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Superintendent Dr. Dan A. Sims shared a few of the highlights from the past month:

CONGRATS, CLASS OF 2023: Congratulations to the more than 1,150 graduates participating in 7 commencement ceremonies at the Macon Coliseum last month!

HIGHLIGHTING A SPECIAL GRADUATE: Now that our spring graduation season has concluded, Dr. Sims wanted to share a special Class of 2023 graduate near and dear to his heart – his daughter Kamille – who is headed to Alabama A&M University, all expenses earned and paid! She is a 4.0 scholar, student athlete, makeup artist, and accomplished dancer! Dad is proud!

YOUTHBUILD: It was such an honor to witness the collaborative effort between Bibb County School District, Macon Area Habitat for Humanity, and so many other partners working with BCSD YouthBuild students. Participating in Habitat’s key presentation ceremony for a new home owner last month was truly life changing! The District is proud of YouthBuild students for the work they put into making this home a safe and great space for this family.

LEADERSHIP SYMPOSIUM: More than 200 Bibb County School District leaders came together last week to begin preparing for the 2023-24 school year with the District's annual Leadership Symposium Conference. BCSD kicked off the symposium with Principals and Assistant Principals in Atlanta, with the support of the National SAM Project, and discussed topics such as School Continuous Improvement Plans and the upcoming accreditation process with Cognia. The week continued as Directors, Coordinators, and Instructional Coaches joined the Symposium workshops at the PLC on Wednesday and Thursday. This was a great experience filled with bonding time, new learning, and honing skills for next year!

LEADER RECOGNITION: Congrats to Tanya Allen, Principal of Burdell-Hunt Magnet School, for receiving the Joseph Richardson Learning Leader Award from Georgia State University’s Principal Center! Such a huge honor for an extraordinary leader!

FAMILY FUN DAY: Thank you to all of the families, staff members, and community partners who supported the District’s Family Fun Day and Fun Run in honor of our 150th anniversary year and the launch of our new strategic plan, #Built4Bibb! A special thank you to the team members from Maintenance and Grounds and Operations Departments for pitching in and volunteering to grill hot dogs and hamburgers and fry up fish and fruit turnovers. This was such a great event with a fantastic turnout!

COX INSPIRATIONAL HEROES: Last month, Cox Communications hosted the annual Cox Inspirational Student Hero Awards in Bibb County, recognizing 32 students who have overcome extreme hardships in their lives. Thank you to Cox for recognizing outstanding student Heroes. It’s so important for students to know they are seen and to hear that someone cares about them. This celebration gave students a chance to hear from their teachers and school leaders about how they see these student Heroes showing up in ways that matter and inspire other students each day!

INAUGURAL BIBBSPYS: BCSD's Athletics Department hosted the inaugural BIBBSPYs awards in May to celebrate and recognize athletes and coaches for their dedication and performance. This was truly an auspicious occasion! Congratulations to all of the athletes that put time and effort into performing on courts, fields, courses, classes and everywhere else! They deserved every bit of recognition!

ON THE HORIZON: The Bibb County School District PBIS Department is planning a Back-to-School Bash Drive-Through Event that will be held on Friday, July 28, 2023, from 9 to 11:30 a.m. at the Ed DeFore Sports Complex. The purpose of the Back-to-School Bash is to decrease the number of student absences during the first days of school. Bibb County families will receive free school uniform shirts, school supplies, backpacks, free medical screenings, and much more.

The Board of Education approved the Strategic Design Framework outlining the path forward for the next 5 years, #Built4Bibb: More Victory Planned. District staff have worked diligently along with the Board of Education, the community, parents, employees, and most importantly, students to develop a plan that represents the voices of all those invested in this journey toward increased success for every student.

Mission: The BCSD maximizes student achievement and social-emotional well-being by building a sense of community in safe, equitable learning environments.

Vision: Students are empowered to learn, lead, innovate, and serve as productive and caring citizens within their chosen paths of success.

Call to Action: Built by Bibb: Empowered to Learn, Lead, Innovate, and Serve

The District and Strategic Plan Design Team members believe this mission and vision represent the current and pressing needs and dreams for Bibb's students and the community's work together to prepare every learner for college, careers and life.

Three key areas will guide the District's work under the strategic plan – student achievement, staff effectiveness and stakeholder engagement. All of this will create an environment where students take increased ownership for their learning. They will take on a 4ME attitude and embrace every learning experience inside and outside our classrooms.

When students complete school, they will be empowered to make an executive decision as learners, leaders, innovators and servants of their communities to become matched and enrolled in a college or university, meaningfully employed in the workforce, motivated to enlist in the military or molded for entrepreneurship.

To view the full presentation about the plan from the May Board meeting, click here.

