BOE renews Superintendent Charles Wilsons Contract through 2026

The Bulloch County Board of Education renewed Superintendent Charles Wilson's contract during their monthly meeting on Thursday, March 9, 2023. The board retreated into executive session for over an hour with BOE attorneys Marc Bruce and Andrew Lavoie without Wilson as they discussed his contract. When the board returned, they voted to 7 to 1 to renew Wilson's contract. Board Member Maurice Hill was the only board member who voted against the contract renewal.

According to Andrew Lavoie, the new three year contract will go into effect on April 1. 2023 and continue through March 31, 2026. It will replace Wilson's current contract, which would have ended on July 21, 2024.

There are three major changes to the new contract:

Wilson's salary will increase from $187,643 to $230,000.
If he is terminated without cause, he has a 12 month buyout (the old contract was 6 months).
He is eligible for statewide raises given to education employees (in his old contract, he was not eligible for any raises).

"I appreciate the board stepping forward and being willing to make a decision on my contract given the times we are in and the challenges we face. I appreciate the consideration they have given me in this contract. This means a lot to me," said Charles Wilson. "It also matters to know that we are all on the same page, traveling in the same direction. From the board, to the district administration, to the schools, because as you know we have challenges created by the pandemic and now extraordinary growth. The fact that we now have clarity in our charge from the board."

Wilson continued, "I am excited and I am thankful. You don't work this long in a community and become as much of a part of a community as I have to not care. I want to bring everything I can to bear to tackle the challenges and opportunities we are presented with. We have a good team of people and feel this continuity of leadership is important during this unprecedented growth as a community."

CLICK HERE to view Wilson's new contract.

Unexcused Absences drop 50%

The Bulloch County Board of Education received a presentation from Teresa Phillips, Assistant Superintendent for School Improvement, regarding the system's attendance initiative. Bulloch County Schools, like most schools in the nation, have been greatly impacted by absences through and post COVID. The high unexcused absences are documented separately from COVID illness absences.

Phillips and her team established an attendance initiative which focused on children with the highest unexcused absences in the school system, with a tiered approach that includes working with students and their parents to develop an attendance strategy.

The initiative has been tremendously successful in reducing unexcused absences by over 50% this school year.

Statesboro Mayor Jonathan McCollar and Dr. LaSara Mitchell, Village Builders Director, made a presentation on the city's Village Builders project, and BOE attorneys updated on the City's Zoning and Annexation notice updates.

Read the full story for updates on all BOE business covered by the board.

Superintendent's Report

1. Attendance Initiative Update

Teresa Phillips, Assistant Superintendent of School Improvement, outlined the tremendous gains schools were making in reducing unexcused absences in the school system. Unexcused absences exploded during the COVID pandemic and has continued. The initiative has seen a reduction of more than 50% this school year in unexcused absences.

2. Village Builders

Jonathan McCollar, Mayor, City of Statesboro made a presentation to the BOE on the City's Village Builders mentoring program. Mayor McCollar ended his presentation by letting the BOE know the City will be presenting a formal proposal to the BOE with a request to partner to expand the program outside of the City.

3. City of Statesboro Zoning and Annexation Notices

Attorneys, Marc Bruce and Andrew Lavoie, with Bruce, Mathews and Lavoie law firm, which represents the BOE, gave an update on the revisions to the City annexation notification rules. In the past, the state law required only annexation notification to be given to the County. In July 2022, the legislature modified that notification to now notify the county and BOE. BOE does not have a procedure in the revised law to contest the annexation, but the county does.

The Superintendent will receive the annexation notices and will distribute them to the board for informational purposes.

Consent Agenda - ALL APPROVED

1. Board Minutes: February 9, 2023 Regular Session & February 23, 2023 Work Session

2. Board Member Payroll for February 2023

3. Financial Report for January 2023

Highlights for the General Fund revenues and expenditures are as follows:

BOE is now past the timeframe in which heavy tax collections are being received. At this time, it appears that BOE will collect in excess of the projected digest.
• Local Option Sales Tax (LOST) - January collection was the highest single month in our history at $1.58 million received. This reflects sales for the month of December. At year end, we may see that we collect in excess of $1 million over what was budgeted in this area.
• State QBE revenues are being collected as they were budgeted.
• Expenditures in the General Fund were in line as they were budgeted. As of January 31, 2023, we have completed 58.34% of the fiscal year and our year-to-date expenditures are at 58.70% of total budget. Next month we will see a shift in this as the mid-year raises went into effect in February.

