001Heat. Heat. Hello. again. Uh I want to welcome everybody especially you are in person and also those who are online. At this time I'm call this meeting to order. Today is uh February 24th, 2006 and the time is 6:02. Going to ask everybody to stand for the pledge of allegiance and we'll pause for a moment of silence. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> You may be seated. Okay. At this time, 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 to approve tonight's agenda. Is there any
002discussion? If not, all in favor raise your hand. >> I >> Okay, motion passes unanimously. You got that, didn't you? Okay, Miss Black here. Ethics statement. Thank you. In accordance with regulations set forth by the Georgia Ethics Commission, it is the duty of every board member to avoid both conflict of interest or interest of such conflict. Does any board member have any known conflict of interest? Seeing none, Mr. Chair, we will proceed with our agenda. >> All right. Thank you. >> Thank you, Miss Black Shear. Uh do any of the board members have any comments at this time or remarks? If not, uh superintendent, any comments? >> Good evening, everyone. First, I'd like to remind all of our parents and students that we have 55 less than 55 days before we begin our testing cycle.
003So we want to remind everyone to be to school every day. Attendance is important. It's the key to success in school. So once again, we have 55 days before we start our testing. That's calendar days, not school day. So we need to be here for each and everyone. And I'd like to remind everybody that our annual Let's Meet in the middle industry and business summit will take place on March 4th. Um please plan on attending. It's hosted by our CTA director, Miss Densen. So once again, the let's meet in the middle uh business and industry summit will be held here on March 4th. So please plan on attending. Details are on our website. Thank you, Mr. Chair. >> Thank you, Mr. Bacon. Um and now I need a motion to approve the consent agenda. >>
004I move to accept the consent consent agenda. I second the motion. >> Okay. The motion has been properly made by Miss King and second by Miss Black Shear. Is there any discussion? If not, all in favor raise your hand. >> All right. Motion passes unanimously. Okay. Well, we're going to move into our business agenda. And uh at this time, I'd like to Dr. Julie Al good if you all good if you would come up please and uh Good evening. It's great to be here this evening. I'm good. Okay. We are delighted to be here. Um I'm with Middle Georgia. I'm the executive director there and I have with me Miss Geneva Brazil and Dr. Dr. Janet Greer and we comprise some of the leadership faculty at Middle Georgia Oesa and one of the duties that
005we do is leading school systems through the superintendent search. And that I believe is why your board chair called me and um inquired about that process. And so we put together a little presentation that'll kind of walk through that process for all of you. And um I think this evening we probably want to talk a little bit more with you guys about what you want to see in a process with um a superintendent search, but I'll just kind of go through what we typically do with with school districts and how that looks and works. Of course, it's kind of like Burger King. Some of it is you can kind of have it your way a little bit. you know, there are some things that you can elect to do a little differently and um so
006we'll sort of share those things with you a little bit along the way as well. And of course, like Chick-fil-A, it's always our pleasure. Okay. So on um on the front, you can go ahead. We our goal is to assist Twigs County Board of Education with the crew recruitment and selection of a viable compatible candidate for the superintendent of schools. What we find out a lot is that there are a lot of qualified people, but what a what we try to lead a school system into doing and a a board of education into doing is looking for the person who is just right for your system. And um that will mean that you'll have to spend a little time thinking about where is it you want to go. you know, you've got a strategic plan.
007Your schools have um improvement plans and so you've outlined where you want to go and so we've got to look for the person that can help you get where you want to go. So, in order to do that, we seek to understand your needs and provide you with tools to help screen applicants in order to find suitable candidates to interview so that you may find the most qualified person to assume these responsibilities for you. Twix County has distinctly um different needs than other school districts. And so we want to make sure that we help you locate um the person that will take you where you want to go. How do we lead that process that's outlined at the top of the second page? We um will work with your board and we'll follow all of
008your open meeting procedures. We'll work with you to establish a timeline you have um named an interim superintendent, so you may not be in a hurry. So, at the end of the day, we want to deter determine when do you want to have a candidate step into the role of superintendent. It may be June, it may be October, it may be January. That's something that the board will need to think about and talk about a little bit. So establishing that timeline, coming up with some protocols to move forward in those processes, determine requirements that are important to you. Some um boards of education are adamant that they want somebody who holds a PhD or an EDDD. Some people are adamant that they want people who um have a business background. Some are more adamant that
009they want someone with an instructional background. Um, so those are some things that you as a as a board of education will lead you through some of that discussion about what it is that you think that you need and and want for your school district. We will um help you create a job application and um come up with a list of required documents that all candidates would need to submit. We will advertise and post the job for you. We will um collect those applications and documents via the MG Resa website and have them emailed or mailed directly to me, the executive director. We'll help you create rubrics for scoring. We'll confirm that the um candidates are certified with the Georgia um Professional Standards Commission. We'll check their ethics to see if there's any ethics violations
010or anything of that nature. We will um maintain all communication with the candidates about times and places for interviews and whatnot. We'll notify candidates of their status um after the screening process. Some may not move forward for an interview and some may move forward for an interview. We'll handle all that communication for you. We'll set up interviews on the behalf of the board of education. We'll conduct reference checks um for all the finalists and we'll post finalist as um required by the Georgia law. Um okay, moving right along. How will we collect, organize, and advertise? MG Resa website will house the application instructions and documents. All candidates will be directed to our website that will be on your website to direct them there for this information. Phone numbers, emails will be provided should applicants have
011questions, concerns, or problems with the application process. So, anything like that, we're always standing there too to help with completed applications, like we said, will be emailed to us. When we're looking at a vacancy notification, obviously, that's one of the very first things that we'll do after we establish a timeline. We'll come up with that vacancy notification. When do you want to publish this? Where do you want to publish this? We'll get all that done. Some of the usual places would be Teach Georgia website, the GSBA website, GSSA website, GASPA, of course, our website, and we can blast it through our own list serve, which reaches most of the state of Georgia. We'll just say that. So, um, we can get that out for you in any sort of way that that you would like.
