The Putnam County Board of Education met Sept. 19, with Ryan Bradford opening the public comments with a reminder to the board of his speech in August’s meeting. Bradford, the husband of an elementary school teacher, came forth to discuss the safety of the school system. The board informed him that they would get back to him after discussion with superintendent Eric Arena.
The meeting then followed as normal, discussing monetary items on the agenda. The board unanimously approved $96,140 to be spent on furniture and locker purchases for the new athletic complex at Putnam County High School, to be paid for using SPLOST funds.
The board also unanimously approved the purchase of four diesel buses from Peach State Truck Center. According to Arena, the state of Georgia has allotted over the next three years the purchase of seven buses. He recommended that four be bought this year and then around July 2023, he will request the purchase of the other three buses.
“We hope the buses will be here this fiscal year, which would be June 30, but we are not positive that we will get these buses this fiscal year,” said Arena. “There is no promise of when they will give them to us.”
The board meeting then discussed the high school renovation and the construction of the new elementary school. Re-Lin & Associates was unanimously approved for construction of the renovation and new elementary school. Breux & Associates Architects was unanimously approved for architectural services for both plans as well.
The meeting concluded with the approval of an application to Head Start to upgrade the primary school playground. This upgrade, if approved, would use federal funds to improve the playground.