The Glynn County Board of Education marked a milestone Thursday, officially meeting for the first time in its new school board office space.
The school board met for its first work session of 2023 at the new office, the old Altama Elementary School at 5505 Altama Ave. in Brunswick.
The first meeting of 2023 began with the appointment of this year’s board chairman and vice chairman.
Eaddy Sams will replace Marcus Edgy as chairman, and Mike Hulsey will step into Sams’ previous seat as vice chair.
In other business, Valerie Whitehead, chief of school improvement for Glynn County Schools, reviewed the district’s strategic plan, which was updated to reflect priorities and actions related to district improvement.
“With the start of the year, and then some other updates that have been made to the strategic plan, tonight we’ll just do an overview,” Whitehead said.
The plan provides structures for meeting requirements for accreditation and federal programs, and grant budgets are linked to initiatives outlined in the plan.
“The strategic plan is built around the five focus areas of Georgia’s continuous system of improvement,” Whitehead said.
Those are effective leadership, coherent instructional system, supportive learning environment, family and community engagement and professional capacity.
In other business, Mike Blackerby, executive director of operations for Glynn County Schools, reported that the students and staff at St. Simons Elementary have moved into the newly constructed two-story building on campus. The next phase of the project, funded through EPLOST IV, will include the construction of a new gym and kitchen.
Renovation work will also continue at the new district office, Blackerby said, and the former office at 1313 Egmont St. will be razed this summer to create more parking for Glynn Academy.