001call this January 12th regular session to order. First order of business is the election of BOE officers. First is the board of education chair. Are there any nominations? >> I will nominate Michael Ransom. >> Michael Ransom. Any other nominations? I will second it. I accept the nomination. All in favor? 40. Any opposed? None opposed. >> You didn't vote for yourself. >> Feel like it'd be a little inappropriate. Interest. Next, we have the board of education vice chair. Any nominations? >> I would like to nominate Ryan Hammock. >> Mr. Hammock. Any other nominations? >> Mr. Hammock, do you accept? >> I do. >> All in favor? passes 40. Any opposed? None opposed. Next, the legislative liaison. Any nominations? >> I nominate Adam Hammond. >> Mr. Hammond. Are there any additional nominations? Mr. Hammond, do you accept?
002>> I do. >> Is there a second? >> Second. >> All in favor? Passes 40. Any opposed? Congratulations. Next, we need to uh approve the agenda. Need a motion. >> So moved. >> Mr. Tulle. >> Second. >> Mr. Hammond. All in favor. Passes. 5-0. >> Need to approve the minutes from the December 8th, 2025 meeting. >> So move. >> Mr. Tulle. >> Second. Mr. Hammock. All in favor passes. 5. >> Thank you, Mr. Ransom. And good evening board members and Dr. Butler. We have several recognitions this evening. So, if you'll join us up front as you make your way down, I'm going to note that the art display this month is provided by students of Malcolm Bridge Elementary and their instructor is Juliana Lutz and their artwork will be on display within the ISC on
003the monitor hallway, the monitors in the hallway uh throughout the rest of the month. Uh we thank these talented students for these amazing pieces they've shared with us. First this evening, the board will recognize the January Pursuit of Excellence Award winner, the assistant principal of High Shoes Elementary, Chelsea Palmer. She will receive a $50 Visa gift card, fleece blanket, stainless steel mug, and tote from Peach State Federal Credit Union, gift cards from Chops and Hops and Rosy's Hometown Meets, and a commemorative plaque. From the nomination form for Miss Palmer, Chelsea Palmer is an assistant principal who exemplifies what it means to lead with heart and purpose. She is deeply student centered, highly knowledgeable, and consistently dedicated to supporting students, teachers, staff, and families. Even during times of change, she has maintained a steady, reassuring presence,
004always focused on what is best for the child. Miss Palmer handles stressful and challenging moments with remarkable grace, offering steady leadership when it's needed most. She is always willing to step in and help. She is a true team player who seeks opportunities to grow and strengthen her practice. Much of her work happens quietly and behind the scenes, often without recognition, yet its impact is felt throughout the school each day. High Scholes is incredibly grateful for her hard work, commitment, and care for our community. She makes a lasting difference, and we are fortunate to have her as our assistant principal. The January Pursuit of Excellence Award winner, Chelsea Palmer. Next, a board will recognize the Malcolm Bridge Middle School band for earning the exemplary performance award from the Georgia Music Educators Association. Exemplary performance is the
005most prestigious award available to middle and high school bands, courses, and orchestras. The director is Dr. Wesley York. There you are. Congratulations. Next, the board will recognize Malcolm Bridge Middle's FFA Chapter for earning the Horiculture Superior Chapter Champion Award at the Georgia National Fair and for winning the three-star National FFA Chapter Award. The adviser is Emily Kersonen. Congratulations. Finally, the board will recognize the North O County High School Flag Football Team for winning the GHSA Division 3 State Championship. The team members are Addie Argo, Hayden Argo, Hazel Beam, Lily Clark, Katherine Cooper, Taylor Dillard, Haven Drummond, Hadley Faulner, Lexi Favro, Kyler Hammond, Emry Harden, Nolan Herren, Khloe Hess, Zoe Hill, Samantha Johnston, Bailey Johnston, Ava Lazley, Cali Mashburn, Ellen Pastnik, Elizabeth Patterson, Ashton Rios, Aniston Scott, Addie Stewart, and Connley Warner. The head coach is
006Nicole Laamera. You're fine. No titans. and board members. That concludes recognitions. Got that mic behind me. Yeah, they are. >> Next we have Points of Pride, Malcolm Bridge Elementary School. Welcome, Mr. Watson. >> Good evening, Dr. Butler and board members. Thank you for the opportunity to share one of the many aspects of Malcolm Bridge that makes it special, our fifth grade Soore leadership program. Soar stands for service opportunities and academic responsibilities. At Malcolm Bridge, we're very excited about this program as it is it's in its first year. Soar provides students with meaningful opportunity to serve others while taking ownership of their learning. It helps students understand that leadership is not a title. It helps uh understand that it's a responsibility demonstrated through actions, effort, and character. Soar aligns directly with our eagle expectations. Be respectful,