012Um, if you want to advertise it in the making telegraph, now that will be an expense to your, you know, your local board there, but otherwise, we take care of contacting um, all the other affiliates and get it on their website. All right. When it comes down to the actual interview process, we are here with you every step of the way. We will help you um come up with the criteria of course. We'll help you come up with question banks. We will help you create rubrics for those so that they can be scored um equitably. We will set the interviews up for you. We will provide um candidate applications, resumes and whatnot for all of you to look through. We will be here during the interviews to greet and usher people in. We will not
013participate in the interviews as that will be something that you as the board of education will want to do and as I said we'll conduct reference checks and um at your request we will notify candidates who are not selected for the position as well. And um I've already told you who our Middle Georgia team is and the only one who is not here is my assistant Christina Pearson and she is always um available to help to help answer questions and she would also um be able to get one of us anytime you needed us. So before we move into the down and dirty nitty-gritty, I'll see if there are any questions so far. Okay, Miss Brazil and Dr. Greer, if y'all want to come up and walk through um this little piece here, this little
014document, this little two-page thing, it really just kind of walks you through the the breakdown of all the little pieces that we'll need to get in place when we as we start this and move forward. And we'll talk about um just how much of that you want to do tonight, if you're ready to do that tonight, if that's something you want to think about or talk about. But I'm going to let them walk through this um timeline of sorts, and I think that will help provide some clarity for everyone. Good evening. >> Oh, come on, y'all. Good evening. All right. So, like Dr. Aliggood indicated, um, our next step is just to really walk through the planning document that you have before you. Some of the information you may have already decided. We're not sure
015where you're at at this point with your um search for a superintendent, but these are some things to think about as we move forward. And of course, this is not your first superintendent, so you probably already have some of these things in place. However, you would need to go back and think, does this fit where we're at right now? Is there anything that we need to go back and look at? So of course looking at the first item under the action item would be to select what type of search model you would use. Who will you select to manage your superintendent search? Um we're with middle Georgia. So of course we would like you to choose middle Georgia if you have not already made that decision. And so with that being said, one of the
016things that you we would have to do is have conversation in determining what would you like to see in our role and our responsibility as middle Georgia and um and again like Dr. All good went through and talked about the various things that we will provide such as managing your records and the communications. So, but first again we have to determine exactly what is it that you would like for us to provide other than there are certain things that are required by law that we just can't get around but there are those other things like Dr. Aligget talked about Burger King you can have it your way and it will be our pleasure. Okay. So um the very next thing would be developing your superintendent profile. You may already have a profile but you have
017to look at where you are right now in Twigs County. Does the profile that you have already established maybe in your previous uh superintendent does it still fit for the current environment? So the person that you were seeking previously um the um requirements that the criteria is it the same criteria for the new superintendent? Are you looking for something or someone different? So you would determine exactly what those um desired profile would be and then we would work to come up with the criteria and also the screening rubric. um to align with the profile and the criteria that you indicated Dr. Ali Good um kind of shared with you the things how we have done this in the past and so um as both u Dr. Alley good and Miss Brazil have shared we can
018craft any portion or piece of this except the pieces that are required by law and so we have some experience in looking for this. Typically, we have been receiving probably 30 35 applications on the ones that we've led and then after the board screens, they get it down to sometimes 16 that they like. Well, now we've got time, but you may not have time to interview 16 applicants. Okay? So those are some of the decisions that you will make along the way. Um it's been generally my experience as an HR director and I know Miss Brazil has served as one and these two ladies have been superintendent. You see applicants begin to separate themselves once you get your candidate pool in place. And if you get 25 applications, you're going to probably have four or
019six that blow you out of the water. And then you'll have another group of them. and then you'll have another group of them and then you'll have some that maybe don't have quite all of the the credentials and the pieces that you're looking for but you still want to do it. That's not a decision you have to make on the front end, but that is a decision that you will make along the way as how many people you're going to interview once you collect all of these different pieces. Um Dr. Charlie Good spoke if if we're going down our little chart here, she spoke about the vacancy announcement and the timeline. If you'll circle the word timeline, I think that's going to be the first piece that anybody, whether it's Middle Georgia or GSBA or
020whomever conducts your um search for you that you you've got to weigh in on your timeline. Um and I know you have an interim superintendent in place that I don't know what the discussion has been or I I I don't know any of those things. just coming in cold off the street literally and figuratively of of what that looks like. But you all know that. And so I think you have to go backwards by design and think when do we won't and then we're going to back it out and back it up from there. But once we do that, we'll set an application window. Now, we highly recommend that if we say the applications are going to be due July the 3 at the close of business 5:00 PM that we stick to that very
021soundly because where we get ourselves in trouble is when we take somebody's who says well I was out of town and I want to do mine and then here we open the gates back up again. So just think very thoughtfully on your timeline and if you know people are going to be out of town the week of the 4th of July, you know, you just work around it. So So that's why we think that timeline is so very important. But we'll open and close the applications at a certain time. You know, with email, people can meet the deadline with just one little click. So um just make sure you you you think about that long and hard. And then however you typically publish meeting dates, it is going to be absolutely imperative that you continue
022to do that every time that you are meeting and the things that are open meetings and then the things that can be uh considered personnel and that you would move into uh you know a closed session for that executive session for that. But you still have to publish So you got to think about that and you got to think about when and what time the board can convene. Okay. So those are p the BOE publishes all the meeting dates whatever that is including when you will be screening in the executive session and the interviews that you'll be conducting in executive session. So think about those next ones. And then um you want to start talking about the posting of the vacancy. Let me let me let me be a better teacher. Can I stop and
