Board approves calendars; renews teacher contracts

The school calendars for 2008- 2009 and 2009-2010 were approved by the Lincoln County Board of Education at its regular meeting held Tues- day, February 5.

The first day of school for 2008- 2009 will be August 8, and the last day, May 22. Christmas holidays are scheduled to run from December 19 through January 7.

The calendar for 2009-2010 is very similar.

In a related item of business, the board agreed to allow all three schools to dismiss students after lunch on the last day of each semester.

"Since testing at LCMS and LCHS occurs in the morning, most students check out when they have completed their exams or End-of-Course-Tests," said School Superintendent Randall Edmunds. "There is no reason to keep them at school when testing is over, except for 'seat time.'

"As for LCES, the students are usually involved with parties, so that very little instruction is taking place," he continued. "We just need to make parents aware of the early release."

According to the Georgia Department of Education, early dismissal is permitted as long as it is approved as part of the regular calendar, and students are in school at least half a day.

In other business, the board:

.. Was informed by Dr. Edmunds that the re-classification proposal for 2008-2010 is now official, having been adopted recently by the Georgia High School Association (GHSA).

"Lincoln County will be in Region 7 in football, along with schools such as Warren County, Wilkinson County, Hancock Central, and Washington Wilkes, back from Class AA," said the superintendent. "Twiggs County will move from our region to Region 2."

In other sports and activities, Lincoln County will be classified in Region 4, with two sub-regions. "The GHSA is doing this because there are so many private schools in the Atlanta area that do not play football but do play other sports," Edmunds explained.

.. Reviewed the financial reports for the General Fund, the SPLOST (Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax) Fund, and the Construction Fund.

Concerning SPLOST monies, Dr. Edmunds noted that SPLOST revenues have been on the rise for the past two or three years, indicating that more sales are taking place in the county. SPLOST collections for January of 2008 amounted to approximately $63,000 as compared to roughly $60,600 for January of last year.

.. Reviewed the LCHS Football Report for 2007.

The superintendent pointed out that the gate from the Lincoln County-Warren County game was the largest for the regular season.

.. Was informed by Dr. Edmunds that Joel Dukes has been selected to participate in the All-State Band. Also, members of the FBLA (Future Business Leaders of America) chapter at LCHS made a good showing at the region competition and will advance to state.

.. Was informed by the superintendent that two LCHS graduates are making their marks in the world of music. Soprano Leah Partridge recently performed with the Augusta Symphony, and Carole Bufford appeared as Peter Pan at The Ferst Center for the Arts in Atlanta February 8-10.

"We are proud of our students who are doing well in the fine arts," stated Edmunds. "We are finding that music and art are paying off for some of our students who are making careers in these fields."

.. Heard a request from Cooper Cliatt to speak to the board during the time allotted for public participation. Since there was not an agenda item pertaining to his concern, it was decided that it would be more appropriate to hear his remarks during the board's annual planning session set for Wednesday, February 6.

.. Was informed by Superintendent Edmunds that 19 Lincoln County students attend private schools; whereas, 50 are educated in 26 home schools.

"The number of home-schooled students has decreased a little from the last couple of years," he said.

Approximately 1,400 students currently attend Lincoln County Schools.

.. Heard a report given by Dr. Edmunds on legislative matters discussed at a recent GAEL (Georgia Association of Educational Leaders) conference.

Among the proposals that will be made by Governor Sonny Perdue to the General Assembly this year are:

(1) A 2.5-percent raise for teachers.

(2) The allocation of $50,000 to each school system to help with the purchase of a bus. On the average, buses run around $70,000 each.

(3) Put the austerity reduction back in the budget.

.. Was informed by Dr. Edmunds that Congressman Paul Broun will look into the school system's failure to receive Impact Aid in lieu of taxes from the United States Army Corps of Engineers for the last two applications.

.. Approved Robert Hearst to represent the board at the annual NAACP banquet set for Saturday, February 23.

.. Voted to allow the musical theater department at LCHS to sell cookie dough to raise funds to help offset the cost of its spring production, "Beauty and the Beast."

.. Heard the second reading of revisions to the Personnel - School Psychologist/ Psychometrist Policy. The policy was approved as read.