007be responsible, and be your best. It supports our academic focus and our school culture. We are so proud of our students and staff and appreciate the opportunity to highlight their work. Each one of these students behind me is going to tell you a little bit more about our sore program. >> I have learned that it takes work to help others, but in the end, it's a great feeling to be able to serve. To me, leadership means helping others stay focused and on track and showing them what should be done. Being part of soore has changed my understanding of leadership by helping me realize that being a leader doesn't mean you just do everything by yourself, but also let others help. I volunteer at Redeemer Presbyterian Church in the nursery and greeting those coming into the
008church. Sor has taught me how to stay focused and how to show leadership both in and outside of school. Leadership means that you understand the good impact you have on your community. I volunteer Athens Humane Society and Good Samaritan. Being a being a leader doesn't have to be at school or at your house. You can just help the world. Leadership means to me being a kind person and someone who can be followed to improve. I volunteer at OCAS animal shelter. To me, leadership means helping others and setting an example. Being part of soore has changed my understanding of leadership by teaching me more leadership qualities and how to help others better. The organization that I am helping to get my sore hours is the Athens Area Humane Society. I think that everyone should know the
009importance of volunteering for community service. Leadership now means to me that you can be a great leader by listening and setting examples. It has changed my perspective because I have learned that being a leader is not just being the boss. It is communicating and setting examples. I'm volunteering at Good Samaritan and Athens Humane Society for my sore hours. Store has taught me ways and techniques of being a leader and how to work with others. So classmates will be encouraged to work hard too. What leadership means to me is helping others and doing the right thing even when it's hard. Store taught me that leadership is about believing yourself and helping others believe in yourself, too. I've been volunteering at Athens church watching the young children. Leadership means to me that you are an example. Also,
010you're prepared, positive, and you help others. Soar has changed my understanding by giving me more in detailed strategies on being focused, being prepared, helping, and leading the community for the better. I'm getting my sore hours at Chosen for Life Ministry. I have learned about the different ways to help my community and how to be a leader. What leadership means to me is doing the right thing and setting example when others are not being kind. I have volunteered at the Salvation Army. >> In closing, Malcolm Bridge Elementary continues to move forward with purpose and a clear vision for our students. Through our focus on service opportunities and academic responsibilities, our students are learning that success comes from effort, responsibility, and caring for others. Our dedicated staff is deeply committed to meeting the needs of every child,
011holding high expectations, and creating meaningful opportunities for students to lead, grow, and make a difference. We are proud of the progress we've made together, and we remain focused on continuous improvement as we work to prepare students who are both academically strong and socially responsible. Thank you for your continued support of Malcolm Bridge Elementary and for partnering with us as we help our students to truly soar. We'll be happy to answer any questions. I would like to take a picture with y'all if y'all have time. >> Sure. We do have a male that is in sore too, just even though there's only female. I feel like that's important to mention. I knew you were going to do that. tough one to follow there. But uh next we have superintendent report. >> Thank you Mr. Ransom and
012good evening board members. It's been a strong start to the new semester and it's been great to have our students, teachers, and leaders back on our campuses. Earlier today, we were able to welcome um the eighth class of Villa, which is the volunteer instructional leadership learning academy. We had 24 parents, two from every school um and they'll participate over the next three months to learn more about district operations and how the work connects across the departments in our district. Board members, thank you for your continued support of Villa and for being an important part of today's session as you answered questions with openness and transparency. A couple of quick calendar reminders. Coney County Schools will be closed on January 19th in observance of Martin Luther King Day. And then on January 20th, we'll celebrate the
013100th day of school. I also wanted to share an update connected to the conclusion of my first 90 days. On Wednesday, we will release a summary of stakeholder feedback gathered through surveys, school and classroom visits, and conversations with staff, family, students, and community members. Over my last 90 days, I'm grateful for the thoughtful input and the time so many people to took to share their perspectives. Several clear themes did emerge. First of all, there is so much to celebrate in this extraordinary school system, and that has been built through years of hard work and doing what is best for students. A few opportunities to strengthen our work as we move forward together also emerged from the feedback. My commitment and I know the commitment of this board is to keep listening and use what we
