next, a board will recognize Okone County High School's Emily Pinland, Blair Smith, Emily White, and Charlie Williams on being chosen for the 2020 26 All State Chorus. Emily White also was named to the 2026 Allstate Reading Chorus. The coral director is Katie
006Williams. [applause] >> [applause] >> Finally, this evening, the board will recognize Dove Creek Elementary's Alyssa Benner on being chosen as the recipient of the 2026 Don Cargle Georgia Youth Science and Technology Centers STEM Scholar Award. At this time, [applause] At this time, I will introduce Will Dodd and Amanda Bice to say a few words about Miss Benner. >> Good evening. I'm the executive director of the Georgia Youth Science and Technology Centers. We are a statewide organization with 10 locations. We were started in the late 80s with the advent of the worldwide web and all the technology that we anticipated coming and boy has it been coming. Uh we seek each year to recognize Georgia's top talent. This is a statewide award and this year we found 25 stars and one of those stars is right
007here and that is Alyssa. Uh this application process has to be you have to have recommendations. She had wonderful letters of support from both her principal and assistant principal. They have to talk about things that they have done in their classroom to inspire their students to do hands-on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. But one thing our panel looks for is a teacher who goes beyond her classroom walls. A teacher who reaches out and does a little something extra. And Miss Benner does that. She co-founded and co-sponsors the Agrid Dragons. getting kids outside to understand where their food comes from. And so this award comes with $500 for her to stemify her classroom even more to do more for students in your community. It also comes with recognition from the Georgia State Legislature. Unfortunately, our event
008this year was scheduled for the day they were closed due to inclement weather and so it's pretty difficult to reschedule those big events, but she will be recognized again in 2027 um with that legislative session. And we're just so proud to know Alyssa. I only know Alyssa through reading her wonderful application and the letters of recommendation. But Will Dodd is the regional coordinator here at OKone River GTC and he knows her personally. So I want Will just to say a few words. So, I will say just as the regional representative of GYSTC, I've I've gotten to work with Alyssa many times at different professional learnings and and the one thing that I could sum up with is I leave those professional learnings probably with as much being learned by me from Alyssa as she if
009not more uh as she may learn from me in those professional learnings. So, you know, you've gotten emails from me many times. Can I share this with some other teachers? That was amazing. So, I will say I can't think of a teacher that's more deserving. So, congratulations, Alyssa. [applause] >> [applause] [applause] >> And that concludes recognitions this evening. Next we have Okcon County Middle School for Points Pride. Welcome Miss Poss. Good evening members of the board and Dr. Butler. Thank you for the opportunity to share one of our points of pride at OCMS. Our school's focus on service. At our middle school, our motto is connect, serve, and impact. We believe those three words describe not just what we say, but how we help help our students grow. Middle school is a time when students
010are learning who they are and how they fit into the world around them. Service gives them a meaningful way to connect to others, serve with purpose, and see their actions that truly make an impact. This year we have been intentional about creating opportunities for every student to serve in their school and community. In October, our day of service our day of service uh allowed students across grade levels to step beyond the classroom and work toward a common goal. Since then, many of our students have continued serving through their clubs and organizations, planning projects, identifying needs, and taking responsibility for making a difference. Tonight you will hear directly from our students about their service experiences. They will share what they did but more importantly what they learned about teamwork, leadership, and the power of helping others.
