001the February board meeting for the Social Circle Board of Education on February 13th 2025 is called to order the first item on our agenda is prayer father inen be name Kingdom will be on Earth as it is in give us our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not Temptation deliv Us from Evil [Music] kingom Glory at this time I would like to introduce two members of the army J DC unit Cadet private first class ants in Middle andc second Lieutenant paully Peters they are here to lead us in our Pledge of Allegiance please remove your half and place your right hand over your heart of the United States of America to the it stands one nation God indivisible with liy and justice for
002all next is the approval of the agenda Dr Boer do we have any changes no ma'am all right do I have a motion to accept the agenda as presented do I have a second I second any discussion all those in favor please signify by saying I I anyone oppose like sign motion carries unanimously next we have board comments and is part of our ongoing commitment to transparency and fostering trust with our Comm Community the Board of Education will continue continue sharing sections of our board approved norms and Protocols of each meeting these norms and protocols serve as foundations for how our governance team operates and collabor collaborates to best serve the students staff and families of Social Circle City schools by sharing these we hope to provide insight into the principles and practices that guide
003our decision making and ensure that we hold ourselves accountable to the highest standards of governance tonight I want to share our chain of command which is intended for everyone in our district including ourselves which is intended for families our chain of command is as follows students teachers principes assistant principes assistant superintendent superintendent district Board of Education member Board of Education members will follow the chain of command and advise the public to do the same in order to properly Channel and resolve complaints and involving instruction discipline Transportation or learning materials issues of a large and significant nature received by the board or individual members will be referred to our superintendent we appreciate our school commun our school Community Support by adhering to our District's chain of command now I'll turn it over to superintendent moer thank
004you our teachers are very exced excited for the opportunity tomorrow to spend the day catching up on planning and making instructional changes for the next few weeks in school we know that our students were very excited about the opportunity to get to spend Valentine's Day at home with their families and we will miss you but I promise the teachers and the administrators are going to be here working hard so we can plan awesome instruction for you for the next few weeks we all also we'll have winter break that's on the 17th and on the 18th and the schools and the administrative offices are going to be closed on of those days next I wanted to update everyone on the new elementary school we are so proud of this work and we are so excited for
005the opportunity to be able to provide our prek through sixth grade students the excellent educational experience exp es and environments that they're going to get to find when we open the school in August of 25 it's going to be amazing and so one of the things that you can see in that picture that we're really excited about is that the Cabinetry is going in in each of the classrooms our teachers are going to have lots of places to be able to store the exciting instructional materials that we're providing for them and kids every classroom is going to have a sink and it's going to help you to keep your hands clean but it's also going to help you to do really awesome Art and Science Experiments and stem activities so we're really excited about those
006cabinets and the options that that's going to offer for us to be able to improve instruction as well as safety and and good health one of the things that we have worked on recently um has to do with a partnership with our friends with the oakle for County Public Schools they opened their new Elementary School in January and they had ordered boxes lots of great cardboard boxes and it occurred to me as I was thanking my friend the superintendent wait maybe we could have your boxes and so she was very generous and they collapsed all of their cardboard boxes and we are saving 11,000 taxpayer dollars by recycling Oort County's construction their moving boxes and um we just want to give that as an example of all of the ways that we do our very
007best to make sure that we save every pen we possibly can and thank our friends with the over County Public Schools we appreciate it having our Cadets come to deliver the pledge our Cadets do an amazing job of supporting and demonstrating leadership all throughout the school building and we're really proud and it's very unusual to in the Social Circle City Schools you can actually begin our JC program in the 8th grade and so the young man that was the cadet who is here he's actually an eighth grade student who's an awesome leader even amongst his high school peers this week the Social Circle Army jro TC unit actually had an accreditation inspection and we are so proud to share that they scored a 95% on this inspection which constitutes are rating as an honored unit