023answer any questions that you have? We we've spit out a lot of information. >> So, what districts have you worked with that's our size? >> Crawford is is close to your size maybe. >> Yes, it is. Um, I would think that would be one that was probably mirrors and I I I think they I don't have the numbers in front of me, but they had between 30 around 30-ish applicants for that that >> and how long did that process take y'all? What was the time frame timeline? >> They requested a pretty aggressive They requested a pretty aggressive timeline. um their um their superintendent I guess left sometime in the summer and it seems like we got everything going and they named somebody in December and December was kind of a dicey month to be doing
024some of that because you know it was all the holidays and and all that kind of stuff and of course after you name a sole finalist it has to sit on the table for 14 days I mean all that's law and so it got a little bit dicey about, you know, having somebody named and swearing someone in over the holidays. And so that was a little bit, you know, but they really wanted to do that before January. And so, you know, there we there again, they said that that was their drop dead date and then we kind of had to all back it back up, you know. So probably I would if I were going to recommend something I would recommend kind of stay away from do it early December but after about mid December
025it gets a little tricky there. Um but that was something that they they were willing to to go through because they wanted somebody in place before January 1, you know. So and I'll just remind you of this. Um, if you select someone, which you probably will maybe select someone to be your new superintendent who is under contract in another district, you have to think about that. If you select someone in this district, you have to think about replacing the dominoes that will fall. >> Yes. And so just keep all of that in mind because um of course you know districts uh are pretty good about releasing people to become superintendent. They usually don't you know uh try to push back too much on that. But at the same time you just want to be cognizant
026that school is going on. You know once once we start I mean you know we're having school pretty much every month except maybe June and July. We don't have too much school. although you may have summer school, but um there there's a lot that goes into a ripple effect and so getting people in and uh so just just again that timeline is going to be super important. So just kind of keep that in mind. Any other questions? Okay. Um going back a little bit to what Dr. talked about in um publishing the dates and you know um you publish your dates up front to whatever legal organ um before the new fiscal year. However, when you do add additional meetings, you do have to follow that requirement of 24-hour notice to the paper. And more
027importantly, if you are going to conduct your interviews at a site that's different from your location, whenever you publish those date, you have to identify exactly where those will be held. even though it be closed door but because of transparency and you want to make sure that there's full transparency as you move forward and if you um are going to conduct in a different location you want to reserve those location that space early so that as you publish date you publish factual information because you've already secured the location. So, um, that's just something to think about if you're going to look at doing your, um, interviews or even not just the interviews, but as you're beginning to work to as a board in your closed meeting to identify those things that you can discuss in
028closed meeting, you want to make sure that all of that information is published and that there is transparency. So um once we get the job vacancy of course that's when we begin an active recruitment site and you as a school board determines do you want to how you want to do your recruitment? How far you want to reach out? Do you want to do internal? Do you want to do statewide? Do you want to do nation nationwide search? you determine what that looks like and that and our job is to help you um with the active recruitment of your next superintendent based upon exactly what it is that you would like to see and how far you would like to reach with your um outreach for a new superintendent. >> Okay. And and Miss Brazil,
029just just to further say this, if you're going to do internal only, if you're going to do fulltime, and that's the only thing you're going to consider, or if you're going to consider a part-time, all of those things have to be ironed out and laid out upfront. So, those are the kinds of things that you want to do because that's going to determine your applicant pool because when she gets down here and she talks about requirements versus things we'd like to have, if you go back to I know Dr. Alig was trying to make you hungry with the Burger King thing, but if you're going to get a hamburger, it's got to have some kind of little hamburger on it. But if they're out of onions, it's probably not a game changer. But if they
030don't have a hamburger, you know, you see what I'm saying? So, you you got to kind of pick and choose what you're thinking. And it goes back to what these ladies have shared. What is right in this moment in time for Twigs County School District. Okay. So, then we're at the point where um we've done an active recruitment. So now we're getting the applications in and once you set a deadline unless someone tells us differently that is the deadline. No applications will be taken after that deadline. And um also we will make sure that we maintain an a log of the applicants so that if anything ever comes up we have that information to protect the school district. And we will also when a person submits an application we will confirm with that applicant that
031we have received their application. Um and then the next piece is really really really important because of a lot of craziness that's happening in the state and beyond now with people who are being hired and really not completely checking their certification, checking their background checks. We will make sure that we do a thorough background check because we don't want you to find yourself in a situation where you hire a superintendent and then come to find out a week later that they may have committed some type of crime. So we will help you ensure that there is um background check done and also um certification. If an applicant indicates on their application that they possess certain um certification, we will verify to ensure that all of that is factual and make sure that anything that they
032indicate on the application, make sure that they're not falsifying any information because that is crucial and that's important especially when you're hiring the lead of your district. Um so again we will do the uh nationwide certification search as well as through the Georgia professional standards commission and we'll also search to um to see if there's any history or any type of disciplinary fra infractions that this person may have held. We will not remove their application but we will flag their application for you in that case and we will say this person has purported themselves to have this and they will have a copy of where the PSC has you know publicly online where they don't have the the the degree or the whatever that they had but then it will be up to you and
