001Hey, Heat. Hey. Hey. Hey. Okay, again I want to say good evening everybody and welcome welcome to all of you are here in person as well as our online guests. Uh, at this time I want to call this meeting to order. Today is April the 28th, 2026 and the time is 606. At this time, I'm going to ask uh, Miss Stevens if she would come up and she's going to lead us in a word of uh, in a in a in the pledge of allegiance. Uh, and a moment of silence. Miss Stevens is a fourth grader at JEES. Let's all stand, please. I pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Powerful moment
002of silence. Thank you. You may be seated. Thank you very much. >> Shallaya, we want to thank you for coming and doing the pledge this evening. Miss Stevens, if you all would go right out in the middle with Mr. Bacon. Mr. Bacon, here's the certificate. Shallayia did an awesome job doing our pledge this evening. Let's give her another round of applause. Great job. All right. Okay. Can I get a motion to approve tonight's agenda? >> I move that motion. >> Second. >> Okay. The motion has been properly made by Miss Black Shear and second by Miss King. Is there any discussion? If not, all in favor raise your hand. >> Okay. The motion passes unanimously. Miss Blackshed, you have the ethics statement. >> Yes, sir. >> In accordance with regulations set forth by the Georgia
003Ethics Commission, it is the duty of every board member to avoid both conflict of interest and interest of such conflict. Does any board member have any non-conlict of interest? >> Seeing none, Madam Chair, we will proceed with our agenda. Thank you, Miss Black. You're >> welcome. >> Uh, at this time we have a a couple of people that want a public participation. Um, each person will have five minutes to speak. And, uh, is Miss Nelson here tonight? Would you come up please? >> Oh, one second. Please let me know when I can begin. Okay. I wanted to address the importance of leadership in our school environment. Miss Jenkins was arrested at the start of the school year but faced no repercussions returning to the school within the same week. However, she expects the students to
004be held accountable. The respect of our community has been diminished, especially after seeing the comments on social media. What type of leadership does this demonstrate to our children? Additionally, I have heard from many families about ongoing behaviors at the Twigs County Middle School, leaving both students and staff feeling unheard, misunderstood, and unappreciated when they view their opinions. Additionally, I have heard multiple things in reference to students and teachers being allowed to be in the home rooms while they're doing Georgia Milestone testing, which I am aware that this is not able to be done. Personally, I have faced issues regarding my 13-year-old child who was told by substitute teacher, Miss Ivy, that she didn't like her. This was reported to Miss Jenkins, Mr. Ingram and Miss Griffin during the meeting, but I feel like the resolution
005offered did not allow this to be resolved. And my daughter also came to me and stated to me that what if she wanted to hurt herself because of the words that were given to her by this teacher. My daughter expressed that she could have did self harm, making me question the safety of allowing someone with such an attitude around children. But instead of them stating that, you know, this teacher would be removed, that my children could sit in a room by themselves while the substitute was still allowed to work in the school. We developed a positive relationship with Miss Griffin, but my children were recently informed that she was no longer allowed on the campus. This sudden change had greatly affected my children's willingness to attend school, leading to behavioral issues, ultimately putting both of
006my daughters into alternative schooling. I have discussed this with this whole issue about the cancelling situation with people at the school, and I offered $5,000 for her to be able to come back to the school in the building even though the my children are no longer there. It's not about just my children. about everyone. The following day, Miss Griffin was told that she would be allowed to come back into the building after I offered this monetary. So, what I had to say is that basically they thought I was dumb. They said that go ahead and you can go back and I can get the $5,000, but they did not renew her contract and her job is up on the board now to be for someone else to fill her position. Moreover, I noticed the inconsistency
007in the discipline based on individual circumstances in the handbook outlies specific consequences that should be applied to all not selective based on the principles d direction like no many staff members have left and others have open opted out not to return next year. While I acknowledge that Miss Jenkins may have been able to address the challenges over at the elementary school, I don't think that she is able or capable to be effective leader at the high school. It is my responsibility to come to you guys and it's you guys' responsibility to have a welcoming community for the children and the staff alike. And I also wanted to say we um we have to figure out alternative things for the children. I know that people make mistakes and the children have been getting caught vaping at
008school, but rather resorting to explosion. My goal is to offer support instead of punishment. In a workplace, felling a drug test or getting any kind of things like DUIs, we offer rehabilitation. So why not extend a similar support to the students instead of isolating the child for behavior we should seek to understand them and they might be facing challenges that we don't understand and we need to give them the initial things to help them to support them and also I just want to say that I'm here and I'm not going nowhere. Y'all have to understand that I'm a stand on business. I'm stand on business for everyone not just my children cuz they're not even there anymore. The urge that I have to make this a better place for all of these people in this
009community is overwhelming. It hurts me to see that you guys are letting one person destroy your whole community. Cuz your school is where it begins. These are the children that you're raising to be adults. And if you give them this example, what do you expect? That's all I have to say. >> Well, thank you, Miss Nelson. We will uh within the next 10 days you should hear from us. >> Thank you. >> Okay. >> You should hear something from us within the next 10 days. It's Miss Nelson here. >> I mean, not Miss Nelson, Miss Bryant. >> Good afternoon. >> I was not prepared to speak today. The only thing I came out to do was offer support. Um, but since I was asked if I wanted to speak, it doesn't take much to get
010up and speak to you all when you have been mishandled or your child has been mishandled. I feel like for the last two years, my child has been mishandled out to the high school. Um, for example, she ran for um homecoming last year. She was a junior. We worked very hard on her campaign. I feel like, and I'm her mom, and I'm just gonna say I feel like she had the better one, but somebody may feel like she did, and that's okay, too. So, a week before homecoming, my child calls me, very upset and says that um a student, one of the girls, because it was three of them, one of the girls come from out of the office and coming out in the halls, Isaiah lost. Aiah lost. We like, "Well, Zia, how you
011know you lost when homecoming is not until next week?" Like, how how does anybody know that you lost? Oh, well, so and so came down the hall telling me that we that I lost. So, long story short, the administration chose, they said that they did everything early. The administration chose to take my daughter off of the ballot because they said that when they did the vote, her she split the votes. So that's how everybody knew what they knew from Miss Jenkins in the office. She broadcasted it. Somebody came down the hall and told my daughter. How is that as a parent? And again, we understand too that children are going to lose. Everybody can't win. I had this conversation with my kid prior to her even running like somebody has to lose. That wasn't the
