MOULTRIE, Ga.—Colquitt County School System will host the South Georgia Multi-Tiered System of Supports Conference at Colquitt County High School in June.

MTSS is a framework that allows schools to provide a rapid response to a student’s academic,  behavioral, and social and emotional needs, according to a press release from Colquitt County School System School and Community Relations Coordinator Lou Ann Lardy.

While the MTSS conferences are common in areas above Macon and North Georgia, it will be the first conference held in South Georgia.

Director of Response to Intervention and Positive Behavioral Interventions Supports for Colquitt County schools, Tabathia Baldy, recognized the need in South Georgia and the Colquitt County school district and was prompted to bring the conference to this area.

The idea for the conference first came to Baldy in December of 2017, after attending a conference and brought the idea to the school system’s attention after.

“I see it as a service to South Georgia,” Baldy said.

Baldy’s concern for the expenses teachers and administrators can face to travel to conferences, was a motivating factor to bring the conference to Colquitt County.

“It’s hard for the school system to budget to send teachers to these conferences,” Baldy said. “We have the expertise in this area, and we travel to state and national conferences but it’s hard to share those ideas with our surrounding neighbors.”

Baldy plans on opening the opportunity to the community members and anyone who is involved with Colquitt County students, such as the Boys and Girls Club, churches and the YMCA, not just teachers and administrators.

Currently, she is reaching out to the community in search of sponsors for door prizes and in covering the cost for breakfast and lunch, as the plans are to keep the costs to a minimum for the conference.

Baldy said the conference would be free to Colquitt County teachers and administrators but there are tentative plans for a $25 fee that would be the cost of registration for all others.

The registration fee would go towards small expenses such as the cost of the electricity in the school building, as it would be in the middle of the summer, as well as any print materials needed.

“We are trying to make the event sustainable on its own, as we want to bring it back every year,” Baldy said. “I thing that if people understood the need, they would try to support us.”

The date for the conference is set for June 6 at CCHS. It will be an all-day event, with opening and closing sessions and four breakout sessions in between.

For more information about the conference or for information on sponsorship opportunities, please contact Tabathia Baldy by emailing tabathia.baldy@colquitt.k12.ga.us.