“Soft opening” for Murray schools after Christmas

Board of Education, News
technology for students
budget

photo by Susan Kirkland
Murray County Superintendent Steve Loughridge (left) and Chairman of the BOE Greg Shoemaker at Monday’s meeting. T

Murray County schools will try a “soft opening” at the end of Christmas break.

“We have seen an increase in COVID-19 cases and a consecutive climb in quarantine numbers since Thanksgiving break and feel these alternative models are best for the health and safety of our students and staff,” the district said in a press release. “Our goal is to help slow the spread and reduce the number of quarantines within our schools.”

January 5-8

From January 5-8, all students will participate in distance learning. The rationale, according to the press release, is that distance learning the first week back will allow symptoms from possible exposure from family gatherings and activities time to show up. This will help reduce exposure and spread within the schools.

January 11-22

January 11-22: all students will participate in a hybrid schedule. This will help reduce the number of students quarantined to due exposure and allow for optimum social distancing within the classrooms. Each school will provide students with a hybrid schedule.

soft opening

Murray County schools will try a soft opening after Christmas break.

Pre-K

Pre-K will continue to provide face-to-face instruction during this time, however no transportation will be provided during the distance learning period and Friday, Jan. 15 and 22.

Chromebook pick up

Elementary schools will distribute Chromebooks by grade on January 4. Parents will receive a notification with a pick-up time and more information about the hybrid schedule.

School Meals

Elementary students can puck up their meals for the week of distance learning on January 4 at their school. They will receive 5-days of meals both breakfast and lunch. Middle and high school students will receive their meals the same as they have been at the Wi-Fi hotspots locations or either high school.

If an elementary students is unable to pick up their meals on Jan. 4 they can also receive a meal at the hotspots and high school. In the hybrid model, meals will be given each day at school to take home for off days and distance learning Fridays. Hotspot locations and times can be found on the homepage at https://www.murray.k12.ga.us/

Wi-Fi Availability

Wi-Fi equipped buses will be available on distance learning days at the same times and locations as before. The schedule can also be found at the website.

Board member questions spending at Monday’s meeting

Board of Education, News
August Murray County BOE

Sparky Roberts questioned some purchase order spending and wanted the board to consider lowering the amount that the board receives copies to $5,000.

Concerns about how much the Murray County Board of Education knows about purchase order spending came up at Monday’s BOE meeting.

Board member Sparky Roberts voiced his concern that board members should see purchase orders starting at $5,000, rather than $10,000 as is the current policy.

“We see everything from $10,000 to $25,000 and we approve those over $25,000,” he said. He added that he was concerned that the current climate and having to furlough teachers should mean more oversight in the spending.

He cited an example of one purchase order where Murray County High School spent $7,600 for removing unwanted vegetation and placing river rock under all the downspouts.

He said the amount seemed high and the work could have been easily done by maintenance or the summer workers.

Superintendent Steve Loughridge said contracting the job out versus using school employees did come up, but in the end, it was decided the maintenance workers were needed more to move furniture into the schools for the upcoming school year. The school year starts September 8.

“We had three quotes and this one was the lesser. We have to move all the furniture into Gladden and that takes time,” said Loughridge.

But that wasn’t the only example Roberts questioned. “I’ve been told we are paying the cell phone bill of a retired employee.”

Loughridge said he approved paying for the cell phone for July and August, which comes to roughly $80.

“That employee knows a lot about the schools being worked on and we agreed to pay it so if we had questions, he would be available to answer them,” said Loughridge, adding it was not uncommon to pay retired employees a certain amount to help with transitions after their retirement date.

Roberts said he was concerned about how many small purchase orders contained expenses that could be better used.

August Murray County BOE

Renda Baggett suggested either a committee or allowing Sparky Roberts access to the purchase orders, rather than sending them to all board members. The plan was rejected.

“We’re asking our most valuable employees, our teachers, to take a furlough, and that seems not right,” said Roberts. “How many of these are there?”

“There are always second guesses on the decision,” said Loughridge. “Could we have done it cheaper? We could have not done it all. But you do have to have your schools presentable.”

