001Call this August 11th regular session to order. First off, I need a motion to approve the agenda. >> So move, >> Mr. Tulle. >> Second, >> Mr. Hammond. All in favor? Passes 5-0. Next, we need to approve the amend uh approve the minutes from July 7th special session. July 7th regular session, July 10th special session, July 11th special session, July 16th special session, the August 4th work session, the August 7th special session, and the August 8th special sessions. >> So moved, >> Mr. Tulle. >> Second, >> Mr. Hammock. All in favor passes 5. Recognitions, Mr. Cal. >> Thank you, Mr. Ransom. Good evening, board members and Dr. Harden. We have several people to recognize this evening. So, if you'll step forward and as you do so, I'll point out that our art display this month
002is from the fine students at Colum Ferry Elementary School. Uh, their art teachers, Allison Winter, and we're so impressed with all this artwork. They're uh going to be on display this evening and of course they'll be on the hallway monitors throughout the month. So, again, we thank Colum Ferry for such fine work and for sharing it with us. First this evening, the board will recognize Orihont Sinha and Russell Ulyan of Okone County Middle for placing third in the video game challenge at the FBLA National Leadership Competition. Their advisor is Laura Huff. [Applause] Next, the Okone County High School's Alumni Association will award $1,000 grants to the Okoni County High School and North Okone High School agriculture departments. One of the established purposes of this association is to support the academic excellence, best interests, and traditions
003of Okone County Schools. The grants will be used for a submitted list of items, equipment, and supplies. And our first photo will be with the students from North Okone. Thank you. Okay. And now the student from OKone County High School. And that concludes recognitions. All right. >> Thank you. Next we have points of pride with Colin Fairy Elementary School. Welcome Mr. Stanton. >> Dr. Harden board. We are so grateful to be here today. I'm Mike Stanton, the principal at Colin Ferry Elementary School. We're going to talk about our project-based learning practices at Colum Ferry today. These practices are pervasive throughout our kindergarten through fifth grade classrooms. We have projects that go on throughout the year and then we have smaller projects that might only take a couple weeks up to um six, seven, eight weeks
004depending on the project. The reason we do project-based learning is it ties into our STEM and agg uh initiatives well as long along with our farm-to-table initiatives. It engages our students in real world problems, develops 21st century problem solving skills and promotes a deeper understanding of the curriculum. I want to touch base with you just a little bit about some of our projects from the last year. Our kindergarters built a chicken tunnel. So they had a tunnel because the kindergarters were really worried about um the exercise that our chickens were getting. So they did that last year. Our first graders studied Georgia ecosystems and they created a pond with um native species for um native to Georgia. Our second graders studied native plants and created a pollinator garden. Our third graders, they're going to talk
005to you in just a moment about uh working with climate clients to study pizzas. And we used materials from the school garden to create pizzas for certain clients. Our fourth grade graders also studied Georgia ecosystems and worked with the pond as well. And then our fifth graders worked with composting to improve the soil that we would then put back into our various gardens around the school. >> Good evening. I'm Candace Ivory and I'm the assistant principal and our third graders are going to be highlighting one of our PBL projects, our project based learning on fractions. So, we have Miss Carrie here with us and we have Emma Riley and Charlie. So, they're going to come up because they're the best experts of telling you guys exactly how they did this project. I'm in between these
006two microphones heightwise, so just bear with me. Um I'm Miss Yan and I'm one of the six um third grade teachers at Colum Ferry. Um and we also have Miss Waldrip and Miss Mormon here with us, another third grade teacher and our wonderful A teacher. Um and we are thrilled to be highlighted as just one example of all the projects going on at Colin Ferry. Um it really is like Mr. Stanton said just pervasive throughout um the whole school and we do love the additional challenge of having that farm to table. So this project actually hit both for us. Um, we started in our math unit of fractions and of course the buyin was immediate when we said pizza. Um, but then we told the kids we were going to have real life clientele. Um,