012case. We understand that it was the handling of how it was done. It was also told to me that up until two or three years ago, Twe County was using the voting system, the voting machines from the board of educa, I mean, excuse me, from the board of elections. Those were removed. If you have juniors and seniors, they should be prepared to use a voting machine, right? Why would we not have our students using voting machines? So what we did was we let the kids go in the cafeteria and we just hold cell phones around looking. How effective is that? I'm trying I still hadn't got clarity on that. We took the voting machines out which we know that was accurate and they will be given to us the night of homecoming to have it
013done by teachers and administration in a lunchroom and the results are done a week and a half before homecoming. That doesn't make sense. All right. A second thing that I have I have two more minutes. So how I So this was this year. Um I'm sitting out to a game. My daughter is a cheerleader. So this particular night I'm sitting here minding my own business watching a game. It's a Tuesday. I'm tired from work. I've been to work all day. I just want to chill out and watch my daughter cheer. So it's a child that comes up with a baseball bat. I don't know where the baseball bat comes from. It's administration at the game. Everybody is there. So, we're seeing this child walk up behind me with a baseball bat. So, I immediately turn
014around like, "What's going on back here?" You know, and that's what I said, like, "What's going on?" Cuz it was children that was starting to congregate behind my head. So, I locked eyes with one kid that told me it's nothing going on. So, I turned around. a child when as I turn around I heard a kid said tell somebody what the f is she looking at I don't know the c I don't know the child I never seen her before don't know who she is doesn't know anything about her I immediately I turned around I'm like why I turned around because I seen the kid with the bat you know and I asked I'm like who is your mom she wouldn't say anything it was just the art and I'm like I don't do that
015or whatever and I asked the teacher like who is her mom the teacher said whatever and I thought it was done with maybe About 5 minutes later, it was a commotion. And I still don't understand what the commotion would cause from because again, I'm a parent. I didn't come to cause a confusion. I came to watch my daughter. So, the commotion stopped the game. Miss Jenkins come and ask me, "Hey, what you know, what what goes on." I tell her what happens. She asks two or three other people. About five minutes later, I'm sitting there with my friend watching the game. her and an officer comes up to me and have me to ex escort me out. And I'm like, why? What did I do wrong? Why am I being escorted out? She tells me
016that I'm being escorted out because the children called their parents and their grandparents and they were coming to the school to to do whatever to me and that was a threat. And I'm like, well, if it's a threat, you should be alerting law enforcement that somebody is coming to the school, not telling me that I to get out so somebody can get me. So, what about me? You know, like, what about me? They didn't care. So, I said, "Well, okay. I see I see my board member over here, so I'm just going to relay it to him to see how he feels about it." Long story short, nothing ever happened. Nothing ever gets resolved. I feel like I'm a broken record. I make complaints. nothing ever happens. So hopefully hopefully somebody if not with my
017child because she's about to graduate in a few weeks, hopefully this can this platform here tonight will be somebody for the future so you somebody can open their eyes to see what's going on to that school cuz apparently somebody's off track. I've been mishandled as a parent and I was embarrassed y'all. It was many you know how many people were at that game? I was so embarrassed. I never been embarrassed before like that in my life. But it happened. Um, and again, I appreciate y'all for listening to me. I don't know if I really did any much help. And again, I did come prepared, but I just I couldn't sit there. I had to pray about it. And yeah, to let somebody know what's been going on. Thank you all. again. So, we will uh
018somebody will reach out to you. >> Thank you. >> Real soon. Uh at this time, uh do any of the board members have any comments or remarks? uh did you sign up on >> Okay, we and I can talk to you after the after this. >> Oh, okay. >> All right. >> Gotcha. Well, thank you. We can have more support if you guys do something. I can get you in. >> Is there basically speak >> just whoa whoa whoa whoa. Let me let me let me address this here. Okay. First of all, anytime you're welcome to come and speak to the board at any time. Ideally, what we would like for you to do is to call the office ahead of time and have your name put on the uh the list. um in order
019for us to do things properly. So, anytime you want to speak to the board as a group, all you have to do is call the office and tell them you want your name on the list and we'll be willing to listen. >> Call doesn't do any good. I also don't have a kid here, but my friend's nephew goes to school. >> You have to call the central office. >> Yes. So, >> call central office. >> Call call central office and your name will get put on the uh uh the uh agenda for that night. Thank you. at this time. Uh, Superintendent have anything to say? >> Yes. Um, there's a few. We have testing this week and the remainder of next week. Um, we start the end of course testing at the high school. Um,
020also we have teacher appreciation week. Um, so board members on Wednesday, if your schedule allows, please get in contact with me. We like you to be present. Um, and we look forward to honoring all of our teachers on next week. They we really do appreciate all that they do. Um, this week is senior week at the high school, so it'll be culminating with a field trip um on on May 1st and next week is also school nurses week as well. Um, and like to Miss Blackshere, we want to tell you congratulations on your new grandbaby. And from from myself and the board, literacy starts when they're young. So, we got you a selection of books to read um to your new grandbaby. So, congratulations to you and your family. >> Okay, that is all I
021have. All right. Thank you, Mr. Bacon. Um, okay. At this time, I need to get a a motion to approve the consent agenda, which includes the uh minutes from April the 14th as well as district requests. >> I move to approve the consent agenda. >> Second. >> Okay. The motion has been properly made by Miss King and second by Miss Blackshere to approve the consent agenda. Uh, is there any discussion? Okay. All in favor, raise your hand. Okay. The motion passes unanimously. Um, okay. At this time, we're going to move into our business agenda. And Miss Reader Good evening, board chair Karst Starfin, Vice Chair Rouse, board members, Superintendent Tyrone Bacon. Tonight I am speaking about salary schedules. This is the second presentation of this um the second viewing of this presentation and it is