008of Distinction we already knew that our unit was remarkable but fewer than 10% of the 1700 Army jrc units are considered honor units of Distinction this achievement really reinforces our understanding and our experiences with our students as being amazing leaders congratulations to Colonel chick staff sergeant digon and the cadet for their hard work and dedication and during the month of February we celebrate Black History Month students across all of our schools are actively engaged in meaningful Black History Month activities that celebrate the achievements and the contributions of black individuals throughout history at Social Circle primary and elementary schools students have been reading books creating crafts and learning about influential figures such as Martin Luther King Jr Simone B Michael Jordan Harriet tman and many others daily champ chats featuring video discussions and each morning during
009the announcements there are highlights uh focused on famous quotes and achievements and in PE our students are recognized local africanamerican athletes including the district's first state champion track team from 1970 in which all five team members were African-American as well as Torio dorsy who was the first African-American wrestler to win a State title in 2004 at Social Circle Middle School our students are participating in Daily trivia historical highlights in the school newsletter and grade level projects sixth graders are reflecting on creatively displaying impactful quotes seventh graders are engaging in literature social studies and science lessons that are centered on by history while eighth graders are researching notable black mathematicians authors and scientists Social Circle high schools incorporate White History Month into various aspects of learning including book displays trivia and a special session featuring author
010Jason Reynolds in our media center teachers are integrating black history lessons into the curriculum and guest speaker renie Curran author and former awardwinning NFL linebacker who now devotes his time to Keynote speaking and Leadership coaching will share his experiences and insights with students I should add that renie played for the wonderful University of Georgia and the go dogs he represented us really really well these activities provide students with opportunities to reflect on the past to celebrate achievements and gain a deeper understanding of black history and its impact on our society February is also Career Technical and agriculture education M and our students are very fortunate that this board continues to support support rcta programs that provide great opportunities for our students to participate in learning experiences that prepare them for excellent careers in agriculture education
011electricity Health Care leadership technology and Welding so you can see the pathways that we offer that are listed there one of the things that we found we have an excellent graduation rate but we have found that students who finish a CTA pathway so they participate in the four levels of the course they are even more likely to graduate on time um than our other students and we're really pleased that 74 students participate in work-based learning opportunities and those are available for our Juniors or for our seniors and not only are there participating in learning real life skills that are going to help them to be great employees in any field that they go into but it actually earned $536,000 in total wages this year and that is something to be tremendously proud of because that's
012a great way for us to be able to help out our families so we're proud of that program we appreciate all the choices that this school board has made so that we can do things like move to a full day work based learning program because we had we used to just offer in the afternoon but there were some students who wanted to be able to participate in athletics and they wanted to be able to go to work in the morning and so we've been able to make those adjusts because of the support of this board so thank you so much for continuing to support the career opportunities for our students it makes a huge difference also in February we celebrate our councel it's National School counseling week the first whole week of February each year
013we have Miss Crystal hunt who serves at our primary school we have Miss Christie leun who serves at our elementary school School Miss tany lcan has been the middle school counselor here at Social Circle medle school for 13 years and Mr mck foran is in his second year here at our high school and we're going to have an opportunity to hear updates on our mental health wraparound programs a little bit later in the presentation this is National FFA week and because we'll be on oh I'm sorry FFA week is actually next week and because we'll be out we're actually going to take time to recognize our FFA uh program during the week of February 24th through the 28th you can see in those photos some of our really proud students so the photo that's there
014on the bottom left um includes several of our students who are learning about electricity when you go into our agriculture welding program at this point they welding beds on back wall but during the second semester that room looks like an unfinished basement and it's because we're teaching the students how to do electrical wiring and it's an awesome class to get to go in when they're working because the kids are so Focus they want to understand how to be able to do this and we have folks come in from electrical unions and electrical employers to explain to them about the incredible careers that we have right here in central circle related to electricity and then on the other side of the FFA logo with the Green Jacket uh that's one of our awesome ones welders and
