WHITE COUNTY, Ga. — Led by Nutrition Director Abby Rowland and Transportation Director Darren Sledge, the White County School System has distributed 63,706 breakfast and lunch packs to students during the COVID-19 school closure.

“That is pretty incredible,” School Superintendent Dr. Laurie Burkett said during Thursday’s Board of Education meeting. She credited School Nutrition Director Abby Rowland and Transportation Director Darren Sledge for making the program a success.

Dr. Laurie Burkett

Burkett said distribution of the breakfast and lunch bags will continue until May 22 when the Backyard Buddy program will deliver double bags. Distribution will then end for one week before it resumes on June 1.

She also told Board members the Wi-Fi system had been expanded to cover the parking lots at the high school and middle school. “This will allow someone to pull up in our parking lot and receive some free Wi-Fi,” she added.

Technology Director William Sperin explained that “about 100 students don’t have Wi-Fi at home. This would be an opportunity for them to stay in their car, not have to get out and do their assignments.”

One school board member questioned whether the expansion would just be for the duration of the school closure. Sperin said it will be permanent. There was another question about who would be allowed to use the system. Sperin said the whole community could use it. “It doesn’t cost us anything and for anybody to drive up and use it and we can monitor it,” he said.

It was noted during the meeting that the 2020 ESPLOST promotional campaign has started. There will be a Facebook Live question and answer session on May 14 and additional social media posts will start soon including a video. The campaign will provide necessary information for voters to make a decision on the $20,500,000 penny tax referendum.

May 4-8 will be the final week for teachers to introduce new material to their students. On May 22, the high school will hold a drive-in graduation at 7 p.m. On July 24 the WCHS prom will be held from 7-10 p.m. and on July 25, the traditional graduation ceremony will begin at 7 p.m.

Board members unanimously approved the finance and budget statements presented by Julie Dorsey.

Dorsey said the school system received approximately $339,000 in General Fund Ad Valorem taxes for March and $131,000 for April as well as $110,000 in Title Ad Valorem Tax (TAVT) for March and $150,000 for April. Total revenue for March was just over $2 million and expenditures were reported at approximately $3.3 million. Year end fund balance on June 30 is estimated to be $10,847,078.

Dorsey then alerted Board members to the difficulty of meeting the state-mandated June 30 deadline for approval of the budget. Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, state legislators are not in session and are not expected back before June 11.

If the Board does not pass a budget by the June 30 deadline, Dorsey said it may need to pass at least one spending resolution. A spending resolution would allow the Board to spend the equivalent of one twelfth of the FY ’20 budget in the month of July.

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