Tag Archives: LCBOE

Agendas with board packet items: Lowndes County Board of Education

The Lowndes County Board of Education (LCBOE) often includes along with its agendas detailed information from its board packets. The Lowndes County Commission could do the same.

Here’s their November FY2012 Finance Report in their 12 December 2012 agenda. Sometimes they even include details of items for their executive sessions, as in Personnel recommendations attached to that same agenda.

The Valdosta Board of Education (VBOE) does the same thing. Here’s a football ticket proposal and a Coke contract from VBOE’s 27 February 2012 agenda; also health insurance cost information. That particular agenda has several more financial documents attached.

Both LCBOE and VBOE use eboardsolutions.com. Other companies sell other products that facilitate posting board agendas and minutes.

Travis County, Texas, which includes packet items with its agendas, appears to have constructed its own website. Travis County adds videos after the meetings. I bet they’d tell other local governments how they do it.

So there’s part of a spectrum of solutions to posting board packet items online with agendas: use a turnkey cloud solution, or roll your own.

The Lowndes County Commission could pick a solution, and inform the public about what they are doing by putting agenda packets online with their agendas.

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Cats and Vikings working together: Joint meeting of LCBOE, VBOE, LCC, VCC 2012-03-29

Has this ever happened before? Both school boards and the Valdosta City Council and Lowndes County Commission all meeting together? Maybe this way we can get some actual improvements in education!

The text of the announcement by Lowndes County Schools 20 March 2013, Valdosta-Lowndes Governmental Leadership Meeting, is below.

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The first annual Valdosta-Lowndes Governmental Leadership Meeting will be held on March 29, 2012 at 6:30 pm in the Lowndes High School Lecture Hall. Valdosta City and Lowndes County Board of Education members, Valdosta City Council members, and Lowndes County Commissioners will be in attendance. Lowndes County Schools will host a dinner for the leadership at 6:00 pm.

The purpose of the meeting is to promote the enhancement of communication and allow leaders to share ideas and plans pertinent to the development and expansion of our local governmental entities. It will also allow members to discuss long-range strategic plans, including any special projects, while providing greater insight as to what will transpire within our community over the next five years. The meeting is open to the public.

Agenda
Welcome and Introductions
Dr. Steve Smith, Superintendent Lowndes County Schools
Sharing of Long Range Plans and Vision
Lowndes County Board of Education
Lowndes County Board of Commissioners
Valdosta City Board of Education
Valdosta City Council
Questions, Comments, Suggestions
Wrap Up
Wes Taylor, Superintendent-elect, Lowndes County Schools

Media flap over Lowndes grading

Interesting timing, the Chamber deciding to pay off CUEE’s debts from pushing school consolidation, followed shortly by a media campaign to discredit the Lowndes School System.
17 January 2012:
Chamber of Commerce board decides to repay CUEE’s outstanding vendor debts in exchange for owning CUEE’s education document.
3 February 2012:
Maureen Downey blogged for the AJC, No zeros in school any longer. But aren’t there well deserved zeros? Despite admitting that the Lowndes school grading policy is a common practice in many systems and is intended to make sure students actually learn, she ends with this spin:
But aren’t there well deserved zeros?

I would argue that middle school teachers have some students who simply don’t do the work. They get it; they just don’t do it. The Lowndes policy calls for multiple interventions for obdurate students, but wouldn’t a zero make an important statement?

How else do adolescents learn that there are consequences for failure to comply with assignments? In the classroom, it is a zero. In the workplace, it is termination.

3 February 2012:
Lowndes School System Superintendent Dr. Steve Smith explained Lowndes grading policies, including this bit:
The Lowndes County Schools recently released grading guidelines for parents to clarify what has been our current practice on reporting of grades and to reaffirm our commitment to mastery learning by all students. For the past year and a half, our practice in grades 3-8 has been….
The point being that this is not a new policy.
Continue reading →

Jerome Tucker honored at Civic Roundtable

The Civic Roundtable honored Jerome Tucker for some of the many things he has done for Lowndes County and south Georgia. And as usual he hit the nail on the head.