007we incorporated reading standards, writing, um, figurative language because we had to sell the pizza. And um then the 21st century skills of just collaboration, being able to listen to others and talk to real life people and then use that engineer design process to make a plan, uh test the plan and then improve when our clients had other things in mind. So um we're going to let the kids talk to you guys about the steps of the project and then um answer any questions you have. So, first we uh learned about So, first we learned about fractions. Then we watched a video from your pie. And then we used our fractions to do the pizza. Then we worked in small groups to create real pizza orders for our clients. And then oh, we made we learned
008about making dough in a class and we did that and then we rolled out the dough and put them in the oven. Our clients loved our pizza. >> We'd be happy to answer any questions you have. And then we also have some items from our farm for your table as well. So >> I have number one question for me is what was the most popular pizza? >> What do you think you like the most? The cheese. >> Cheese. A cheese pizza. >> Cheese or pepperoni? >> Yeah, it's hard to beat. Good old cheese pizza. >> We We had some pineapple and some other things, too. >> Yeah. My question is, how can I become a client? I want a Hawaiian pizza. Please >> just ask us. >> There we go. I got you. Write me
009down. Write me down. >> And the nice thing was we had um you know, it might be represented as a group like my class had a student teacher. So, our student teacher, the the example that was given is she and her four roommates are ordering one pizza. Um, and this one wants this many, this one wants this many. So, it went back down to like, oh, we now we need eight slices, so we're in eighs. Two of them want bell pepper, but one only wants cheese and having to figure that out. And then at some point they call and they tell us and you can see on the pictures. I don't know if y'all can but um they actually facetimed with their clients and some were in the building, some weren't. Um but the client
010made adjustments and decided, oh no, I've decided I'm vegan now or whatever and they had to uh they had to adjust to that in real time. So >> awesome. >> And I will not be vegan. So you don't have to worry about that. Just fine. >> We'll take a we'd like to take a picture with y'all. >> Oh, hey How cool is that? [Applause] I can't. All right. >> Next we have business services, Mr. Adams. Good evening, board members and Dr. Harden. Uh the business services report for August 11, 2025 contains seven items of information and no action items for tonight's board meeting. Our first item of information is the July cash balances report. As of July 31st, the closing cash balance reflects a 8.619 decrease compared to the previous month. Despite this month-over-month decline,
011our cash balance for July remains strong, and we are well positioned to meet our financial obligations for the rest of the fiscal year. Our second item of information is our June vendor report. Um, this get caught up where we had an early meeting last month. So, we're sharing this information. For June, we paid over 305 vendors $2.4 million for the month. Our third item of information is our July vendor report. We paid over 338 vendors $2.8 million for the month. Our fourth item of information is our revenue collections for the month of July which stand at 4.5%. Expenditures which typically would be expected to be at 8.3% for the month are currently at 11.6. I'd like to highlight that this higher percentage includes incumbrances totaling $3.3 million or about 2.8% of the overall budget for
012the year. And without these encumbrance in encumbrances, expenditures would be aligned with our monthly expectations and we will continue to monitor this throughout the fiscal year as we move towards the end of the year. Our fifth item information is our ELOS collections report. We have had an increase of 10 in collections over last month and a 3.44% increase over July of last year. Our sixth item information is our ELOS 6 report. Revenues and expenditures have been updated through July 31st. And our last item information is our federal funds report. This is an update on our funding allocation expenditure for the month of July. Again, these funds are reimbursement based and we'll see these funds continue to be paid out to us throughout the fiscal year. And a friendly reminder that this Friday there's a big
013football game called the Hog Mountain Bowl. Starts at 7:30. Um, with that, that concludes my report. If you have any questions, I'd be glad to answer those at this time. >> Thank you. We have operations with Dr. White. >> Good evening, board members and Dr. Branch. Excuse me, Dr. Harden. Oh, >> okay. Dr. >> I've said it a lot. I apologize. Operations somebody was going to do it. operations has one action item for tonight's regular session. Uh last week, a sinkhole was discovered on the North Okone High School campus behind tennis and baseball. This pipe serves the academic building and parking lots of North Okone High School. A combination of a corroded storm water pipe and a recent high rainfall caused this to occur. This pipe is 3 feet in diameter and 300 ft long.