011These experiences help students see what the ser that service isn't just something adults do. It's something they can lead in in their own right. Our goal for this year is for every student to have at least one meaningful opportunity to live out our motto to connect, to serve, and to make an impact. We are proud of the growth we are seeing in our students and we are grateful you're for your continued support as we work to build strong serviceminded learners and citizens. Thank you and we are excited for you to hear from our students. Hi, my name is Jet Moore and I was part of the Okone County middle school basketball team this year. I have been going to Aone County now for three years and some of the things I've enjoyed so far are
012all my friends, all the support that I get from my teachers and playing basketball, baseball, and football. OK OCMS highly values service and academic success. So this year for my basketball, my basketball team chose to serve our school through a service project that not only helped the school but also benefited any visitors who came to enjoy the school. We cleaned out the concession stand, taking out the old popcorn maker, and constructed and installed a new table and scraped up old tile so that we could have workers come in and replace the flooring. After this, we went over to help the beta club fill up the football concession stands with new snacks and stock the coolers with Gatorade and other drinks. Helping with these projects renewed my sense of pride in my school. It made me
013realize that all the all of us share the responsibility to keep the school clean and help clean up after other people as well as ourselves so that we can keep this school in the best shape possible. [snorts] >> Hi, I'm Sienna. I'm in seventh grade and I've been a member of Miss Blau Sewing Club since the start of the school year. Throughout the year, sewing club has given me many opportunities to give back to my community. One of those occasions was making dog bandanas. This was a purposeful endeavor, not just because it allowed us to improve our skills on the sewing machines, but it also improved us in our helping with the dogs and the shelters that care for them. The bandanas allow the dogs adoptive families to have a momentto remember the day that
014they found their new addition and gives us students a specific project with an important outcome to accomplish during our time together. I loved this project, especially for the care the club would be putting into these bandanas versus if the dogs just bought it or the dog shelters just bought it themselves. This service project also made me feel more connected to my community and made me be more of an active contributor for the betterment of my community. I thank Miss Blau for creating sewing club and being the leader of it. Without her, Okone would not be able to do amazing community service projects like the doganas. >> Good evening. As we conclude tonight, we want to re return our focus to the students you just heard from, Jet and Sienna. Their stories highlight different service experiences,
015but they reflect something much, much bigger. They represent hundreds of students across our campus who are choosing to step up, help others, and take pride in making a difference. What has been especially meaningful for us as educators is not just what students are doing, but how they are doing it. We see excitement. We see ownership. We see students who are genuinely proud of the work they are contributing to their school and their community. That kind of engagement can't be forced. It grows when students feel their actions matter. Service has become a way for our students to connect with one another, to see needs beyond themselves, and to realize that even at a middle school, they have the power to lead. When students like Jet and Sienna talk about their experiences, they're they aren't repeating adult
016words. They're speaking from lived experiences that have shaped how they see themselves and their role in our community. For the adults on our campuses, this work is deeply rewarding. Seeing students excited to serve reminds us of why we do what we do. It enforces that we give students meaningful opportunities. They rise to the occasion. Jet and Sienna may be the voices you heard tonight, but they speak on behalf of many. Across our campuses, students are connecting, serving, and making an impact. and we are incredibly proud of them. So, as we close, one of the things that we wanted to do to just give you a momento is for those of you that are u pet owners, dog owners, um we'd like to have Jet and Sienna give you one of these. If you don't have
017a dog of your own, you can um maybe find a friend that does. So, just wanted you to have a little piece of what what our students are doing. Thanks so much. [applause] Very well. Speech. Speech. Speech. [applause] Next we have superintendent report. Dr. Butler. >> Thank you, Mr. Ransom. And good evening, board members. I'd like to begin by thanking our students, our staff, and our um our parents for their flexibility during the recent winter weather events. Um you know, we had some unique experiences there and we just appreciate everyone's flexibility as we determine what was best to do for our students on those weather days. I want to give a particular shout out to um our law enforcement officials and emergency management officials. And then Dr. White and the maintenance crew know they were
018out there two weekends in a row on Sundays kind of scraping the parking lots and making sure that those would be ready for our students to return. So, thank you to those people. Um, and after these recent weather disruptions, it's a little bit ironic, but now we will celebrate our actual winter break this next weekend. It should be some nice weather for that. So, Friday and Monday, um, school will not be in session for winter break. And then as we look ahead to the weeks that follow, February is a short month, but the calendar has a lot of meaningful recognitions. So last week was National School Counseling Week, and we want to thank our 21 counseling professionals in the district who make an incredible difference for our students every single day. We are also currently
019observing Black History Month and celebrating the contributions and leadership that continue to inspire our students and CTAE month which highlights the programs that connect the classroom to college and career opportunities. Looking ahead, we encourage our parents to mark their calendars as online kindergarten registration will begin on March 9th and run through the 13th and then screenings will occur on March 30th and 31st. Detailed information regarding these dates is available on our website and our social media channels. And we are excited to welcome the class of 2039. Finally, it's an exciting time for our student athletes and coaches as winter sports transition into the postseason and spring sports begin their schedules. And I want to thank the board for their continued support of all our extracurricular programs. That concludes my report unless there are any questions.