014have learned to inform our priorities and guide our next steps. I'm excited to share that report with the community through an email and on our website later this week. As a part of that work, a team of high school representatives from Aone County Schools will be visiting several college and careermies over the next few weeks to explore ways to expand CTA opportunities for our students. Our first visit is this Thursday and we'll be going to Newton County. We are excited to observe some innovative workforce readiness ideas while simultaneously continuing our strong tradition of excellence in academics here in Aona County. That concludes the superintendent's report. Unless there are any questions. >> I just have a quick comment about Villa. I want to thank you and I know Steve does a good job with some coordination
015of that and Miss Zo. That's such an important program and I was a participant of that a few years ago before I got to be on the board and I think it's just instrumental in really pulling the curtain back and showing parents how the school board work, how the school system works and some of the things that you wouldn't see on a day-to-day basis. So, I think that's so important. I think it is added work for you all. So we definitely appreciate that you do that and that connectivity that it creates between the parents we got to meet today and the board because we get to you know be pretty responsive and hear a lot from them. So thank you. >> Welcome. >> Thank you Dr. Weller. Next we have presentations and discussions student services.
016Dr. Yansy. >> Good evening Dr. Butler and board members. The January 2026 student services report contains four items of information and no action items. The first item of information, sorry, uh is our annual participation in the Georgia Department of Education school climate survey system. These surveys measure the overall quality of school life by capturing experiences from students and adults in such areas as academics, relationships, safety, and the learning environment. The surveys are conducted with four stakeholder groups. students, teachers, staff, and families. The family survey opened on December the 1st and remains open until March 31st. Uh teachers and staff surveys were administered last week, and the student survey window for Coney County Schools will begin on February the 2nd. The second item of information is an update on our annual participation in the Secret Santa
017program. For those who may be unfamiliar with the Secret Santa program and it it is a meaningful demonstration of our community support of families in need during the holiday season. This initiative is led by our school social workers and school counselors at each campus and across the district. Through their efforts along with the generous support of our community partners, the program served 500 580 children from 275 families this year. I would like to extend uh my sincere appreciation to our community first and our school counselors, school social workers, and our community partners who continue to give each year to ensure the continued blessings are provided from the secret Santa program. The third item of information is an update on our use of the mental health grant funds provided by the Georgia General Assembly. Uh the
018FY26 state budget allocated for $20,000 per middle and high school to allow school districts to expand student mental health services and supports. This dedicated state funding is intended to remove nonacademic barriers to learning for students in grades 6 through 12 while ensuring parents are part of the service delivery model process. So, Coney County Schools has designated the mental health funding to contract with multiple local mental health agencies and individual practitioners to provide direct mental and behavioral health services to middle and high school students. These funds are available through the use of the current school year, May the 22nd, 2026. The fourth item of information is an update on the process to acquire digital scoreboards for both high school stadiums. For this presentation, I will ask Dr. for white to join me at the podium. >>
019Good evening. With graduation moving back to the stadiums, we are excited to prioritize video scoreboards in each of the high school stadiums. This project will involve not only procurement of the video scoreboards, but also the supporting infrastructure to include fiber optic cable from the fieldhouses to the press boxes to the video scoreboards and new electrical lines to support the energy requirements of the board. We are also weighing the continued maintenance of these boards in addition to investigating long-term support that is provided by potential manufacturers. This project also comes at a time when we have had intermittent connectivity and repair issues with the current North County scoreboard that have necessitated the procurement and installation of a backup countdown timer. I'll turn it over to Dr. Yansy to discuss video scoreboard usage by the schools. By incorporating
020digital scoreboards into our stadiums, we open new opportunities for our students, teachers, coaches, and programs to engage with this technology both within athletics and beyond. These boards can support academic learning and create pathways for future career exploration. Through our team's research and site visits, we visited high schools and a university. They successfully used digital scoreboards to engage their school communities, develop business partnerships, and showcase student and staff achievements. The boards were observed in various size, pixel pitches, structural support, and software capabilities, allowing for interactive and versatile long-term use as designed by the operating team. For example, some schools integrate board design and content creation into academic courses, providing students students with hands-on real world learning experiences. Others have incorporated digital boards in school cere ceremonies such as high school graduation which is our plan as