022up for um vote tonight. It aligns with our vision generating excellence one team one goal and our mission to inspire, challenge and prepare all students to compete globally. It also aligns with all five of our strategic goals. This presentation is a request to approve all salary schedules for fiscal year 2027. Salary schedule changes for fiscal year 2627. There will be minimum a minimum amount of changes to the salary schedules. The changes to the salary schedule are positions for the accounting and compliance manager and the budget and financial systems manager that has been added to the classified salary schedule. And I will make sure you know where that is when we get to that point. The language of the degree incentive supplement has been updated to clarify that the degree incentive pay is not allowable for
023classified or certified administrators. There is a freeze on pay scales. Due to the budget restraints, we are asking that a pay freeze be implemented for all employees for fiscal year 2627, the salaries for employees who earn a degree upgrade will be adjusted for the degree upgrade but not for the experience step increase. And then what you have in front of you is the administrative salary schedule which is exactly the same as last year. You see the position supplements which is also the same. You see the certified salary schedule for 190day employees. It is the same. You see the local supplements for certified staff. It is the same. And then the classified salary schedule. What you see is on column five and six. Those are the two new positions that were added. And that is for
024the accounting and compliance manager and for the budget and financial systems manager. It is a reclassification of those two positions. And then for miscellaneous rates that stays the same. However, the industry certification and degree incentives for classified non-administrative positions will remain under further review. It is uh it does not exist until we bring it back for approval. Are there any questions? >> Thank you, Mr. Any questions? >> Mr. Chairman, I like to approve the schedules for the FY27 uh fiscal year. All right. Can I get a motion to approve the U salary schedules for FY27? >> I make that motion. >> Second. >> Okay. A motion been properly made by Mr. Rouse and second by Miss Black Shear. Is there any discussion? Okay. All in favor? Um, raise your hand. Okay. The motion passes unanimously.
025Thank you. >> Thank you, Miss Reader. Mr. Bacon. >> Good afternoon, board chairen, Vice Chair Rouse, Miss Blackshere, Miss King, and Mr. Butler. Um on last week we had our state facility team meeting um to approve our five-year facility plan. This plan is the plan that will drive all of our facility needs and monies from the state for the next five years which may include building a new um school if we want to which would be a a a key part of this. So this will take a little long, but it is also required by state law that we go through this and then sign the resolution at the end. So with that, this is the five-year plan um is a story of reality, responsibility, and renewal. But first of all, our vision generating excellence,
026one team, one goal with the mission to inspire, challenge, and prepare all of our students to compete globally. Our district is at a turning point. We have declining enrollment in population, agent facilities, and deferred maintenance. We have rising operating costs that most of us are seeing all over the nation and a need for long-term strategic planning to meet these needs. This is the census data of Twigs County. Um, our population is declining uh 1% annually over the last 15 years. We have a low fertility rate in the county. We have a shrinking size of youth of our population. Um the median age uh is 47.2 and increasing. 65 and older is our largest growing segment of our population in this county. And the district relies on families um for students and that is also declining.
027Our residents are usually highly stable, but we're seeing an influx with the rising cost of housing and rent and neighboring um neighboring. We're seeing an influx of students, but more transient in nature. As you can see, our enrollment trends, we're in a downward trend going from n 2019 to currently 25 26. Um and to give you an example of when I started here we were at almost 1,200 students. We're at 730 and really when you take away prek we're at about 670 um of students right now. Jefferson Elementary remains uh with positive growth over the last four to five years stabilizing. We uh with prek we're probably at 330. Currently we at 312. And this threshold number is very important because funding and allocation stop start start dropping at the 300 level. As you can
028see our ro our enrollment trends at the middle school from 2019 to 2025 um is dropping as well. And you can see our trend line, which is the gold line. While it's stabilizing over the last few years, um we're at 144 students currently. Um our uh enrollment trends at the high school have largely been stable uh after COVID. Um Tweets County High School accounts for 30 to 33% of the district total student population. Um, our growth have remained somewhat positive, but we took a real hit at CO. Students left but never came back. Families moved but never moved back. Our FTE is declining, impacting our funding. While we've done some things um to help our help ourselves categorically, um we're seeing about an 8.4% decrease since 2019 school year. Um, JAS is helping to stabilize
029the the budget and from sustained losses from the middle and high school, but there is a funding gap. The financial reality, we have declining FTE impacting our funding, loss of purchasing power due to inflation, higher costs per student, cost are rising while enrollment declines, and there's a strain on district resources. And this I had to show our state committee is to show what our money is doing. Um so if you look at the very bottom number 2,72,665 in 2021. So for us to have the same purchasing power in 2021, we would need $3.39 million. And that's to show that our dollar the dollar value the exact amount of funding has been the pretty much the same dollar amount. So our purchasing power has diminished greatly. And that's the squeeze that we're feeling. We're feeling the
030need to do what we've always done, but the money will only go but so far. What are our facility challenges? Aging buildings require major repairs. roofing and ash HVAC are concerns and our deferred maintenance backlog only gets greater and more expensive as every day passes. Um, and we have multiple facilities that are increasing our cost. What have we accomplished? We had to upgrade our classrooms and our lighting with and we did that over several splass. Um, we did the track resurfacing and other athletic improvements. We did security enhancements as needed and we improved the HVAC and air quality uh over the last 5 to 10 years due to CO and due to other aging equipment. Here's just a couple pictures that I showed the committee of the things that we did do to keep our
031buildings relevant. The new desk, the new paint, new technology, um even in the media center, trying to upgrade those things to make those things still livable. Next, you see the athletic improvements of the track as well as security enhancements, and we're continuing those as we speak. Um, and some of that, thank God, is through the COPS grant, which is a federal grant that allows us to do some of these upgrades, and also the state has been somewhat generous in giving us security grants over the last three to four years. Of course, other security improvements and as you can see, um we have different improvements at the HVAC system, um redoing piping, um air handlers and other um units over the last few years, as well as at the high school, new cooling towers, as well
032as uh high um high efficiency gas furnaces. is our gas bill at the high school used to be about $10,000 a month in the summer um because of of inefficient boilers that we were using um and and passing with this. We average in the summer about $1,100. The core issue we are maintaining more space than we can afford with fewer students than we once served. Um, that's the issue. We have about 91 uh instructional areas and we really, the state says we only really need 41. What's the cost of the status quo? We have higher utility bills and staffing costs for cleaning and such. We have duplicate operations across buildings. We we maintain two nutrition staffs, two receptionists, two SRO's, two secretaries, and this is increases our demand uh for maintenance. So, we're going to