033those are pretty easy choices for boards typically to make when you realize upfront that somebody has given you the wrong information. But we don't want you to think that we are the ones screening the applications. We are not. Once they submit, if you get 30, I promise you, you're going to get a copy of all 30 of them, but there are going to be four or five of them. You will have classroom teachers. Now, I love classroom teachers. I was a classroom teacher for 21 years. That is a wonderful thing to be, but it's hard for most boards of education to take somebody without any leadership background and take a any grade, any person teacher and move them and we will flag that for you and we will say this person does not have the
034experience that you all say that you won't. See, I just want you to understand how that'll how that would work if we are the ones who lead your search because it's not our job to say, "Well, this person's not qualified." That's your job. >> Okay? Like Dr. Grigg just indicated, the next bullet talks about the fact that it is your responsibility as a school board to screen and to score the applicants. We will let you know if there are any flags, but all applications will come to you so that you can screen and then you can determine based on the number of applicants um who apply for the job and the number of applications you receive. You can determine how many you will actually interview and you'll determine if you're going to do um first
035round of interviews, second round of interviews. You determine that information. we will we will work with you if you need us to to help to uh come up with sample interview questions um and also developing a rubric that aligns with the criteria that you've indicated as well as the interview questions that um you come up with. Okay. As Miss Brazil already mentioned, you will have already decided on your timeline. These are the days or the dates that we want to do these interviews and you'll put those down. Um, it's okay in your timeline to have an extra interview time if if you think if you feel like you're going to need it, but again, if you can kind of decide as a board, we're going to interview around 10 or 12 people and we're going
036to spend this day doing those interviews. That's a lot of interviews in one day. You might do six one day and six the next and just kind of know you're going to cut it off at 12. But those are decisions that you all need to make. Um but once we finalize the process, the place and the logistics of it then we will call the people that you tell us based on the rubrics you we want to interview these pick the random number 12 10 eight people and then those will be your first round interviews. We will, if we were doing it in this room and y'all had a table in the middle, we would stand in the hall and we would greet the people as they come in. Now, we like to schedule it so
037that one candidate is not sitting out there talking to the next person coming. So, we like places where we might have two rooms to kind of house people. Give them some water, give them a breath mint, and try to keep them comfortable until it's their time to come in. And then the same thing ushering people in and out. I would recommend from having um been in a lot of intense interviews that you schedule enough time but just not too much time. You know, if you put if you make them an hour and a half long interviews and somebody finishes in 10 minutes, you're just sitting there waiting. But um we are pretty good at keeping the time and we will stand at the back of the room one of us and we will give you
038a 10-minute caution yellow sign that you know you got 10 more minutes with that candidate and then we'll give you a red sign and then we'll come in and blow the whistle. we will keep you on track because it's just it strings it out way too long if you've got the next person coming and then you do need to allow yourself time in between there for resting breaks. So we serve as the host timekeeper for all of those things. Um >> yeah um one of the things that's really important Dr. Greer mentioned is integrity. We want to make sure that whomever applies and who walks through the door for an interview that there is integrity that everyone in Tweets County doesn't know who applied for this job and that will be our job to make
039sure that each applicant as they they're coming in and out that they're not passing each other. So, and that's really important and also along with the interview the process making sure that there's a solid process and that you follow the process for everyone. Therefore, you eliminate any opportunities for someone to file any type of discrimination case or anything. So, we make sure that the process is sound and that what you do for one applicant, you do for all applicants because um again that's the um transparency piece, but also that protects the school district as well. Someone may not be happy with the decision that you make, right? And uh once we and we're going to talk about interview questions that we've we've already talked about a little bit, but once you determine like these are
040our 15 questions or these are our 10 questions, you're going to ask every candidate those same questions and somebody on your team will have to kind of be the one who moves it along in the conversation with the board with the candidate because you don't want to let somebody spend if you know you got 10, let's say you got an hour to do 10 questions Well, that's, you know, uh, six minutes. Somebody's going on 15 minutes on question one, they're not going to get through. So, somebody's going to have to kind of, you know, re rain them in and say, "We've got some more questions that we need to get through." And different boards do it different ways. You may take a question one, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. What you know, some
041people won't just two people asking the questions and other people scripted. Y'all can decide all that. Um, but like Miss Brazil said, once we start the process, what we do for one, we're going to do for everybody. And we won't be telling who's applying for the job. And that that will be your decision to make there. Um, once you get all those and we have all the interviews, then it is up to you to determine who you feel like are the best qualified people. You can call those round two. You can call those final that that's really not your finalist at this point. That's your round two. And then you can have another round of interviews. We've worked with boards where they only wanted to interview two people. After they had that first round, they
042knew it was between these two. We've had some who are like, "No, we need to interview six more. Okay, we'll we'll interview six more." You know, so you you you've got to kind of make your decisions about what are game breakers and what are not as as you move through that. Um as I think Dr. Ali Good first said then we will take the job of notifying the people who are selected for the next interviews and also interview uh uh contacting the people who are not going to be interviewed and we will thank them for their time. I think on the first round we send them an email and then once we get into that second interview and the finalist we we try to personally call them with the numbers that they provide for us
043have a personal conversation. We don't say why they weren't selected. We just say you know the board wishes to thank you for your time and uh but you were not selected to move on in the interview process but it is a personal contact versus just an email. Now, if you would prefer to do that yourself, certainly you may do that, but we do think it's the professional thing to let people who have applied to let them know where they stand in the process. Um and we do notify um that and then this says MG Resa notifies the finalist of the release requirements and the options to withdraw before the information is released to the public. Sometimes after people go through an interview, you know, an interview works both ways. they decide, "No, it's really not
