The Putnam County Board of Education hosted its monthly board meeting to recognize students and staff and to hear updates on CCRPI scores and incoming board policy changes.
The meeting began with PCCSS Superintendent Derick Austin recognizing Chance Farley, Mia Lopez, Parker Coleman, and Jordyn Coats as the November Students of the Month.
Then, Finance Department Director Coretta Harris introduced the Finance Department team, each of whom was recognized for receiving the STAR award and for obtaining the Certificate of Excellence from the Association of School Business Officials International and the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting from the Government Finance Officers Association.
“My team is my STARs, which stands for supportive, trustworthy, attentive, and reliable,” said Harris. “This is our 11th consecutive year winning awards as a department for excellence in reporting and transparency.”
Austin then recognized District Teacher of the Year Sharon Creek. Creek shared a short speech discussing how her desire to teach was reignited when she moved from her previous district to Putnam County, as she once again felt she was making an impact on individual students rather than being hindered by “red tape.”
Moving to agenda items, Austin reported that in the upcoming spring, the board will undergo a complete board policy update. The last update occurred in 2016. However, two policies, student attendance and salary reductions, are being updated now and have been posted to the district’s website for a 30-day public comment period. The policies can be viewed by visiting putnam.k12. ga.us/, hovering over the school board tab, and then clicking on the policies tab.
Policy updates include new language, specifications on how a student can be counted as present when attending events and other circumstances, how parents will be notified of attendance, and how to inform newly hired employees of their salary and ensure they sign an authorization of understanding.
Closing the meeting, principals reported on their individual CCRPI scores, which are calculated by many various factors. The scores, breakdowns of how each category is calculated, and growth initiatives for each school can be viewed on the public agenda posted on the school website under the school board tab.
“We are making progress,” said Assistant Superintendent Laura Melton. “ All of our schools are in the 70 to 80 score points in progress, and the high school has a reported 92.40% graduation rate this year.”
Board members also approved the purchase of a 72-passenger bond bus from Rush Truck Center for $149,000. The state will contribute $88,110, and local funds will contribute $60,890.
The next board meeting will be Dec. 15, at 6 p.m. at the Putnam County Board of Education building.