Mira Sydow, Editor-in-Chief

The Fulton County Board of Education held a virtual meeting on Thursday, April 2 at 3:00 pm to discuss the future of Fulton County Schools in light of Governor Brian Kemp’s coronavirus executive order closing all schools for the remainder of the year.

• FCBOE began an Executive Session at 3:00 pm. They will return to resume the board meeting at 3:30 pm.

• The meeting begins with the Board thanking Superintendent Mike Looney for his leadership during the pandemic.

• Dr. Looney reports 712 confirmed coronavirus cases in Fulton County and 22 deaths from the virus.

• Chief Academic Officer Cliff Jones reviews how teachers communicate with their students during the outbreak. He references programs like Edgenuity, Infinite Campus, Seesaw, and Microsoft Teams.

• Chief Information Officer Serena Sacks summarizes Fulton County’s efforts to distribute devices and handle the IT side of online education.

• District 5 representative Linda McCain asks if there is an online platform for students to access lessons from all Fulton County teachers. There is currently not a repository of lessons, but the College Board has produced a series of supplemental lessons that are AP-specific available here.

• Officer Jones implores families to only request devices if they are in dire need, as the remaining devices Fulton County has are to be distributed to low income families.

• District 1 representative Katha Stuart asks if there is a Spanish-speaking option for the student hotline. Looney answers that there are bilingual liaisons manning the student hotline.

• In response to a follow-up question from Stuart, Dr. Looney explains that Fulton County cannot provide internet service for poor communities, but the district has been working with nonprofits like the Education Foundation and companies like Comcast to get families the access they need.

• Chief Operations Officer Patrick Burke explains how Fulton County has provided 150,000 meals for residents so far while practicing social distancing by utilizing a drive-thru approach.

• Burke cautions that families will not receive meals over spring break.

• McCain reminds the community that Purposity is an app that allows members of the community to help Fulton County provide for its residents. A description of the app is available here.

• If someone near a food site were to contract the virus, the food site would shut down until the threat of infection is removed.

• Chief Talent Officer Ron Wade describes federal legislation like the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) and the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES), which provide emergency paid sick leave and unemployment benefits, and how the acts apply to education.

• Chief Financial Officer Marvin Dereef confirms that the board issues checks on a normal schedule.

• Dereef references a provision of the CARES act that allocates $30.7 billion to be distributed to education, with $13.5 billion for K-12 education.

• Dereef does not expect any significant changes to the school FY21 budgets submitted to and approved by the School Governance Councils due to COVID-19.

• For information on high school grading policy, please look at the last two pictures on the gallery.

Images courtesy of Fulton County Schools