The Liberty County Board of Education has set its town hall meeting for Thursday, Jan. 21, at the district’s new performing arts center on the former Brewton-Parker College campus. The meeting is scheduled to run from 6-7:30 p.m. and school board members said they plan to address concerns from parents, educators and citizens.
The meeting was set at Tuesday’s school board meeting at the request of board Chairwoman Lily Baker, who suggested the town hall meeting as an alternative to the original community forum setup and publicized the meeting to attendees at last week’s education forum.
Several people at the forum questioned the district’s purchase of the former college and also wanted to know how contracts and salaries would be affected by possible furloughs in the spring and fall this year.
At the meeting, BoE member Carol Guyett suggested asking attendees to submit questions before the meeting so the board could prepare answers, and Baker requested a fact sheet from superintendent Dr. Judy Scherer to help ensure as many questions as possible are addressed.
"I think a lot of it is just not knowing, so we could give them answers up front" and then take additional questions if necessary, Baker said.
In other meeting news, the school board has also agreed to allow Brewton-Parker College to conduct a class on campus one night a week for the remainder of the school year at a cost of $4,000. This will likely be a one-time request, the board reported, adding that Brewton-Parker is currently looking for new space in Hinesville to continue its satellite courses in the future. "I think it’s a good arrangement as long as they have need of the facility," board member Marcia Anderson said.
Members of the board and several public officials are making plans to visit the Golden Isles Career Academy on Jan. 20. GICA is a charter school in Glynn County for 9th- through 11th-graders that offers "career pathways," exposing students to potential vocations such as veterinary science, automotive service, graphic communications and design and manufacturing/engineering.
Representatives of local entities such as city and county government, area businesses, Fort Stewart and the hospital system are encouraged to be part of the visit. "These are areas that may have input into what kids need," Baker said.
Also at Tuesday’s meeting:
• Board members agreed to reject all previous bids received for fence work at Bradwell Institute, and to reopen the bidding process.
• The board will visit Lyman Hall Elementary School on Jan. 21.
• The board will focus on the budget in its daylong work session Jan. 23.