Board Approves Appointments, Personnel Items

Board members approved various personnel items and appointments.

• Condus Shuman, Executive Director of School Nutrition
• Dr. Tracey Muff, Director of Before/Afterschool Programs
• Lasharn Ferroudj, Director of Partnerships, Projects and Engagement

To view all personnel items, click here.

Fiscal Year 2024 Budget Approved

Board members approved the FY 2024 Fiscal Year Final Budget. Total revenues and transfers in for all funds total $391.8 million and total expenditures and transfers out total $410.7 million. Projected ending fund balance for all funds being budgeted is $103.7 million. To view the final budget, click here.

Purchase of Amira Learning Approved

Board members approved the purchase of Amira Learning on Thursday June 5, 2023. Amira Learning provides 1:1 reading tutoring, oral reading fluency assessment, and dyslexia risk screening for students in grades K-5. Amira listens while a student reads aloud, recording the session and generating a running record free of subjective errors and testing biases. The cost will come from Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds.

For more information, click here.

Board Members Approve LETRS Expansion

Board members authorized the purchase of Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling (LETRS) Professional Development Expansion. LETRS is a professional development course based on the Science of Reading. It is designed to equip early childhood educators and administrators with the knowledge and skills needed to be experts in the areas of literacy and language development. The cost will come from ESSER funds. For more information, click here.

Board OKs Renewal of Imagine Learning - Edgenuity

Board members authorized the renewal of Imagine Learning - Edgenuity for use during the 2023-2024 school year. Imagine Learning’s virtual platform, Edgenuity, is designed to meet the needs of the evolving classroom. It is implemented in-person and virtually within BCSD middle schools, high schools, and the VIP Academy. The cost will come from General Funds. For more information, click here.

School City Assessment Platform Renewed

Board members approved the renewal of the School City Assessment Platform for use during the 2023-2024 school year. Since 2015, the Bibb County School District has used School City to implement a formative assessment process that provides teachers and district leaders with data to assist with instructional decisions. Access to this formative assessment data has assisted schools in determining student mastery of standards prior to the spring administration of standardized tests. The cost will come from ESSER Funds. For more information, click here.

Renaissance Star 360 Renewed

Board members approved the renewal of Renaissance Star 360 for 2023-2024. Since 2017, Renaissance Star 360 has been utilized districtwide for universal screening, progress monitoring, differentiating instruction, and forecasting proficiency and mastery of state standards. With Renaissance Star 360, principals and teachers have access to valid and reliable data used to personalize student learning. The cost will from ESSER and Title funds. For more information, click here.

Board Members Approve Intalage Contract Renewal

Board members approved a renewal of the contract with Intalage, Inc. for $342,000 for the 2023-2024 school year. In June 2021, a three-year contract with Intalage was approved. Intalage sources certified international teachers using their J1 Visa Program. There are currently 30 Intalage teachers working in the District and six additional teacher recommendations for the upcoming school year. The funding source is General Funds. This is the final renewal for the current three-year contract. For more information, click here.

Contract Renewal for TPG Cultural Exchange Approved

Board members approved the Program for Exceptional Children to enter into service contracts as needed. In May 2021, a three-year contract with TPG was approved. TPG sources certified international teachers using their J1 Visa Program. There are currently eight TPG international teachers working in the District and 12 additional recommendations for new teachers for the upcoming school year. The District pays a fee of $11,950 to TPG for each teacher hired. The cost is $286,800 and will come from General Funds. For more information, click here.

Board Members Approve Renewal of Gallup

Board members authorized a renewal of Gallup – Building a Culture of Strengths Professional Development for $207,538 in General funds for the 2023-2024 school year. Gallup is a global research and analytics firm that helps organizations solve their most pressing problems. Gallup findings support a growing body of research pointing to the individual principal and teacher as the most important school factors related to student engagement, well-being, and academic success. For more information, click here.

Leader In Me Contract Approved

Board members approved Leader In Me (LIM) contract for $342,130 through the District's ARP Funding. As a way to address culture and climate, the Bibb County School District began the implementation of Leader In Me in 2015, with two schools piloting the initiative. LIM is now in all schools, with 12 of these achieving Lighthouse status. For more information, click here.

Board Members Approve Agreement, Addendum for Foothills

Board members approved an intergovernmental agreement and addendum regarding Foothills. Georgia House Bill 87 was signed by Gov. Brian Kemp on May 4, 2023. This bill revised and repealed certain provisions for alternative charter schools and provided for the continued operation of state-chartered special schools until no later than the expiration of each such school’s current charter with the State Board of Education. This legislation led to an overhaul in the funding mechanism for these alternative state charter schools such as Foothills Regional High School. Prior to this bill being signed into law, Foothills received its funding directly from the state and received no funding directly from the Bibb County School District or other contracting districts. Effective July 1, 2023, funding will now flow through the contracting districts for certain students. For more information, click here.