033look at a strategic shift. We're going to align facilities with our enrollment. We're going to focus on stabil sustainability. We're going to reduce our inefficiencies. and we're going to plan for long-term growth. I will not be here for the next five years. Somebody will be here and this is the plan. And the plan allows them and the state to give them the resources and the help to make this happen. And that's why we so important that we get it on paper what we want to do. So if you don't get it in this five years, you got to wait another five. So that's 10 years. So that' be 10 years of waiting um to get some of these issues and our students in a better situation and one that matches our new fiscal reality. What's
034our vision? Um our vision is a K uh PK12 school, one roof, all the students, one location. Um we had a presentation from um SRJ and we looked at it and looked at option four. Um we would go with the 47 earned instructional units. We currently have 84. So you can see the space differences in that alone. Um we've done the phase out uh resolution. The board signed that. And what this says is that it's not saying you have to. It's saying that you're allowing the state to give you the resources to look at the feasibility the feasibility of doing such. So as you can see this is our current area and we have mapped out um where we would put across the street and this is hypothetical once they look at that because you
035have to go through a whole sighting process with the state and the state engineers and the state department of facilities. So, we have more than enough land where we could um move, not interrupt school, build a new facility, and then think about the facility use of whatever we're going to do with the older buildings. Um, we have a new gym pretty much at the elementary school that would be some use. Um, we have a gym and other facilities that can sort of be turned around in some way, but having everybody and personnel wise and and wagewise and benefit wise would behoove us to look at one building. So we currently would have we are asking the state to look at a program for 47 learning units which is a little bit more uh than the
036state is saying 41 we say 47 and for ban and a few other things um as you can look and the square footages. So on the next slide you'll see what this would cost us. They project that a building would cost $44 million. We would qualify for a low wealth project. That means that the state would pay for $40 million of the 44 million. what we would have to contribute is five years of splass, which is one one resolution, one one splass vote, five years of splass um to match the state and which would right now they're projecting that would be $4.2 million. So the county has an opportunity to get a $44 million building for the price of $4 million. Um, and in some of the daily things that we're having to deal with
037as far as finances, what's the risk of inaction? Rising maintenance costs beyond our current fiscal ability to pay them, continue inefficiencies, facility deterioration that cause either health or harm issues for our students and staff, and reduce program investment. We are not reacting to this crisis. We're planning for the future. So, what's our next steps? Approval of the five-year facility plan, continue facility assessment, stakeholder engagement about our plan, uh funding exploration, and the phase in transition of the plan. So our goal is ensure a safe, efficient and sustainable learning environment for every student. Are there any questions >> questions >> with SRJ? Is that the only architect that I know we used before? that you >> I see SRJ is that the only architect that you referred? >> Well, currently there not just any architects, there
038are architects. Um, right. So, if we wanted to go with another firm, we'll have to do a RFP and that's more than reasonable to do that if you like. Um but right now they are s uh they are our our firm that we have done SR uh RFPs for and um they help us with all of our facility needs that go beyond things that we don't pay them for. So they've been in on the process. So everybody works for you for free until it's time for something like this. But you do have the option as a board to do a request for proposals and search for other firms. So that's more more than the board's option when that time comes. >> Um the architect fees are not in that 44 million. They're separate. The state
039pays that 10% of that to them. So that they that's already that would be handled in that. Not just the SRJ, but anyone the board would like to choose. >> Yeah. Because it's always good to shop around. You know, we've been using them for a long time. But thank you. >> Okay. Are there any other questions? Okay. Um, can I get a motion to approve the five-year facility plan resolution? I move the motion to approve the five-year facility plan resolution. >> Second. >> Okay. The motion has been properly made by Miss Blackshere and second by Miss uh King. Is there any discussion? Okay. Then all in favor of approving the facility plan, raise your hand. Okay. Okay. The motion passes unanimously. Okay, we have some uh FY23 um invoices, outstanding invoices. Once again, we're system
040uh with a vision generating excellence, one team, one goal. And that our mission is to inspire, challenge, prepare all of our students to compete globally. And this pertains to all of our strategic goals. Learning and wellness for all, excellence ahead, doing things the Twigs way, growing and sustaining our village, and becoming a premier people first organization. Why am I bringing this to the board? Two-year prior invoices remain outstanding from FY23. That's the 2223 school year. The obligations were connected to special education and the district crisis alert system. The the one that the teachers wear alerts uh if there's an emergency or intruder. These invoices were not managed or resolved in a timely manner under the previous administration team. This manner reflects poor financial management and now creates a current year pressure point for all of
041us. If you go to the next, the outstanding uh invoices summary that you have is Eluma, which is a special education service provider. We owe them $70,899, and that's currently there was some payments made in FY25 um 25. So, let me give you the background history of that as I understand it today. When the bill came, they had overcharged the district and then there had to been some negotiation to get the bill down to what I guess the services that we received, which was $125 to $130,000 to get it down to that. My issue is we budget every year for auxiliary services, speech, OT, PT, psychology. You approve those. Those are budgeted items. So when we got down to what it was that we owed, because I wouldn't have paid either if I thought the
042bill was outrageous. We then no longer had the money. And I will say this for my team is every week we have to bust another $100,000 of unexpected, unanticipated bills or expenses that put everyone in jeopardy and jobs at risk. The next is the crisis alert system which had left the bill for $29,500. So let me explain this as I understand it. We wrote the check to pay for the bill, but we were writing a lot of checks and not sending the checks. So, it would register in the system that we pay the bill, hold the check, but we forgot to pay this check and then when it came time when we found the check, there was no money to pay the bill. That's my understanding. We are by law bounded to have an alert
