The Putnam County Charter School System (PCCSS) Board of Education met Tuesday to recognize its February Students of the Month and approve several resolutions.
PCCSS Superintendent Derick Austin recognized Brittany Suazo Alvarez, Caroline Dial, Noah Chamblee, and Kaden Thompkins as February’s Students of the Month.
The board’s proposed SPLOST was voted in, so Austin created a bond resolution in case the board decided to invoke it and sell bonds for the $16.5 million listed in the resolution.
“It is what we’ve shown, and you’ve seen before,” said Austin, confirming the resolution is familiar to the board, which had only two members present in person, Carol Ann Guthrie and Doris Clemons, with board chair Dr. Steven Weiner also attending via online voice connection.
Board members Simone Jones and Charles Trumbo were absent.
The board unanimously approved the bond resolution. To review the bond resolution, refer to the online agenda uploaded to the board of education tab on the district website.
Austin next proposed that 1 Accord Technologies pay $93,275.62 to upgrade the security camera systems for the high school and middle school.
“Currently, we’re operating with two different systems, an older system and a newer system at those buildings. We’ve already upgraded the primary school, and the new school will have the newest camera system,” said Austin.
The board unanimously approved the recommendation.
A community forum on School Safety will be held next Thursday, March 6, at Putnam County Middle School’s Little Theatre.
Austin said Eatonton Police Chief Howell Cardwell and Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills will both be present for the meeting, which will offer an open-discussion format.
“We’re going to have some general conversations Thursday, but we’re not going to commit to anything until the session is over and we’ve got a clear understanding,” said Austin. “There are current bills that are out there that are about threat assessment teams and what each school district must have when it comes to safety and resources and things like that. We don’t want to start spending money and implement things that go against what the legislators are talking about.”
The board next heard a presentation on the Georgia Promise Scholarship and Senate Bill 233. The former measures statewide school performance scores and proposes to make $6,500 available to parents who can opt out of public schooling if their local system fails to meet specific criteria.
However, the Georgia Promise Scholarship will not go into effect until the 2025-26 school year. Further discussion and explanation will be held on Monday, March 24, at the school board building near the primary school.
The board also unanimously approved National School Breakfast Week from March 3-7.
The meeting concluded with the approval of the FY26 employment contracts presented to the board last week and personnel recommendations.