Loughridge said he stood by the decision to approve those purchase orders. Amounts under $25,000 have to be signed by both the superintendent and the finance director. Loughridge has been playing both roles for several months.

Roberts said he wasn’t asking to change the policy, only allow the board to see purchase orders starting at $5,000 instead of $10,000.

At first Renda Baggett and Kelli Reed indicated that it might be a good idea, as long as it didn’t hold up work for the schools. It would create delays, Loughridge said, because with open purchase orders, they have to wait for it to be approved.

Baggett asked if they could form a committee to review it instead, but the idea was dismissed by Loughridge who said the previous board had tried that, only to dismantle the committees after disagreeing with them.

August Murray County BOE

Superintendent Steve Loughridge said he stands by the questionable purchase orders, including allowing a retired employee use of a cell phone to help in the transition.

“Every purchase order made isn’t ridiculous, but I think a lot of them are,” Roberts said.

“What do you believe is ridiculous when we came in under budget last year?” Loughridge asked.

“If you think that is a reasonable expense on that work, we’ll have to disagree,” Roberts said. “Our summer workers could have done it. We don’t even see the purchase orders that are under $10,000, so we don’t know how many others are out there.”

Loughridge said it was always possible to find some purchase orders that could be done cheaper in a budget of $62 million.

“If you went through a thousand (purchase orders) you’ll find something, but I stand by these purchases,” said Louhridge.

“If we go through a hundred and find thirty, I’d be concerned,” Roberts said.

“If you are pissed about this purchase order, I’ll take the blame for it, but if we’re doing a $62 million budget, is everything exactly as it should be? Probably not. Are there areas we can save money? Probably. Are there areas we could spend more? Probably,” said Loughridge. “But I think we’ve been proficient in using the taxpayers’ money.”

In the end, the board decided not to lower the amount.

In other BOE news:

  • The board voted to approved amending the fiscal year 2021 budget by $217,345, bringing the total to $62,747,974. The change came from decreasing the furlough days for paraprofessionals from 10 to four, in line with the teachers, another $50,000 was added for additional custodial supplies related to COVID 19, and increasing the budget for virtual learning. Read previous story here.
  • Approved the capital outlay application for Northwest Elementary School in order to cover the renovations not covered by the insurance claim, including the HVAC system.
  • Approved the Leonard Brothers contract for the remaining amount of insurance proceeds.
  • Loughridge said students at Northwest Elementary, which was heavily damaged in April’s tornadoes and Gladden Middle School, which underwent extensive renovations, will be ready in time for the Sept. 8 start date, although some trailers may be used while work is wrapping up.

 

https://youtu.be/fHSlDwztyw0

 

Murray BoE passes spending resolution in lieu of budget

Board of Education

The Murray County Board of Education passed a spending resolution in order to keep the school system operating in the absence of a budget.

Steve Loughridge, Superintendent of Murray County Schools, said it has been about eight years since the system had to do a spending resolution, which allows  allows the system to spend 1/12 of the previous year’s budget in times when a budget cannot be passed. A new spending resolution is required for every month no formal budget is passed.

Total revenues for Fiscal Year 2020 were $62,875,964, total expenditures for FY 2020 were $63,501,318, leaving a difference of negative $625,354. An estimated 1/12 of the revenues would be $5.24 million. To see the FY 2020 budget breakdown, read here.

Loughridge said they have worked on the budget, which is about 60-percent complete, but they are needing information from the Georgia State Legislature about funding before they can complete the process.

TRENDING: Murray County Schools to spend $2-million on technology. Read the story here.

“The state is telling us to expect an 11-percent cut, which is better than a 14-percent cut,” said Loughridge, but added until they know if the cut is “across the board” which would include several funding sources like equalization, or a specific funding source, he doesn’t know what the impact will look like.

Eleven-percent, regardless would mean millions. If it’s from all funding sources, the total could be around $6.75 million.

Although he hopes to have the information needed and budget complete by the July board meeting on July 7, the board, if it doesn’t happen, the board will have to pass another spending resolution for August.

CTAE and School Nutrition budgets

Murray BoE passes spending resolution in lieu of budget

Murray County High School offers a community cannery, which the school system is working to find guidelines on how to offer services later this summer.