.. Held a review of the following policies: School District Legal Status, School Board Legal Status, Board Member Powers and Duties, Board Member Term of Office, Board Member Unexpired Term Fulfillment, Board Meeting Minutes, Administrative Personnel, Administrative Personnel Resignation, Administrative Personnel Retirement, Administrative Personnel Time Schedules, and Administrative Personnel Professional and Personal Leave. No changes were made to the policies.

.. Voted to enter into executive session to deliberate upon the employment of personnel. Upon returning to regular session, the board:

.. Voted to accept the resignation of Fred Scott from his bus driver position, effective February 4, 2008.

.. Voted to approve Leroy Bufford to serve at the will of the board as a fulltime bus driver.

.. Voted to approve Margaret NeSmith and Roy Parks to serve as night maintenance/ custodial workers at LCES.

.. Voted to approve Denise McWhorter to serve at the will of the board as secretary/registrar at LCHS.

.. Voted to accept the retirement of Garnett Wallace from his teaching position at LCHS, effective at the end of the current school year.

.. Voted to accept the resignation of Kathryn Harper from her teaching position at LCHS, effective at the end of the current school year.

.. Voted to approve the following for contracts at LCES for the 2008-2009 school year: Mollie Asbell, Jennifer Banks, Lindsey Barnett, Beth Beggs, Elaine Beggs, Kevin Blizzard, Barbara Boddie, Marcia Brown, Jill Clark, Bridgette Cliatt.

Linda Cooper, Sharon Danner, Lind- say Davis, Linda Deal, Penny Dunaway, Loucklin Ellis, Amanda Etheridge, Beverly Fogarty, Michael Fogarty, Carol Ann Goolsby, JoAnn Gresham, Levern Hickman, Joyce Hogan, Erica Jansen, Vivian Jennings, Sharon Jones- Gonzales, Veronica Kelly, Lacey Land, Holly Lawson, Julia Leverett.

Mary Mason, Christie Mattison, Cathy McWhorter, Jennie McWhorter, Kathy McWhorter, Sonya Moon, Pam Norman, Carol Olson, Mildred Partridge, Eleanor Parnelle, Kelly Phillips, Laney Phillips, Paul Reviere, Heather Riley, Kelli Robertson, Monica Thurmond, Shelby Turner, and Mildred Wright.

.. Voted to approve the following for contracts at LCMS for the 2008-2009 school year: Patty Arthur, Leigh Aycock, Sandra Aycock, Billy Beale, Lisa Bentley, Jan Bruns, Christie Bryan, Tonya Burt, Benton Cunningham, Leverta Elam, Marcella Goldman.

Willie Harris, Ken Hayes, Faith Hill, Roderick Hilton, Glenn Matthews, Dionne Mills, Carol Norman, Pam Norman, Susan Pilgrim, Stacey Radford, Mary Jane Ramey, Becky Rice, Donna Turner, Jackie Wallace, Corliss Wideman, and Brenda Willis.

.. Voted to approve the following for contracts at LCHS for the 2008-2009 school year: Marion Aycock, Kenn Barnett, Luann Beale, Dana Brennan, Ellen Butler, Lori Cope, Deborah Deason, Dianne Dekreon, Janet Dukes, Jasper Dukes, Howard Ellis, Dennis Gay, Bryan Godsey, Mark Hill, Carolee Hobbins.

Joe Hogan, Henry Madden, Britt McKinney, Jeff McKinney, Tangie McKinney, Carol O'Neill, Nancy Pund, Helene Rhodes, Eddie Roberts, Lee Robinson, Jeanie Smith, Randy Smith, Mallory Thigpen, Kathy Thomas, Brittney Thompson, Jerri Tutt, Louise Waters, Sheila Wilkes, and Heather Yarbrough.

.. Voted to approve Kevin Banks for a contract to serve at the alternative school for the 2008-2009 school year.

.. Voted to approve Rebecca Wright for a contract to serve as the system psychologist for the 2008-2009 school year.

The next regular meeting of the board will be held Tuesday, March 4, at 7 p.m. at the board office on Metasville Road.