043crisis system working in our building. Currently, they've been very gracious with us to allow us to figure out what happened before they cut our crisis system off. We have a total outstanding FY23 obligation of $100,399. What is our corrective path? Approve the payment to Eluma balance and installments of $10,000 until the full amount of $70,899. I want to thank Miss Rearen for uh negotiating that. Thank you, Miss Rearen. um approve the payment of Centigg's balance of $29,500 in full when the funds are available. Authorize the administration to implement this payment plan and report progress back to the board as soon as we have. This recommendation is necessary because of unpaid obligations resulting from poor financial management of the previous administration. It must now be resolved in an orderly and responsible manner right now. So I
044would like approval for us which is consistent with the board policy that any any invoice over $25,000 approved by the board. So Mr. Chair question. >> When you say jobs at risk >> Yes. >> Can you expand on that? >> Yes, ma'am. Our money is so tight. When you say $100,000, let's look at $100,000. $100,000 would fund two parapros and their benefits for a year. This money is coming out of thin air. It's not budgeted. We're got to take it because we owe it. That's how tight the budget is. When we did the cash flow analysis with uh our CPA and we borrowed the money, we stepped out exactly what it would take to get us through to our next tax collection, which starts in October. So, let's look at it this way. We had
045a $100,000 that we had to come up with. Nothing wrong with that. For our bonuses, some districts have come up with millions of dollars to do the bonus. We thought that was the best decision for our staff. They deserve it. No issue. But that's $100,000 we had to find. This is $100,000 that we have to find. And we don't have hundreds of thousands of dollars to keep finding. I hate being the person to be up here saying this, but it's real. Every day, every week, we sit and we go through every single bill, every single invoice to make sure that we are financially solvent and paying our bills responsibly. But this, if we find any more, I'm gonna have to come with other recommendations. That's what it means. >> You're saying if you find any
046more. >> Yes, sir. >> And this is FY23. Yes, sir. >> And what you're asking for tonight is for us to approve paying the money when we have it. >> Yes, sir. And we're we think that'll be in a next week or two that we'll be able to um take care of that because we have to have the crisis alert system as required by law. Are there any other questions? Okay. Can I get a motion to approve the uh paying the invoices from FY23 as the money is available? Can I get a motion to approve? I move to approve the F23 invoices to be paid. >> Second motion. >> Motion has been properly made by Miss King and second by Mr. Rouse. Is there any other discussion? All in favor raise your hand. Okay, the
047motion passes unanimously. You still up? >> Okay. Yes, sir. Um, next we'll have Masley the uh central office reduction plan. We'll skip the vision admission since I'm taking up a lot of time. Okay. Our strategic goals are all five of our strategic goals. Learning and wellness for all, excellence ahead, doing things the twigs way, growing and sustaining our village, and becoming a premier people first organization. What do we have here? So, we've been in talks um because it's been a personnel issue with the board, but one of the things that we've we've mentioned several times and we'll give the details to is the reduction um of the central office to downsize that um over the next fiscal year, school year as well. The net FY20 the F ne FY27 relief for the budget will be
048$822,788.50. 50 cents. This plan is built around structural reductions, restored funding, and allowable fund shifts um in response to the district's financial crisis. The focus on changing how selected work is staffed and funded rather than making broad classroom cuts. The recent personnel moves were made to facilitate this restructuring, which is now complete. Why was this package built? The district is responding to a documented financial crisis marked by cash flow strain. Years of structural imbalance and reduced flexibility in the general fund as well as enrollment pressures um driving down enrollment pressure, inflation and deferred maintenance continue to be ongoing issues. Ongoing overhead must be reduced before deeper cuts reach studentf facing services. Ongoing overhead must be reduced before deeper cuts reach studentf facing services. The board frame these actions are necessary to stabilize our district's finances
049and protect the classroom core services. They are primarily structural changes not blow classroom train recent personnel moves facilitate this. So I know we saw a lot of things happening, people moving, people shifting, titles changing and that was the shift to work and that was to make room for the change. What are the changes? First thing we had state health benefit reporting fix which should be about $200,000 which is a CPA a CPI error. We had another CPI coding error of $56,000 a coding correction not error of $56,453. A certified slot is was uh corrected and funding is restored beginning July 1. The executive director of operations um line is reduced by $100,000. The remaining work and support through contracting and operating services. So you save $100,000 there. The director of human resources job the role
050has collapsed. Most of the duties will shift to someone else with the support with support funds for other technology set aside. The super assistant tenant of teaching and learning converted from a full-time position to a contractor position on next year. The super assistant tenant of finance and operation deputy superintendent. One superintendent role is collapsed and the new deputy superintendent line consolidates these two prior roles. The digital media slot has been collapsed. Central office receptionist has been collapsed. The student superintendent salary has been reduced by $50,000. Special education director new hire budgeted at a lower pay rate $20,000. School psychologist position route uh reduced from full-time to part-time um reduced $61,718. Title one CTA director cost shifted $25,000 to title one and CTA rather than general fund. This would net us a total of $822,788 in
051net reductions. Questions? Any questions? >> Okay. Thank you, Mr. Bacon. >> Thank you, >> Mr. Dard. Good evening. Thank you for the opportunity to share an overview of our induction teacher program and master teacher updates. I will walk you through how we intentionally support our teachers to ensure success for both educators and students. The purpose of our STOP program, which stands for supporting teachers on purpose, is to provide structured, intentional support for firstear and new to district teachers. We want to ensure they transition smoothly into Twitz County Schools, feel confident in their roles, and are equipped with the tools needed to be effective from the start. Our program focuses on several key goals. We work to strengthen classroom management, improve instructional planning and build teacher capacity. We also ensure teachers understand and can be successful
052within TESS while developing habits of reflection and continuous improvement. The stop program is a year-long experience. The stop program is facilitated by Mrs. Flavia Gunter and myself. Teachers participate in monthly sessions typically held from 3:30 to 5:00. These sessions are required for all firstear teachers and are designed to include professional learning, collaboration, and reflection. Our program includes several key components and initial orientation, a series of induction sessions, instructional coaching support, and ongoing classroom feedback. The teachers also have opportunities to collaborate with peers and we conclude the program with an endofear celebration to recognize their growth. A major component of our program is helping teachers understand TESS. We support them in connecting their daily instructional practices to teach standards and indicators using feedback to refine their teaching and preparing for successful evaluations. At the end of