021well. Our board timeline or project timeline excuse me includes the removal of the current fixed digit scoreboards and installation of the new digital boards before graduation with the potential for the project completion before the end of spring sports at both high schools. At February's board of education regular session meeting, Dr. White and I will present an action item for the total project cost for digital scoreboards to be installed at Warrior Stadium and Titan Stadium. And this concludes student services report unless you have any questions. >> Thank you, Mr. Ransom. Board members, Dr. Weller technology services board of education report for January 12th includes three information items and no action items. Information item number one of Cody County School student technology competition. The Cody County School Student Technology Competition is an annual event open to students
022in grades 3 through 12. This extracurricular opportunity allows students to showcase their creativity, collaboration, communication, and critical thinking skills through the use of technology. On December the 11th, 22 students representing seven of our schools were selected as district winners. These students will go on to participate in the Northeast Georgia Regional Student Technology Competition on Saturday, January 31st at Legacy Null Middle School in Jackson County. The winners of the regional competition will have an opportunity to compete at the in the Georgia student technology competition in March. All school and district level winners winning projects are highlighted digitally in the OCS student technology competition showcase which has been linked on all of our websites. A special thank you goes to Lindsay Bullyard who's one of our instructional technology specialists for her assistance in the organization of the
023district competition. Interactive panels is our second item of information. Since the roll out of the new line interactive panels as a part of the pilot, there's been a meaningful shift in teaching and learning across K2 classrooms. These highresolution touch enabled displays allow students to directly engage with content, writing, sorting, and manipulating objects. Teachers report that lessons are more interactive and better aligned with the de developmental needs of younger children, leading to increased focus and participation. Julie Ellberman, a kindergarten teacher at OCPS, shared, "Having the new live panel has been such a gift for my class. My students can finally see everything clearly, stay engaged, and interact with the lesson. We are learning the panel together, and it has brought so much excitement to our classroom." The panels have been transformative for inclusion education as well,
024particularly for students with visual impairments. Michelle Jones, a visual arts teacher at OCE, noted that the ability to zoom in on high quality images in real time ensures all students have equitable access to vis visual instruction. Here's a statement from Miss Jones. One of the most impactful moments in my teaching um came when a visually impaired student saw the panel for the first time. I've always seated him close to the front, but he was able to see more with this panel than he ever could with a projector. I used to turn off the back lights so students could see the board. Now I can zoom in and out on famous works of art and manipulate the images in real time in a way that everyone in the room can see. That is what teaching visual
025art should be for our students in Okone County. From an instructional technology perspective, the pilot has exceeded expectations by creating consistent and reliable classroom environments. The panel serve as a dependable instructional hub that supports teacher modeling, differentiation, and strong lesson delivery. By providing a stable technology platform, the pilot has demonstrated that these interactive panels are a foundational tool for promoting promoting highquality, equitable learning experiences for our K2 students districtwide. At this time, I'd like to show a short video to showcase the pilot in action. Got to feel down. Heat. I really like um for math I really like doing equations with the pen because it just it's fun doing equations and answering the questions to do a bunch of stuff on it. And I like learning and having fun with the with the pen and
026drawing. And I also like reading off of the whiteboard on in benchmark where we can read on our binders or on our on the whiteboard and we usually follow on the white board. if you haven't. So, I'm gonna draw a simple baseball on here. Okay. So, here's my little simple baseball. Cool. Okay. So, how raise your hand. Can I show where it's going? Um, Sebastian, think about like what artists do to show movement like from somewhere to somewhere. What's another way we can do it besides what Landry just did? that last cheer you heard was the reaction when we pushed the board in the room for the first time. So, and I will point out a couple of things. Uh multi-touch, you know, getting back the ability to to write on the board is one