015he's shown off a really great being that he put together so we are really proud that we graduate students who are very capable welders and are in very high demand um each and every year and then at the top you can see the letters FFA so one of the great things about the Future Farmers of America Association is that there are great leadership opportunities for them to participate in and those are our kids at the National Convention this last year another thing that I want to make sure to uh thank our school board members for are the great school resource officers that we have it's very important to this board that we put safety as our first priority and we have officer spyy who serves our primary school and Elementary School camp campuses he is
016very excited as our we that we're going to have a combined campus next year where all of our pre through sixth grade students will be on one campus and so he'll be able to supervise that campus fulltime which we think is going to be a great benefit and then we have officer Edwards who's worked with us for three years serving our middle school and high school students these gentlemen do a great job they uh spend very little time in their office in chairs most of their time is going around building making sure that doors are locked uh being great partners and mentors to our students making sure that they're helping us to be extra set of eyes and keep us sa safe they really do an excellent job and we appreciate the partnership that we
017have with the Social Circle Police Department in providing these officers so next as I mentioned we're celebrating CTA year our Career Technical and agricultural Education Month and I'd like to invite one of our excellent CTA teachers Mr Colin Sasso our healthc care science teacher to the front in order to update us about the healthc care science Pathways this aligns with the our strategic goal area student achievement Readiness and engagement and it supports our vision to ensure that each child that will serve has access to the knowledge and skills needed to become mindful productive and empowered citizens Mr Sasso also supports our student athletes as a coach of our cross country team good good evening members of the board superintendent Boer my name is Colin Sasso I've been Healthcare science teacher for going on 5 years
018now and uh it's uh I um appreciate the opportunity to talk to you today about our Healthcare science pathway so in order to enrich our program um The W County Health Foundation they've generously gifted us with several grants throughout the last several years and so in the spring of 2023 we um were were given a um a mid Fidelity trauma mannequin from CAE Healthcare and it really helped our students d deeper into some Hands-On learning especially with primary care patient interaction really helped our students become um uh compassionate uh communicators and to really hone their skills in um with uh with teamwork and and communication with each other um they were also able to help um understand Bible signs and to help critically think through simula patient cases um it it really helped push our
019our curriculum uh to the next level and uh we can only go uh up from up from uh here um there we go y um so one more grant that we received was in the spring of 2024 and um it was a grant for a handful of skeletons that students can attach clay to and it really helped uh students hone their skills for anatomy and physiology and really understand anatomy and physiology in a more uh more tactile and Hands-On way um and we actually got enough skeletons to provide for one to one classroom ratio so it really helped our students dive a little deeper um uh and give us that enrichment and engagement that we were looking for for our anatomy phys theology classes at Social Circle so one of our many passions at Social
020Circle is to empower students to become Global Citizens so we want to make sure that our that our students whenever they graduate that they wherever they set foot at um in the country or of the world that they make a positive impact and paig left which she's one of our students that actually competed on the world stage um in a certified nursing assistant competition at host's International Leadership Conference it host's worldwide conference that uh over 110 115 countries participate in and P did very very well she out competed a lot of other students that are in her same category so um Bravo to her so we competed uh we visited uh Houston this this past summer um and it was a very enriching experience for so uh what HOSA is HOSA is our Healthcare student
021club uh um it stands for healthare occupation as students of America and so paig and mention throughout the pathway and her enrollment in her four years at HOSA that she got a deeper understanding of the vital role of healthc Care Professionals and a hands-on experience and real world applications that kind of shifted her perspective to uh what it means to go into a healthcare career and and she wouldn't have gotten those experiences and and that perspective if it weren't for Pathways like healthc care at Social Circle uh she mentioned that she would forever be grateful for the experiences that she had um in that pathway and it helped her kind of uh illuminate her pathway in terms of of pursuing a degree at George college uh in the nursing field and what she's currently at
022I think she's in her first year now which is awesome um so our next student Heather chipan she's a current senior this year and she took great advantage of our observation sites that we have at Social s we have going on 10 plus sites and every year we try to add more and more each year um to to give students that opportunity to uh see what a help careers is like outside of me just delivering the information to them I think they get a deeper understanding as to what is it really mean to be an em what does it really mean to be a paramedic I can't really give that to them unless they're physically on the truck um and that's that's something that they only get with those observations so Heather was able to
