BOE begins preparing for '08-'09 term
By Deborah Bennett Millen News Editor

While students are anxiously awaiting summer vacation, educators are already preparing for the 2008-2009 school term. The Jenkins County Board of Education (BOE) adopted the 2008-2009 school calendar during the group's Monday, Feb. 25, meeting and began consideration of school staff for the coming year.

The approved calendar was one of four that school faculty voted upon. The chosen calendar has students returning to school from summer vacation on Aug. 4. They will be dismissed for 2009 summer vacation May 29. The calendar also includes one week vacations for fall holidays, spring holidays, winter holidays and Thanksgiving. Two weeks vacation is given at Christmas.

The resignations of several staff members were accepted as follows: Elizabeth Echols and Ruth Herrington, Jenkins County Elementary School (JCES) teachers; Catherine Newton, Jenkins County Middle School teacher; Janice Pennington, Jenkins County High School (JCHS) teacher; and Christine Dailey, JCES paraprofessional.

Administrative staff for the 2008-2009 school term were approved with no changes from the previous year, and a 1-year option in Superintendent Joan Blackwood's contract was exercised for the 2008-2009 term.

In other matters, a decision on setting up a fee schedule for rental of the new JCHS gymnasium was tabled until the next meeting to allow Superintendent Blackwood to prepare additional information. Blackwood noted that the BOE only needed to recover expenses associated with the rental of the facility.

"It is not a money-making endeavor. We are constitutionally prohibited from making a gift of services," said Blackwood during a discussion of the matter.

The BOE approved a motion to freeze supplements for school faculty at the 2008 state salary schedule which is 2.7 percent, to eliminate Board Policy GBAE and to initiate a procedure for dealing with supplements.

Dr. Judy Holton, principal of JCES, assisted by school staff, presented a Power Point demonstration on the school's 5- year Facility Plan. Dr. Holton commented that data analysis and reviewing research practices were two driving forces of the plan. OTHER ACTIONS TAKEN BY THE BOE
• Approved 5-year Facility Plan;
• Placed Board Policy IHF (6) on the table for revision to allow three years of JROTC participation
to count as physical education credits for students;
• Appointed Diane Wade to the Jenkins County Memorial Library Board of Directors;
• Approved notification of Head Start that mobile units at old Primary School must be moved from
location by April 1;
• Approved the installation of wiring required to operate two metal detectors at the new JCHS
gymnasium in the amount of $680 by Proctor Electrical Services;
• Approved the declaration of four school buses as "surplus" so that they may be sold in June;
• Approved the declaration of computer monitors as "surplus" with the monitors to be picked up by
a company that will refurbish and sell them for the BOE; and
• Approved several fundraising activities for JCHS and Jenkins County Middle School.