June 14, 2021 Vol.4, No. 12

#HenryTogether

The month of May marked the end of the school year for students all across the district. In a tribute to the 2020-2021 school year - to commemorate the hard work, note the challenges met and overcome, honor the special moments as well as the special people – employees throughout the district joined together by wearing green and gathering at their respective building or campus in a collective moment of silence. The occasion also gave members of the Henry County Schools family the chance to look forward with hope and optimism toward the coming 2021-2022 school year. The day was a day of great reflection and a day of celebration. #HenryTogether

Back-to-School 2021 - #BeReadyDayOne

Prior to discussing preparations for the coming year, Mr. Shrum detailed

• The successful spring graduations for the Class of 2021 held at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
• He also shared a report regarding current summer learning. Currently we have over 1,667 students in our Summer Bridge and transition programs both on campus and virtually, 612 students in Imapct Academy summer school, over 1,000 in high school summer credit recovery, and over 6,588 students were invited to participate in the at-home summer literacy program. Additionally, we have over 241 ESE learners enrolled in extended school year and learning loss recovery programs.

Regarding the new school year preparations, Mr. Shrum once again updated the board on the summer cleaning efforts of every facility, ongoing training for various support staff members, and the recruitment and hiring processes to fill the last remaining positions in various job families.

Part of the report to the board also included an update on key changes to school operations that were impacted due to COVID-19 mitigation efforts during the 2020-2021 school year. There will be updates made to the facilities and COVID-19 Mitigation Playbooks ahead of the new school year, and different in this upcoming year will be:

• the return of full in-person learning
• reopening of visitor and volunteer access
• resumption of field trips
• mask-optional protocols on all Henry County Schools campuses and property

Dr. April Madden was able to provide a report on the newest option for enrolling in Henry County Schools – the Henry County Schools Welcome Center. This option will be an in-person one-stop-shop operation for families joining the Henry County Schools family. Registration paperwork, Parent Portal sign-up, transportation needs, language services, school nutrition forms, and community resources will all be addressed for every family arriving at the welcome center. Families in the district have always had the opportunity to complete the enrollment process electronically through the district website, but this latest service will provide direct support to all families in need of in-person assistance.

Fiscal Management Updates

Chief Financial Officer Shanika Clay provided two positive financial reports to the board which detailed strong fiscal planning and management resulting in paying off debt early and establishing a strategic action capital accumulation fund.

o Defeasement of Bond Debt

The Board of Education moved to payoff debt associated with the 2016 general obligation series in advance and forego interest costs. The recommendation put before the board and subsequently approved with a unanimous vote was to expend $60 million of funds accumulated in the debt service account to defease $51 million of debt principle associated with the 2016 general obligation series bonds that were issued for E-SPLOST 5 objectives. This action will save the district $15 million in future interest payments over the life of the bond.

“I’m really excited to support this, and I am really proud of the responsibility of this board and the leadership under Dr. Davis so that we are able to do this,” said Board Member Sophe Pope (Dist. 4)

o Board Resolution for Strategic Action Capital Accumulation Fund

With a projection of the final standing of the fund balance (district savings account) ahead of the end of the fiscal year, a recommendation was made to adopt a resolution that committed $10 million of general revenue funds for the following strategic action purposes outline in the recently adopted and community-inspired strategic action plan:

1. Growth and replacement of school system furniture, fixtures, and equipment
2. Equipment to supply and maintain STEM laboratories
3. Upgrades to the business enterprise resource planning system

The Board unanimously supported the creation of a designated savings account for the outlined strategic actions. The ability to create this strategic action capital accumulation fund was made possible by the Board’s fiscal actions at the onset of the pandemic, mid-year improvements in state revenues, and strong financial management during the course of the year.

Other Agenda Items

The following business items were also unanimously approved, as a part of the consent agenda for the evening meeting:

• Henry County Policy GBIA – Teacher Evaluation Appeals – Teacher Evaluation Appeals – This policy is drafted to comply with the provisions of 2020 legislation that go into effect July 1, 2021. The policy will now be out for public review and comment before formal action is to be taken during the Business Session meeting on July 12.

• Henry County Policy GARH – Employee Leaves and Absences – These conforming changes are presented to comply with the provisions of 2021 legislation HB 146 (Paid Parental Leave) that go into effect July 1, 2021. The policy will now be out for public review and comment before formal action is to be taken during the Business Session meeting on July 12.

• Renewal of Microsoft 365 District Licensing – The board unanimously approved the renewal of the Microsoft 365 District Licensing. Microsoft 365 Education provides district-wide licensing for our suite of productivity tools including Outlook for email and calendar as well as Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneDrive for Business, and Teams. It also provides tools for the management of enterprise systems including Office 365, Office for Web, SharePoint Enterprise, Litigation Hold, and Azure Active Directory for user account provisioning, management, and governance. The licensing also provides server operating systems for our data center and virtualized environments.

• GaDOE State Funds Bus Purchase – The board unanimously approved funding to purchase 10 new buses. The total cost for the buses will be offset by a state funding reimbursement. The district will be responsible for 26 percent of the total cost.

