School Nutrition Update

Board of Education, Community

LUMPKIN COUNTY, Ga.- School Nutrition Director Julie Knight-Brown gave the Board of Education an update on school nutrition at the work session on Apr. 13.

Chief Operations Officers Greg Trammell gave the board the most recent updates on Lumpkin County Elementary School. Trammell in addition gave the board the timelines for phase two of the high school renovations project set for this summer.

Knight-Brown started her nutrition update with a highlight of the past few years dating back to 2019. The system is on track to return to students paying for breakfast and lunch in the next school year. This means that families will again be required to fill out the free and reduced meal forms.

Due to the forms being used for funding opportunities such as Title 1 for elementary and middle schools it is necessary for all families to fill out the paperwork. Knight-Brown is currently waiting on a prototype to come down before sending it home through the use of the Infinite Campus system.

The meal prices for next school year.

Meal prices will not increase when they are reinstated. The requirements that were in place for the type of food served will be going back in place. These were loosened during the pandemic, one of those is the grain requirement of 80% of the grains served most be 51% or more whole grain.

However, the school system is having the same issues as the local stores with the supply chain and getting in the food. The vendor they are currently using has said that they will not be renewing their contract so Knight-Brown is putting out a bid on Apr. 25 for new vendors. For more information on school nutrition, visit https://www.lumpkinschools.com/page/school-nutrition.

“I don’t think I’ll have trouble with it because I’m a dietician I can navigate the dietary requirements,” stated Knight-Brown.

The update on Lumpkin Elementary School for the site work the grading is 92% complete, the curb and cutter are 80%, and the base and binder are 65% complete. The concrete for the foundations is at 90%, and for the slab on grade is 70%. The foundation block is complete.

The information about the groundbreaking ceremony.

The steel is being laid down in three sections A is 95% complete, B is 80%, and C is 60%. The asphalt will not be complete until all other work is completed. Carroll Daniel Construction will host a groundbreaking ceremony with the board of education on Monday, Apr. 18 at 4:30 p.m.

Trammell on top of that update gave one for the High school renovation project for this summer. During spring break they were able to replace the hot water heaters and pain most of the hallways and restrooms. The rest of the work is set to begin on May 27. Dr. Brown offered school clubs an opportunity to help move out any furniture for funds that would go to the construction company to go back into that club or organization.

Board of Education Reviews Technology Updates

Board of Education, Community

LUMPKIN COUNTY, Ga.- Director of Technology Sean Mullins brought the board of education the technology update from 2021 and where the system is going in the future at the work session on Feb. 9.

Chief Operations Officer Greg Trammell gave the board updates on Lumpkin County Elementary school. He also presented the bid for the Lumpkin County High School renovations project that will be voted on Monday, Feb. 14 at 6:00 p.m.

The technology updates for 2021 included classroom and infrastructure improvements. The classroom updates were adding cleartouch boards to some rooms, classroom cameras, and adding new Chromebooks.

Sean Mullins while delivering his technology plans to the board.

The infrastructure improvements included new bells/intercoms at the middle school, security cameras, AD server, and external WIFI units. The external WIFI gives families that need internet access a place to come if there was another reason for learning to go online such as another COVID shutdown.

In 2022 there is going to be a switch in account management to OneSync due to the company that has been previously used going out of business. There will also be an additional four cameras added to the special ed classrooms, and additional Chromebooks added.

Currently, the school system has 4,600 Chromebooks, 3,317 of those still have testing capabilities. However, after May that number will drop to 2,484. These Chromebooks are still able to be used in the school in classrooms such as Art and Music for instruction purposes due to not being able to support the testing systems.

Going forward Mullins would like to replace the facility laptops and add 1,300 Chromebooks over the next two years. This will keep the system having testing capable Chromebooks until 2028. To learn more about what the technology department has to offer visit https://www.lumpkinschools.com/page/technology.

“Sean is always on top of things in technology and we certainly appreciate him, he’s a tremendous asset for us,” explained Superintendent Dr. Brown.

Greg Trammell while delivering his updates to the board.

Trammell gave the board an update on Lumpkin County Elementary School’s progress. 90% of the grading is complete, curb and cutters are 65%, the foundation is 3%. The board will be visiting the site before the regular meeting Monday to see how far the process has come.

Charles Black Construction has bid $2,145,440.00 for the High School renovations. This comes in below the original budget of $2.7 million but still gives room for unexpected things that come up.

The renovations will take place over the summer and include new epoxy on the bathroom floors, a new upper gym floor, flooring throughout, painting the entire right half including the gym, plumbing, electrical including a new fire alarm system, and a new display case. The board will vote on this bid at the regular meeting Monday.

Board Accepts the L4GA Grant

Community, Indians Corner

LUMPKIN COUNTY, Ga.- The Lumpkin County Board of Education accepted the L4GA grant that has been awarded to the school system at the board meeting on Nov. 8.

The board also approved entering into a contract with Carroll Daniel Construction under the guaranteed maximum price present by the Superintendent, Dr. Rob Brown. The board did not make a motion on the request by Lumpkin County Water Authority for use on an easement.

The L4GA grant is a grant used for literacy in learning, living and leading. The school system was awarded $849,914.00. The award could fluctuate, depending on other schools’ acceptance or rejection of the award.

“The way most of these grants work is they don’t just send you a check for that amount for you to stick into the bank they have avenues with which you can request reimbursement and that’s what we are asking is to move forward with that and begin using that $850,000 to serve students,” Brown explained.

Brown also presented the board with a guaranteed maximum price or GMP for a contract with Carroll Daniel construction. This contract is for the construction of the new Lumpkin County Elementary school.

The GMP is $21,655,808 with a $1.2 million contingency fund in the event that market prices increase. For more information on the project and the aquatic center that is also part of this project visit https://lumpkin.fetchyournews.com/2021/09/15/board-of-education-and-commissioners-join-together-for-new-aquatic-center/

Sean Phipps from Lumpkin Water Authority came to the board with a request to use an easement off their bus shop. The use would be for the Water Authority to begin work on a treatment plant. The request did not receive a motion at the meeting, this does not delay the project of the Water Authority.

Dr. Brown while presenting the graduation rate to the board.

Dr. Brown informed the board that Lumpkin County’s graduation rate is up to 98.41%. Lumpkin County currently has the third-highest out of 180 schools graduation rate. The school system is first in Pioneer RESA.

“This is something our community and school system should be extremely proud of, and that’s for the third year in a row Lumpkin County established a new highest graduation rate ever,” Dr. Brown celebrated.

Starting back in 2016 at a rate of 88.7% there has been incremental process each year. This is due to in part to the strategic plan for Lumpkin County schools, information for that can be found at https://www.lumpkinschools.com/page/strategic-plan

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