053the year, we celebrate our teachers growth through the stop celebration. Teachers often share their learning and experiences and we recognize their hard work with certificates and acknowledgement from district leadership. This year our celebration will be May 13th. Now I will share my work week at a glance as the district master teacher. On Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays with all three schools, elementary, middle, and high, I conduct observations, co-eing, modeling, co-planning, lesson preparation, and coaching cycle implementation. Tuesdays and Thursdays are designated collaborative planning days. On these days, I stay with each school to support all teachers. Tuesdays, I am with the middle high school and Wednesdays, I am with the elementary school. On these days, I assist with aligning standards, utilizing instructional platforms, and developing lesson plans. This form that you see on the screen documents a
054followup from one of our new teacher induction sessions. Forms are used to help deliver feedback to teachers. The focus of this observation was to make sure routines were being implemented. The form includes what was done, teach standards that were supported and overall notes. This year I had the opportunity to participate in a coaching consortium with Middle Georgia Resa. From that opportunity, I was asked if I would facilitate a coaching lab for instructional coaches within the Middle Georgia area. The lab was used to allow time for instructional coaches to practice and model coaching moves learned during the consortium. We conducted our lab with Mrs. Anna Sanders who teaches seventh and eighth grade math. It was a great experience. We received the ultimate compliment from one of our Middle Georgia consultants, Julie Steel. She said that this
055was the best middle school experience she ever had. I would like to publicly thank Mrs. Sanders and Miss Jenkins for allowing time for us to come into the school and to make this happen. The last slide that you see is just a snapshots of work in action, modeling, co-eing, coaching lab, and the end of the year celebration. Thank you. >> Yeah. Uh, Mr. Ingram. Good evening, board chair, Mr. Starfin, Vice Chair, Mr. Rouse, board members, and superintendent Mr. Bacon would like to present to you the map data presentation from the school year from Twist County High School 20 school year 2526. All right. The vision of our school generated excellence, one team, one goal. Our mission to inspire, challenge, and prepare our students to compete globally. COBA's ready, always ready. That's our mantra. Striking for
056excellence is what we do. We go into our MAP data reports and information. But first of all, what is the MAP assessment? The MAP assessment is a computer adaptive K12 interim assessment. It measures students academic growth um in reading, math and science. It adjusts the question difficulty in real time based on the students responses. Also provides an individualized profile of students strengths and learning needs um is typically administered two to three times a year. um in our MAP data reading achievement levels um we you can actually um compare it to as what you would propose with the Georgia Milestone reading levels level one level two level three and level four and then it also gives you a percentile um against other schools that have taken this test across the nation. So you see percentile let's
057say reading 64 percentile we score higher than 64% of the schools in the nation that took this MAP assessment. Okay. So, um level level one um level 22%, level two 23%, level three%, level four um 24%. So, your level threes are your proficients. Your level four um those are higher and beyond. Level twos and um you'll need a little bit of improvement and your level ones are going to need you improve a lot of improvement. Then we broke the data down by the um grade levels. And if you're looking particular at the 10th grade, the 10th graders this year are taking the um Georgia Milestones. They'll be taking that test next week. And for their particular areas, we did have um 19% in 10th grade scoring level one, 33% in level two, 26% level three,
058and 22% level four. All right, going into math, we were in the 35 35th percentile nationwide. a little bit lower than the reading, 35th percentile. Um, again, we looked at algebra 1. Algebra 1 is going to be the subject we're taking in the Georgia Milestones next week. Um, 31% level one, 42% level two, level three is 12%, and level four is 15%. And the reason why we didn't break this, you'll see the reason we didn't break this into grade levels, um, the majority of your ninth graders are going to be in your algebra one. There's very few 10th graders through 12, I mean less than five that take that test. So basically looking at this data will kind of give us an idea um how we'll look on the milestones. Let's go to science. And
059what we learned, this is our first year taking the science assessment. It was a mixture of physical science, biology, and a little bit of chemistry questions. And um the data didn't break it down by subject, but we were able to break it down by the grade levels that took this assessment. Um, and if you'll look overall, 19% score level two, 42% in level, excuse me, 19% level one, 42% level two, 19% in level three, and 20% in level four. Overall, we were in the 51st percentile. So, we're halfway u with the nation and taking this um science assessment. Okay. All right. What does our um data tell us about student readiness? That again 44% of our 10th graders are performing above the grade level, 33% or just below at level two and 19% are still
060performing level one. What patterns are we seeing with this classroom data? Um we're practicing for the milestones. We have some issu challenges with independent grade level reading assignments on their grade level. few challenges there also with the endurance of the students with their instructional test being presented to them. Um challenges with some tasks that require a higher level thinking skills. Um we are using purchase resources um newella teacher um crafted task and then we do run into some issues such as um work avoidance want to be on their social media during class time and some disengagement. All right, what growth trends are we seeing since beginning of the year? We're moving towards grade level performance and that's what we want to see on that milestones. with increasing um completion of these academic task, improved reading
061comprehension. The more they're reading, the more they're comprehending, and then greater willingness to accept those challenging assignments. We're going to give it to them. We're going to give those challenging assignments. We want those students to be ready and prepared for the real world. What strategies are we improve using to improve this? Um bi-weekly tasks. Um that's a small test five no more than about five questions every other week to assess the students performance. Um a focus on blueprints blueprints of teaching and then intentional use of purchase um materials that have research um positivity. Let's go to math. What did our data tell us about the math? That's 27% of our students are at the grade level. 42% are just below the grade level. And and what I want you to realize, we've took the last