027thing, but having multiple students up there at the same time and both of the students are able to interact, that is something that we have not had before here in Okone County. So, so as you can see in a very short amount of time, the interactive panel project has been very successful. They teachers have only had these things for about two months. So, because of this success, we would like to proceed with a full full replacement of our current model, which includes kindergarten, first grade, second grade classrooms, as well as elementary, art, music, PE, STEM, media center, and special education spaces. Howard Industries Incorporated has secured a state contract with the Georgia Department of Administrative Services for audio audiovisisual equipment and related services including interactive panels. Under this state contract, Okone County Schools plans to
028purchase 108 new line 75 in QRO interactive panels. The proposal includes the 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 and installation of 108 new line interactive panels at the February 9th regular session meeting. This project will be paid for using ESPOS and general fund dollars. Information item number three is based on information item number two. As previously mentioned, the interactive panel proposal include dis disassembling and removing the existing smartboards in the classroom. We have gathered the information for these smartboards and created a surplus list for your review. Superintendent's recommendation is for the board of education to approve the 2026 smartboard surplus list at the February 9th,
0292026 regular session meeting. And that concludes my technology report unless you have any questions. >> Any questions? Thank you, sir. >> Thank you. >> Human resources, Mr. Coer. >> Good evening, board members and Dr. Butler. Human resources report this evening contains no items of information and only one action item. Our action item this evening is the 2728 academic calendar. In December, you voted to place it on the table for public comment. At this time, we have received no feedback. So the superintendent's recommendation is approval of the FY2728 academic calendar this evening. That concludes the HR report unless there are any questions. >> Thank you Mr. President. >> Business services Adams. >> Uh good evening board members and Dr. Butler. Uh the business service report for tonight has six items of information and no action items.
030Our first item of information is our December cash balances report. As of December 31st, the closing general fund balance represents a 61% increase over the prior month. Uh primarily due to our tax collections deposits. Our state funding projections are currently stable, but we'll continue to monitor any changes to funding levels in the coming months as a session has just gotten started today. Our cash balances for December was strong and we are well positioned to meet our financial obligations. Our second item of information is our list of vendor payments in December. Excuse me. We paid 405 vendors $1.6 million for the month. The third item information is the budget report for December. Revenues and expenditures would be expected to be at 50%. Our monthly expenditure report indicates we are at 51.3% demonstrating that we are tracking
031very close to our target. We will continue to monitor these figures closely as we move toward the end of the fiscal year. The fourth item of information is our east collections report. We've had an increase of 8.2% in collections over last month and a 5.42% increase over December of last year. The fifth item information is our eastclass 6 report. Revenues and expenditures have been updated through the end of December. And our sixth item information is our federal funds allocation and expenditures for the month of December. As a reminder, 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. >> Any questions? >> Thank you, Mr. Adams. >> Operations, Dr. White. >> Yes, sir.
032Round two. Good evening, board members. Dr. Butler. Operations has four items of information for this evening and no action items. The firstformational item for operations is an update on our energy report. Our kilowatt usage per day for a thousand square feet has been updated for the month of November. The secondformational item is our transportation update. For the previous month, we had 31 field trips, 61 athletic trips, 28 special education trips, 157 buses deployed for a total of 8,676 miles. Our third item of information is an update on school nutrition participation for the month of November. Board members, you'll see that we saw an increase in participation for breakfast of 0.07% and lunch participation of 2.11% as compared to December of 2024. The fourth item of information is an operations update. Christmas was kind to operations
033with multiple deliveries of equipment and completed projects. Transportation received all six buses that the board approved at the October meeting and the two activity buses from the May 2025 board meeting. Maintenance received the towable boon lift to replace our bucket truck. And finally, the Colair Elementary School HIV unit was replaced and maintenance confirmed functionality in December. This concludes the operations report unless there any questions. >> Operations and facilities. Mr. Rickson. >> Good evening. The county schools operations and facilities January 12th, 2026 board of education report contains two items of information and two action items. Information item number one was our December league custodian meeting was held on de on the 12th of December at Dove Creek Middle School. The team learned about several important facility topics, including when to change out toilet paper rolls, paper
