The Glynn County Board of Education approved a one-year agreement Tuesday with Coastal Plains High School to continue serving students who drop out and seek alternative education options.
House Bill 87, signed by Gov. Brian Kemp in May, required programs like Coastal Plains, which operates at the Golden Isles College and Career Academy in Glynn County and serves numerous counties in Southeast Georgia, to implement changes this year.
The memorandum of understanding approved by the school board following a dual work session and meeting Tuesday states that Coastal Plains students who enroll in the program as of July 1 will technically be students in Glynn County Schools but they will not attend class there.
“We’ve been working with Coastal Plains for a few years now for students who drop out of school,” said Scott Spence, superintendent of Glynn County Schools.
House Bill 87, he said, will grandfather in the students enrolled before June 30, and their FTE funds, or per-student state funds, will continue coming directly to Coastal Plains.
For students enrolled since July 1, Glynn County Schools will pay the FTE to Coastal Plains.
Spence noted the MOU agreement is for one year.
“We’re going to see how it works for one year, and then if it doesn’t do well we’ll do something on our own,” he said. “And if it does well, we’ll continue to do it.”
The legislation was passed following a funding change the previous year that would have prevented programs like Coastal Plains from continuing operations due to insufficient funds. The bill, passed this legislative session, keeps the programs available but adds more accountability to school districts.
Concerns raised include the fact that students who drop out of school and then wish to enroll at Coastal Plains will have to return to their base high school to do complete enrollment. Previously, they could enroll directly through Coastal Plains.
Although the legal dropout age in Georgia is 16, students below the age of 18 will not be able to enroll.
In other business, the school board heard an update on plans to open a child care program for Glynn County Schools staff members.
The center will be housed at FACES preschool and Altama Elementary. So far, 20 students are enrolled at both sites for a total of 40.
“We still have some spaces open, so if staff members want to get on that list they can,” said Michele Seals, executive director of human resources for Glynn County Schools.
Most staff are hired for the program, which will serve ages six weeks to three years old. Fees for the program have been updated and will be $125 per week per student.
Classes at the child care center will begin July 31.
Following the board’s work session, members approved three renewal requests to ensure special education services are fully staffed this school year and to support Medicaid billing.
The board also approved a guaranteed maximum price of $3,139,340 for R.H. Tyson Construction to complete work on one wing of the board’s office space in the former Altama Elementary School.
The board also voted to pay $171,773 to iMint Media to replace the sound system in Glynn County Stadium.
“(The speakers) are nine years old and have survived a couple hurricanes and a few tropical storms, and if you attended a soccer game this year you could tell they were on their last leg,” said Steve Waters, athletic director for Glynn County Schools. “We suffered through a lot of back feed. It sounded like a bunch of bees were in the scoreboard.”