FCBOE Board Meeting - Jan.
FCBOE met at 6 p.m. for this months Board Meeting. 
Chief Academic Officer Clifford Jones begins by initiating recognitions.
Mya McCall, an eighth grade student from Sandtown Middle School, won top honors for her submission of “Paradise Express Coffee Café” in the Georgia Technology Association Technology Day for inventions. McCall spoke about her project in a recorded video presented to the Board.
The FCS Board of Education pauses for public comment, which is not aired. The meeting will resume shortly.
District 5 Board Member Linda McCain begins the Board Matters, noting that Barnwell Elementary PTA purchased a book vending machine that will reward students for reading goals. An entire grade level will be able to accept a book. Students will be able to earn tokens.
District 4 Board Member Franchesca Warren talked about how Global Impact Academy accepted 475 students in their inaugural class. Look at #momentofimpact on Facebook to see their post. Bear Creek students received a $10,000 scholarship. An elementary school held a Miles of Smile virtual event to celebrate MLK using Flipgrids.
District 3 Board Member Gail Dean noted that Paul D. West Middle School had an Angel Tree Initiative and provided clothes to the students who participated. Tri-city High School students won first place in the Georgia CTI T-shirt Event and Themed Speech Event.
District 2 Board Member Katie Reeves talked about how some students had the opportunity to participate in the Reach Scholarship Ceremony, which gives a $10,000 college tuition scholarship for exceptional students who graduate from high school. Webb Bridge middle school had their first Reach scholar. Five students at Alpharetta high school became Coca Cola scholars.
District 1 Board Member Katha Stuart noted that Crabapple Middle School orchestra teacher did a virtual orchestra concert and live streamed on Teams to showcase student performance. At Roswell High School, Clayla Powell won first place in the 2021 Japanese New Years Card Contest. At Roswell High School, math teacher Margaret Pete’s study was published.
Stuart also notes that the health service department partnered with Fulton County’s Board of Health to vaccinate over 600 employees and their spouses. She thanks the efforts of healthcare workers.
District 6 Board Member and Board Vice President Kimberly Dove calls today a thankful Thursday. Dove recognizes schools for their accomplishments, including Collin Hills Elementary, who partnered with Rogers Electric and donated masks.
Dove talks about Mary M. Bethune Elementary’s invitation to participate in National Beta Club Convention, with five students who will represent the school.
Dove additionally thanks all community members for their emails and phone calls regarding the K-8 model and says the board will review final recommendations in February.
District 7 Board Member and Board President Julia Bernath noted that North Springs High School held an anti-defamation no place for hate summit to build a more inclusive community.
Bernath also talked about how Sandy Springs had nine Reach Scholars. Bernath noted that North Wood Elementary is working to increase the school governance council for parents.
Supt. Dr. Mike Looney and Bernath attended the Sandy Springs City Council meeting and gave updates in Fulton schools after South Fulton mayors invited them.
Chief Financial Officer Marvin Dereef presents the Governor’s Proposal Estimated Impact, a proposal for the budget process and recommendations for the state budget. Visuals can be found below.
Graphics courtesy of Fulton County Schools
Gov. Kemp is recommending a $1000 one time supplement for all K-12 personnel. This will not impact the salary schedule.
Supt. Woods will recommend allocations on Feb. 18.
Regarding the CARES act, Fulton County Schools will be directly allocated $75 million.
State funding: for the FY2021, Gov. Kemp is restoring 60% austerity, bringing back $23 million to Fulton County Schools. FV2022: Teacher Retirement System (TRS) budget is increasing.
Student enrollment in Fulton County is going down, and the budget reflects this decline.
FY2022: Implies a continuation of the charter system grant.
For 2022, the state will provide $71.2 million to Fulton County for TRS.
The original projection included $39 million for Fulton County, but the state earned $2.7 billion in revenue, which was more than expected.
To summarize, the charter system grant remains, there is less austerity, but it still exists, there is an increase in TRS expenditures, and Fulton County will receive less money mainly due to declining enrollment.
There are discussions around which pre-K teachers will get paid as part of a one time supplement.
District 1 Board Member Katha Stuart specifically asks about pre-K teachers and expresses her concern about the supplement for pre-K teachers.
District 3 Board Member Gail Dean asks about an additional increase in austerity and the decrease in revenue for enrollment.
Dereef says on Feb. 18, the state board of education will meet and provide him with more details, giving him more confidence in budget plans.
In response to District 6 Board Member and Board Vice President Kimberly Dove, Dereef says the Board will consider the pre-K supplement and vote on whether to approve it on Feb. 18.
Chief Talent Officer Ron Wade updates the Board on COVID-19 matters. Visuals can be found below.
Graphics courtesy of Fulton County Schools
Fulton County reported 62,000 cases of COVID-19 from Dec. 30 to Jan. 12. 8,700 were in North Fulton.
Back in December, public health officials lowered the quarantine period to 7 days, leading to mistakes, and therefore, even more quarantines. They will revert back to the standard 10 day period because it is safer.