062map assessment in math in February. So, we had two months to work on this data. Okay? We've had two months to work. We've seen this data for about two months and we had opportunities to work to improve this. And we chose not to take it again because the students are going to take the MAP test next week. There's no use in testing the students to death. We want to go ahead and be focused for this um milestones coming up next week. And then 31 uh percent of our students at that time they were per um performing above grade below grade level. Okay. What do we see at this time? Um as they was taking the getting ready to take these map assessments um again they're practicing they're doing practice tests for the milestones. We have
063some challenges with your um foundational skills u mathematical foundational skills um working on fact fluencies. These are your um your math facts. Uh math problems that require multiple steps, they were a challenge. Um and actually math does help um work with your vocabulary, especially when you start working with word problems and dealing with math terminology. Um active use of resources such as excla performances such as you know they want to get on their social their social media. they want to avoid some of their assignments. What growth trends did we see since beginning of the year? Um they're moving towards that grade level performance. Okay. Um they're they're starting they're using the ability to solve multi-step problems. Okay. That goes into um rigor, improve foundational skills, um improving on your math facts, improve student performance on
064bell ringers and the bi-weekly assessments. And then also again they're realizing we're going to give them that challenging work and it's they're accepting that and working on that challenging work. Okay. Uh what strategies did we use? Um focus on the math task from the um Georgia Department of Ed education teaching of the standards allowing for reteing and practice for the assessments. Um we regroup some of the classes. We've had professional people to come in and work with us um to work with some of our kids who needed extra help. um bi-weekly assessments just as we did with ELA and focus on blueprints of teaching. All right, let's go to science. What does our diagnostic data to us tell us about the current student readiness? At that time, we had 39% of the students performing at
065or above grade level. 42% were just below grade level and another 19% in science performing below grade level. Okay. again we were practicing practicing milestone tests there. Um science related vocabulary terminology was a challenge. Um investigations those investigations and labs prevented some challenge because you do you go to those critical thinking those higher order thinking skills and then challenges again was some daily occurrences. What were some of those growth trends we saw since beginning year in science? Um, again, movement towards the grade level performance. Um, vocabulary, word walls. You're immersed in science vocabulary. You're seeing it daily. As long as you're in the building, in the classroom, you're seeing those science terms. You're hearing those science terms. You're discussing those science terms. Um, use of technology in the science curriculum, improvement of student performance on
066their bi-weekly assessments and their bell ringers, and willingness to accept this challenging work. And what were some of those strategies we used again that vocabulary word wall immersing them in those in that terminology teaching the five E um engage explore explain elaborate and evaluating effective use of technology visual aids um relevant labs um that's relevant to their life things they'll see you know in their daily life and and writing up those lab reports and then active use of inspired um reading sources for for proficient learning and also using um um professionals to help assist. Any questions? You mentioned a couple of times that endurance was a problem. How are you addressing that? The way I understand it is the test too long or they just don't want to go after a while. They just quit.
067>> Well, Mr. Costustafin, at first it's it's an expectation. >> You know, you're supposed to do this work. We expect you to do this. The state has told you these are the standards. This is where we need for you to be. So, first of all, you teach those expectations. And then you don't back down from those expectations. You continue to give that work. You work them up. um you work you work them for their endurance to to build endurance. It it's not going to happen overnight. Take reading for example. You know, you tell your child to read 30 pages every night. They if they're not used to that, they're not going to read 30 pages the first night unless you can make them and do something with but eventually they're going to get to that
068point. So you continue to have those expectations for them to do that. It eventually happens and they realize you're not going to back down. Oh, you're going to do the work. I just want to say those numbers are dismal. Um, and that is really concerning to me and I know that it all don't happen overnight, but we got to those numbers are dismal. I'll just leave it at that to say we and I know it all won't happen at once, but you those are those are concerning. Can I respond? Can I respond? Yes. >> Okay. Mr. Butler just realized that that last test was given in February and that we've seen those numbers. We've had two months to work on those numbers and again we're not going to retest them again because the main test
069is coming up next week. We want these kids ready for the the main milestones test. So we we've test them. Now science, we only test them one time. Um but math and ELA, we've had the opportunity to test them twice this year to see those numbers. and we've had the opportunity to work with those numbers since February. Any other questions? >> Thank you, M. >> Yes, sir. Thank you. >> Finally, Miss Wicker. >> Let's talk more numbers. Good evening board. >> Let me let me grab my >> I did do much better with my files this month though. We are going to cover February 2026 in the financial report this month. Um the finance department and staff is uh working diligently to get these financial reports back up to the the previous month that we're
070in. Um but we want to also make sure that what we are presenting to you is absolutely accurate. And so if I don't feel completely comfortable that it's accurate, I don't want to I don't want to go ahead and present March to you if there if there may be some type of of error. So we're presenting February. Next month we're going to um do our best. Our goal is to get you back up current. So next month we would present March and April. Um so that that is our goal, but we want to first and foremost make sure that everything I present to you is accurate. So for the month of February 2026, we'll look at general fund first. Um general fund, you uh received $422,000 $432,000 of local tax money. So, that would be
071your property tax checks. And you'll notice that as the months go along, that dollar amount gets less and less. Um, typically November, December, January are your biggest months for property tax uh revenue. If you look at the top of that percent to date column, 67% is uh the point in time where we are with in the budget. So, for local taxes to be at 89%, that is good. we are on track to fulfill that 100% of our budgeted um revenue for local taxes. So, we are on track for that. Your state QB aotment is right at 69%. It um it tracks the same every month. So, you earned your normal QB aotment of $425,000. We have some other state sources of revenue that came in. For expenditures, we want to see your expenditures to be
072right at that 67% or lower. If you look at total expenditures, you're at 66% of your budget has been spent so far. So, we are tracking slightly less than the 67% goal. If you look at by function, um there aren't any real concerning functions. Um central support services is is slightly hot, 79%. However, that is a very small category. So, if you're just a few thousand dollars higher than normal, then it's going to throw that percentage up. So, there's not any category that I saw that that seemed concerning. So for the month of February, that puts um you right at generating $20,117 more in net uh revenue over expenditures. If we uh go back go down to capital projects fund your lo your splash revenue for the month and remember we split your splash revenue