Not having all the budget numbers doesn’t mean some numbers can’t be submitted. Legally, departments such as Career, Technical, and Agricultural Education or CTAE and school nutrition have to have their proposed budgets approved by the board by July 1. CTAE proposed $269,000 for the cannery, agriculture other technical programs. The budget has remained unchanged for years, according to Danny Dunn, director of CTAE.

“We often come in under budget, but pad it in case of an emergency expense,” said Dunn, who added left over funds return to the general fund at the end of the fiscal year.

TRENDING: Find the Murray County Cannery here.

Both were approved.

In other board news, the board:

  • Approved a contract with Family Connection,for $43,000.
  • Approved a transportation contract with Gordon County for bus services to the Georgia School for the Deaf. GSD is located in Cave Spring and Loughridge said the system has one student attending the school, making it more cost effective to contract with Gordon County than to handle transportation in house.
  • Approved a purchase order for technical support for Infinite Campus, the software the school system uses.

 

 

 

Murray County eyes starting school in August

Board of Education

Murray County Schools consider starting school in August, giving teachers 20 more days of instruction time. The county traditionally returns the Tuesday after Labor Day, which would be September 8, 2020.

gladden middle school

Gladden Middle School is getting a comprehensive upgrade.

Since the board has already approved the original calendar, they will have to re-vote, which will happen in May.

Steve Loughridge, the Superintendent of Murray County Schools, said this would give teachers 20 extra days to make up for time lost due to the COVID-19 pandemic that shuttered schools on March 13.

“The concern we have is students being out of the building for six month,” Loughridge said.

He added that the schools would shorten their days by 30-minutes. The days were extended to allow the schools to stay out until after Labor Day.

However, it isn’t an easy decision, Loughridge said.

The recent destruction at Northwest Elementary School from a tornado combined with the extensive planned renovations of Gladden Middle School, which won’t be done by September, have already complicated the decision.

“The devil’s in the details,” Loughridge said. “It can’t just be make a decision, we have to look at the factors invovled. If Gladden and Northwest weren’t an issue, it would be easy to change.”

The board will make a decision at the May board meeting.

Kelli Reed said she wasn’t sure changing the dates was the best idea given the situation.

“This has been on my heart about Northwest since Monday. When I think of moving those babies to another school, I just don’t see the benefit in moving them for 20 days if Northwest is going to be ready in September.”

“It won’t be ready in September,” Loughridge said, adding that moving the students of Northwest to other schools was also not an option.

“It would be a logistical nightmare. We’re working on options, we just don’t know right now. It’s evolving daily.”

bagley middle school ground zero

Northwest Elementary School suffered extensive damage after a tornado ripped through Murray County Easter Sunday.

Distance learning

The school system plans to keep going with on-line learning through the end of the year.

It’s been a learning process, said Barbie Kendrick, assistant superintendent of teaching and learning.

“We thought we’d be out for two weeks, so we sent home paper packets,” she said.

She provided the board with an outline of all the meetings held in response to the how the system responded to the virus.

“We discussed what would happen if went more than two weeks and what to do for students who didn’t have the technology to support on-line learning,” she said.

Kelli Reed, Murray County Board of Education

Kelli Reed, Murray County Board of Education

One issue that they have had to address was temporarily suspending the use of Google classroom in the county.

“I was hearing that teachers weren’t allowed to use Google classrooms,” said Sparky Roberts, a member of the board.

“We did ask the teachers to stop temporarily,” Kendrick said.

She explained that her staff was being told that parents with multiple children and only one computer were getting overwhelmed from the amount of time the children had to be in the Google classroom.

“If you have three children and one computer, it was really stacking up. So, we asked teachers to stop while we came up with a better schedule.”

Now, on-line students use a “Choice Board,” which has 20 assignments posted weekly over all the subjects. Students must complete 15. Teachers then use

Renda Baggett

Renda Baggett, Murray County Board of Education

Google classrooms once a week to touch base with the students. They also call, email, or text.

 

Renda Baggett questioned whether the work books the schools have for reading would be sent home to students during the shut down.

