The Liberty County Board of Education approved the purchase of new security cameras during the April 28 school board work session held via teleconference.
Liberty County School System Chief Operations Officer Arnold Jackson recommended the board award Howard Tech as the vendor, for a cost of $74.895.88.
Howard Tech was the lowest bidder for the purchase of 21 new cameras and a 10-year warranty.
Jackson said the funding will come from the Georgia Department of Education safety grant that was awarded to the LCSS.
Jackson said new cameras were needed because the existing images on the school system’s analog security cameras are not sharp, have limited features and storage capacity.
“Our plan is to install IP (Internet Protocol) cameras,” Jackson explained. “IP cameras have the ability to provide 360-degree fields of view, facial recognition, night vision, motion detection, set off alarms, automatic lens adjustment and deliver very sharp images.”
The meeting moved forward with informational items where Jackson said the LCSS will be advertising for bids throughout the month of May for a new walk-in cooler/freezer for Joseph Martin Elementary. Jackson said the purchase would be funded by a grant from the United States Department of Agriculture. The estimated cost was $78,767.62,
LCSS Executive Director of Special Programs reviewed the ongoing transition of AdvancED with Cognia. The two organizations merged and are now called Cognia. The LCSS current accreditation is expected to expire in June 2021 and the LCSS is in the process of preparing for their on-site review between February 28-March 3, 2021. The review will focus on leadership, training and learning and resources.
Duncan said they are working on preparing all the necessary reports to submit to Cognia by Jan. 27, 2021.
LCSS Executive Director of Student Services Dr. Kathy Moody reviewed the timeline as they work to complete the LCSS Student Information and Code of conduct for the 2020-2021 school year. Based on the timeline the Code of Conduct will be presented to the BOE by May 26 and be placed on the agenda as an action item for the June 9 BOE meeting.
Assistant Superintendent of Teaching and Learning, Susan Avant, said the system’s current charter was set to expire next month. However due to the merge of AdvancED and Cognia that has been moved up a year until June 2021.
Avant said that numerical grades will be provided and reiterated what she said in the previous meeting about the LCSS being fortunate to have completed the three nine weeks prior to the closures. She said most of the educational course work had been completed by then and parents were notified before the closures if their child was in danger of not meeting retention requirements.
Avant also reviewed the System’s Strategic Plan and suggested that the board consider extending the current plan for one year so it would align with the charter and Cognia. She added the pandemic and school closures helped them identify a new set of needs and strategies for the future.