The schedule for Henry County Board of Education meetings will remain virtually unchanged in 2019.

The board voted at its November 12 regular meeting to approve the 2019 schedule, keeping the 4 p.m. study session and the 7 p.m. business meeting on the second Monday of each month. The lone exception for now is July, where the meetings are moved to the third Monday of the month.

A motion to change the start of the study session to 5 p.m. failed. That motion was made by Donna McBride, who will not be participating in 2019 meetings as a board member anyway because she was defeated in her re-election bid this summer.

McBride brought up the subject during the November 12 study session and fellow board member Annette Edwards agreed. Both of them spoke in favor of having disciplinary hearings at 4 p.m. before the study session.

The other three board members voiced their approval for keeping the schedule as is, noting that a change could push the study session beyond the scheduled start for the business meeting.

The meeting schedule was initially included in the consent agenda but was taken out to be voted on separately. The motion to change the study session to 5 p.m. failed 2-3, and the motion to approve the 2019 meeting schedule passed 3-2.

In other business, the board approved a $484,777 bid from Nix-Fowler Construction for the high school single-point entry project, a security upgrade discussed frequently in recent months. The project will include the installation of additional interior doors at all 10 existing high schools. When completed, entry into any of the high schools will require a check-in at the main office. The work should start in February and be completed in May.

The board also approved the authorization of a water line easement and a water vault easement on the property of Ola Elementary School. This will allow the Henry County Water Authority to maintain a water vault and the Henry County Board of Commissioners to install and maintain a water line to the North Ola Park expansion.