Kendrick said the current plan was to use the workbooks when school starts back to help students.

“We’ll revisit, but we think it’s a great resource because it has the standards laid out in them,” said Kendrick.

Did anyone think about checking out devices to the students, asked Sparky Roberts. He also asked if the teachers knew who had devices at home.

“We have, but not at all schools,” said Kendrick. “Right now, the teachers are asking when they call. But we may want to consider having it as part of the yearly paperwork.”

Roberts said the system had about 4,000 devices on hand at the schools.

Sparky Roberts

Sparky Roberts, Murray County Board of Education

“Before Sunday, anyway,” he said.

Graduation

No definitive plans for graduation have been set, Loughridge said, but said he continued to discuss options with the high school principals.

“Ideally, everyone would graduate in July, but we don’t know if that’s possible,” he said.

One issue is that after late July, graduates generally go to college or have started working.

“We’ll do what we can,” he said.

The board also approved $3.4 million dollars to start the renovations to Gladden Middle School.

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Northwest Elementary may not be ready for school in September

Board of Education

Northwest Elementary School may not ready by the time schools re-open in the fall was the general consensus of the Murray County Board of Education at Thursday’s meeting. Two tornadoes,

bagley middle school ground zero

Northwest Elementary School suffered extensive damage after a tornado ripped through Murray County Easter Sunday.

which killed seven people, ripped through Murray County Sunday evening, with one tearing the roof off the elementary school.

“Right now, we just don’t know,” Steve Loughridge, Superintendent of Murray County Schools said. He added that he and the insurance adjuster had been to the site several times since Tuesday. “We are working to get Northwest back in shape as quickly as possible. We just don’t know how long that will take.”

Loughridge said part of the delay was the fact they had to make certain Northwest Elementary School was structurally sound before going in and after it was cleared, they were able to get a more accurate view of the damage.

The roof was torn off the gym and older part of the school which was built in the 1950’s. Glass was busted out in the large windows.

“There was extensive damage to the gym, the upper elementary wing, and the media center,” he said.

He said that all carpet, electrical and flooring will have to be replaced in the most severely damaged areas since they were underwater and electrical is housed in the roof. The newer side where lower elementary classes are had less damage, but Loughridge hopes they can replace the entire roof.

That’s the damage to the building. Most of the technology left in the school was ruined.

“Technology went in first and got all the computers out. They will be recycled and, of course, we documented everything,” he said.

Laughridge said a temporary roof has been installed so the drying out process can continue and will continue non-stop until it is dry.

“The biggest issue was power, but the company brought generators,” he said. “Fortunately, power was able to restored to parts of the school and by the end of the week, it should be as dry as it can get,” he said.

Loughridge said he was able to arrange through Governor Brian Kemp’s office permission for teachers to return to the school to retrieve personal belongings. The schools have been closed since March 13 to stem the COVID-19 pandemic.

The biggest issue, he said, is mold developing in the warm, wet school.

“The cleaning company cleans Emory Medical Center, so when they told me that, I felt confident they could handle Northwest Elementary,” he said.

Woodlawn Elementary and Bagley Middle School

While Northwest sustained the most damage, it wasn’t the only school to fall victim to the storms.

Bagley Middle School, which opened post-storm as a shelter, had roof damage and water damage. Insurance adjusters have come out and Loughridge estimates the damage to be around $100,000.

Woodlawn Elementary, which is beside Bagley, lost their sign and Loughridge estimates replacing it will be less than $20,000.

Shelter in the storm

According to weather reports, Chatsworth has an 80-percent chance of thunderstorms on Sunday, just one week after the storms that caused damage to more than 100 homes. While early reports do not indicate this front to be severe, Loughridge said Bagley Middle School will be open for shelter.

The school opened post-storm Sunday and had as many as 250 people seeking refuge.

The school currently serves as the drop off point and volunteer registration point.

Loughridge said they are currently talking to local churches about the best way to coordinate relief efforts. Even after clean-up, the needs are huge for families.

On Tuesday, Sparky Roberts, a member of the board, said about 750 people were fed from Bagley Middle School, all with donated food.

“I’m proud to be from Murray County,” Loughridge said.

 

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