The Pickens County Board of Education met on Thursday, May 8, 2008, at 5:00 p.m. at the Board Conference Center on D. B. Carroll Street for the regular monthly board meeting. The following board members were present and received per diem compensation: Mark Mitton, John Trammel, Shane Neighbors, Ervin Easterwood, and Jerry Chastain. Board Attorney Phil Landrum III was present.

Chairman Trammell called the meeting to order at 5:03 p.m.

Easterwood led the invocation followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.

A motion was made by Mitton, seconded by Chastain, which passed unanimously to approve the agenda as submitted.

Family Involvement Coordinator Amelia McIntyre recognized and presented certificates to the parent volunteers and PTO officers.

Pickens High School Principal Chris Williams and Career and Technology Director Shannon Gable recognized Career Technical Instructor Connie Cagle and the students she took to state competition at Jekyll Island. In Early Childhood Education Mindy Pruitt was given an outstanding performance medal. In Occupation Creative Thinking the following students were given outstanding performance medals Angelica Jones, Steven West, and Stephanie Mitchell. In Professional Foods Alexander Johnson placed third in state. In Clinical Skills Casey Ray placed first in state. Gable recognized FFA Club Sponsors Joe Wright and Jason Cantrell and recognized FFA members that competed in state competitions in Perry, Georgia. The Livestock Judging Team included Junior Chapman (High Individual Area 1), Thomas Turcotte, Andy Bishop, Ali Pettigrew, and Lance Chapman. In Poultry Judging Lance Chapman placed first in state junior division, and Andy Bishop place third in the senior division. In Extemporaneous Speaking Ali Pettigrew placed third in state and first in Job Interview Area 1, Junior Chapman State FFA President, and Tyler Weaver placed first Creed Speaker Area 1. All students were presented with certificates of achievement.

PHS student and FFA State President Junior Chapman presented a certificate to Superintendent Mike Ballew in appreciation of his encouragement, cooperation and assistance given the FFA in helping them to accomplish outstanding achievements in agriculture, leadership, citizenship and community development.

Pickens County Middle School Principal Chris LeMieux and Courtney Smith recognized Kara Rumble, Kelah Hendon, and Kaleigh Watters for being selected as middle school students academic scholarship recipients from Georgia Tech’s Women in Engineering program. Cheerleading Coach Rebecca Holan announced that the PCMS Cheerleaders placed first at the 2008 ECDA 2007-08 Regional Cheerleading Competition.

Jasper Middle School Principal Bruce Godfrey recognized the FFA members that competed in the State Agriscience Fair in Macon and had three state winning projects; Jesslyn Chastain in Environmental Science, Timothy Crenshaw and Kayla Collis in Zoology, and Austin Davis and Austin Carver in Agriculture mechanics. JMS FFA was also recognized as a Gold emblem chapter for the second year in a row and is in the running for National Middle School Chapter of the year. Todd Dobson is the chapter sponsor Agriculture teacher at JMS.

Youth Apprenticeship Coordinator Ben Arp presented certificates to the board in appreciation of allowing the Youth Apprenticeship program in our school system. PHS YAP students Alexa Houston and William Pass spoke to the board about their participation and experience in the program.

Superintendent Mike Ballew and Chairman Trammell recognized the 2008 retirees and presented them with a plaque. Retirees included Sylvia Cagle, Geneva Parker, Dorinda Hillhouse, Johnette Watson, June Gilbert, Kitty Baldwin, Sherri Ballew, Linda Hunter, and Dan Gabriel.

Attendance Officer Shelley Cantrell presented total enrollment as 4296 students and 346 students with 15 or more absences and drop-outs as 56.

Supervisor of Operations Lloyd Shaddix presented a maintenance update to the board including an update on the renovations and additions to Pickens High School.

Chief Financial Officer Amy Burgess presented the financial report. Burgess reported FY08 general fund expenditures at 71.31% and revenue collected at 82.62%. The Local Government Investment Pool (LGIP) interest/balance was $29.13. The April SPLOST II balance was $642,991.99 and interest paid was $1,560.52. The April SPLOST III balance was $6,863,334.69, interest paid was $31,132.99, and revenue collected was $321,333.39.

There was a motion by Mitton, seconded by Easterwood, which passed unanimously to approve the minutes for April 10, 2008 as presented.

There was a motion by Mitton, seconded by Neighbors, which passed unanimously to approve the surplus property submitted.

A motion was made by Mitton, seconded by Chastain, which passed unanimously to approve the superintendent’s personnel recommendations as amended. (See attachments.)

Board Comments:

• Chairman Trammel said that this is Teacher Appreciation Week and on behalf of the board thank you to the teachers, staff, and administration for all their hard work that is administered in our schools. Chairman Trammell announced graduation ceremony will be held at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, May 24, 2008. Chairman Trammell announced that over one million dollars was given out at Pickens High Schools Scholarship Night.
• Mitton congratulated the retiring employees on their retirement. Mitton thanked those who put the reception together.
• Easterwood said thank you to the retirees and he said he appreciated the job that they had done in our schools. He said the drop-out rate was good and we were fortunate to have a great school system.
• Chastain said he viewed the new construction at PHS and it was of excellent quality. He commended Mike and Lloyd for the oversight of the PHS project.

Mitton made a motion, seconded by Chastain, to adjourn at 6:01 p.m. The vote to adjourn was unanimous.