020Thank you, Dr. Buller. Next, we have presentations and discussions, teaching and learning report. Miss Whitaker. >> Good evening, uh, board and Dr. Butler. The Okone County Schools teaching and learning report, uh, contains three items of information and no action items. The first item of information are our star students and teachers. Yilon Chang of North Okoney High School and George Ga, excuse me, of North Okone High School and George Ga of Okone High have been named the 2526 star students. The star program recognizes the senior in each school's graduating class who earns the highest SAT score. As part of this honor, each star student selects a star teacher. The star teacher selected at North Okone was Dr. Scott Thompson and the Okone County High School teacher was Jake Forester. The district uh winner will be announced
021at the star student breakfast on February 19th and the county winner will advance to the regional level in March. The second item of information is our district spelling be. Okone County Schools hosted its annual district spelling be on January 22nd here at the ISC. Nine students representing elementary and middle school across the district participated, demonstrating strong spelling skills, poise, and perseverance through the competition. Dub Creek Middle School's Kavia Sinmar won the district B, clenching the title with the words materialistic and conerto in the final round. She will now advance to the regional spelling bee on February 28th at Clark Middle School. And the third item of information is our CTA CTAE learning visits in response to needs identified through the superintendent survey. We're strengthening CTA pathways, increasing program awareness, and aligning offerings to workforce demands
022were ranked as high priorities across all stakeholder groups. District office leaders, school administrators, and CTAE teachers conducted exploratory learning visits to two school districts. These visits provided opportunities to observe highquality CTAE pathways in action, examine intentional alignment between rigorous advanced placement coursework and CTAE programs, review industry standard equipment, and engage in professional dialogue with district leaders regarding program design, scheduling, staffing, and long-term sustainability. Insights gained from these visits will inform the ongoing evaluation of current CTA offerings, guide future program enhancements, and support strategic planning to ensure students have access to meaningful pathways that promote college and career readiness and contribute to local and regional economic development. Okone County Schools will engage businesses, industry, and post-secondary partners to validate the relevance of programs and expand highquality work-based learning opportunities for students. Findings from this work will
023inform the development of a phased implementation plan outlining short-term improvements, long-term investments, and budget considerations to support sustainable CTA growth. During our recent visits and advisory committee meetings, members expressed excitement about partnering with Okon County Schools and beginning to explore expanded partnership opportunities. Go back. I am pleased to share that $41,000 from Walton EMC has been used to support CTA equipment upgrades across the district. Natalie Stowe worked closely with these teachers to develop a prioritized list of equipment needs and we were excited to fulfill these requests and strengthen hands-on real world learning experiences for our students. Teachers received these purchases on Friday. That concludes the teaching and learning report unless there are questions. >> I have a comment about the CTE visits. I want to thank Dr. Butler and our district leaders for really taking
024a close look at our CTE offerings because there are some exciting things happening around the state. They're really cool and relevant for that well-rounded educational experience and I'm excited to see how we can be a leader in that as well. So, I think that's a great plan and I'm looking forward to hear more about it. >> Next, we have student services, Dr. Yansy. >> Good evening, Dr. Butler and board members. Uh the February 2026 student services report contains one item of information and one action item. The item of information is an update on the school choice window for the 2627 school year. The school choice application window opened on Friday, November the 14th and closed on Friday, January the 9th. Decision letters were mailed on Friday, January the 16th. We received a total of 151
025school choice applications for the upcoming school year. School choice numbers have been shared with school and district leaders to support planning purposes for course registration and staffing aotments for the 2627 school year. Student services has one action item for tonight's regular board meeting. At the January board of education meeting, Dr. White and I presented information on the proposed acquisition of LED vis video scoreboards for our high school stadiums. The project timeline targets completion during the current spring semester, allowing the LED video boards to be installed in time for our high school graduation ceremonies and as scheduling permits for the latter portion of spring athletic seasons. By incorporating LED video boards into our stadiums, this will not only enhance engagement during our athletic events, but also create meaningful instructional opportunities for students, teachers, coaches, and our
