Following the approval of the minutes of the Dec. 4 board meeting, Futral Road Elementary School was recognized for its recent classification by the Georgia Department of Education as a School of Excellence.
According to Superintendent Jesse Bradley, this designation reflects the ongoing improvements being made systemwide.
“Futral Road worked hard for this and I’m very proud of them,” he said. “That’s proof that our school system is continuing to improve - all of our schools are improving.”
The board also addressed leadership for the upcoming year with the election of officers for 2008.
Zach Holmes made a motion calling for all of the officers to remain in their current roles. The motion was seconded and with no discussion was approved unanimously.
“In fact I was delighted. Our board is professional in its meetings - they have the ability to disagree, but disagree professionally,” Bradley said of the move to maintain the status quo. “That they come from different backgrounds - they bring different perspectives to the board - this makes them more reflective of our community values. They each represent their constituents, in addition to our students, well.”
One change approved during Tuesday night’s meeting was to the schedule of future BOE meetings.
With a unanimous vote, it was decided that all future board meetings will take place at 6 p.m., as opposed to the current 7 p.m.
With this conclusion to all new business, the board addressed old business, beginning with the issue of upcoming changes to the grading system.
Some counties within the state have eliminated the grade of “D,” and, according to some school officials, created what is tantamount to an uneven playing field for local students.
The discussed changes will eliminate this disadvantage, providing students with the best possible opportunities to compete for scholarships, including HOPE funds.
“This is not lowering standards, but leveling the playing field for our students,” board Chairman Raymond Ray said.
Questions were raised regarding the implementation of the new grading system, which will utilize a numeric average as opposed to a scale average.
This matter will be researched to determine the best manner of implementation without an adverse effect on students, and will be brought for renewed board discussion at the Jan. 26 meeting.
This was followed by the approval of policy changes brought by board member James Graham, who serves as chairman of the Administrative Services Committee. All presented policy changes were approved unanimously and without discussion.
Construction and Facilities Director Bruce Ballard then discussed the Facilities and Maintenance and Construction and Renovation reports. At this point in the meeting, Finance Director Jim Smith gave the November 2007 financial report.
The next meeting of the Griffin-Spalding County Board of Education will be at 6 p.m. Jan. 26.
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