The Liberty County School Board held their board meeting June 9 and approved the purchase of new computers for the School system and a solar system for Lyman Hall Elementary.
Prior to voting on the action items the board recognized LCSS Nurse of the year Dana Simbras as well as several educators and staff that were retiring.
Chief Operating Officer Arnold Jackson said the district released bids for the Installation of a 25 Kilo-watt solar power system at Lyman Hall Elementary School. The solar power system will be ground mounted and Jackson said would reduce energy consumption by $4,356 annually.
The Georgia Environment Finance Authority (GEFA) awarded LCSS a grant that will pay for half of the project cost Jackson said.
Jackson added that the project will provide opportunities for students to learn how energy works and help to make renewable energy an everyday experience.
Jackson said the bid opened May 26 and only two bids were submitted. He recommended the board go with the low bid from local company Coastal Solar Power in Hinesville.
The total cost for the project is $69,569.87, with half funded by GEFA and the other half funded by E-SPLOST. The motion was unanimously approved by the board.
LCSS Executive Director of Technology and Media, Melissa Roberts, recommended the board approve the purchase of 202 computers to replace all the Windows 7 computers currently in the LCSS.
“Windows 7 computers were classified as End of Life and End of Support as of January 14, 2020,” Roberts said. “End of Life and End of Support on these devices means that the computers will no longer run numerous software programs including our anti-virus software putting our network and data at risk.”
After reviewing the three bids the LCSS received Roberts recommended that the board go with the low bid from Virtucom for a total of $160,994.00. The funding will come from E-SPLOST. The board approved the purchase.
The board also approved a motion to make the Governance Handbook, Civility Policy a system-wide policy and not just for the board. The board members said they would reach out to the District’s Attorney to write the policy which will be brought before the board at a later date for approval.
LCSS Executive Director of Finance Stephanie Clark recommended that the board pass a spending resolution until the budget is finalized and adopted. She explained to the board that the state has not finalized their budget and allocations, which means the LCSS doesn’t know how much the state has allocated to the LCSS for the upcoming budget cycle. The motion was approved by the board.
The board also reviewed several informational items pending bids, discussion and action at future meetings. The board is looking to buy seven new air-conditioned buses from Rush International, two of which will have a 77 seat capacity, two will be 90 seat capacity and three will be special needs buses. The board was updated on renovation projects approved during the April 7. Board meeting for work being done at Frank long Elementary, Lyman Hall Elementary and Snelson-Golden Middle School.