Fannin County Board of Education Working Meeting Highlights Board’s Aim For “Distinguished” Status

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The Fannin County Board of Education met this morning (September 9, 2014) for a working meeting. Many pending matters will be voted upon during the formal monthly meeting which will occur this Thursday evening (September 11). School Board Likely to Aim for GSBA “Distinguished Board” status.

The board contemplated an effort to seek “Distinguished Board” status with the Georgia School Board Association (GSBA).
In order to achieve and maintain the status, the board must: have a strategic plan, prepare a self-assessment, create and implement an internal review process, and maintain a good standing with accreditation organizations.

Additionally, individual board members would need to complete an average of at least 12 hours of annual training.
Superintendent Mark Henson told the group he was extremely proud of the board’s performance. He mentioned that he often “read in the newspaper” about some school boards’ under performance.

In point of fact, voters in Gilmer County responded to a recent AdvancED investigation resulting in a reduction in the system’s accreditation status by voting out some of the board members who were particularly contentious (resulting in the board’s dysfunction).

Board To Consider Purchase of New Driver’s Education Vehicle

Considerable discussion was held regarding the potential purchase of a new Driver’s Education car. Bids were solicited but there was only one response.

June Walker Chevrolet offered the board a specific vehicle to be voted on during the next board meeting. It is a 2014 Chevy Impala. The total price (including a maintenance agreement) for the vehicle is set to be $20,000.00.

Superintendent Henson explained that the current, in-use vehicle for the Driver’s Education vehicle had between 70 and 80 thousand miles on it. It is the board’s custom to purchase a new vehicle when that mileage range is acquired in order to keep the vehicles ‘road safe’. He said that the vehicle would remain in the fleet.

Salvage Items:

The superintendent will be requesting that the board allow him to “salvage” used items that the system was not able to sell. This means that they will be sold only for scrap. The items include:

5 metal desks
4 metal filing cabinets
12 plastic chairs
23 small wooden student chairs.

System Cost Reductions Due to Energy Efficiency ‘Smartware’ and Education

Board member Lewis DeWeese mentioned that the board had made use of SPLOST funds for new equipment and, as a result, reduced operating costs. Most significantly, that included electricity costs.

Assistant Superintendent, Art Hubbard, talked with FYN about the system’s electric costs and their experiences with “Energy Ed.”The program has saved the system money by keeping pace with rising energy costs and facility expansion. Hubbard said that kilowatt usage has dropped over all- while the system has added the equivalent of” two middle schools.”

System employee, Danny Shinpaug embarked on a mission to lower the system’s energy load and, as a result, Hubbard believes the system has saved at least one million dollars. Hubbard said this is roughly a savings of one mill per year for the tax payer.

Using the new high school gym as an example, he said it used to cost between $10,000 and $12,000 a month to provide energy to the building. It now costs between $3,000 and $4,000 per month.

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