The Morgan County Board of Education met on March 9 for its third monthly meeting of 2026.
The board shared multiple updates within the school system over the previous weeks and acknowledged students for recent academic and athletic achievements.
The Special Recognition section of the agenda included four acknowledgements, beginning with the winners of the Georgia Student Teacher Achievement Recognition (STAR) program for Morgan County High School. The program honors high school seniors with the highest SAT scores and who are in the top 10% of their graduating class.
MCHS senior Justin Bailey was awarded the school’s 2026 STAR Student title and selected Pam Hooten as his STAR Teacher.
The board later recognized K-12 winners of the 2026 Young Georgia Authors.
The recipients and their stories included the following: Competition for Morgan County.
Morgan County Primary and Elementary: Kindergartener Caroline Duvall—Dr. King, First grader Carter Cox—Wolverines, second grader Kennedy Hawk — My Winter Break, Third grader Martha Kelly — The Dog Named Neal Armstrong, fourth grader Hartlyn Jaillett — Tears of Fate, fifth grader Kennedy Kalland — The Rain.
Morgan County Middle School: Sixth-grader Charlotte Morris- Chelsea’s Whisper, seventh grader Lilly Parker — Emory’s End, eighth grader McKynna Price — Moving Day, Morgan County High School: Freshman Parker Patty — The Star, sophomore Connor Tiller— Showmanship, junior Ada Ludlow—The Strawberry Banana Smoothie, and senior Isabelle Johnson — What Could Have Been.
Shortly after, the BOE recognized Morgan County High School’s GHSA 2A Wrestling state medalists: Kaleo Willcoxson, as state runner-up for the 190 lbs. weight class, Jamari Mundy in fourth place for the 285 lbs. weight class, Lachlen Behrndt in fifth place for the 138 lbs. weight class, Airyanna Klinger in sixth place for the Women’s 110 lbs. weight class, and Jatavious Ward in sixth place for the 215 lbs. weight class.
The final recognition by the BOE went to MCHS senior Caroline Jenkins, who placed as the 1A-3A state runner-up in the 2026 GHSA Diving Championship. Jenkins plans to attend the United States Military Academy (West Point) for college and will compete on the swimming and diving team.
During the staff reports section of the agenda, Assistant Superintendent Susan Tolbert provided updates regarding the new K-5 elementary and primary school facility, which will open in the fall of 2028.
“We are making steady progress on the construction of the new primary elementary school complex, and formal bids for the project will be accepted on April 7,” Tolbert said. “There will be a groundbreaking ceremony for this project on April 23 at 10 a.m.
“This event will mark an important milestone in the development of the school and provide an opportunity to celebrate the beginning of construction with district leadership, community partners, and stakeholders.”
For the Teaching and Learning portion of the agenda, Tolbert shared that the school system was recently awarded a grant to improve students’ learning experiences.
“MCCS has been awarded a Meta Data Center Community Action Grant for over $47,000 to expand our students’ STEM experiences,” Tolbert said. “We will be purchasing additional virtual reality class kits with additional library access, a Sphero Bold Power Pack kit, iPads, Wacom tablets, Code and Go Mouse activity sets, and 3-D printers and filament.”
In another section of Staff Reports, MCCS Kayla Andrews, director of Human Resources, provided updates on the MCCS Para-to-Teacher program, which began in 2023.
“Since 2023, we have secured over $21,000 in grants from the Georgia Department of Education to support and reimburse our paraprofessionals who are going back to school to become teachers,” Andrews said. “Eight paraprofessionals have entered into this program throughout its duration, and this particular program strengthens retention and supports long-term instructional stability within our district.”