During the Feb. 9, Liberty County School System Board of Education meeting Kisya Burnett stood before the BOE, during public participation, and alleged that the BOE had broken many promises they’ve made to the educators and staff in the district.
“You promised teachers that they would receive new laptops by the end of January,” she said. “But it’s Feb. 9 and no laptops in sight.” Burnett said teachers were promised a Christmas dinner before the holiday break but all the BOE offered their educators were bags of chips and salsa. She also accused the BOE of providing, “Weekly lies,” on their COVID-19 reports alleging the BOE is underreporting the amount of cases within the district.
During their Nov. 10, 2020 meeting the Board did approve the purchase of 800 new laptops but there was no date given on when they would be distributed.
She said the Board, in September, voted to hire a cleaning contractor to maintain CDC guidelines for COVID sanitation at each school. Burnett said the BOE is utilizing the LCSS school custodians, in addition to their daily duties, for the same rate of pay. However a review of the September 2020 meeting agendas for Sept. 8 and Sept. 28, do not show the hiring of a professional cleaning crew as action items.
The Board did purchase new sanitation devices, as announced in a November 202 press release. They purchased sanitizing foggers and announced that, “Disinfecting will be conducted, by teams of trained and experienced custodians, using an EPA registered disinfectant. Custodial leads at each school have been trained and tested on the use of the sanitizing devices and that they are skilled in the effective application of cleaning products, proper chemical handling and safety protocols including the donning and removal of personal protective equipment.”
During last week’s meeting LCSS Chief Operating Officer Arnold Jackson told the Board that since the start of the 2020-2021 school year, the LCSS has done everything to reduce the spread of COVID-19.
“We have implemented several improvements to more efficiently sanitize our schools,” he said.
The LCSS has:
Purchased over 1,000 disinfectant bottles (one per classroom)
Changed hand dispenser product
Purchased over 50 disinfecting/fogging machines
Installed over 100 new wall mounted, hand sanitizer dispensers
Provided over 100 touchless, free standing dispensers
Provided 100 Teachers with desk shields (250 more delivered this week)
Provided over 100 thermometers
Provided over 15,000 masks
Provided PPE to custodial staff
Provide weekly deep cleaning, fogging, and sanitizing of classrooms
Provide daily cleaning, fogging, and sanitizing of school buses
Provide hand sanitizers and extra masks on every bus
Change & replace a/c filters monthly/upgraded filters
Clean HVAC cooling & heating coils maintenance
Provided 20 bottle water filling stations (50 more ordered)
Riding automated scrubbing machines to increase efficiency
Trained custodians to use foggers
Burnett said she will continue to come and speak at the meeting on behalf of the staff and educators who, she said, fear speaking out against the LCSS.
“You’ve promised that you would have an open door policy and communication is a priority,” she said. “But teachers have to confide in parents, like myself, while they are teaching in fear because their contract can be terminated by anything they say, post or share.”
In regular business the Board approved the demolition of the two 70-year-old maintenance and operations building on Highway 84. The buildings are no longer needed and they are in poor condition. The bid for the demolition was awarded to S&W Construction for $28,000.
The Board also learned about the implementation of their Sources of Strength program at Bradwell Institute, Liberty County High School, Midway Middle School, Lewis Frasier Middle School, and Snelson-Golden Middle School.
Sources of Strength is a strength based comprehensive wellness program that focuses on suicide prevention but impacts other issues such as substance abuse and violence.
Sources of Strength is based on a relational connections model that uses teams of Peer Leaders mentored by Adult Advisors to change peer social norms about help seeking and encourages students to individually assess and develop strengths in their lives.
Executive Director of Student Services Dr. Kathy Moody said all LCSS Adult Advisors and Peer Leaders have received the Sources of Strength training. School principals receive a $5,000 grant from the Department of Behavioral Health to assist with the implementation of SOS. First SOS campaigns in all schools have been completed.