001Call this April 14th work session to order. We need a motion to approve the agenda. So move. Mr. Tulle. Second. Mr. Ham. All in favor report. Yes sir. Thank you board members and staff. Hope everyone had a wonderful spring break and had some good family time. And uh now we're back at it and uh so we have uh concluded day one from spring break and amazingly we only have 29 days of school year left. Um we look forward to uh finishing strong and uh having a great experiences for our students. Uh, and also appreciate the good work by our staff that's taking place to prepare for graduation. May 23rd, as the board knows, will be at Akens Ford Arena this year. Uh, OC, I believe, will graduate at 3 p.m. and North Oone at 6
002PM. So, we look forward to celebrating our students uh, and the staff and the parents community at that point in time. Couple of things that we have been celebrating over the course of April. We had pair of professionals appreciation day on April the 3. On the 4th, we were able to celebrate National School Librarians Day. I believe we also did a behind-the-scenes video uh on our social media about our librarians and so appreciate the good work of Steve Cochwood on that while we were away. And our our assistant principles tell us this is the greatest way to celebrate them. over spring break was National Assistant Principal Week and uh so they had the opportunity to have some time as the rest of the staff did with families and then as we uh continue this month
003we'll have administrative professionals day on the 23rd and also appreciate our school bus drivers on the 25th. So lots of opportunities to recognize our worldclass staff members. Uh since we last met in March, we've had uh some news to share and want to congratulate Colum Ferry, Dove Creek Elementary, High Shoes Elementary, and Malcolm Bridge Elementary Schools who've all been named National Blue Ribbon Lighthouse Schools of Excellence. Uh this is the third time that High Shoes has been uh named this distinction. Malcolm Bridges as well, the second for Dove Creek, and the first for Colum Ferry. So, we're very proud of those distinctions. Uh to let the board know how special this distinction is, this program has been in place since 2003. There have been about 400 schools um recognized throughout the United States and nine
004of those schools are in Okoni County. So, quite an accomplishment, outstanding work again by our students and staff. And so, congratulations to those elementary schools uh recognized. Uh continuing the good news, we had Dove Creek uh Elementary and Malcolm Bridge Elementary were also recognized as PBIS uh positive behavior intervention schools of distinction by the Georgia Department of Education recently. So again, some outstanding uh school level recognitions, a few individual recognitions. We want to congratulate Ian Rogers once again was the star student for OKone County schools and then the star student for OKone County and now he's been named the uh region four star student. And so he was chosen from 13 different counties within our region. And so Ian and his his star teacher, Mr. Scott Smith, will be attending the state banquet on April
00528th. and we'll see if he becomes the state star student. But congratulations to to Ian and to Mr. Scott. Uh governor's honors finalist were announced and we had nine this year from Okon County Schools, five from Okone County High School and four from North Okoni. All those students will be attending Georgia Southern University from June 15th to July 12th for classes and other opportunities in their area of expertise. So congratulations to those students and I believe we've recognized them on social media also. Um as we relate to uh teams literary uh at North Ooney has won the team title in 4A once again. This is the fourth time in five years. So congratulations Mr. Carter. Go Titans. Thank you. Um and then in 3A we had the Okone County boys quartet. They also won the
006state title. So [Laughter] like to note that they are sitting beside each other as well. So uh finally uh board members we want to thank you once again for your participation in our villa program. As you know, we completed our seventh villa program this year and have received continue to receive valuable feedback from our parents that are involved in that and continue to we actually had one villa parent email us and talk about getting all of our villa participants together and kind of continuing because the one thing that they said is they enjoyed it so much they wanted it to continue. So, they were already looking for ways to have it continue. appreciate the time and attention that the staff provided as well as the board provided to that outstanding program. And that will conclude
007superintendent report unless there are any questions. Any questions? Next, we have presentations and discussions leading off with teaching and learning report. Dr. Stencil. The April 2025 teaching and learning report contains three items of information and one action item. The first item of information I got up here. First item of information is the FY25 Georgia Milestones testing schedule. The 2025 end of grade assessments will begin on April 29th and the end of course assessments will begin on April 30th. There is also a detailed testing schedule attached to this report. The second item of information is our OCS school improvement visits. As part of our annual strategic planning process, our teaching and learning team visited all 12 schools in March for their mid-year visits to get an update on all the great work that is occurring at
