North Springs High School issued the following announcement on Apr. 14.
The Fulton County School Board met on Thursday, April 14, for its regularly scheduled Board meeting at the North Learning Center. Following are highlights of some of the more highly discussed topics, with the full agenda available online. Other topics discussed or approved are available via BoardDocs. Summaries of Board actions can be found here and Board policy updates can be found here.
Superintendent's Report
In his report, Superintendent Mike Looney recognized that April is designated as the Month of the Military Child, underscoring the significant role military children play in the armed forces community. He also noted that April 4 - 8 was National Assistant Principals Week. Although school was off for spring break, Dr. Looney wanted to be sure to honor all the Assistant Principals for their tremendous work within our schools.
FCS Advanced Placement Honor Schools
Twelve district schools have been named Advanced Placement (AP) Honor Schools for 2022 by State School Superintendent Richard Woods. These high schools, which have earned various recognitions, include Alpharetta, Cambridge, Centennial, Chattahoochee, Hapeville Career Academy, Johns Creek, Milton, North Springs, Northview, Riverwood International Charter School, Roswell and Westlake. For more information about this achievement, click here. Congratulations!
Annual Perception Survey
Dr. Looney encouraged parents to take Fulton County Schools' Annual Parent Perception Survey. He also reminded employees to take either the survey for school or district staff. Answers to the surveys will help the district make improvements to our schools. The survey is anonymous and confidential and should take about 10 minutes to complete. Please complete one survey per school where you have one or more students enrolled. The survey will be open from April 11-22 and is available in multiple languages.
Milestones Assessments
Georgia Milestones testing begins April 25. The test measures knowledge and skills in language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies, and provides critical information about achievement and readiness for the next level of learning. Preparation for the exam and participation is crucial. The district expects all students (grades 3-12) to participate. It is critical the district receives 95% participation from all schools. Dr. Looney urged parents to send their students to school for the test to accurately determine where the district is in relation to the state standards. Click here for a list of frequently asked questions.
Superintendent's FY2023 Budget Recommendation
Chief Financial Officer Marvin Dereef and Chief Talent Officer Ron Wade presented the Superintendent's FY2023 General Fund budget recommendation for Fiscal Year 2023.
Mr. Dereef indicated the recommended $1.151 billion budget meets the Fulton County Board of Education's (FCBOE) stated goal of allocating more than 75% directly to schools, with $843.7 million equaling 78% of the total. The proposal also includes a reduction of the millage rate from 17.59 to 17.49, keeping Fulton County as the lowest school property taxes in the metro area. The total General Fund budget request for FY23 is only 1.42% higher compared to FY22.
FCS is budgeting for a 6.19% decrease in state revenue, which equates to $235 less per student. The reduction is due to both a decline in student Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) counts and a rise in the Local Fair Share contributed to the state from Fulton County property taxes. The percentage of local revenue has now increased to 67% of the total General Fund budget, to make up for the declining state contributions.
Mr. Wade outlined the compensation proposal, which is an extension of the long-term and consistent financial commitment by the FCBOE and district leadership to our employees, led by a 3% salary increase starting with the new fiscal year on July 1, 2022. In addition, the budget includes a mid-year step increase and Dr. Looney added his commitment to bring an additional 2% salary increase for all employees in December. The salary increases for next year are on top of the $2,000 one-time payment all full and part-time employees will receive at the end of April 2022; of note this one-time payment does not apply to substitute, temporary or contracted employees. The district added funds to the state contribution from their mid-year budget adjustment to ensure that those full and part-time positions not identified by the state receive the same payment. These recommendations, along with hiring and retention incentives, equate to $37.5 million in the FY23 General Fund.
The preliminary budget will be presented to the Board on May 12 for tentative approval. For more information about the FY23 budget, please review the FY2023 Budget book available on our website. See the full presentation here.