014In order to conduct an emergency repair to replace the pipe and resolve any underlying issues, a superintendent's recommendation is for the board of education to approve up to $150,000 for emergency repairs to the storm water pipe at North Okone High School. This project will be paid for using elost and general fund dollars. This concludes the operations report. Unless there's any questions, Dr. Harden, >> I have one. >> Yes, sir. >> Does this impact any day-to-day operations currently? Uh, no. It's at the very back side of the campus near the detention pond and we're working with them to make sure it doesn't impact Hog Mountain Bowl as well. >> Perfect. Only question I've got. >> Um, do you do you know yet the entire scope of what this project will uh entail? >> Unfortunately, not because
015we're going to have to dig up the pipe section by section and then that's why we're trying to see what's under the ground once we get in there. It is about 15 foot deep in the ground. I I just would like one comment um and that is uh it's hard to believe but North Okone is a 20 year old facility and these pipes were put in 23 years ago. So when we talk about water mitigation in the uh bod um the elos, these are the kinds of things that we want to take care of because our community has invested over the years a great deal in our schools and these are the hidden things that we don't see, you know, roofs, pipes, those kinds of things. but we need to be good stewards and um
016so this is just an example of what the board's looking to so thank you Mr. Chair >> other questions Dr. White >> thank you next we have action items Dr. Harden I'm sorry excuse me I'm getting ahead of myself uh public communications Mr. Cockett Dr. White threw me off there. >> Mr. Ransom, we have no one signed up to speak this this evening. >> Thank you, Mr. Now, we have action items. Dr. Harden, >> thank you. If it pleases the board, um I'd like to group some of the uh like action items together for one vote. Um board members heard all of these policies at the August 4th work session and tonight we will vote on them to take them off the table and approve. They are uh policies BD FG listed in your um
017board packet. Need >> a motion to vote for those policies. So moved. >> Mr. tool. >> Miss Parish. All in favor? Passes. 5-0. >> Now we uh I will ask uh your vote on placing the following board policies on the table for public comment and review until our next board meeting. Um the first one is board policy IBB, charter schools, and uh board policy IBFG, internet acceptable use. And both of these were addressed at the work session last month. >> Thank to those on the table for review. >> So moved. >> Mr. Hammond. >> Second. >> Mr. Hammock. All in favor? Passes. 5-0. And lastly, um I would like to propose that uh you vote on the uh field trips uh that the students will uh travel to FFA International Convention October 28th through November
0181st. And those are action items I, J, K, and L. Thank you, Dr. Harden. Need a motion. >> Mr. Tulle, second, >> Mr. Hammond. All in favor? passes 5-0. We do have a need to enter an in executive session to discuss >> one more memorandum of understanding. >> I'm way off tonight. >> Lighthouse. Um the memorandum of understanding as described at last week's meeting the board of education will approve our participation in the lighthouse which a motion >> so moved >> Mr. Tool >> second Mr. Hammock. All in favor passes 5. >> The board will vote or invite to vote on the YAS platform. This platform is a cloud-based HR and finance solution designed specifically for K12 school districts in Georgia. A motion. So moved. >> Mr. Hammond. >> Miss Parish. All in favor? passes
0195 >> and the emergency repair of storm water pipes. Um it is my recommendation to the board um to approve up to 150,000. Um for emergency repairs to the storm water pipe at North County High School. This project will be paid for using elos and general funds. Motion. >> So moved. >> Mr. Hammock. >> Second. >> Miss Parish. All in favor? Passes. 5-0. I didn't see that. Oh, thank you. Uh, local schoolboard training plan statement of compliance. Um, the board is asked to vote on the local school board training plan for and u comply with the statement of compliance. >> A motion second. All in favor of zero. Thank you, Miss Gaddy. So that wraps up all the action items. Now we have a need to enter executive session and discuss personnel and need a
020motion to do so. Second, >> Mr. Hammock. All in favor? Passes 5-0. We're adjourned to executive session.