Board Members Approve 2024 Legal Fees

Board members approved 2024 lawyer fees between Jones Cork, LLP and the Bibb County School District for $200,000 for non-extraordinary legal services and $500,000 to cover extraordinary items. For more information, click here.

Districtwide HVAC Replacement Approved

Board members approved a contract with Hamlin Air Conditioning and Sheet Metal, Inc. to provide construction contractor services for districtwide HVAC replacement in the amount of $7,297,241. The cost will come from ESSER Funds. For more information, click here.

District to Upgrade Wireless Access Points

Board members approved AiOS Group for the District’s Wireless Access Point. In 2016-2017, the District implemented a wireless solution throughout the district using Meraki access points. Since then, the devices have been monitored and maintained to provide optimal performance. As the technology has aged, BCSD began experiencing an increase in failures and degraded performance that cannot be resolved with the current equipment. With the increase in usage as the District has moved to a 1:1 environment with students and become more cloud-driven with applications, the District has exceeded the capacity of this older technology. It is important to adopt the newer modern technologies with increased capabilities to continue to serve the higher wireless demands in accommodating the staff and student needs. This will cost $2,913,628.28 and will be paid for by 2021 Education Special Local Option Sales Tax (ESPLOST) funds. For more information, click here.

Board Members Approve GSBA Risk Management Fund Business Insurance Renewal

Board members approved the GSBA Risk Management Fund Business Insurance Renewal. The Bibb County School District initiated an RFP Bid Process for the following school district business insurance coverages: Property, Auto Liability, General Liability, School Leaders Liability, Law Enforcement Liability, and Cyber Liability. The GSBA Risk Management Fund won the bid to provide these insurance policies to the school district in Fiscal Year 22, FY 23, and FY 24. For more information, click here.

Board Members Approve Paper and Chemical Bid Renewal for School Nutrition

Board members approved the renewal for paper and chemical supplies bid in the 2023-2024 school year for $1,407,935. This award is used to issue purchase orders on an as-needed basis for paper and chemical supplies to provide efficient and compliant school nutrition operations for Bibb County School District. For more information, click here.

Food Bid Renewal for School Nutrition Authorized

Board members authorized the District to issue a purchase order to each vendor on an as-needed basis, not exceeding the listed total amount of $6,259,897, to provide food items for all schools and the central kitchen. Vendors are: ACC Distributers, Sutherlands Foodservice, Williams Institutional Foods, and Chef's Corner. The funds will be paid out of the School Nutrition fund. For more information, click here.

Board Approves School Nutrition Plan

Board members approved the FY 2024 School Nutrition Procurement Plan and Procedures. For more information, click here.

Board Reviews Policies

Board members reviewed various policies for first or second reading. Policies must be read twice before they may be voted on for final action. To review the policies, click here.

• Policy CGPE – Administrative Personnel Non-School Employment (ACTION)
• Policy DJE – Purchasing (ACTION)
• Policy DJEAC – Purchasing or Credit Card Use (ACTION)
• Policy JB - Student Attendance (INFORMATION)
• Policy JBB -Entrance Age (INFORMATION)
• Policy KC - Board-Community Relations (INFORMATION)

Stakeholders are encouraged to review policies posted after first reading and make public comment via Simbli before the proposed policies are brought back before the Board for action the following month. Simbli may be accessed through the District’s website, www.bcsdk12.net, under “About Us” and “Simbli.” On Simbli, “Pending Policies” will appear on the right side of the screen.

Board Reviews Monthly Financial Reports

Board members reviewed the District’s monthly financial report and previous ESPLOST reports. Board members reviewed a presentation about the Investments and Investment Income. For more information, click here.

Schools Achieve Leader In Me Lighthouse School Status

The Leader in Me initiative has been a huge asset in changing the culture in Bibb schools. This program, which incorporates Stephen Covey’s “7 Habits” throughout schools, as well as in students’ home lives, provides proactive steps for decision-making. As Bibb schools have implemented Leader in Me practices in their daily routines, several have taken the next steps necessary to become Lighthouse Schools. Lighthouse certification involves analysis of evidence provided by the school, as well as a site visit from the Leader in Me team.

These schools achieve Lighthouse status for the first time:

• Heritage Elementary School
• Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Elementary School
• Porter Elementary School
• Taylor Elementary School
• Union Elementary School

The schools achieved recertification of Lighthouse status:

• Burdell-Hunt Magnet School
• Carter Elementary School
• Springdale Elementary School

The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Isaiah Smith, Northeast High School. Isaiah placed 1st in the 400-meter run at the State Special Olympics in May.