1. The board will meet November 5 to review applications for the superintendent of schools position and possibly select finalists for interviews. Supt. Frank Petruzielo is retiring early next year.
2. The school system is moving ahead with moving its offices from the old school buildings in downtown Canton to a new administration building to be built near county offices on Bluffs Parkway.
3. The new school HQ will cost $15 million, be paid for with Education Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (E-SPLOST) money on 16 acres of land swapped for some of the property it will be leaving behind in Canton. It should be completed in 2017.
4. The board reviewed its draft 2016 Legislative Program, which calls on Cherokee County state legislators to: fund the existing state educational funding formula to fully restore “austerity budget cuts”; address skyrocketing premiums and out-out-pocket expenses for participation in the State Health Benefit Program; support local control and management of public schools rather than supporting state takeover plans like the governor’s proposed “Opportunity School District” Constitutional Amendment; correct evaluation models for teachers and administrators to allow greater emphasis on observation of their performance by trained administrators and supervisors; stop the erosion of the state’s tax base through tax exemptions for private companies; oppose the continuation and/or expansion of programs that use public funds to pay for private school tuition and/or provide tax incentives.
5. This week the school board swore in its newest member into the District 1 seat, Kelly Poole, an accountant and longtime PTA and community volunteer. She took the seat when the former holder, Kyla Cromer was appointed school board chairwoman.
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