008each of our schools. Some of the details from our visits are pictured here. The third item of information is an announcement that the Georgia Department of Education recently made for its 2025 advanced placement AP honor schools. Okone County and North Okone High Schools have once again been chosen by the Georgia Department of Education as 2025 AP honor schools. The two high schools were recognized in all five categories for building strong AP programs and providing highquality opportunities for students. This distinction recognizes their dedication to provide academic opportunities for students to prepare them for college and career opportunities after graduation. The action item for the April 21st board of education meeting is for the advanced placement psychology curriculum. New advanced placement psychology curriculum was recommended to the board and approved in the spring of 2019. It has
009now been six years and this resource is up for renewal. Teachers and administrators in Okoni County reviewed and selected updated resources. Copies of these instructional resources have been available for review at the teaching and learning office and no feedback has been received. This resource will be paid for using general fund dollars. The superintendent's recommendation is to take these resources off the table and approve the recommended advanced placement psychology curriculum at the April 21st, 2025 board of education meeting. And that concludes the teaching and learning report unless there are any questions. Thank you, Dr. Sans. Thank you. Next, we have student services, Dr. Yansy. Good evening, Dr. Branch and board members. The April 2025 student services report concludes three items of information and five action items. The first item of information is our summer youth athletic
010camps. Again, this summer, our high school athletic programs are offering sports specific camps for our younger students throughout the district. This summer, we have a total of 26 camp opportunities for students to participate in. Information regarding camp registration was shared on district social media outlets by our athletic teams, and through our school newsletters. I would like to commend our high school coaches for not only for not only the outstanding job they do with our current secondary students, but also for the emphasis they put on developing their programs in the next generation of Warriors and Titans. The second item of information is an update on our annual participation in the survey system for the Georgia Department of Education. This year, as mentioned, uh we participated in the Georgia school climate surveys, and they were offered to
011four specific groups of stakeholders, students, teachers, staff, and families. Uh the survey window closed on March 31st. Uh I would like to thank all of our school admin teams for ensuring that all school 12 school 12 schools met the participation rate requirements from the Department of Education. Survey results will be available for school and district leaders at the end of May. The third item of information pertains to our school resource officer program. Since our last meeting, Lieutenant Maxi, who was stationed at Dove Creek Middle, has had to take a leave of absence, but is scheduled to return to his role at the start of the school year. During his absence, other SRO's will provide law enforcement presence on the campus. Sheriff Hail and his team continue to recruit qualified deputies for SRO positions based on
012criteria jointly established with OKone County Schools. New officers will be added as soon as qualified candidates become available. We'll keep you updated as our SRO program continues to grow. Student services has five action items for the April 14th meeting. These items are listed on a uh or are five out ofstate schools trips and are listed on the agenda. The superintendent's recommendation is to approve the five out of state school field trips as presented. And this concludes the student services report unless you have any questions. Questions? Thank you, Dr. Yansancy. Thank you. Next, we have special education, Miss Cornold. Good evening, board members and Dr. Branch. The Okone County Special Education Department for April 14th has one item of information and no action items tonight. The Okone County um Allstar Game is truly a a remarkable
013event where students come together to celebrate their abilities. The event kicks off with a parade of athletes where each school proudly carries their banners and walks around the track. This year we had it at North Okone um high school. We alternate between high schools each year. The opening ceremony features the pledge of allegiance and of course the athletes oath. Let me win, but if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt. These games include three rounds of rotations that are tailored to meet the different student abilities that are at our games, ensuring that everyone can participate and also have fun. At the end of the events, there is a conclusion of a ceremony where each student receives a medal in honor of their efforts and achievements. I want to thank this year we
014had several contributed um community members, the pilot club which contributes every year. Um both the beta clubs from OKone High School and North Okone High School. Um, we also had the FFCLA, um, the PTO at Okone Middle, and we also had several families contribute to the event this year, which truly shows that it's, um, a community event where people collaborate and want to be a part of celebrating these athletes, athletes strengths and abilities. Any that concludes the report for special education unless there's any questions. Thank you. Thanks. We have technology with Mr. McCull's. Good evening board members. Dr. Branch, thank you for allowing me this time to speak. Technology services report for April 14th includes no information items and two action items for the April 21st Board of Education meeting. The two action items presented