Dawn Castro wrote for the VDT yesterday:

“We do have one of the best communities,” Tucker said. “The toughest part of me standing before you is knowing how much better we could be if all the little groups would work together.”
He also said:
“I am still blessed to have my dad with me,” Tucker began. “He always asks me, ‘Where have you been?’ and ‘Did you do any good?’
Here are a few good things Jerome Tucker has done recently: Continue reading →

Video meetings like Lowndes Board of Education? —John S. Quarterman @ LCC 7 November 2011

After apologizing for setting off a flash earlier, I recommended the county video their own meetings, so they wouldn’t have to depend on amateurs.
Lowndes County Board of Education had an open forum about school consolidation. and they had their own person videoing the whole thing, and it ended up on the web in a day or two, which means that everyone in the county could see what was going on….
Chairman Paulk:
We get enough of that for free.

jsq:

I’ll send you a bill!
The Chairman nodded, so I’ll take that for approval of billing by LAKE.

Here’s the video: Continue reading →

I’m glad GBR spoke up for Sam Allen. —Barbara Stratton

Received today on Truth really needs no defense! -jsq
I’m glad GBR spoke up for Sam Allen. The VDT article falsely stated that he had changed his mind about VDT support between Tuesday night & Wednesday when he spoke at the news release. I was standing beside Sam when he complemented one reporter after she interviewed him following the election returns at the Bd of Elections Tuesday night. The compliments were for her individual professionalism only as he stated to her that he appreciated that she always put exactly what he said in the paper. I agreed with his statements & complimented her also, because I have observed her professionalism in other venues & it is a refreshing change for some of the VDT reporting heritage.

Sam’s Wednesday comments about the VDT not providing balanced

Continue reading →

People say we don’t talk —Sam Allen 8 Nov 2011

Sam Allen demonstrates Valdosta City and Lowndes County School Boards cooperate, right there at the Board of Elections last night. As he said, a 4 to 1 victory against 10 to 1 financial odds proves grassroots organizing works.
It’s OK, to be beat. But to be beat by a one-armed man….

Here’s the video:


People say we don’t talk —Sam Allen 8 Nov 2011
Victory Celebration,
Vote No for Consolidation, Friends of Valdosta City Schools (FVCS),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 8 Nov 2011.
Videos by George Boston Rhynes for K.V.C.I., the bostongbr on YouTube.

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The grass roots effort, outspent by a 10 to 1 margin, defeat the CUEE effort by 4 to 1! —Jim Parker

Received today on School Consolidation Lost by a Landslide with 14 of 16 precincts reporting. -jsq
Hip! Hip! Hooray!

Absolutely amazing! The grass roots effort, outspent by a 10 to 1 margin, defeat the CUEE effort by 4 to 1! That’s what it’s all about! This is what democracy looks like!

Thanks to all the put in the time and effort and showed up at the polls. Now I hope we can have a serious discussion about the education of our children in Valdosta. Y’all in the county can, too.

-Jim Parker

Taxation without Representation —John S. Quarterman @ LCBOE 4 Oct 2011

As my mother, who used to teach at Pine Grove Elementary School (not a High School at that time), used to say, it takes a big man to admit it when he’s wrong, and Fred Wetherington is a big man
because he thought it was a good idea. He looked at the evidence; he looked at the research; and determined it was not a good idea.

I look forward to the members of CUEE standing up and being big men and women because the research, their own research, and the research that we’ve heard tonight, the research from Tennessee, and the research from Troup County: consolidation is not a good idea.

And I’m still waiting for some CUEE big men or women….

Anyway, my question: Continue reading →

What will happen to programs and SPLOST? —Sam Allen @ LCBOE 4 October 2011

Sam Allen offered his head as a crystal ball. Dr. Smith replied it wasn’t clear enough. Everybody laughed at that as this video started, in which Allen, president of Friends of Valdosta City Schools (FVCS), and former superintendent of Valdosta City Schools, asked several questions, most of which Dr. Smith would have had to have had a crystal ball to answer. The questions included what will happen to certain programs, and what will happen to Valdosta School SPLOST funds.

Lowndes County School System Attorney Warren Turner did clarify a bit of what would happen if consolidation passes:

If consolidation occurs, there is no such thing as the Valdosta City School System, from the date the Georgia Secretary of State approves it.

Once they certify the election, there is no central office of the Valdosta City School System. There is a property located on William Street that is part of the Lowndes County School System….

The real question is where would the funds desginated for those facilities go, and can you even spend it? Tax Commissioner doesn’t know; Attorney General doesn’t know; and we don’t know.

Sam Allen joked:
CUEE, they probably know.
Everybody thought that was pretty funny.

Here’s the video:


What will happen to programs and SPLOST? —Sam Allen @ LCBOE 4 October 2011
Why we oppose consolidation,
Community Forum, Lowndes County Board of Education (LCBOE),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 4 October 2011.
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.

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