023experience a lot of Labor and Delivery observations uh in uh in her time in healthcare and she said that she loved every minute of it so whether it was how to care for patients correctly how to stock items or uh even chart information on the mother and baby she continues to intern with an open heart wide eyes and listening ears uh she mentioned that her passion would not have been rooted stronger without Mr Sasso who shows up every day to teach with a smile and continues to widen opportunities for her so being able to have these observation sites one more time it's it it allows for students to to see collaboration and teamwork um in a real world setting and that's something that that that is just it's very tough to convey in a classroom
024and that's why I try to get as many students out every year as an a enrichment activity to get them to see what is it really like to go into Healthcare and hopefully Inspire them to be like Paige and Heather so our last student um Gabby e she graduated last year she's pursuing a pre nursing py GSU and she's now actually been accepted into the fall program for nursing at Augusta University which is a really prestigious um nursing and healthc Care University she also mentioned that from Augusta she wants to go into the Medical College of Georgia and pursue a higher PhD slmd kind of degree and that's exactly what we're looking for at Social Circle and for the students that graduate in healthcare at Social Circle Gabby mentioned that the pathway has enhanced her
025personal work and academic development and has been has she's um it's helped her secure and maintain a position as a medical assistant at a Dermatology office and she's learned how to handle challenging situations with patients and professionalism so with with these different uh activities during Healthcare she gained practical life skills which is exactly what we're looking for uh that extend beyond the classroom and begin um to provide Clarity on her career aspirations in the medical field so as a pathway with a prominent student organization again our our student organization is called HOSA is called Health uh Health occupation students of America and we try to grow it each and every year in a lot of different ways so one of the ways that we uh measure growth uh is through our members so Laura Smith
026you all probably know Laura Smith um she's a rockstar in the in the healthcare world uh she left in 2122 and I knew that I had really big shoe to uh fill in terms of of getting a host of program that is to the lar Smith caliber um so membership is sadly starting to improve through things like active recruitment increasing community service projects uh increasing Partnerships in um facilities like Pont Walton uh various vet clinics throughout um Walt County and uh different marketing campaigns that kind of push HOSA out to not just high school but middle school as well and the parents uh I think that's always important to to to raise awareness for any sort of Club um that wants to gain members uh at Social Circle so with my student club we want
027to try to create events that that are impactful change students career trajectory and also make an impact on their communities so our hosting program continues to make leads and balance in student involvement with our community so whether it's signing up for a competition on solving a Health crisis um or Reaching Across grade levels to teach first aid we push to be a premier program in the state of Georgia so um if if you notice up there the the far right hand pictures those are from State leadership conference which is host's Georgia host's State conference and if you do well in SLC which is State leadership you get to go to ilc which is international which is what Paige was able to compete at last year and we're super proud of everyone and all of my
028students that participate in SLC it allows for them to go above and beyond and really showcase what they learn in my class and display it on a world stage so allowing students to participate in these large conferences such as the three pictures on the right like I said before really encompasses and instills the values of our mission um like portrait of a graduate and really helps instill those those those values that we're looking for um in in budding adults that are are are looking to be valuable citizens in the workforce whether it's Healthcare whether it's agriculture uh whether it's early childhood um these these six tenants are something that we really strive for [Music] so um I want to answer the question of where our pathway goes from here so in regards to the program
029itself um our mission is to become the first industry certified Social Circle pathway in Spring of next year so what that means is within the state of Georgia healthc care will exceed above the standard of what basically the state of Georgia requires a CTA program to operate under uh and we're we're looking to go above that um in in regards to enriching our students we're looking to add a pharmacy technician program this allows for students to receive a medical certification um upon graduation for them to either go right into the Workforce or a or to use as a stepping stone to a further degree um and the goal of that is to allow for them to um use that pharmacy tech certification as a as a as a positive light for their future and really
030allow for them to dig their heels into Hey What Can I Do professionally right I I think that that's something that that needs to be uh continued um to be uh to be driven in um into our students um a sense of determination motivation and I think adding Pathways that have these certifications in there I think that's something that we that we really can gravitate towards and really work towards so this pharmacy tech program it aligns with our portrait of a graduate instills characteristics that produce lifelong Learners and productive citizens so again I want to thank the board for the many opportunities that we've been able to provide for our students and we look forward to what the future has to hold thank you thank you Mr sass we are really proud of the accomplishments