015tonight will address the intercom systems at Malambridge Middle School and Okone County Middle School, both of which are at the end of their service life. We've received excellent feedback from our other schools currently using the audio enhancement intercom system. This system allows for easy communication within a single classroom across multiple classrooms or even throughout specific hallways. Additionally, it incorporates special features that minimize disruptions during significant events such as Georgia Milestones testing. Al audio enhancement also produces innovative classroom audio components that integrate seamlessly with the intercom system. We've already implemented this classroom audio equipment in all of our K5 classrooms as well as at Dove Creek Middle School. The classroom audio system includes a hands-free teacher microphone and a handheld student microphone, promoting an equitable learning environment for all students. Research supports the positive impact of
016classroom audio on student engagement and overall classroom participation. The next generation of classroom audio from audio enhancement includes two new features, translation and transcription capabilities. The translation feature will specifically support our English learners, while the transcription feature will enhance overall student literacy. Audio enhancement has offered to provide these features for all three of our middle schools, including Dove Creek Middle School. So, that brings us to our action items. The two action items tonight will standardize our intercom systems between the middle schools and expand our classroom audio implementation to all K8 classrooms in the district. Audio enhancements pricing for both the intercom and classroom audio systems is a part of the approved statewide contract number 024-H. Action item number one, Malcolm Bridge Middle School intercom and classroom audio. The superintendent's recommendation is for the board of
017education to approve audio enhancement with a bid of $360,3542 for the Malcolm Bridge Middle School intercom and classroom audio project. This project will be funded with general fund and ELOS dollars. Action item number two is the Okone County Middle School intercom and classroom audio project. Superintendent's recommendation is for the board of education to approve audio enhancement with a bid of $362,1061 for the Okone County Middle School intercom classroom audio project. This project will also be paid for using general fund and ELOS dollars. And that concludes the technology services report and I'll be happy to answer any questions that you have at this time. Explain the transcription a little bit. So, is that are you saying that it'll record everything that's being said and parents maybe that don't speak English as a first language can see
018what their kids are learning and help them with homework? No, sir. This this will be a classroom audio piece that will be connected to the audio system with the teacher microphone. Basically transcribing what the teacher is saying. The student can log in onto their Chromebook and be able to see in English or in their native language what is being said. Okay. Interesting. And that would be in real time for those students. Yes, sir. In class? Yes, sir. Do you happen to know have have any enhancements been made to where um I'm probably going to use the wrong terminology, so um forgive me. um those who may have um uh hearing challenges, would they be able to pair with a Bluetooth to this system um to be able to better hear and understand the teacher or
019is that in a yet to be released update? So, I think with this new um translation system, transcription system, you can set the translation to be English, so it really doesn't translate. So we can connect up a a headset to the kids Chromebook to help with their audio deficits. So I do foresee us being able to to assist those students further. Okay. Do you happen to know if that add-on is is that a software component or a hardware component? It's both. It is. Okay. Yes, sir. Great. Thank you. Yes, sir. Anyone else? Thank you. Next we have operations. Dr. White. Good evening board members and Dr. Branch. Operations has five items of information for this evening and no action items for this month's regular session. The firstformational item for operations is an update on our
020energy report. Our kilowatt usage per day for a th00and square feet has been updated for the month of February. Secondformational item is our transportation update. For the previous month, we had 47 field trips, 116 athletic trips, 21 special education trips, 213 buses deployed for a total of 12,412 miles. Our third item of information is update on school nutrition participation for the month of March. board members, you'll see that we saw a decrease in participation for breakfast of 1.25% and an increase of lunch participation of6% as compared to March of 2024. Our fourth item of information is an update on upcoming road projects. We have been in regular communication with the Okone County Government Public Works Department regarding upcoming road construction projects. The roundabout plan outside North Okone at the intersection of Snow's Mill, Rocky Branch,
021and Hog Mountain roads will begin this month and be built under traffic. We also expect the experiment station widening to be finished by the third quarter of this year. Finally, we are also aware of the anticipated 45day closure of the Okone connector and Jimmy Daniel on 316 and we will be working on routing options over the next few weeks to determine impact. Our fifth item of information is update on our school walkthroughs. Each semester, the director of facilities, director of maintenance, and myself walk each school in the district. At each school, the team asks administration of any needs that they would like to identify, verifies coolers and freezers, checks in with custodians, and we inspect all electrical, water, and mechanical rooms. This allows operations to plan for summer projects and address immediate needs that the
