MOULTRIE, Ga. – Two elementary schools within the Colquitt County School District are scheduled to receive security updates, according to discussions at the Board of Education meeting Monday night. 

CCSD Chief Financial Officer Jeremy Jones informed the board of the upcoming facility update.

“We did some security checks at all of our schools, and we have two schools that we are adding a secure front to [which are] Norman Park Elementary and Sunset Elementary,” Jones shared with the board during the work session. 

Jones explained when visitors walk into the Norman Park Elementary and Sunset Elementary school’s front offices there will be a secure glass wall to separate the office staff from visitors and parents as they come into the building.

The updates are planned to be completed before the first day of school on Wednesday, Aug. 3.

“There will be a buzzer door for each of those campuses. When people come into the office, they can check in with our office staff, and then the office staff will have the tools to buzz them into the building,” he added. 

Jones said they are also working on getting 3M safety and security films installed at the schools. 

“We’ve got with the 3M Company, and they make a security film that goes on glass. It helps with the destruction of glass in the case of if an intruder comes in,” Jones said. “We have found a company that can install it.”

The company is out of Jacksonville, Fla., and Jones is waiting for an update on when they will start the installations. 

“We are having that done as an extra layer of security for our students,” Jones said.

He also informed the board of the septic tank issue status at J.M. Odom Elementary School.

“The septic tank issue…is in progress now. They are working on weekends and nights,” he said. “If you ride out there right now, you will see the campus is in disarray, but we have been on the contractor. They assure us that it will be completed by the semester.”

Board Member Trudie Hill, of District 1, asked for an update on Stringfellow Elementary’s sewage problem and playground issue. 

Jones was not aware of the sewage problem, but said he will look into the issue and update the board at the next meeting.

He said since the board approved the budget, there was a rotation for playground equipment and Stringfellow Elementary is at the top of the list.

Other actions taken

During the regular session, the board approved the June 2022 financials. The June 2022 collections were the third highest of the year.

CCSD Superintendent Ben Wiggins recommended the board to approve the Coastal Plains Charter High School Intergovernmental Agreement for the 2022-2023 academic year. 

The board approved the agreement with a vote of 4-0. Board Members Patricia Anderson, of District 5, and Kevin Sumner, of District 6, were absent from the meeting.

In the previous BoE meeting, Dr. Marni Kirkland, the CCSD assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction, presented the following policies: Unstructured Break Time, Divisive Concepts Complaint Resolution Process, Material Harmful to Minors Complaint Resolution Process and Parents’ Bill of Rights.

The policies were approved 4-0.

CCSD Executive Director of Elementary Curriculum Patricia Lirio informed the board of curriculum updates. 

“Envision and iReady are the two math programs that we’re looking at moving forward,” Lirio said. “We are not looking at teaching with these curriculums because it’s not fair to teachers. They will not have training on it, but we will be using bits and pieces of it.” 

Lirio added, “By [next] February, we should have voted on which one of the math programs we would like to use moving forward.”

CCSD Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources James Harrell gave a personnel update. 

Harrell said between January and July approximately 105 full-time teachers left the district either through retirement or resignations. As of now, they’ve hired 111 replacements.

There are three positions currently open for hiring including a Colquitt County High School special education teacher, a ninth-grade math teacher and the part-time director of school safety. 

The next CCSD Board of Education meeting is scheduled for Monday, Aug. 22.