031of the students in your program and we know that you're going to continue to make sure that we have healthc Care Professionals here in Social Circle that they're going to do a great job taking care of all us good thanks next we wanted to to introduce Anna Claire Mel who's one of our school social workers and Miss Crystal Sandford who is our district Student Success coordinator to provide an update on the mental health wound services that we offer here in the Social Circle City schools in order for students and families this aligns with our strategic goal area of safety and culture of well-being and this this team provides innumerable resources to assist our families in their time of need good evening thank you for having us here today to talk about something that is very
032near and dear to our hearts supporting the whole child is essential to nurturing their academic emotional social and physical well-being this holistic approach Fosters confidence and resilience as our students are striving to do great here in school but beyond School our student services team includes School social workers school counselors and other support staff we each play a vital role in meeting the diverse needs of our students we work together to ensure both students and families are set up for Success some of our students require additional support and some of those students are in circumstances such as foster care homelessness or other personal crisis these factors have an impact on their academic and social well-being the number of suicide risk assessments completed this year reflects our team's commitment to recognizing warning signs taking action and providing
033necessary support a key tool in understanding Mental Health is the annual Georgia State student health survey you can see on the graph that from 2023 to 2025 we observed a steady decline in students reporting concerns about self harm Stress and Anxiety for instance the percentage of students who reported always feeling stress dropped by 7% and those who had considered suicide also decreased by 7% on all of these measures our district outperforms State averages clear evidence that our efforts are making a difference and the stand for the state average is the blue bar correct correct yes I believe these improvements they stem from a layered support systems that we provide these range from meeting basic needs to offer in some individualized care for our students some key initiatives include Community Partnerships we collaborate with local food
034pantries to supply our families in need with food boxes on a weekly basis we also have the onsite counseling that takes place This Is Us partnering with two outstanding counseling agencies from the community who brings in a therapist directly into our schools to support our students one onone as they work to be compassionate communicators but also creative problem solvers we also have leadership development our new fifth grade portrait of a graduate Ambassador Club helps students feel confidence leadership skills and prepare them to be Global Citizens exactly what we want I would like to share some feedback we have receive from individuals who have been directly impacted by the work that we do this this first one comes from one of our foster parents who recently adopted three of our beautiful students into their forever home
035these are her words the support compassion and understanding and love of the teachers counselors and staff Express to my children have been phenomenal they not only work with these kids but they also help them work through their struggles and behaviors I have been blessed to have multiple Foster and adopting children attend school here at Social Circle City Schools they have stood by me through my journey for over 14 years they have not only impacted my life but also my family furthermore they continue to support my children they have already been adopted who also face struggles and challenges from their past to me they are simply the best and my children and I are great grateful and fortunate to have people in a school system who don't forget the kids who have experienced more than they
036probably should have in life thank you all for all the years of support it takes a village and I love my Village thank you Miss maale and all of the staff from the primary school to the high school we have had some of the toughest cases yet but you all have made a difference God bless you all and thank you one of of our students is a part of our mentoring program and she shared the following feedback during my time at the mentoring program I have only grown to love it more and more every year it got me placed with the best Mentor for me sometimes it feels like we're the same person but just in different bodies my mentor understands me so well I have received good advice over the years and I've had
037a platform to voice my concerns issues accomplishments and defeats someone to help me through it all my mentor also helped me through academic and personal matters without hesitation our meetings also quickly become something I look forward to each month I think other students should join the program because it creates a sense of community even if it's just one person these two examples are are just a snippet of why we do what we do thank you to our school board for seeing the importance of strengthening the whole Child by supporting the student services team your support for the programs we provide ensures that our students are taken care of holistically thank you thank you ladies we are very proud of the work that you do every day making sure that our children feel seen and heard