073between capital projects and debt service so that we can make sure we fund debt service first. We can make our bond payment but the um splash revenue that went towards your capital projects fund was $218,000 this month. We had very few expenditures, only um 11,000 in instruction and $1,200 in maintenance and operations. But you will notice at the bottom there's a huge interfer expenditure and that is that $1.4 million of SPLES proceeds that we received that are still try we're still trying to work through an explanation. So we don't want to put those funds into the pot to be spent. So we took those and we transferred them out to Georgia Fund One so that they can sit separate, earn some interest while while we work through all of those details. So the 1.8 million
074in year-to-ate revenue includes that 1.4. So we wanted to make sure that we put that transfer out so that it doesn't look like you've generated a lot more revenue than you've spent. So So you'll see a negative 1.2 two million, but that's just because we move move the revenue into a a safe place where it can earn some some interest while we work through those details. If you if we go to uh debt service, you'll see we took $12,750 of the splast uh revenue generated in the month of February, we put into the specifically for debt service. And the um the year-to-ate revenue that we've generated for debt service is enough to cover the first interest payment that you see, the 79,250 that's already been paid, the bond premium payment that will come due as
075well as the interest payment that will come due at the end of the year in June. So that uh revenue generated year to date is set aside into that debt service fund so that we can make those payments. And then moving along to special revenue fund. These are your federal grants and your um those uh federal grant monies that have to be accounted for separately. Um it does show that we have collected 100% of what we think that federal grant revenue should have been this year. Um but we've only spent 79%. So when I look at this report, I I have a few questions. So, one of the things that um one of the projects that we're going to work on in this upcoming month is to dig into this special revenue fund because it
076appears to be that we've collected some revenue that we have not actually spent the funds for. If you just look at the face value of it. So, that's something we're going to work on this next upcoming month to see exactly um why those expenditures are not being reflected. I'll have an update next month on that. school nutrition um revenues right at 64% expendit so revenue slightly low but expenditures are slightly low as well at 57% so they are tracking perfectly perfectly normal with right at $700 um collected more than spent in the month of February if we want to change gears just a little bit and look at your balance sheet for the month of February. So, the first is your general operating account. And remember, your general operating account includes your general fund as
077well as your special revenue fund. So, that's all your federal grants are all in that same bank account. Um, you had uh an actual cash on hand balance of $365,365 the end of February, which gave us um an unrestricted days cash of 12.64, 64, which is slightly higher than than we reported in January. January was uh right at 5 days. So, it is slightly higher. Um you'll notice that your accounts payable balance is $81,437. Um that is lower than it was in January. And we um have we have uh we're up to date on all of uh we're no longer holding those checks that you were talking about. We're up to date on getting all of those checks cut as well as sent out and mailed. And so what you see here as outstanding checks,
078the 81,000 is truly just outstanding checks. It's just checks that people have not taken to the bank and have not cashed for your SPLS 2 account. And so this is the where your splash revenue comes in. And this includes your splass fund and your debt service fund. you have $694,000 in cash on hand. And so remember last last month it was was huge because that 1.4 million was also sitting in this account. So we move the 1.4 million out to Georgia Fund 1 into your investment account so that it can um sit there and earn some interest. And so what you're left with in just your splast account is $694,152 which the majority of will go towards making your bond payment and interest payment. Last but not least, your school nutrition account. you have um
079$27,958 cash on hand and um some of that is uh reflected in $25,000 in payables. Your actual cash bank balance is 53,000. So once you take those uh payables out, you're left with $27,958 of cash on hand in your school nutrition account. And that concludes your statement of revenue and net assets. >> Are there any questions? >> Thank you, M. >> I do. I just have um I know you said we're we're on February >> Yes. >> of 2026. Um do you know when we will be caught up uh to date with current? So the team's goal is to when I present to you at the next board meeting to present both March and April and be up to date at that point. So your May So this is your April board meeting. So your
080May board meeting I'll present both March and April and then we'll be completely up to date. >> Yes. >> Any other questions? Thank you, Miss Whiten. Well, that concludes our business agenda. I want to thank each one of you for being here. Uh, at this time, can I get a motion to move into executive session for personnel matters, future acquisition of property or pending or potential litigation, school safety and cyber security? So move >> second. >> Okay. Motion been properly made by Miss Blackshere and second by Miss King. Is there any discussion? All in favor raise your hand. Okay. The motion passes unanimously. Again, thank you. Heat. Heat. Hey. Hey, hey, hey. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Hey. Hey. Hey. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Doing right. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Hey. Hey.
081Hey. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Hey, hey, hey. Heat. Hey. Hey. Hey. Mhm. Heat. Heat. N. Heat. Heat. Barack. Hey, Heat. Heat. Hey, hey, hey. Heat. Hey, Heat. Heat up here. Heat. Heat. Heat. Hey, Heat. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey, hey, hey. Heat. Hey, Heat. down. Heat. Heat. Hey, hey, hey. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. chick. He Heat. Heat. D. Heat. Heat. N. I feel Heat. Heat. Hey, hey, hey. Heat. Heat. Heat. Pretty Hey. Hey. Hey. Heat. Heat. Okay. >> Okay. Hey, can I get a motion to return from executive session? >> So move. >> Second. >> Okay. The motion has been properly made by Miss Black and second by Mr. Rouse that we return from executive session. Is there any discussion? Okay. All in favor, raise your
082hand. >> Okay. The motion passes unanimously. And now uh can I get a motion to accept the superintendent's recommendations for the uh new hire uh the renew the uh res and the resignations. >> So move >> second. >> Okay. So um the motion has been properly made by Miss Blackshere and second by Mr. Rouse that we accept the superintendent's recommendations for the to the one new hire and the three resignations. Any discussion? All in favor raise your hand. Okay. And Mr. Butler? >> Yes. >> Okay. So, the motion passes unanimously. Um, and now can I get a motion to adjurnn? >> So move. >> Second. >> Okay. A motion has been properly made by Miss Black Shear and second by Mr. Rous that we adjourn. Uh, all in favor raise your hand. >> Okay. The
083motion pass unanimously. This meeting is now adjourned. >> M. Heat. Heat.