Parents concerned about communication
The Putnam County Board of Education heard public comments related to parent communication and involvement with the schools on June 26, and learned updates are coming related to the Public Participation in Board Meetings policy draft.
Resident John Bloodworth approached the podium as a concerned parent questioning why driver’s education is not a part of any offered education program at the school.
Bloodworth stated he was told by Putnam County Superintendent Eric Arena that the school owns a car for driver’s educational classes, but it is not in use. He suggested the board publish a job advertisement for the program in the newspaper or partner with Central Georgia Technical to offer the class to high school students.
Bloodworth also expressed concern about how spots are filled in the School Government Association (SGA) and told the board that some spots should be filled by individuals outside the school community to give diverse perspectives and give parents a chance to be more involved with student interest and decisions.
After he spoke, Bloodworth’s wife, Jan, a former Putnam County Middle School teacher, approached the board to discuss transparency between the schools and the parents.
“We are failing the children of this community … you shut the door on parents that want to come in,” said Jan Bloodworth on the verge of tears.
She stated discipline and intervention are not being reported thoroughly or handled correctly. She echoed her husband’s concern about the SGA not being advertised to parents and how closed the SGA board feels due to this decision.
As a teacher, Jan Bloodworth expressed concern that students are being passed and moved along into each grade, even when they may not be ready, and that students who do want to learn are being disturbed by fighting, in-class shenanigans and other troubles.
“Out-of-school suspension is a joke, that’s what they want and in-school suspension is a joke,” said Jan Bloodworth. “There is no effective, productive, alternative program for these students that don’t want to be in a classroom and the kids that do want to be in the classroom can’t learn because there is no discipline. Both teachers and students are being affected.”
Concluding public comments, Ashley Pearson from the Azalea Regional Library asked the board to strengthen the relationship between the Eatonton-Putnam County Library and local schools.
She said the local library would like to provide free resources and materials to the school system and foster a connection.
“The Azalea Regional Library System is a dynamic network of libraries dedicated to fostering a love of learning literacy and providing access to a vast array of materials, both educational and fun,” said Pearson. “We hope we can partner with the school board to provide some of these resources to students that are completely free and accessible all over Georgia already. We’d love to bring it to Putnam so that we can ensure that we are doing the job that our local library is made for.”
Moving into the superintendent’s report, the board unanimously approved a communication plan proposed by Linsey Rickman at the June 12 work session. In this plan, Rickman explained she wants to increase communication between schools and the local community.
Among her suggestions were: weekly newsletters to staff, regular press releases for The Eatonton Messenger, welcome pamphlets with the annual report attached for local realtors and the Chamber of Commerce, and adding a communications tab to the school system website (putnam.k12.ga.us) that will include a digital annual report, links to social media and videos, a blog for a digital copy of the press releases and more.
Rickman also stated a part of the plan includes possibly surveying the community for feedback on these methods and studying website metrics for insight into the best methods of communication.
Next, Assistant Superintendent Derick Austin led a discussion on public participation in board meetings and informed the public of the “BCBI” policy revision. Under this revision, public commentary will be limited to a maximum of 30 minutes.
“Each member of the public participating in public comment will be given three minutes to speak. The board or its chair may limit the total time allocated for public participation to 30 minutes, as well as further limit the length of individual comments during public participation at its discretion for the purpose of the efficient operation of the business of the meeting,” states the Public Participation in Board Meetings policy draft.
According to Austin, the policy will be posted on the front page of the school website for 30 days and any discussions or any remarks during that 30-day period will be heard by the board. Then, the policy will be voted on at next month’s meeting.
“State law requires that the board approve a policy that governs public participation annually. That is the reason for this. That is the standard policy,” said Dr. Steve Weiner, board chair.
The next Board of Education meeting will be July 17 at 6 p.m. Interested parties are encouraged to visit the school system website to review the Public Participation in Board Meetings policy draft and leave any comments before the end of the 30-day period.