The Henry County Board of Education has unveiled its list of priorities for the 2020 legislative session of the Georgia General Assembly. The document presented at the school board’s Nov. 11 regular meeting is divided into four categories.
Under “LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES & ACCOUNTABILITY,” the board urged for the establishment and maintenance of a fair and consistent accountability measure that reconsiders primary schools and alternative schools, as well as funding for all state-required programs or courses to include such focuses as computer science expansion into middle schools and innovative instruction opportunities through STEM/STEAM, fine arts, and career/technical academies. Also suggested was an increase in access to DECAL pre-K programs, while also supporting district development of early kindergarten and other birth-5 learning initiatives.
The “FAMILY & COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT” category included the goal of maintaining local control of funding decisions, school calendars, and school day operations with locally-elected school boards that are responsive to parents and community members. Another recommendation was investment in community agencies to support students in foster care for basic needs such as medical services, dental services, and mental health services.
In the area of “SUPPORTIVE, SAFE, & SECURE LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS” is a request to revise the QBE allotment to include one school resource officer and one mental health professional at every school. Other ideas include investing in accompanying community agencies to address adult mental health, while also increasing consequences for vaping and possession of any item, article, or substance which contains THC within a school safety zone.
The final category is “SUPPORT EFFECTIVE TEACHERS & LEADERS.” The board asked for support and strengthening of the Teachers Retirement System as a recruiting tool and a way to retain high-quality teachers. It was also suggested that a shortage of teachers could be addressed by allowing retired educators to return to the classroom without jeopardizing their TRS benefits.