026co-curricular programs. Instructional integration of LED v video boards could include graphic and video design, programming, and content creation, thus providing students with hands-on real world learning experience aligned with career exploration and workforce ready skills. The superintendent recommends the board of education approve the purchase of the LED video boards from digital scoreboards for our high school stadiums at a proposal cost of $774,589.74. The estimated total project cost which includes the installation of the video board structures, the LED video boards, operating software and hardware, fiber, electrical work, and removal of the existing scoreboards is $899,748.30. The project will be funded through East Bloss. This concludes the student services report unless there are questions. >> Have a question on the scoreboard. So the um this will be at Okone and then also at North. Were we able to
027do anything with the existing scoreboards? >> Yes, sir. Um, one of the boards is still usable and we're going to move it down to OKY Middle School and that is part of the project cost that we have outlined. >> Great. Thank you. >> Thanks. >> Yes, sir. >> Technology, Mr. McCullers. >> Thank you, Mr. Ransom. Good evening, board members. Dr. Butler Carne County Schools Technology Services Board of Education report for February 9th includes one information item and three action items. Tonight, I'd like to take a few minutes to discuss the upcoming transition in our district's communication tools, specifically our move from Remind to Parent Square. The Remind has been purchased by Parent Square, which has announced that this platform will sunset in September of 2026. While that date is still some time away, we felt
028it was important to be proactive rather than reactive. This provided us with an opportunity to take a step back and evaluate not only the replacement for remind but our overall communication practices as a district. To begin this process with the help of our communications director, Mr. Cquit, we conducted a communication communications audit. This audit looked at how we currently communicate with family, staff, and the community with which tools are being used, where there is overlap and where there are gaps. One of the key findings that we used was that [clears throat] we are using multiple platforms for sim similar purposes which can be confusing for families and inefficient for staff. Major goal that emerged was the consolidation of our communication tools. Based on that work, we created a review team made up of administrators, teachers,
029and support staff. This team reviewed the communication options, evaluated their features, and and considered how well each aligned with our district's needs both now and in the future. After much analysis, the parent square platform emerged as the best option for a Coney County schools moving forward. An important advantage of Parent Square is its ability to consolidate several of the communication tools we're currently used to single platform. This includes tools such as Remind, Final Site mass communication, talking points for translation services, s'more for newsletters, and constant contact. By bringing these functions together, we can reduce redundancy, simplify communications for families, and create a more efficient process for staff. This means fewer loginins, clearer messaging, and a more streamlined experience. Additionally, Parent Square will provide us with an efficient way to distribute our annual report in a
030digital format. Moving this process online will reduce printing and post cost while ensuring families have timely and easy access to district information. In addition, parent square offers several teacher focused features that are not currently available through. These tools in the excuse me these include tools for volunteer signups, parent teacher conference scheduling and digital field trip permission forms. These features not only improve communication but also reduce paperwork and save instructional and administrative time. The transition is expected to take several weeks as we collaborate with parent square to integrate our student information system which is infinite campus our transportation data and other key contact groups. Our target for full implementation is July 2026. In summary, this transition is not simply about replacing before it sunsets. It's about improving clarity, consistency, and effic efficiency in how we communicate
031across the district while also providing our teachers with tools that better support their work. [clears throat] Our first action item is the interactive panels. Because of the success of the interactive panel pilot and based on the fact that our current Smartboard inventory is 25 or more years old, we would like to proceed with the full replacement of our current interactive model, which includes kindergarten, first grade, and second grade classrooms, as well as art, music, PE, STEM, media center, and special education spaces. This replacement directly supports the district's strategic plan performance objective to improve student engagement, achievement, and growth by providing teachers and students with modern interactive instructional tools that enhance lesson delivery and student participation. Howard Industries Incorporated has secured a state contract with the Georgia Department of Administrative Services for audiovisisual equipment and related