044going to be worth me uprooting my family and moving from North Georgia down to Twigs County to do this after they've come and and interviewed and toured the whatever." So, they can withdraw before your their name is publicly put out there. >> Okay. Um and going back, we will also um do the reference checks where we work with and um their prior supervisors to check their references and we make sure that you have the information from the reference checks so that you'll know exactly what their prior supervisors have indicated about their work ethics. Um also like Dr. G said there are sometimes you may name up to three finalists and once it's communicated to those up to three it may be one finalist it may be two but they will reserve the right to withdraw
045their names um and not to have it publicized but once you have um we've released if you've identified your finalist and this is the person that you want to serve as your superintendent. Then we will um you'll name that person. And then the piece that sometimes we miss is 14 calendar days, not work days. 14 calendar days. And when um I think it was Dr. Greer or Dr. Aliggate talked about the holidays, especially in December, we wanted to make sure that we don't miss that. Those are calendar days. And so um the timeline is really um important when we're especially when we start backing and looking at naming the finalist and that 14-day requirement and that is a state law that we have to follow. And then um once you've done the 14 days and
046during this time frame, this is where you are in the process where you can begin that negotiation of the contractual terms. you know, um, so that person may agree with what you say, may not, but at that time, that's when board chair, attorneys, or whomever that's going to be involved. You work to determine what are the terms of the contract and um and communicated with the um finalist. >> Okay. And then um once you have named your final list or your final lists singular or plural and then you negotiate through your regular negotiation um avenues that you would normally use with your attorney to negotiate. Um then you would have would already be on your timeline when you want to have the meeting and you would prepare the agenda and you would vote to approve
047whichever one of those finalists you have now decided to do. I really can't advise you whether some people give two, some people give one. Um, you know, I I I don't know if that's something really at this juncture that you can decide and say that we're going to have three finalists because you might get down to it and you only have two or you might get down to it and everybody agrees that this is going to be it. But if you let the process lead you and you always hire the person that's the best fit as Dr. Aliggood said for Dixs County right now, this superintendent search, then your heart will lead you to the right person and then you can begin to negotiate with that person and make sure that you can get that
048person to come to work for you for the conditions, the amount of money, uh you know, the things that they need will need to do because it will be your superintendent and it will be the superintendent that will serve all of the faculty and staff and the students. of this county and I know you take that responsibility very seriously. After 14 calendar days have passed on the 15th day, you can have that meeting. I don't think you have to do it on the 15th day. You might do it on the 17th day. And if it falls that the 15th day is Christmas Eve, I'm pretty sure we're not going to be up here on Christmas Day or the day after. So, you're going to have to put it off. So, just think about all of
049that when you're trying to come up with your timeline of what you want to do. But that is state law. That one is not negotiable for anybody. Now, if you name a singular finalist, everybody's going to pretty much know who the superintendent's going to be, but you've still got to raise your hand and vote them in. Okay. Now, what Go ahead. Also, um once you identify your finalist, we will work with the school board to help put together the packet that will be released to the public for public review while you're waiting for those 14 days. We'll make sure that especially if you have multiple finalists, we'll make sure that the packets are consistent and what we release on one the con um pretty much the same information is released on the other person. So,
050we will work with you to develop and put together those packets. >> And Miss Brazil, what would those packets look like? A copy of It'll be maybe their resume and their application, their resume, just all that information that they submit that is public, then it would be released as part of their packet. And those would be held here at the board office for citizens or anybody, the press, anybody to come in and review. The these are our finalists. >> Some school boards um put it on their website. So that eliminates people walking in asking for information. It's on the website. They can just click on it and then find all the information for the candidates. So it's again what however you normally do your your process and we will work to um make sure that
051we help you with that. >> Anyone have any questions >> far as buy in with our community? Are we going to kind of we be able to engage with our community get input on what they're looking for as well? >> We can certainly do that. Um, if you want that as a survey, um, >> yes. >> Yeah, you would. Would you want that as a like an online kind of survey? Yeah. Okay. Yes, we can certainly add that. When you come up with your timeline, just put that in where you want that in the process. If you want that up front before you ever begin anything or however you want that, just just go ahead and put that into your timeline. But we can do Google forms. uh we can help you advertise that. I'm
052sure we can work with your staff to make sure that that gets out to all parents of current students. Um and then I'm sure we can work with you all to find your connections into your chamber of commerce people, different organizations, sororities, fraternities, wherever you want it to go. the also the information and u soliciting community engagement and input. That information will be on the district website and um any avenue where you determine the best way to get information out to the Tweets County community, we will help to get that information because it's different. You know, some places you can put it on the Dollar General front door and they give that information. So we determine what are the best location, the best avenues to solicit input based on what it is that you would
053like as a school board. >> Yes. >> And our tech people can work with your tech people and do QR codes or, you know, blast them anywhere, Facebook, whatever social media you all already have. Um, can be in your board minutes. I mean, just wherever you think that it would reach people, you can certainly do that. Um, I would encourage the board if you want to go that route to think about what kinds and types of questions you want to ask people. What little I know about surveys. Uh, was a long time ago when I was working on a degree and took a statistics class and talked about surveys, but I'd keep them short and sweet. I would have very pointed kinds of questions. I don't think you probably need more than 10 questions to
