White, Ga- In the June 22 Board of Education work session, the second budget hearing was presented, there was an update about the PreK program, and three new policies were presented to the board for consideration.

Finance Director Julie Dorsey presented the budget for the second time at the meeting. She showed the growth that has occurred over the years starting in 2016 with an 8.7% expenditure to revenue till 2021 with an estimated final percent of 24.0.

The expected revenue for the 2022 fiscal year is $40,085,213. 55% of that revenue will come from the state and the other 25% will come from local sources. The expected expenditures will be $40,085,213 with 86.44% coming from the personal and the other 13.5% coming from operational cost. This leaves the budget balanced.

Finance Director Julie Dorsey’s Tentative Budget Presentation.

The board will officially vote to adopt the budget at their meeting Thursday, June 24 at 6:00 p.m. If adopted then the budget will go into effect July 1.

Director of Student Accountability Jennifer King presented an update on the PreK program that the board moved forward within their last meeting. They have done the lottery, and names were drawn on June 21. Both classrooms were filled and they have six students on the waitlist. They also had students from Jack P. Nix and Testnatee Gap school districts apply for the lottery.

“I’m so excited to say that we were able to fill both classrooms and have a waiting list. So yes super excited, our drawing was yesterday and I was able to contact all the parents and let them know. That was a busy day, but it was fun to get to talk to them,” committed King.

They have moved forward and hire two teachers, two paraprofessionals, and one SPED paraprofessional for the classrooms. There is an 8,000 start-up fund which King is using to buy furniture and other supplies for the rooms. They are able to use some of the materials that are currently in storage as well. For more information about the PreK, classrooms visit https://white.fetchyournews.com/2021/05/28/board-of-education-accepts-grant-pre-k-classrooms/

Director of School Improvement Cindy Free presented the board with three new policy changes to stay in line with new legislation that has come down from the state.

The first policy is the GBIA Teacher Evaluation Appeals Policy. This policy allows tenure teachers to appeal poor performance evaluations. They have five days after the evaluation to appeal and the principal has five days to respond back to them.

The second policy is an update to the GARH-Paid Parental Leave Policy. It will give parents 15 paid days per year for the birth of a child or other similar situation. It applies to both parents in the system, and unused time does not transfer from year to year.

The third policy is IDE / SB 42-Dexter Mosely Act. This policy will allow homeschool students to participate in school sports. The policy will require the students to be enrolled with White County School System for at least one class that can be done through any of the options the schools offer for learning. The parents will be required to let the schools know within 30 days if their child wishes to participate and the student must also try out for the sport if it is required.

“These three policies we will ask for a first read today and then they will be public for 30 days,” stated Free.

For more information on these policies visit https://simbli.eboardsolutions.com/Policy/PolicyListing.aspx?S=4176

Superintendent Dr. Laurie Burkett announced that they have received a donation of 3 truckloads of Lysol Wipes for the classrooms. It is about $170,000 worth of wipes for the school system.

Superintendent Dr. Laurie Burkett With a pack of the donated Lysol Wipes.

“This is a little silly but I’m super excited about it, this time last year we could not find Lysol Wipes and we scoured all over everywhere for Lysol Wipes because we needed them for our teachers and we ended up not finding them so we had to use paper towels and some kind of pink stuff,” explained Burkett.