032services, which includes interactive panels. Under the state contract, Oak County Schools plans to purchase 108 new line 75 inch QPro interactive panels. The the proposal includes removal of the existing smartboards, installation of the new panels, and recycling of any outdated equipment. Superintendent's recommendation is for the board of education to approve Howard Industries with a bid of $260,370 for the purchase installation of 108 new line panels. This project will be paid for using east plus funds. Our second action item tonight is the smartboard surplus. The interactive panel proposal includes disassembling and removing the existing smartboards in the classroom. We have gathered the information for these smartboards and created a special surplus list for your review. Superintendent's recommendation for the board is to approve this smartboard surplus list as presented. And our final action item tonight is
033board policy IBFG internet acceptable use. Final action is is to is to update this policy which is an the update align the policy with layered requirements of Senate Bill 351 the protecting Georgia's children of on social media act of 2024. Based on recent guidance that we have received, the revisions provide additional clarity regarding the prohibition of student access to social media platforms while connected to the district's network and while using schoolisssued devices. The superintendent recommends placing board policy IBFG internet acceptable use on the table this evening for public review and comment. And that will conclude my technology services report unless you have any questions. >> I do. Um, coming back to the uh, parent square, I think it's great that we're consolidating down various systems into one. It sounds far more user friendly on a
034lot of fronts. You'd mentioned that I think the full deployment would be June or July of this year. Will it impact parent communications or will parents or students have to do anything different during this school year or for parent student activity in it? Will that only impact next school year? and full implementation means top to bottom getting ready and July one is always a good time to start that with the new school year. We do have plans to do a soft roll out. >> Okay. >> Um prior to school ending uh especially um utilizing our administrators um taking into account things like fifth to sixth grade transition, getting ready for summer workouts for athletics and getting with those coaches and administrators to to implement early. So uh but we are going to communicate communicate communicate
035on on the new communication tool and uh tell our parents that it's coming and uh basically it's uh it's going to be very flexible on the on the user side and that um you get to kind of pick and choose how you want the communications to come to you. So, we're excited about that. And yes, we will be uh kind of rolling that information out to parents ahead of time, but July 1st is is kind of our go date, but we're definitely going to be doing things before then. So, >> thank you. >> Business services, Mr. Adams. >> Uh good evening board members and Dr. Butler. Uh, business services has six items of information tonight and no action items for tonight's meeting. The first item of information is our cash balance report for January. As
036of January 31st, the closing general balance represents a 2.3% decrease from over last month's balance. State funding projections are currently stable, but we will continue to monitor these as we get closer to the end of the fiscal year and in the coming months. Our cash balance for January was strong and we are well positioned to meet our financial obligations. The second item of information is a list of all vendor payments made in January. We paid 328 vendors $2.1 million for the month. The third item of information is our budget report for January. Revenue for Adalorum tax collection is at 95.8% 8% for the month and 74.8% overall for all collections for revenue. Expenditure expenditures would expect it to be at 58.3%. Our monthly expenditure report indicates we're at 58.5 demonstrating that we are tracking very
037close to our budget. We will continue to monitor these figures as we move toward the end of the fiscal year. The fourth item of information is the East Bloss collections report. We had an increase of 14.18% in collections over last month and a 2.89% increase over January of last year. The fifth item information is the East Plus 6 report. Revenues and expenditures have been updated through the end of January. The sixth item information provides an update on the federal funding allocations and expenditures for the month of January. These funds are reimbursement based and we will see these funds continue to be paid out to us throughout the fiscal year. That concludes my report unless the board has any questions. >> Questions? >> Thank you, Mr. Adams. Operations. Dr. White. Good evening board members and Dr.