• K-5 Therapeutic Supports & Instructional Programming Service Lease Agreement – The board unanimously approved a lease agreement with Specialized Education of Georgia, Inc. (Catapult Learning). This agreement will be for a portion of EXCEL Academy only, the front garden area, rear grassy area, and three trailers at rear of the building. Utilities, maintenance, and custodial services included.

• 2021-2022 Workers’ Compensation Panel of Physicians – The board unanimously approved an update to the 2021-2022 Workers’ Compensation Panel of Physicians. The update includes a name change due to a merger and an address change for one provider. There were no changes to the recommended panel of providers.

• T-Mobile Project 10 Million – The board unanimously a partnership with T-Mobile to ensure 3,000 mobile hotspots are available for students starting this fall. The partnership calls for 2,000 of the hotspots to be donated while the remaining 1,000 would be purchased by Henry County Schools. Each hotspot will provide up to 100GB of data.

Leadership on the Move

Name - New Position/Location -- Former Position/Location

Dr. Marla Surette - Retired -- Principal/Hickory Flat Elementary

Lisa Travis - Retired -- Principal/Cotton Indian Elementary

David Shedd - Graduation Coach/Hampton High School  -- Principal Ola High School

Dr. Shannon Ellis - Exe. Dir. School Based Effectiveness & Support/Leadership Services -- Principal/Woodland High School

Dr. Francene Garrett - Assistant Principal/Eagle’s Landing Middle School -- Instructional Coach/Austin Road Middle School

Andre Johnson - Assistant Principal/Smith-Barnes Elementary -- Curriculum Support Teacher/Fulton County Schools

Fred Latschar - Director – Mental Health & Wellness/Family & Student Support Services -- Principal/Walnut Creek Elementary

Dr. Crystal Williams - Assistant Principal/McDonough High School -- Student Support Facilitator/Hampton Middle School

Holly Williams - Assistant Principal/Timber Ridge Elementary -- Assistant Principal/Griffin-Spalding County Schools

Dr. Racheal Burden - Assistant Principal/McDonough Middle School -- Instructional Technology Spec./Information Services

Tequela Crawford - Assistant Principal/Stockbridge Middle School -- Student Support Facilitator/McDonough Middle School

Andrea Davis - Coordinator – School Counseling/Family & Student Support Services -- Counselor/McDonough High School

Elyse Durden - Principal/Cotton Indian Elementary -- Assistant Principal/Unity Grove Elementary

David Flynn - Coordinator - School Nutrition/Finance -- Supervising Manager/School Nutrition

Dr. Rabieh Hafza - Coordinator – STEM/Learning & Performance -- Secondary Level Science Coord./Atlanta Public Schools

Keith Haber - Coord. – Humanities & Adv. Learning/Learning & Performance -- Assist. Principal – McIntosh High/Fayette County Schools

Dr. Tylisa Hill - High School Associate Principal/Impact Academy -- Assistant Principal/Ola High School

Jennifer McCrary - Elementary Associate Principal/Impact Academy -- Assistant Principal/Mt. Carmel Elementary

Dr. Delphine Patterson - Middle School Associate Principal/Impact Academy -- Assistant Principal/Dutchtown High School

Purvis Jackson - Principal/Woodland High School -- Principal/Hampton Middle School

Jennifer Meschi - Dir. – Data Systems & Accountability/Learning & Performance -- Dir. - Training and IT Support/Paulding Co. Schools

Lois Reed - Assistant Principal/Ola Middle School -- Personalized Learning Lead/Ola Middle School

Angela Swift - Coordinator – Benefits/Human Resources -- Bookkeeper/Clayton Co. Public Schools

Amy Tursich - Coordinator – Data Analytics/Information Services -- Information Systems Specialist/Information Services

Zannetta Walker - Assistant Principal/Ola Middle School -- Instruction & Personalized Learning/Hampton High School

Awards and Recognition

Congratulations to all of the June 2021 Awards & Recognitions winners! We are proud of your accomplishments and support of Henry County Schools.

To view and download copies of the photos taken during the Awards & Recognitions section of the June 2021 HCS Board of Education Meeting, click here or on the screenshot to the right.

You can also view and download photos from all the other listed HCS Photo albums.

Board Member Remarks

 Dr. Nutt congratulated everyone for the accomplishments of the past school year.  She noted how much she has enjoyed working on the board the past 25 years and looks forward to the upcoming school year.  She thanked all HCS families for their partnership in helping students succeed.

 Mr. McDaniel congratulated the Class of 2021 and the honorees from the evening’s meeting.  Thanks were given to all district employees for the work accomplished in the 2020-2021 school year.  He reminded everyone of the important impact our district has on the lives of young people.

  Mrs. Cobb was unable to attend the June 2021 board meetings. 

 Mrs. Pope shared her wishes for everyone to have a safe and restful summer.  Thanks were shared with the leadership team for the recent success of the 2021 graduation ceremonies at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

 Mrs. Edwards congratulated the HCS community for the previous school year’s accomplishments and she shared her hopes that everyone get some rest before the start of the new school year on August 4.  She thanked Zack Murray for his contribution to the Eagle’s Landing High School track team.

 Supt. Davis noted the transitions of school administrators retiring or moving into new roles in the district.  She also celebrated and welcomed several key administrative positions that were filled in schools and at the district office.