038and loved and even our children who are experiencing lots of trauma and making sure that we're doing everything that we can possibly do to help our families that need help we are very blessed to live um in an area where we have a school district that really prioritizes mental health that they clearly understand that if a child is stressed then they're not going to learn algebra one so us taking the time and putting in the energy to make sure that we're providing those basic needs for the families that need it makes such a huge difference um our mental health support services are the Envy of other districts across the state because this school board has been willing to dedicate resources to those tools and I really appreciate the team that we've hired to do this
039work because they do it with such an open heart and they do it on the weekends and they do it during the summer and they do it during spring break and they do it during vacation like they will be on vacation in Haw figuring out how a family can get a washer and dryer it it's just amazing work they search for students who um who've Run Away From Home and these ladies will run the streets until they find our kids and bring them home and that's the most important thing that we can possibly do and when we do those things it makes it a lot easier for our kids to be successful in our classes so thank you ladies for S having such huge hearts and for being willing to never stop looking for our
040kids and thank you board members for being willing to make those decisions it really does make a huge difference we cheered when we saw the results from the state the um Health Report survey being able to see that we are helping our children to feel less stressed and overwhelmed is amazing so thank you thank you thank you we appreciate it very much and so next we'll transition into our special recognition portion of the evening this is our favorite part because the principles have the opportunity to come up and brag about their students so we're so excited get care about the great things that you were doing and um please don't feel shy when you come up this is all great stuff and we're so proud of your hard work so I would like to invite
041uh Mr Armstrong our high school principal would you we'll shake things up would you like to come up first excellent there there's a baseball game going on and I know he's in a hurry to get down there a soccer gamec match he has play it's just for a minute yes so it's my to talk about our student of the month this month uh this young lady is an outstanding student and I want to read a few comments from her teachers the first one said she's an outstanding student who exemplifies both academic excellence and athleticism she's incredibly smart consistently demonstrates a strong work ethic and a drive for success in the classroom beyond that academics she's an exceptional athlete showing great education discipline and leadership in her Sports her ability to balance academics and Athletics with
042such determination makes her such a deserving nominee for the student month another one said she's a hardworking in and out of the classroom she gives her all at everything she does she always strives to get better every day and she steps into the classroom she's also a pleasure to have in the classroom because she's always willing to help others become better and is always in a good mood that smile is contagious one of her coaches uh wrote a short letter so I'm going to read this one he said I've had the pleasure and the honor to coach this young lady for the past seven years being a small framed talented girl that she was I knew that she was going to excel whatever she did there was never a challenge that she backed away from
043the only doubt I ever saw in her mind her eyes was her freshman year when we walked in h Mill Stadium for the state championship meet she was walking along side me in the stadium and I looked at her and I put my hand on the top of her hoodie and said you ready little girl girl she started yelling back at me and said don't put your hands on me and I'm not a little girl immediately I smiled and laugh she ran to the preliminary heat the 400 m and the nearest competitor was 20 M behind her she came back to the stands she sat down next to me quietly and a little bit later I said were you afraid she said how'd you know I said I've seen that look before that little girl
044began her phase of becoming a superstar young woman that she is now I stand here with my old coaching self today because of the energy that she instills not only in herself but in everyone around her she is a wonderful intelligent respectful student athlete and represents Social Circle High School in all the right ways and last but not least when I think of J I think of that big smile I get to see her in the classroom on the basketball court the track for the hallway but she always has that big smile on her face when I think about this generation often worry about work ethic and perseverance but not with her she stands out in so many different ways she always has a positive attitude she's always willing to put the grind and put
045the work in whether it's on the track the basketball court or the classroom I've got no Watcher embody this quality in her the PE class where she works with students every other day so it is my pleasure to introduce to you our student in the mug Miss Jada hi hello my name is j hman and I am a senior at soci high school after high school I plan to attend a four University and major in sports management one of the things I like most about Social Circle is in our small town I love how everyone is familiar with each other and no one feels like an outsider in our community I also love the support that I have been getting from our community not only as an athlete but as a student as well one