038Butler. Operations has two items of information for this evening and one action item for this month's regular session. The firstformational item is an operations update regarding the intersection of Highway 316 and Jimmy Daniel. We had an ongoing collaboration with G DOT and Aone County Public Works since August. At the recent public detour open house on January 22nd, we learned that there will be a temporary full closure of Jimmy Daniel Road intersection at 316. This closure is anticipated to last six months starting near the summer. As transportation plans routes for next school year, we will be adjusting affected routes to detour up to Atlanta Highway and then down Jimmy Daniel. Operations has also created gravel pads at each high school to allow for the new 14 plus one activity buses and an athletic bus to be
039parked on campus. These changes were implemented based on principal feedback. This will allow for quicker access to these vehicles for coaches and students and will keep coaches in the classroom longer for instruction since they will not have to travel to transportation to pick up these vehicles. The Georgia Department of Public Safety conducted its annual state bus inspections of our bus fleet. We passed again with a 100% pass rate. I'd like to thank the director of transportation, Dr. Deborah Shelton, for her leadership, our mechanics for their prioritization of our safety. Our transportation office staff arranging logistics during inspections, and our drivers for their daily pre and post-trip and focus on safety. Our next item is an update on the North O County High School bleacher repairs. At this time, we have received the parts for the
040bleachers and repairs were completed at the end of last week. I'd like to thank the North O County administrators and staff for assisting us in coordinating this repair. The North Oone softball fence is in need of repair and housing services will begin replacing the current Green Monster with a new fence over the next few weeks. This will be a sixoot vinylcoated black fence similar to what we have at Okone County High School. Finally, I'd like to thank the maintenance, transportation, and nutrition teams for their tireless efforts and work during two winter storm events in January. Maintenance drove campuses for damage, spread salt, and used bobcats and tractors to clear ice and snow at several campuses. Transportation staff and bus drivers developed a road list, spent hours driving roads, and identified areas of concern for buses.
041Nutrition pivoted and adjusted meal service for the day. Their efforts ensured that campuses were ready for school and that our buses could freely travel for morning pickup. Our second item of information is a financial update on school nutrition. Over the past five years, several factors have significantly affected school nutrition's finances. During COVID, all students ate for free, which temporarily increased federal reimbursement revenue. That assistance ended in FY24. At the same time, benefit costs have risen sharply. State health benefit plan premiums more than doubled from $945 to $2,028 between 2021 and 2026. and TRS increased from 19.06% to 22.32% since 2021. For FY27, we project benefits will account for approximately 44% of nutrition's labor costs, just over a million dollars for a county schools. As a reminder, school nutrition is staffed by classified employees, and state
042funds do not cover the employer portion of the state health benefit plan or TRS for classified staff. These costs are primarily funded through local tax dollars for classified positions. In addition, the federal reimbursement rate and rising benefit costs continue to be challenges. Based on current plate costs and federal reimbursement rates, OCS nutrition only generates 15 cents in profit on free and reduced price meals, which only accounts for 28% of our participation. Meanwhile, Aone County School's nutrition loses a$126 on each paid meal served, which accounts for 72% of our participation. A few examples. An elementary school lunch plate cost is $4.54. Paid elementary school students pay $2.75 and the district receives a 53 reimbursement, resulting in a $1.26 loss per meal served. Although free and reduced students do not pay for their meals at the time,
043excuse me, at the same do $4.54 plate cost, the reimbursement is $469, resulting in a 15 profit for each meal served. School nutrition currently only makes money from allocart items, free and reduced students priced meals, and adult meals. Without any further changes, we are anticipating a roughly $500,000 shortfall of the district's nutrition enterprise fund for FY27. This is not isolated to Aone County Schools as other districts throughout Georgia are facing the same issue, particularly those with low and free free reduced lunch participation. We have already started supplementing school nutrition from the general fund. We are evaluating future financial decisions related to nutrition as well. To address these challenges, OCS school nutrition has implemented several strategies. Hiring nutrition workers through ESS, reviewing and adjusting menus to maintain quality while reducing costs, increasing breakfast and lunch prices
