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School system to add position to aid military students moving to Liberty
Liberty BoE 1

The Liberty County School System will soon look to hire someone as the coordinator of military family support services for the district.

The new job position was approved by the board March 14.

The coordinator will support students from military families.

At the Feb. 28 morning meeting, Liberty County School System Superintendent Dr. Valya Lee said she met with Greg Cooke, school liaison officer for Fort Stewart/Hunter Army Airfield, and Fort Stewart Garrison Commander Col. Townley Hedrick about the job, and talked with other departments such as Student Services and Counseling Services, for input in how to support military families.

The position will be funded through Impact Aid, federal money given to school systems financially impacted by federal activities, such as Fort Stewart.

Lee said they will be looking for someone with a master’s degree who has counseling experience and military affiliation.

The person would work about 240 days a year, especially during the summer when military families move to the area.  

The salary for the position has not been set.  

Calendar
The school board approved the 2017-2018 school calendar that has teachers officially returning to school Aug. 1 and finishing a week before the end of May 2018, at their board meeting Tuesday.

More than 50 percent of Liberty County School staff and its stakeholders voted in favor of this calendar option versus the original calendar where teachers returned at the end of July and finish the end of May 2018.   

At the Jan. 24 board work session, board members questioned the number of long weekends in the calendar and discussed complaints from teachers about returning to school early for the new school year.

GMAS prep
The Georgia Milestones End of Grade tests are coming up and the district is hoping to avoid last year’s technology-related interruptions of online testing.

Last year the testing software experienced problems with school districts across the state taking the test at the same time.

Melissa Roberts, executive director of charter innovations, said the district had a mock test on March 10 to test the infrastructure and test updates.

Students tested in a “true environment”, she said, and they encountered very few problems, such as typing incorrect login information.

Roberts also gave a technology update.

The Apple Classroom is up and running, she said.

The program allows teachers to monitor school-issued iPads used by students from their iPad and assign specific work for students.

Teachers are also using Canvas, a learning management system to help teachers organize personalized learning.

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