054get a feel for people, but three is probably not enough, you know. So, you want to ask some questions probably in the 8 to 10 range of parents and we can make that easy for them to complete on their phones or at the public library or wherever. Dr. Aligood, do you I think we're at the point now whether um when when Miss Brazil started talking, she was talking about like what model you want and do y'all have questions for Dr. Ali Good about if Middle Georgia were to conduct this for y'all? Uh Dr. Aligood and all of you ladies, I appreciate all that information. Uh I certainly will be in touch with you uh after I get a chance to talk with all the board members. But absolutely, >> thank you so much for your
055time. >> Thank you for inviting us. We love coming out to Twigs County. And so we'll be um waiting to hear from you. And if you have any questions of me, you have my number. Yes. And all of you have um my contact information in the back of that uh presentation. Great. >> All right. >> Thank you so much. >> Thank you very much. Mr. Chairman, um board members, before uh Dr. Ale good and our staff leaves, I definitely would like to inform you and thank them um for their help during the transition um providing um instructional expertise and workshops and leadership training and all of that for us for our favorite price free. But they've been instrumental. So I want to say thank you once again for providing this service but for all the
056services you've been providing during my transition um for us. So once again Rhysa is always a good resource for us and will be for us in the future. So thank you. >> Thank you. Good evening, board chair, uh, Kristoffen, Vice Chair Rouse, Miss Black Chair, and Miss King. Um, it's good to be here this evening. And the first, I'd like to present to you, um, our tax anticipated note. Um, tonight I'm bringing forward the formal approval for the issuance of a $1.5 million tax anticipated note. But before I do that, we are a district with a vision generating excellence, one team, one goal with the mission to inspire, challenge, and prepare all of our students to compete globally. And this applies to all of our strategic goals. Learning and wellness for all, excellence ahead, academics,
057facilities, and opportunity, doing things the Twig's way, growing and sustaining our village, and being a premier people organization. As we know, um, we requested a $ 1.5 million TAN. Um, the Bank of Dudley has completed underwriting and approved the district for the TAN. The action before you is to authorize the district to move forward with the final insurance under the approved terms. Um, we met with the Mr. Christophen and Miss King was with me as they went over our terms um with us and which will be $1.5 million um on a draw system at 6% interest with a $500 fee. Why do we need this TAN? As previously discussed, the district experienced class flow time and gaps between expenditures and revenue collections. The approved TAN allows us to maintain our payroll uninterrupted, protects our employees,
058meet our vendor obligations, and ensure operation continuity. This is not new spending. This is structural financial management to bridge our revenue gaps. Upon approval tonight, it guarantees on-time payroll for employees, continued classroom instruction without disruption, and preserves preservation of our vendor relationships and continue essential services for all of our students. This intent is to protect our people, our operations, and our credibility. Um, oversight and repayment. The TAM will be repaid from addition revenue within the fix within the end of the fiscal within the fiscal year 27. That means we'll pay it uh de before December 31st as required by law. A payment schedule has been aligned with our projected revenue. Um, so with the underwriting and approval secured, I respectfully recommend to the board to authorize the issuance of the $ 1.5 million tax anticipated
059note to ensure continued operation stability for the Twix County School District. Mr. Chairman. >> Okay. Thank you, Mr. Bacon. Uh at this time, um are there any questions? Okay. At this time, can I get a motion to approve the uh uh tan um I don't know what else called? Can I get a motion to approve the uh uh accepting the tan? >> I move to accept the tan today. >> Second motion. >> Okay. Again, uh motion been properly made by Miss King and second by Mr. Rouse. Uh is there any discussion? Okay. All in favor raise your hand. I >> Okay, a motion passes. >> Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Board of Education. Next, well, I have a presentation as protocols been established on the homestead exemption. As we remember last year, the board
060went through several contentious um hearings with the public. Um upon my coming in um we reooked and revisited this opting into the homestead exemption. Um but first, let's talk about before we talk about this exemption, let's talk about reality. Twist County has not had a full property re-evaluation in over a decade. I would say almost 15 years. During the time property values have increased, some gradually but most significantly. When a re-evaluation happens after a long period of time, it's not just a little adjustment. It adjusts all at once. This means homeowners could see sharp increases in their tax bills in a single year. For many families, especially retirees and those on fixed incomes, that could be financially devastating. Our responsibility as a board of education and as a school district is to anticipate the impact
061before it happens, not wait until people are hurting. The homestead exemption is not about eliminating taxes. It's about moderating growth. It limits how quickly taxable value of primary residents can be increased. This provides stability. It provides predictability. It protects it protects long-term residents who have stayed in the com committed to this community. In a county like ours where many families are working hard just to keep things up, predictability matters. This decision is about balance. We are the stewards with two responsibilities. Protecting our taxpayers and protecting our schools. We cannot ignore community the financial strain on our community at a time. At this time, we must ensure as well that the school system remains operational and stable. That's why this decision must be thoughtful and align with our broader financial stabilization work. When boards act with
062fairness and foresight, it builds long-term trust with the community. Opting in doesn't mean acting without discipline. We will review the projected revenue impact carefully. We have done that. We conduct multi-year forecasting. We align this decision with our ongoing stabilization efforts. Most importantly, we will protect the classroom and instruction first. Our children will not pay for the price of policy decisions. that remains a non-negotiable. We cannot wait to react. We can only plan and protect. Opting in demonstrates that the board is thinking ahead. It shows that we are aware of the potential financial shock to our community that a re-evaluation would cause. It shows that we are committed to steady, responsible governance. We are protecting homeowners. We are safeguarding our schools. And we are strengthening the confidence in the board's leadership. This is why proactive leadership
063looks like. This is what proactive leadership looks like. Therefore, Mr. Chairman, I recommend that we opt in to the Homestead Exemption Act to protect our homeowners and our schools and our community. >> Any discussion? Um, is this going to be information for us tonight or is this going to be action? >> This is uh >> I know I know it's on for >> it's for action. Yes, >> action. >> We have to opt in before March. We've had several discussions in our workshops about this. Um, so let's give it some context. Um, Twigs County is probably three to five years away from actually having a re-evaluation. when we look at where they are the cost and then if we also factor in the fact that we will need other tax tax things from our public