044for the 2526 school year by a quarter, expanding and adjusting the variety of allocart offerings, and comparing our current food bid with other suppliers. We have also formed a nutrition task force made up of district leaders, principles, students, and staff to develop recommendations informed by a broad group of stakeholders. I will continue to provide updates throughout the spring semester to keep you informed of our decisions regarding the Aon County School Nutrition Program and its financial outlook. [snorts] Our action item for the evening is the Aon County Elementary School Activity Improvements Project. Board members, thank you for your willingness to collaborate and join us on our summer 2025 East Plots visits to multiple schools, which was the impetus for this project. This project will be similar to renovation projects at other schools, but mainly focus on
045the activity areas at a Coney County Elementary School. Outside of the gym, we are proposing to replace the roof, replace all metal siding, improve drainage around the building. Inside of the gym, we're proposing to insulate the upper ceiling and walls, add clear story windows for natural light, replace the gym floor, enclose the mechanical equipment in the mezzanine, replace the lighting with LEDs in the gym, and replace the ceiling tile in the two classrooms. On the back playground, we are proposing to remove the original cross ties and regrade the play area, sod the play area, remove the sick tree and plant new trees with new teacher benches, repave the play court over spring break, and add storm drainage. As we replace the gym floor, we are also addressing the back left pod that was raised as
046a concern last spring. To be clear, independent environmental testing confirmed no environmental issues exist. However, in full transparency and to provide additional assurance, we will also replace the floor in the back left pod as part of this renovation project. The superintendent's recommendations for the board of education to approve alcher brothers for the Okoni County elementary school activity area improvements project for a proposal cost of $788,850. The estimated total project cost is $917,178. This project will be paid for using ease blast. This concludes the operations reports unless there are any questions. >> Question about scope of the work that's being done and the research to rectify that problem. It's very there's a lot of work and thought that's gone into it. >> Thank you very much. David Seagull is doing a great job for us. >>
047And Dr. My apologies if you said it, but what was the time frame for the activity renovation? >> Uh, that'll be done over the summer. We'll do the uh the activity court over spring break, but most of it will be done over the summer. >> Great. Thank you. >> Yes, sir. >> Any questions? Dr. White. Operations and facilities. Mr. Rickson. >> Good evening. The Aona County Schools Operations and Facilities February 9th, 2026 Board of Education report contains two items of information and one action item. The Janu January league custodian meeting was held on the 8th at North County High School. The team learned about several important facility topics, including the difference between smoke compartments and fire rated spaces, as well as the importance of keeping fire rated doors closed. The team also discussed potential safety
048hazards in outdoor spaces and what to look for, what to look out for. We continue to be grateful for the tireless work of our custodial teams whose efforts keep our schools clean, healthy, and ready for learning. Item information number two is construction update. Our county primary school driveway uh project will happen over spring break. The work of transportation uh facility to uh build the new offices will begin this week. And finally, the North of Tony High auxiliary gym. The coaches and leadership team at North County has met with with operations and the architect to discuss needs and goals for this project. The architect is investigating possible design solutions to achieve all of those goals. Action item number one is the purchase of robotic sweepers and scrubbers. Last year, we piloted sweeper and scrubber a sweeper
049and scrubber at Malcolm Bridge Middle School for 30 days. In that time, we learned that we could scrub the floors daily instead of weekly with the same labor costs. This attributed to more to a more attractive and well-maintained environment for our students and staff. >> [snorts] >> We have been monitoring custodial vacancies for the best for the best time to implement a longerterm test of these machines and we have opportunities for this at Malcolm Bridge Middle and Aone High School. It's important to note that the per this purchase will not replace positions, but robots don't call in sick. We don't have to pay insurance or benefits for them. Also, just an important note is they do come with a three-year warranty. And that concludes the operations facilities report unless there are any questions. Any questions?
