The Greene County Board of Education heard two project proposals during its first meeting of the year on Jan. 16.
The JROTC department presented a proposal for an annex building totaling just under 15,000 sq. ft., located near the high school gym and adding to the existing JROTC space.
Leaders said the addition would be open to everyone, not just JROTC students. The annex would feature a 200 ft. track for cadets to meet physical fitness requirements and could be used for sporting events. According to leaders, the annex would also be used to safely practice drills and operate programs requiring extra space, like commercial drone certification training, robotics, and archery.
Leaders said that the extra space would give kids opportunities to broaden perspectives, “incorporating everyone” into one of the high school’s most popular programs. They acknowledged that students would learn more about leadership, aerospace, and STEM, which could be shared with elementary and middle school students in hands-on activities to expand that education to Greene County’s youngest learners.
The high school is currently working on designs to determine the cost of the annex.
Matt Schulze with Civic Media Group (CMG) also proposed a digital sign to advertise sporting events and local businesses.
“I build scoreboards and billboards all across the country,” he said. “I do scoreboards on high school campuses and college campuses. On these campuses, I’m wondering why no one is taking advantage of the road frontage for a revenue stream for athletics. I’m a sports guy. To me, the greatest effort to help kids get off the streets [and] into athletics changes the trajectory of their lives.”
He proposed placing a double-sided sign near the existing digital sign by the front of the high school and moving the existing sign near the baseball facility.
Schulze said CMG would enter into a 50/50 road share with the school system, gift the new sign, and handle the installation. CMG would receive half of the advertising revenue that comes in over time, with the other half going to Greene County Schools’ athletic programs.
The school system would have direct access to a content manager, who would professionally promote events and obtain advertising from businesses. According to Schulze, there would never be any embarrassing language, and the school system would take complete control of the sign in case of an inclement weather announcement or other emergency alert.
Schulze noted a critical need for content creators in the workforce and said he plans to come to Greene County College & Career Academy once a month to teach classes about the subject. He also said CMG will work actively with students to promote content. Students will have regular input when designing the content for the new sign. They will be taught how to produce content for the high school’s other digital signs, allowing them to apply their curriculum to the real world.
In other business, the BOE plans to hold a joint meeting with the Lake Oconee Academy Board of Governors to improve communication and collaboration.
A date has not been announced, but board members plan to hold the meeting at a neutral site like Festival Hall or the Greene County Board of Commissioners meeting room. More information about the meeting and any future joint meetings will be announced later.