064like a splast or even maybe a military. This would be an additional burden when it happens because we're looking at a threefold increase in property values when this happens. So that's why we're looking to protect um and look out for our homeowners and our taxpayers at this time. So we must opt in before uh the 1 of of March. Uh, and that's why we kind of my me coming in, us getting the information kind of put us a little bit um against the wall, but we had the discussions and sent out the paperwork so that everybody could be familiar with where we were with this. Are there any questions other questions? >> Mr. Bacon? >> Yes, ma'am. Can you um kind of explain to the public um about what the difference is as far as
065being opt in and opt out as far as to where we were before and where we why we asking for this now the change? >> Yes, ma'am. So whenever what's truly unique about Twix County is the length of time in between a re-evaluations. So our property values in our property book is pretty stable and it reflects the property values of maybe 10 or 15 years ago. So right now if we would have a re-evaluation today without opting in and let's say your $50,000 house valuation is now $150,000. that re-evaluation, you will feel the entire $150,000 of re-evaluation. When we opt in, it caps it to a moderate 2 to 3% a year increase on a person. So that means even though your property value has gone up, you will not see the full weight of
066the re-evaluation in one year and one lump sum. it would be gradually bought onto you. Now the only difference is when you sell that house the new person will get that tax will get will will feel the weight of the evaluation but if you're in your house you be able to stay there. So when you look at it you're trying to protect people and it's and it's a catch 22. you. Yes, we could use the new revenue. It' be a lot, but we'll end up having to roll back um some of our taxes because um our millage rate because we wouldn't had um we're only allowed to get so much until we vote again. So, it uh this allows us to not get the full weight right up front. It protects a lot of people
067who are trying to stay in their homes. Um, some farmers and some other land owner land owners have some exemptions that this won't affect them as much, but your single family homeowner on a acre or less of land will feel the full brunt of a re-evaluation. And on top of that, in the time span, we would ask for a splice or something else in between. So here we have this laying on on the table and anything else the board may have need tax-wise. That's why it's so important that we look at it from the taxpayer point of view. >> Thank you. >> Now we're not sure, but we may have to opt in anyway if they vote on it in this year's um legislative session. So we may not have a choice. This may all
068be for not, but I think it shows good faith um to our taxpayers. >> Are there any other questions, comments? >> How long will we opt in? How long will it be for? >> I think we opt in for I think right now I think it's almost 20 years you opt in. But I think uh Mr. Butler that we're going to have to opt in anyway statewide. That's what it's looking like. Um >> Okay. So, that's 20 years. Okay. All right. Thank you. >> Any other questions, discussion? Okay. If not, uh can I get a motion to Opt out of We opting in or opting out? >> We're opting in. >> Opt in to the Homeless State Exemption Act. >> Okay. >> Second. Okay. The motion has been properly made by Mr. Butler and second
069by Mr. Rouse. Is there any other discussion? If not, all in favor raise your hand. Okay, the motion passes. Uh, and >> one nay. >> One. >> Okay. Four uh four and one nay. And then uh you got one more the splash. >> Yes, sir. >> Um our splash revenue collections and this is for information and this is a update um because it's it's a little unusual. Our typical splash collections average $75,000 per month. However, in the recent months, we have experienced significant increases in that collection. In October it was $99,919. In November it was $59,353. In December was $235,561. And in January is 1,173,32. These figures are well outside our historical trend. Because of the magnitude of these increases, we are treating this as an irregularity that requires verification from before any action is
070taken. Why the additional review is necessary? There are several reason that this requires careful review. First, there's the possibility that a reporting or distribution error occurred. If that is the case, the state could request repayment funds in a two-year period. Second, the splash collections operate under a voter approved cap. If the if the collections are artificially acceler accelerated, we could reach that cap sooner than planned. If funds were later reversed, we could face a shortfall while still having outstanding obligations. And for these reasons, we are proceeding with caution. So, we have a plus or minus $4 million gap, another big collection like this, and then by law, we'll have to stop collecting. And two years later, and this happens, and two years later, they come back and say, "Hey, we made a mistake. We want
071our money. If we spend the money, then we don't have it to give them. We don't have collections to get on top of that. So, that presents a situation. Wilkinson County had a situation similar to this about three years ago. Out of abundance of caution, the district has taken proactive steps. The funds have been separated from operating accounts and placed in a highinterest account. No spending has been authorized from these funds. This ensures that if clarif clarification ensures that if clarification uh or correction or repayment is required, the funds will remain intact and available. Um, we have initiated a process that includes requesting detailed breakdown collections um, confirming the figures from the Georgia Department of Revenue and and State Department of Education and Finance. We also engage our lawyers to write letters to said uh
072once we receive formal clarification, we'll provide the public with an update to determine the next appropriate steps. Um, this is for transparency and and and where our priorities are. In summary, an unusual revenue increase has been identified. The funds have been preserved and are not being spent until we can verify for sure that these monies are ours. Are there any questions? >> I have a couple of questions for you, Mr. B. >> Yes, ma'am. >> Okay. I want to make sure that I'm trying to clarify. So these so in 2025 and 2026 the splash collected those amount that was listed on the slide >> uh in 20 no in yes in 2020 October 2026 um >> 25 I'm sorry yeah 25 >> so those are correct for 2025 and 2026 from October to January of
073this year >> of this year. Okay. Okay. That's why I wanted to make sure. And I have another question. So, how long would it take to verify the formal clarification of the splice collected through the Georgia Department of Revenue? >> So, Mr. Austin and his team have been uh in contact with several uh agencies. Um they've been in contact that you know whatever we get the county get as well. They are receiving the same sorts of of of collections. They are doing the same thing that we're doing. It's our understanding that they're separating that from operating money, putting it in a in a interestbearing account until it can be figured out. Everybody's saying it's okay, but it no one and and usually the department of revenue is secretive about what who's buying what. It's companies.