District 1 Board Member Katha Stuart asks if the period change will be effective immediately. Wade says it will. Wade says testing is not mandated.
Wade gives an update on their vaccination effort, calling Fulton County’s Board of Health an extraordinary partner. Wade says there are select groups who are eligible for vaccination, including medical personnel, first responders, and those who are 65 or older.
Wade says there will be a part two of the super Saturday vaccination event to give people the second dose of the vaccine and give those older than 65 and their spouses the first dose of the vaccine within the space and opportunity available. Saturday, Feb. 6 is the day for part two of the super Saturday vaccination.
District 3 Board Member Gail Dean thanks Wade, IT, and all the volunteers that helped with the super Saturday vaccination event.
Wade received feedback from the Fulton County Board of Health about the vaccine supply. Fulton County currently has 800 vaccines that will be administered on super Saturday. 800 vaccinations is the number anticipated for super Saturday, also including APS employees.
The goal is to send out modified surveys for those who are getting the vaccine by Monday.
District 4 Board Member Franchesca Warren asks if caregivers will also be a part of the second group to get vaccines. Wade says this is still pending.
District 2 Board Member Katie Reeves emphasizes the need for the people who got the first dose to receive the second dose. Wade agrees to pursue pushing people to make sure they come on super Saturday and mentions how successful the event was, as 400 people attended the information session.
District 1 Board Member Katha Stuart expresses how proud she is that the event went smoothly, predicting that people who got the first dose will be eager to return for the second dose. Wade says that the partnership with the Fulton County Board of Health will help tremendously with getting more people vaccinated.
District 1 Board Member Katha Stuart praises Wade and his team for keeping the event very organized. Wade says he has created specific access to the vaccine for those above 65 and asks them to take advantage of this opportunity before the vaccine is offered to the general public as well. Only 50% of people over 65 got the vaccine so far.
District 4 Board Member Franchesca Warren asks if there is any news on when Fulton County will have enough vaccines for teachers. Wade responds that there will be more information in the next phase of vaccination, but says he feels optimistic.
Supt. Looney says he is doing everything to advocate for vaccinations.
District 7 Board Member Julia Bernath emphasizes that vaccines should not go to waste.
Wade encourages everyone to make reservations for the super Saturday vaccination event.
Chief Academic Officer Clifford Jones presents a Turnaround Schools Update. Visuals can be found below.
Graphics courtesy of Fulton County Schools
Jones says district leaders monitored the progress of schools every other week to plan next semester’s action plan, which aims to improve achievement.
There is a pause in the Georgia Milestone. The state requested an accountability waiver, but the outcome is uncertain.
In order to achieve one year of academic growth, a face-to-face learning model is needed because it is the most effective learning model to create the conditions needed to accelerate learning.
College Park Elementary is the only Fulton County school on the list of CSI schools, the lowest 5% of Title I schools.
Oakley Elementary and Parklane Elementary are on the list of TSI schools because they have students with disabilities who are underperforming.
Five Fulton schools are promise schools, which are the 5-10% lowest performing schools based on 2018-19 Georgia Milestones results..
Dr. Cherisse Campbell presents more information. Despite the absence of state accountability measures, Campbell remains committed to providing data. The program i-Ready has been used as a good measure of progress because it compared the percentage of students at risk.
Although there were some improvements in literacy, Fulton faces challenges in math achievement, as six out of eight schools declined in math achievement. The data represents challenges, however, there were also some improvements in literacy.
Campbell visited College Park Elementary and helped them develop better teaching methods for the next semester to meet individual student needs.
They are using formative assessments to drive student participation and will continue to monitor and provide support for students.
District 6 Board Member Kimberly Dove wants to continue to monitor progress in this area.
District 2 Board Member Katie Reeves wonders if there has been any movement at the state level to come closer to adopting the MAP test, which will provide a better understanding of student progress. Jones says he will get back to the board on this.
District 2 Board Member Katie Reeves says Fulton does not need the state’s permission to administer a nationally renowned test and expresses her desire to know how students are doing as soon as possible.
District 3 Board Member Gail Dean thanks teachers and staff for helping make progress in some areas, although she acknowledges that math scores are suffering. Dean encourages them to continue working in weaker areas.
District 4 Board Member Franchesca Warren asks if Jones has looked at how to monitor attendance for students who aren't logging in and how Fulton can stimulate their participation. Jones explains his proposal to work collectively in order to reduce barriers preventing student engagement.
District 5 Board Member Linda McCain clarifies that the numbers they have are only for students who are engaged, and that students who are not logging in are not included. She asks how many of them there are and whether she can see their data. Jones gives a data analysis addressing the different types of students.
District 4 Board Member Franchesca Warren asks whether there has been a group of kids who Jones has pushed to give the MAP test to.
District 3 Board Member Gail Dean emphasizes that Jones needs to keep it up the intensity of his work.
The Board moves to approve all executive items and moves onto consent agenda items, and the meeting concludes soon after.