022building may have. Some of these are water heater replacement, sink and urinal replacement, and kitchen equipment and gutters. And this concludes the operations report, unless there are any Questions you facilities, Mr. Rickson. Good evening. The Aona County Schools operations and facilities uh April 14th, 2025 board of education report contains two items of information and one action item for the April 25th 21st 2025 board of education meeting. First item of information is the uh lead custodian meeting uh in March was held on Thursday, March 13th and was hosted by the team at Okone County High School. Russ Henson, the Aona County Fire Marshall, was present to discuss fire doors, protected passage passageways, uh, electrical rooms, and storage closets. Our custodial teams are to be commended for their rigorous work ensuring that our schools are clean for
023health. Uh, construction update, uh, the generator project. Uh, over spring break, the generator at Colum Ferry and Malcolm Bridge Middle was brought online. So they are live uh providing emergency power for our freezer coolers in those schools. Work continues in the other locations. Uh they and they've begun uh work in the data center uh as well as the other schools and also the generators that were on back order have been shipped. So we expect them to arrive this week. Uh the Okone County High practice field lighting project. Uh the lights have been ordered and we're expecting delivery late May with a June installation. We do have an action item for tonight. That's the certificate of the board for Rocky Branch Elementary School. It's the superintendent's recommendation that the board of education approved the certificate of
024the board at the April 21st board meeting. Lastly, just uh for your information, we have uh advertised a uh project for Okone County High School parking expansion. Uh this is to standardize the number of spaces between the two high schools. And we've also advertised a project to pave at the maintenance shop. Currently, we're gravel out there and we're going to uh the project would involve paving the the lot for at maintenance. That concludes the operations facilities report unless there are any questions. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Coper. Good evening, members of the board and Dr. Branch. Our human resources report contains no items of information and one action item for the April 21st Board of Education meeting. As you know, a benefits broker serves as a strategic partner to help us evaluate, manage, and negotiate
025our employee benefits offerings. This includes key voluntary benefits such as dental, vision, life insurance, and disability coverage, all of which are essential components of our comprehensive support for staff well-being, recruitment, and retention. We have partnered with Alexander and Company for the past 15 years, and we greatly appreciate the support and service they have provided throughout this time. This year we initiated a formal RFP process to ensure we continue to receive the best possible value and service. Our process included a comprehensive application review, interviews, formal presentations, and extensive reference checks. After careful consideration, we have decided on Mark 3 employee benefits as our finalist, and we are now seeking board approval of that selection at our April 21st Board of Education meeting. Mark III stood out in several key areas, including their strong focus on employee
026engagement during open enrollment, their enhanced enrollment platform that improves the overall user experience, and their commitment to extensive ongoing support for both employees and the HR team throughout the year. There will be no changes to the current benefits for the remainder of this calendar year. Mark 3's benefit offerings will be available at open enrollment in November with an effective date of January 1st, 2026. The superintendent's recommendation is for the board to approve Mark 3 employee benefits as the benefits broker for Okone County Schools at the April 21st Board of Education meeting. This concludes human resources report this evening, but we remain available for any Questions? Sir, Mr. Carp, communications. Thank you, Mr. Ransom. Good evening, board members and Dr. Branch. Communications report contains two items of information. First item of information is March social media.
027Okone County Schools had 48 social media posts in March and registered an average of 10,258 views per post. The top post for March was the North Oak County boys basketball team repeating as state champion. That post was viewed more than 75,000 times and was shared nearly 200 times for the month. 20 of the 48 posts were seen more than 10,000 times and those 20 averaged 16,100 views. Three of those 20 posts were generated from recognitions at the board's March regular session. Board members, thank you for taking time in our board meetings to recognize the great things going on with our students and staff. Four of the top five posts were related to athletics and averaged 30,375 views. OCS gained 73 followers in March, giving the district 22,846 followers across Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. In addition,
028the OCS newsletter released on March 31st had 8,632 unique opens, which is a rate of 68.4%. The industry average for education is 40%. We thank the parents, students, community members, businesses, and media outlets that follow and engage with the OCS social media accounts. The second item of information is the March highlights [Music] video. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] And that concludes communications unless there are any questions for me. Any questions? No questions. Thank you. We do have a need to enter into an executive session. I need a motion to do so. I'll make I'll make a motion that the board will adjourn to executive session to discuss or deliberate upon personnel matters as described on the affidavit to be attached to the minutes. I'll second. All in favor? 5. We're adjourned
029to executive session.