046of my favorite memories at Social high school was my freshman year at State me for TR I was really nervous and scared but the encouraging words that I got from my peers and teachers at school helped me over my nervous and pushed me to win my first state championship in the 400 me Dash another favorite memory of mine was my freshman year homecoming the excitement from the crowd when I danc brought joy to my heart and made me come out of my sh ask my brother he would know my last favorite memory my is my senior year night senior night for basketball hearing the away crowd and home crowd scream for me as my name was called men lied me it showed me that I matter not only to my community but others around me
047who have have been watching me grow until the young woman I am today one adult that has made a big impact in my life is co Timothy J Kim he has shown me how to step outside my comfort zone and just go out and have fun anything I do whether the sport suggest my everyday life some other impactful adults that are in my life are my brother and sister growing up they have pushed me at everything I do without them nothing none of my accomplishments would have been possible both athletically and academically last but not least I want to say thank you to my parents for teaching me what it means to be not only a student but a student athlete without you guys I wouldn't be the young woman I am today you guys
048are my heart it's hearts in human form and every step that I take from here you guys will be by my side push me to be the greater person that I am thank [Applause] you great job J as you guys can see she is as smart and kind as she is fast she helps every everyone around her she always does she's just an absolute joy to have in any class in any setting we are so proud of you J and we can't wait to see what you do to make this world a better place how about next we have Dr Ryan Clark who is our Middle School principal share about his student at the M good evening everyone uh this time it's my pleasure to introduce Social Circle Middle School star student of the month
049Mr Nathan Watson so Nathan has been selected as our star stuit of the month for embodying what it means to be a global citizen he consistently demonstrates kindness empathy and respect creating a welcoming and inclusive environment for his peers Nathan values diverse perspectives and seeks to uplift those around him both in the classroom and on the field his strong work work ethic perseverance and dedication to success reflect his commitment to making a positive impact by using his talents to support and encourage others Nathan is not not only achieving Excellence but also shaping a stronger more connected community in Social Circle we are proud to recognize him for his outstanding character and Leadership please join me in congratulating Mr Nathan Watson [Applause] good job Nathan we appreciate your leadership and next we'll hear about our primary
050and Elementary School students we have a treat tonight because Mr Michael Wright our assistant principal is here to present about these students our principal the primary and Elementary School Dr Maria Hargrove is with our wrestling team at the state championship because she has who sons who are in contention for state championships so Mr wght thank you for being willing to come and stand um in this position and I love the opportunity for the community to get to know you better you do a fine job as an assistant principal for us yes ma'am good evening it is my honor to be here the place of Dr harrove I just spoke with Dr harrove and the boys they won today and they will be going to the finals and that was really good news she was sad
051that she couldn't be here to honor these moments with these students um but I'm glad that I to be here um so I want to start off with our primary student and we are um recognizing this student is a second grader for global citizenship Grayson is an enthusiastic participant in class his willingness to help others both in and out of the classroom truly sets a wonderful example of kindness and caring his commitment to showing Global citizen inspires those around him and makes our learning environment so much more positive his teacher aspires wrote Grayson is a shining example of what it means to be a global citizen he is a kind thoughtful helpful and hardworking with a fun Touch of silly mixed in he is fully inclusive and never hesitates to invite someone to be a
052part of his group whether we're working in class are playing on the playground his kind heart hardworking mindset and fun personality bring so much life and goodness to our classroom Grayson leads by example and his example is a great one to follow we are so proud of you Grayson everybody give me a round of applause for [Applause] gray congratulations and I've had an opportunity to observe it thisp room and he does make things more fun he really does but he's also really great at explaining things to other folks if they don't get it the first time he's very kind and patient with the other kids Grayson thank you for that and now we can to hear about our elementary school student it's my honor to be here for Mariah Robertson and she's a fifth grade