Capital Plan 2027
Chief Information Officer Emily Bell, Chief Operations Officer Noel Maloof and Chief Financial Officer Marvin Dereef presented a high-level look at the major technology, construction and financial projects accomplished to-date in Capital Plan 2022 and those expected in Capital Plan 2027. Dr. Bell explained that Capital Plan 2022 has allowed FCS to provide access, infrastructure, security, and software tools for all students and staff. The 5-year vision for Capital Plan 2027 is inclusive of all students, teachers, and staff. All technology projects and initiatives will touch all stakeholders at some point in the 5-year plan and allow students to experience access to devices, collaborative platforms, and high-quality content to support student achievement. She then presented an overall look at each of the priority categories and corresponding projects. In each area, the IT staff will continue to sustain work in Capital Plan 2022, and in some projects, upgrade or expand Capital Plan 2022 initiatives. The district will also refresh and replace equipment and fulfil annual maintenance and software costs. Capital Plan 2027 technology investments will allow upgrades and improvements for current projects and facilitate enhanced and new projects required to realize 5-year vision and allow opportunity to address "what's next" in the rapidly changing technology world.
Mr. Maloof then presented a comprehensive overview of the facilities master plan including a schedule of projects and overview of the budget for e-SPLOST VI. While numerous deficiencies were identified by the Facility Condition Assessment conducted in 2020, every need cannot be addressed. Projects recommended for sustaining, repurposing, or rebuilding fall into three major categories for the Facilities Master Plan. The first category is Replacement schools and Reconfiguration projects. These schools include S. L. Lewis Elementary, Holcomb Bridge and Haynes Bridge Middle schools, Camp Creek Middle School, and North Springs High School. Additionally, staff are studying the possibility to grow the district's instructional offerings to convert some campuses to a K-8 instructional model. The second category, Renovations, is centered around critical infrastructure. The final set of projects are districtwide initiatives centered around academic initiatives, safety and security, IT infrastructure needs, facility utilization, and other district considerations. He presented details about projects slated for years 1-5, with the first wave of projects beginning in summer of 2023. He also reviewed projects in current development and others that will have ongoing planning throughout the Capital Plan timeline.
Due to strong financial stewardship by the Board, Capital Plan 2022 will close out on June 30 after a five-year cycle of successful projects at a total cost of $1.019 billion. The district projects spending $1.224 billion in upcoming projects for Capital Plan 2027 and expects to be just as financially solid. See the full presentation here.
Student Device Amnesty and Summer Cleaning
Executive Director of Information Technology (IT) Tim Dunn discussed the Student Device Amnesty and Summer Cleaning programs. IT is working in partnership with the Academics department to collect broken and bricked devices from April 15-22. The district is incentivizing students to return devices by waiving fines related to broken devices. Summer clean, or end-of-year device collection, starts May 16 and continues throughout the summer until the end of summer school. This year's summer cleaning effort will be the largest ever. A minimum of 64 thousand devices are slated for processing. Devices will be in schools and ready to go by the start of school.
Home Internet and Device Safety Parent Meetings
This month, Fulton County Schools is hosting parent information meetings on Home Internet and Device Safety. A panel of experts from the FBI, AT&T, Common Sense Media, FCS educators and school district leaders will share strategies and information parents can use to protect their families at home. This topic is timely since the school year is winding down and students will soon begin spending more time on their personal devices or using their home internet.
Open to all FCS parents, staff and community members, the meetings will be held from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at two school locations - Tuesday, April 26 (FCS Innovation Academy, Alpharetta) and Thursday, April 28 (Global Impact Academy, Fairburn). Parents will hear tips from each panelist followed by a Q&A session moderated by Dr. Emily Bell, FCS Chief Information Officer. For more information, visit www.fultonschools.org/homeinternetsafety.
Let's Talk Schools
Check out our new weekly series, Let's Talk Schools, hosted by Superintendent Dr. Mike Looney, as he chats about all things FCS.
Extra! Extra!
Find out what is going on at Fulton County Schools. Be sure to check out the special News section of the district’s website for the latest and greatest FCS happenings.
Original source can be found here.
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