034towel rolls, and soap. And you might know it's a little more complicated than it sounds. The team also discussed the best way to ensure that toilets and urinals are cleaned thoroughly and then went over a checklist of items to shut down for buildings over the winter break. We continue we are continually 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. As you remember in December, you you approved the widening of the Elone Primary Driveway project. Uh the All About Asphalt was awarded the contract and they're scheduled to do that work in over spring break. Action item number one, transportation edition. Transportation office edition. The superintendent's recommendation is for the board of education to approve
035Smith and Co. for the Okone County School System Transportation Edition for a proposal cost of1,514,447. The estimated total project cost, which includes furniture and technology, etc. is $1,782,182. This project will be paid for using East. The contractor will begin work this month pending y'all's approval and the intention is to move into the building before the next school year. Action item number two is Okone Primary and Okone Middle School HVAC renovation. The superintendent's recommendation is for the board of education to approve Fraser services for the for the Okone Primary and Okone Middle School HVAC renovation for a proposal cost of $2,49,000. The estimated total project cost which includes engineers, professional services, etc. is $2,818,530. This project will be paid for using these blast. That concludes the operations facility report unless there are any questions. >> Thank
036you, Mr. Rickson. Mr. Cole. >> Thank you, Mr. Ransom. Good evening, board members and Dr. Butler. The communications report this evening contains two items of information. The first is December social media information. Okone County Schools had 24 social media posts in December with an average of 16,396 views. The top posts for the month both featured the North Oone flag football team. Number one was a state championship coverage and number two was a state semi-finals coverage. Those posts combined for more than 86,000 views for the month. 13 posts were viewed more than 10,000 times, including one at 50,000, two at 30,000, and five at 20,000. The top 10 posts for the month had a great deal of variety, including North Aone Flag Football, the Watkinsville Christmas Parade, the Technology Competition Showcase, the National Blue Ribbon Schools
037of Excellence Conference attended by five schools, and Grinch Day at Okone County Primary. OCS gained 41 followers in December, giving the the district more than 24,000 followers for the first time ever. In addition, the December newsletter was opened 10,232 times at a rate of 68%, the industry average for education is 37%. Thanks to those 24,000 followers, including the 2,000 new followers in 2025, Okone County Schools ended the year with more than 8.1 million total views across social media platforms. We are so appreciative of the parents, students, community members, businesses, and media outlets that follow and engage with OCS social media accounts. The second item of information is the December highlights video. Heat. and that concludes communications unless you have any questions. >> I have a comment. I loved Grinch day, Miss Hilly, and everything that
038all the schools did to add some holiday spirit, but probably the best was on the coldest day of the year, all these little elves on the shelves. I'm driving by and they're like in all these spots at the elementary school. So, well done everybody. I love that. >> Mr. Car, communications to the board. We have anybody signed up to speak? >> Mr. R, we have no one signed up this evening. >> Thank you. Action items, Dr. Butler. >> All right. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Item A is regarding Aone County Schools legal council. We would recommend to retain Hall, Booth, Smith, PC, and Pereira, Kirby, Kinzinger, and Win as legal council representatives for 2026. >> A motion move. >> Mr. Tulle. >> Second. >> Miss Parish. All in favor? Passes. 5-0. >> Item B is the
0392027 2028 Aone County Schools academic calendar. We would recommend taking this policy off the table for public review and approving it as presented. >> A motion. >> So moved. >> Mr. Hammock. >> Second. >> Mr. Hammond. All in favor? Passes. 5-0. >> Item C is the transportation department addition. We would recommend the bid from Smith & Company for this addition at a proposal cost of 1,514,447. And this project will be paid for using Eastblo dollars. Moved >> Mr. Tulle second Mr. Hammock. All in favor passes 5-0. >> Item D is the Coney County Primary and a Coney County Middle School HVAC renovation project. We would recommend using Frasier services for this project for a proposal cost of $2,49,000 and this project will paid for using Eastlos dollars. >> Motion moved. >> Mr. Hammond. >> Second.
040Second. >> All in favor? Passes. 5 Z. Do you have a need to discuss personnel and enter executive session? I need a motion to do so. Have a motion. The board will adjourn the executive session to discuss or deliberate upon personnel matters as described on the affidavit to be attached to the minutes. >> Second. >> Mr. Tool. All in favor? Passes. 50.