074Um so it's a very hard process. Um, as you can see, if in January you got $1.1 million and you're used to getting 75,000, that means that that's off a penny. >> So, that's off that's a lot of pennies. Um, so it's to make sure that we don't get caught in a double trap of we have money that's not ours and our collection stops and we have obligations. So, we have uh a bond payment coming in June. Um um and another interest payment right right soon after that. And this money is that money. Okay. Um, so wanted to bring you up to date, just give you the information that that this is out there. Um, because we don't know what happens from day to day and that we have taken the appropriate steps. Um, to
075safeguard the money until we find out what exactly is going on, that someone says it is ours. Um, it could be simple. Uh, somebody got our county code wrong. It could be just that simple. But we don't know yet. And they have up a two-year period to make a adjustment. >> Two-year period. >> Okay. >> You say we're sitting on it for two years. >> Well, >> or or at at the most >> at the at the most. We're gonna try to get to the bottom of it. >> Right. Right. >> But they have up to two years up to two years to make a correction. >> Okay. But in that time, if we get another payment just that large or larger, we would reach reach our our votive approved cap. So, we would have
076to stop collecting. >> Got you. >> So, we need to get some legal clarifications on all of that. Um, where do we stand? If if this isn't our money, we cap. We can't we can't collect anymore. And then what if we get another splass? What if we're in the build the middle of building this consolidated school and all of a sudden they want their money back or we're making plans to do something like that. So it's stickies and it's legal and we want to make sure that one you know two that we're following up and we will get the right answers before I mean it looked good. I mean, we're in a deficit. We have, you know, our answer on the board, >> you know. So, we're going to proceed with caution. >> Can you
077tell me uh also, Mr. Bacon, uh when when did you separate the the splice money into a um high interest account? >> I want to say they did that this week, Mr. Austin, or last week. with the Georgia. >> Yeah. >> So you've already So that means you made contact this week, but when did you put in in the in the account? >> Right. So it's procedures when you're moving this much money from the from our accounts >> to another >> right >> to the Georgia is it >> and tell me again once I cap once it's >> right at $4 million. >> Okay Mr. 6 million. >> 6 million. Okay. >> Thank you. >> If there are no other questions. >> Thank you, Mr. Bacon. Well, that concludes our business uh session. At this
078time, can I get a motion to move into executive session? >> So, move. >> Second. >> Okay. A motion has been properly made by Miss Blackshere and second by Miss King that we move into executive session. Is there any discussion? If not, all in favor raise your hand. Okay. Motion passes. Thank you. How you doing? Yeah. Hold on. Get enough. I'm going have >> What about y'all? That's what it's called. Good snake. I sat and looked in this morning dress. I wish I would have pants. How many years? cont. I see. Heat. Heat. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey, hey, hey. Heat. Heat. Come on. Heat. Hey. Hey. Hey. Heat. Heat. Heat. Hey, Heat. Heat. Hey, hey. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Hey. Hey. Hey. Heat. Hey. Hey. Hey. Heat. Hey. Hey. Hey. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat
079up here. Hey, hey, hey, hey. Happy Heat. Heat. Heat. N. Hey, hey, hey. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Hey, hey. Heat. Heat. N. Heat. Hey, heat. Hey, heat. Heat. Heat. Are you wondering? Heat. Heat. Hey, heat. Hey. Heat. Heat. Heat. How? Hey. Heat. Heat. N. Hey, heat. Hey. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. N. Happy Heat. Heat. Heat. Hey, hey, hey. Hey, hey, hey. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. N. Heat. Heat. Okay. Can I get a motion to return from executive session? >> So moved. >> A second. >> Second. >> Okay. Motion's been properly made by Miss Black and second by Miss King that we return from executive session. Is there any discussion? All in favor, raise your hand. Okay. The motion passes unanimously. You said it. Okay. Uh, and
080now I need a motion to accept the uh superintendent's recommendation for renewal. What's that? Rescendments, resignations, terminations, as well as transfer, appointments, and transitions. I move to accept the superintendent's recommendation on renewals, re resignations, terminations, transfers, appointments, and transition. >> Second. >> Okay. The motion has been properly made by Miss King and second by Mr. Rouse that we accept the superintendent's recommendations. Uh is there any discussion? Okay. All in favor raise your hand. >> Okay. The motion passes. Any uh opposed? >> One opposed. Okay. So, four uh and one opposed. Okay. Can I get a motion to adjurnn? >> So move. >> Okay. Um, all in favor raise your hand. Okay. The motion passes unanimously. >> Oh, I missed I'm sorry. I missed that part. Heat. Hey, Heat.