050Thank you, Mr. Rickson. Thanks. We have communications, Mr. Cer. >> Thank you, Mr. Ransom. Good evening, board members and Dr. Butler. Communications report contains three items of information. The first item is January social media. Okone County Schools had 29 social media posts in January with an average of 27,879 views. The top post for the month as of the top four posts for the month were weather related. The Saturday announcement about schools being closed on the following Monday garnered 197,960 views, which is the highest figure in district history. The four weather posts combined for more than 422,000 views. For the month, 20 posts were viewed more than 10,000 times, including two at 100,000, two at 50,000, four at 30,000, and two at 20,000. Aside from the weather updates, OCS saw tremendous engagement with the district spelling
051bee, the CTA graduation rates, Okone County Middle School's girls basketball championship, the 100th day of school, the star students and teachers, transportation emergency training, and several awards presented to students and teachers. Okone County Schools gained 431 followers in January, giving the district more than 24,400 followers, including 9,000 on Instagram for the first time ever. In addition, the January newsletter was opened 10,390 times at a rate of 69%. The industry average for education is 37%. We are so appreciative of the parents, students, community members, businesses, and media outlets that follow and engage with our social media platforms. The second item of information is a detailed look at the communications platforms used to notify parents, students, and staff on the three days in which the district was closed, open on a two-hour delay, and open with normal
052operations. I would like to point out the third post took place on February 1st. It's not reflected in the earlier numbers, but I am including it here for the purposes only of this presentation. The storms created operational challenges, but they also served as a test for the district's communication systems. Our primary goal was to ensure that every person received timely, accurate information to help them plan their schedule safely and efficiently. Okone County Schools averaged just shy of 130,000 views for these social media posts. As mentioned earlier, the closure post on January 24th set the district record with nearly 198,000 views. The average reach of 56,000 is significant as well. As a reminder, reach refers to the number of unique followers who saw the content. While OCS has 24,000 followers, more than double that amount looked
053at these posts at least once. This indicates that our information is being seen well beyond our immediate digital footprint. We also saw approximately 275 shares per post. This is an important metric because it means community members didn't just receive the information, but rather actively participated as ambassadors to help spread the word. Finally, because parents and guardians did such a great job placing and updating contact information in Infant Campus, OCS consistently delivered approximately 10,000 emails, 9,200 phone calls, and 7,400 text messages for each event. Overall, the takeaway is that the notification systems were reliable. The numbers suggest that stakeholders were well informed and engaged throughout these episodes. The communications department will continue to monitor these metrics to ensure the community's needs are being met. Finally, we have the January highlights video. And that concludes communications unless
054you have any questions. >> Steve, you were out in the cold with that drone. Those are some great shots. Those look good. I want to compliment the communication around the snow days because I think you know the transparency around the timeline to make a decision was very helpful for families and with the weather it's unpredictable and you can't always do that but I think that was very well done. So thank you. >> Thank you. Next we have communications to the board. Is anyone signed up to speak? >> We have no one signed up this evening. Mr. Ransom. >> Thank you Mr. Carpet. Action items. Dr. Butler. >> All right. Thank you Mr. Chairman. For item A. We would recommend the purchase and installation of 108 new line interactive panels with a bid of $260,370. This
055project will be paid using Eastblo funds. Howard Industries Incorporated has secured a state contract with the Georgia Department of Administrative Services for audiovisisual equipment and related services including interactive panels. >> A motion. >> So moved. >> Mr. Hammock. >> Second. >> Mr. Hammond. All in favor? Passes. 5. >> All right. Item B is the smartboard surplus list and we would recommend this list be approved as presented. >> Motion move. >> Parish. >> Mr. Tulle. All in favor? >> Passes. 50. >> Item C is the Aony County elementary activity improvements. We will recommend the approval of the bid from Amacher Brothers for this project at a total cost of $788,850. This project will be paid using East Blast funds. Need >> a motion. >> So moved. >> Mr. Hammond. >> Second. >> Mr. Hammock. All in
056favor? >> Passes 50. Item D is the purchase of a digital scoreboard for Okona County High School and North Okone High School at the cost of 774,589.74. This project will be paid using Eastbloass dollars and will be completed prior to graduation ceremonies this spring. >> A motion, >> Mr. Tulle. Second, >> Miss Parish. All in favor? Passes 5. Item E is the purchase of a robotic sweeper and scrubber for Malcolm Bridge Middle School and for a Coney County high school from Athens janitorial. We would recommend the purchase for a total cost of $117,260 from general fund dollars. >> We need a motion. So moved Mr. Hammock Mr. Tool. All in favor >> item F is the internet acceptable use policy. We would recommend that the board policy IBFG inter internet acceptable use be placed on
057the table for public review and comment until the next board meeting. >> Motion moved. >> Mr. Hammond. >> Second. Mr. Hammock. All in favor? >> Passes. 5-0. >> And finally, item G is the Aon County Schools Board norms and protocols which will be publicly available on the Aon County School website pending approval by the board. Need a motion. >> Miss Parish, >> Mr. Tulle. All in favor? Passes. 5-0. We do have a need to to discuss personnel and need a motion to enter executive session. Order will adjourn to executive session to discuss or deliberate upon personnel matters as described on the affidavit to be attached to the meeting to the minutes. [laughter] Second, Mr. >> Tool. All in favor? Passes 5-0. We're adjourned to executive session.