Q&A with school superintendent
By Deborah Bennett Millen News Editor

A recent announcement from the Jenkins County Board of Education (BOE) that eight teaching/professional positions will be eliminated fiscal year 2008-2009 prompted a large gathering of concerned citizens at a public meeting held March 24 at the Jenkins County Agriculture Center. Numerous questions were discussed at the meeting, and The Millen News presented some of those questions to Jenkins County School Superintendent Joan Blackwood for answers. Her responses were as follows.

Regarding the superintendent's salary, what is the state mandated amount and the local supplement?

"The school system earns funds from the state for one superintendent and two assistant superintendents. The amount of funds provided for these three positions is $238,887 which is approximately $100,000 more than is needed to cover the salary and benefits of the current superintendent. No local funds are used in the salary of the superintendent in Jenkins County. There is not a state mandated amount for a superintendent's salary."

What was the time period of the driver's education grant? Have all of the funds been used? If not, what disposition will be made of the unused funds?

"The Driver's Education grant was a one-year grant for the 2007-2008 school year. It is a reimbursable grant which means that after we pay for the expenses of the program, we send documentation that we have paid those expenses, and we are reimbursed. There are no unused funds in the grant. The grant is paying for the cost of the instructor's salary and benefits for this year and for some technology/equipment. The grant cannot be renewed."

How often is the BOE audited? Provide a list of the last audit's findings.

Ms. Blackwood noted that the BOE is audited annually and provided the requested list of findings for the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2006. (The 2007 audit is currently in progress.)

All of the findings were related to adhering to established procedural policies, maintaining adequate documentation and establishing internal bookkeeping controls. None were indicative of "mismanagement" of funds. The BOE's response noted that corrective measures had been taken.

Why construct a new gymnasium and not a new high school?

Ms. Blackwood said that the decision to construct a new gymnatorium at Jenkins County High School (JCHS) was made prior to her tenure as superintendent, but that a review of past records indicates that the project was approved in a bond referendum voted upon by local voters March 15, 2005. A review of past articles published by The Millen News indicates that this was done after the BOE determined that $8-$11 million would be needed in local funding to acquire land and construct a new high school. It was also noted that JCHS, including classrooms, was completely renovated in 2004 with funds provided through a $1.4 million IDEA/technology grant secured by then superintendent Hayward Cordy. The BOE expressed the opinion that since constructing a new high school was not feasible, that updating the school's athletic facilities would compliment the grant renovations.

Is the new gymnasium paid for now? If not, when will it be?

"The new gymnatorium is financed with bonds funded by the Education Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (ESPLOST) approved by voters in 2005. The contractors will be paid upon satisfactory completion of all work and release of the building to us. The school system will have the debt on the bonds, which will be paid with ESPLOST. It is anticipated that the bonds will be paid for in December 2015."

Can Jenkins County schools use the penny sales tax for other things like hiring more teachers or giving raises?

"The penny sales tax cannot be used for instructional or other operational costs. ESPLOST funds can only be used for capital improvement projects which include new facilities, classrooms, renovations, technology and buses."

Does board policy require that the school superintendent live in the county? Do you reside in the county?

"Board policy does not require that the school superintendent live in the county." The current superintendent has been a resident of the county for most of her time here, although she does not now live in the county.

It has been alleged that even though the school system collected more money than needed to pay off a past bond issue, the bond was refinanced. Explain.

"The 1993 Bond issue was refinanced in 2005. The principal balance was $415,000. The total principal and interest payments were $461,780. The bond debt balance was refinanced for three years at 2.75 percent. The bond debt was paid off in September 2006. The total amount of the debt was $439,218.68. This was a savings of $22,561.23 due to refinancing and early payoff. Excess funds generated by refinancing the original bond debt were applied to other existing debt, in this case the Bond issued in 2005."

What is the spending limit allowed the superintendent before BOE approval is required?

"While the policy allows spending within the approved budget, the current superintendent follows the procedure of having anything over $5,000 approved by the BOE."

Did school principals have advance notice of the positions to be eliminated? Were they involved in the decision-making process?

"School principals participated in a zero-based budget process during which they were given the number of staff and the positions that fell within the zero-based budget. The principals then took the additional positions that were outside the budget and prioritized them. Some of those positions could be funded with federal funds. Those positions higher on the priority list that were eligible for federal funds were funded until those funds were depleted. The BOE then looked at the remaining positions and determined which could be funded with local funds. The positions that were not in the zero-based budget that could not be funded with other funds were eliminated."

Is another tax increase anticipated for next year?

"We will not receive the state allotments or notification of the amount of federal funds we will receive until later in the spring. We are working with projections. We anticipate a tax increase, but we don't have specific information on that at this point."

Has an effort been made to determine why so many Jenkins County students are attending other schools and the effect of this on funding?

"All schools have lost students this year. Of the 95 students lost between October 2006 and October 2007, 29.5 percent have been at Jenkins County Elementary School, 33.7 percent have been from Jenkins County Middle School and 26.8 percent have been at JCHS. Most have been due to moves out of the county. Some have been moves to private schools. Some have been dropouts. The amount of funds we received from the state is determined by the number of students we have; therefore, when we lose students, we lost funds for the next year."

Can a local sales tax be enacted to help fund the school system rather than relying solely on property

taxes?

"Not at this time. There was a brief window of time in the past when this was allowed by Georgia law, and only a few school systems were able to take advantage of it before Georgia law eliminated the option."

(Editor's note: Coverage of the Monday night BOE meeting will appear in next week's edition of The Millen News.)