Board of Ed. holds 1st public budget hearing
♦ The superintendent also discussed the measures schools will be taking when classes resume.
The Gordon County Board of Education held a public hearing for its tentative fiscal year 2021 budget on Monday evening. There were no speakers. A final public hearing and vote will be held on Tuesday, July 28, at noon in the boardroom at the Gordon County College and Career Academy.
The tentative budget was passed during a called meeting last Tuesday and calls for a projected beginning general fund balance of $17.7 million and an ending balance of $14.37 million, with general fund revenues of $58.2 million and expenditures of $61.5 million. It also accounts for a 10% reduction in state funding for schools and the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) which attempts to offset those cuts by providing aid to schools. GCS is receiving $1.29 million in CARES Act funding.
Additional funding is just one step in the school district’s plan to address COVID-19.
Superintendent Kimberly Fraker spoke on Monday about the additional measures teachers and staff will be taking to ensure student health
and safety once school starts back on Aug. 12.
Group assemblies have been banned. Water fountains will not be operational. There will be limited numbers of students in holding areas for arrival and dismissal. Face coverings will be provided for faculty members as well as students who do not have a mask but need one for use. In the cafeteria, a touchless meal pay system will be available so students can scan cards or use a phone application rather than keying in lunch codes.
On school buses, sanitation and disinfection will be a major priority. Buses will be disinfected twice daily and high touch areas such as stair hand railings will be cleaned more frequently. Assigned seating and attendance of riders will be implemented to help with social distancing and to track possible exposure.
Classrooms will also be reconfigured to maximize social distancing. Teachers and janitorial staff will clean high touch areas throughout the day. Bagged trash will be placed outside the classroom door daily and spray bottles of hand sanitizer will be available in every classroom.
Even with these changes, some students are opting to forgo traditional, in-person learning in favor of online education. For that 10.49% of students in Gordon County, Fraker said online learning will look a little different than it did at the end of last school year.
“We are reminding teachers and parents that this won’t be the same as our last closure. It will be a temporary closure. Students will receive grades along the way. There will be attendance taken when we’re out, so the students will be responsible for logging in if the teachers are holding a live or hosting a meeting for their class or if there’s a deadline for something to be submitted,” Fraker said. “We will have deadlines for classwork.”
In other business, the board of education:
♦ Approved a memorandum of understanding with Georgia HOPE that continues a previous partnership to provide mental health services to students;
♦ Approved the 2020-2021 list of charter bus companies allowed to transport students on field trips;
♦ Approved school nutrition bids for the upcoming school year; and
♦ Approved a request for purchase for nursing services to be provided by AdventHealth Gordon.