Old Business

APPROVED: Policy BCBI - Public Participation in Board Meetings - Revision (Placed on the table February 9, 2023)

Board Policy BCBI: Public Participation in Board Meetings
Status: DRAFT
Original Adopted Date: 02/11/2016 | Last Reviewed Date: 02/11/2016
The public may address the Board of Education concerning issues other than specific student or individual matters. To participate in the Public Participation segment of the meeting, a person will sign their name and topics of concern on the sign-in sheet located at the podium prior to the beginning of the meeting. A three-minute time limit is imposed for each speaker.

Items for business may be suggested by Board members, administration, or patrons of the district for inclusion on the agenda. Business items suggested by patrons of the district shall be submitted in writing and received in the Office of the Superintendent at least seven (7) days before the meeting in order to ensure consideration for inclusion on the written agenda.

Items of business may not be suggested from the floor for discussion and/or action at the same meeting except at the discretion of the Chair or the majority of Board members present.

Rules of Conduct and Public Participation Procedures
1. Each individual speaker will have (3) three-minutes to speak. At this point, remarks must be concluded. Passing unused time to another person is not allowed.
2. No speaker will indulge in personal attacks and all comments are to be addressed directly to the Board of
Education. 3. To protect the privacy of students, speakers shall refrain from identifying specific students by name.
4. No individual or group shall be retaliated against, in any manner, for speaking during public participation. 5. Personal or Personnel concerns may be addressed in writing to the Superintendent or Chairman of the Board of Education. Written copies of comments may be provided to the Board and given to the Board Secretary.
6. At a Board meeting. Board Members will not respond to questions or comments from the public. The district may respond to public input as needed or appropriately within ten (10 working days.
7. The use of obscene, profane, vulgar, physically threatening or abusive remarks will not be allowed. Loud and boisterous conduct or comments by speakers or members of the audience are not allowed.

The Chairman of the Board is responsible for enforcing these procedures. Any attendee or speaker who violates these procedures will be warned by the Chairman. A continued disruption may result in an attendee or speaker being asked to sit down. In the event that any person attending a meeting continues to refuse to follow these rules and disrupts a meeting. that person will be asked to leave, and if they further refuse, may be escorted from the meeting. Repeated violations of the rules may result in the Board prohibiting a person from speaking during a Board meeting for an appropriate period of time.

New Business for Approval

APPROVED: Painting Bids

A memo in supporting documents below from Mr. Ryan Macy, Director of Facility Management, lays out two bids that were evaluated in regards to roof painting at three schools (Langston Chapel Elementary, Langston Chapel Middle, and Portal Elementary).

BOE staff have thoroughly evaluated these bids and are recommending the low bidder for each project. Mr. Macy has done an excellent job in laying out the purpose and scope of what we are needing to accomplish. These projects will be funded by ESPLOST IV. You will also find the bid tabulation forms attached in supporting documents.

For project number WMBE 2022-278, we are requesting that the bid be awarded to Cornerstone Coatings for the following:
Base Bid (LCE) of $108,787.
• Alternate # 1 (LCM) $107,921. o Total to Award to Cornerstone Coatings $216,708.
• Contingency (if necessary) of $20,000.
• Total maximum cost of project $236,708.

For project number WMBE 2022-220, we are requesting that the bid be awarded to Cornerstone Coatings for the following:
Base Bid (PES) of $98,891.
o Total to Award to Cornerstone Coatings $98,891.
Contingency (if necessary) of $10,000.
Total maximum cost of project $108,891.

APPROVED: Resolution to Request GADOE Assistance with Five- Year Facility Plan

APPROVED: Resolution - National Association for Music Education

APPROVED: March is Music in our Schools Month