053student in Miss El class and I've had the opportunity to see her all through third through fifth grade and she definitely exemplifies global citizenship Mariah is an allaround great student and we enjoy having her in class her smile always lights up the room she showcases empathy and her communication excels at solving problems and engages in critical thinking additionally she Fosters strong connections with her classmates during group work Mariah actively collaborates with others utilizing her skills and resources to influence those around her positivity she is an outstanding student that Embraces challenges and we are so thankful she is part of our learning community at Social Circle Elementary Mariah [Applause] congratulations thank you thank you Mr great job and Mariah we are so excited that you are going to be in sixth grade next year over at
054this new Elementary School you are going to help us to break that place in and make it an awesome experience for the rest of the students we're going to need your leadership there with so many students so thank you so much for the choices you made we appreciate all right at this time we will have a short break before entering into the business portion of our meeting all right next on our agenda is public participation however we did not have anyone sign up to participate in this evening's meeting next we will hear a financial update from our CFO cross good evening so we've changed up the order a little bit so we'll start with our construction update of our new elementary school so currently as of January 31st we have made payments of about 22
055million we received 12.5 million of the 18.6 allocated from the state and we've also earned about 1 million in interest earnings from our goond proceeds and that balance in the goond um is right at 6.4 million any questions about [Music] construction next we have our update on Freshway change for schools in December we collected $1,984 191 and this was allocated to the schools for our Student Success program this brings total collections to just over 100 72,000 and next we'll get into our financial report for December we'll begin with the general fund so we're 50% of the fiscal year complete we've received 39% of general fund budgeted revenues and we've spent 52% of general fund budgeted expenditures currently expenditures exceed revenues by a little over 3.5 million good news is coming in January we receive most
056of our tax proceeds which is right out 4 million um so we'll see um good news here in January also we have finalized or in the process of finalizing our Walton zone 5 and Newton County student listings and I'll be able to give you a revenue projection for those also next month next we have our special Revenue funds total Awards currently are still right at 1.7 million and we've spit 43% of those funds incumbrances for special revenues total about $360 360,000 okay next we have our school Food Service fund through December we're at 49% of budgeted revenues and 60% of budgeted expenditures I mentioned last month we're working on a midterm adjustment as soon as I get those numbers back from the state and um we have a plan our director met with other directors
057in our in the area last Friday and all of them are having the same issues that we are um but we have a plan and hopefully I'll be able to present that to you the next month or the following depending on when the state releases our Venture adjustments and then lastly we have our spast fund splot collections received in December from Walton County total of 214,000 this is a 9% increase from the prior year and Newton County was 2800 and this is about a 2% increase incumbrances for the SPL fund which consists mostly over the construction of our new Elementary School are right out 14.1 million any questions what's the larest month I'm sorry the we what's the largest one month largest month I mean it's always been about maybe 225 um it's always right
058in the low 200s um which you know it was 190 there for 180 190 there for several years so the last couple years yeah exactly yes he remembers when there was less we op about the first seats having yes so uh the Newton County new agreement which begins January 1st of 2026 I'll confirm that um there was a larger percentage allocated to our district in the most recent cost so keep you updated on that all right do I have a motion to approve the December financial report is presented do I have a second I second any discussion all those in favor please signify by saying I I anyone oppose like sign motion C unanimously thanks M cross um we have a viewed new new business or action items for the board to consider um for
059review we have a suggested policy update from the Georgia School Board Association about board policy J gcd medication the board will will review this policy and take action on this at our next board meeting next we have an action item to opt out of the floating host exemption as outlined in House Bill 581 following the required steps of holding three public hearings and Publishing the required notice in the general circulation of our local newspaper the Walton Tribune as well as posting our intentions on our district website do I have a motion from the board to opt out of the floating homestead exemption as outlined in House Bill 581 do I have a second I second any discussion all those in favor please signify by saying I I anyone oppose please say I motion cares unanimously
060next we have an action item to consider a Personnel recommendation from our superintendent her classifi staff the superintendent recommends Catherine Smith for food assistant substitute do I have a motion to accept this Personnel recommendation from our superintendent do I have a second I second any discussion all those in favor police signify by saying I I anyone oppose like sign motion carries unanimously do I have a motion to adour meeting do I have a second I second all those in favor please signify by say I I anyone oppose like sign motion CES unanimously and meeting is adjourned thank you