School Resource Officers Agreement Amended
Board of Education, Community, Police & Government July 29, 2022
WHITE COUNTY, Ga.- The agreement between the White County Board of Education and the White County Sheriff’s Office has been amended to include two additional school resource officers.
Finance Director Julie Dorsey also presented the board with a millage rate rollback for their consideration. The board also took Superintendent Dr. Laurie Burkett’s recommendation for the contract with a power company for the new Performing Arts Center. They also approved the school nutrition bids that Director of School Nutrition Abby Rowland submitted.
At the Jun. 30 Board of Education meeting, the school board renewed the annual contract with the Sheriff’s Office for the use of the four school resource officers. This contract had an officer at the High school, the Middle school, and then two elementary schools shared one officer. To review that meeting visit https://white.fetchyournews.com/2022/07/01/board-of-education-approves-next-fiscal-year-budget/.
The amendment to the contract is to allow for two additional officers. This will allow for each school to have its one officer. The contract also gives the officers $45 an hour whereas before they were given $35 an hour. The officers will also be in charge of doing regular perimeter checks to ensure that all doors into the school are locked.
Heard in the clip above is Burkett explaining the new contract to the board members.
After receiving the tax digest Dorsey presented the board with the option for a millage rate rollback. A millage rate is the tax rate based on local property taxes, to learn more about millage rates visit https://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/millagerate.asp.
The five-year data for the millage rate and it is shown in decimal form.
The 2021 millage rate for the school was 16.060 and the rollback rate presented is 14.222. If the board accepts the rollback there will be no tax increase for the citizens and the board will still collect $16,488,245 in revenue.
In the budget for the upcoming fiscal year, they only budget receiving $15.7 million. With the rollback, they shouldn’t have to dip into fund balance to balance the budget.
This will be voted on at the Aug. 23 meeting starting at 8:00 a.m. This is the lowest rollback the board of education has seen since 2008 which was 14.65, the lowest that Dorsey was able to find was in 2007 and that was a rate of 13 something.
“I think this is fantastic news for our citizens here in White County because that is a very nice rollback,” explained Dorsey.
Burkett’s recommendation for the power company contract for the Performing Arts Center Lighting is HEMC because they are offering the security of a five-year guaranteed rate of $5.1 million. Her recommendation also includes selecting option two for the outdoor lighting which has an upfront cost that will be paid out of SPLOST and then allow for a lower monthly payment. This is the option that the board approved.
At the May 24 board work session, Rowland provided an update on the struggles to find bids for the school system’s food. To review that meeting visit https://white.fetchyournews.com/2022/05/24/rowland-provides-nutrition-update/.
Rowland has now presented the board with a company for the food, bread, milk, paper and disposals, sanitation and chemical, produce, and processing of USDA items. With some of these, there are significant price increases and the possibility of continued supply chain problems.
The expected first delivery from the new provider will be later this month in time for school to start back on Aug. 5. To review these disturbers visit https://www.white.k12.ga.us/board-of-education/board-of-education-meetings/board-highlights, it is exhibit 1. The free lunches for all students have also come to an end, to parents will again need to fill out the form located at https://secure.ezmealapp.com/ApplicationScreen.aspx to see if their child qualifies for free or reduced lunches for the upcoming school year.
The board also approved the new IKBB policy for the school system. This was put on the table for 30 days at the June board meeting. The policy is in response to House Bill 1084 and all school districts are required to pass a policy for handling divisive concepts and the reporting of complaints in regard to the concepts. The policy can be viewed in full at https://simbli.eboardsolutions.com/Policy/PolicyListing.aspx?S=4176.
The Open House Information
Remainder school starts Aug. 5. There will be open houses starting on Tuesday, Aug. 2 for the schools.
Board of Education Approves Next Fiscal Year Budget
Announcements, Board of Education, Community July 1, 2022
WHITE COUNTY, Ga.- The Board of Education approved the next fiscal year’s budget as presented by Finance Director Julie Dorsey at their Jun. 30 meeting.
The board also accepted a proposal from Habersham EMC to light the Transportation Facility. The board additionally put a new policy on the table for 30 days.
Dorsey has previously presented the board with the budget at meetings and at public hearings, both in May and Jun. The final revenue for the budget is $41,704,310 and the expenditures are $42,964,405.
The estimated fund balance for the end of the current fiscal year is $12,408,125 and the estimated fund balance for the end of the next fiscal year is $11,148,030. During the meetings, Dorsey presented the breakdown and changes to the budget to review those visit https://white.fetchyournews.com/2022/05/28/board-of-ed-reviews-first-budget-hearing/.
The majority of the expenditures are the $2,000 raise certified staff will be receiving. There is also a higher gas budget due to inflation. Dorsey will be able to ask the board for amendments throughout the fiscal year if needed for the budget.
“Pulling a small amount out of our reserves, I think it’s a very doable budget,” explained Vice-Chair Charlie Thomas.
Habersham EMC proposed two outdoor lighting options for the board to choose from for the Transportation Center. Both options are for 11 light poles and 16 light fixtures.
The second option was approved.
The first option had no upfront cost but a monthly rate of $566.93 for ten years. The second option had an upfront cost of $24,231.34 with a monthly rate of $365.00 for ten years. Both options include all installation, equipment, operations and maintenance, and energy.
The board voted to accept the second option. The upfront cost will come out of SPLOST funds.
This year the Georgia House-passed bill 1084. The bill is to prevent certain concepts from being introduced into curriculum or training programs. To comply with that bill the board of education has Policy IKBB drafted and voted to table for the required 30 days before voting.
The policy follows all the requirements set forth by the bill. To review the policy and the bill visit https://www.white.k12.ga.us/board-of-education/board-of-education-meetings/board-highlights, the policy begins on page 3 and https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/61477.
Heard in the clip above is Superintendent Dr. Laurie Burkett explaining the policy to the board members before they voted.
The board also approved the payroll schedule, the memorandum with the White County Sheriff’s Office for the school resource officers, and a joint-use agreement with the White County Board of Commissioners for the use of gyms and fields for sports. The payroll schedule is similar to the one used in the past few years.
Burkett mentioned that they are hoping to amend the memorandum with the Sheriff’s Office next month to include two more officers. If this happens there will be an officer for every school after they attend the required training. The next available training session will take place in Nov. so by the spring semester the officers would all be in place.
The Board of Education also announced that the White County Cannery opened on Jun. 28 and will be open until Sep. 8. The cannery will be Tuesday and Thursday through July. Tuesdays will be open from 8:00 a.m. until 12:00 p.m. and Thursdays from 2:00 p.m. until 6:00 p.m. It will be closed on July 12 for a teachers’ conference.
The Board of Education is also looking for volunteers to assist with the Stuff The Bus program. It will take place from July 22 through July 31 in the Wal-Mart parking lot. If interested in assisting contact a member of the board.