Fall break is eliminated from new school calendar

The 2020-2021 school calendar is being revised and officials say this may not be the final version depending on what may happen in the future.

“We will try this for the third time, but remember we must be flexible,” Grady County school superintendent Dr. Kermit Gilliard told members of the Board of Education Tuesday night.

The revised calendar reflects the new first day of school for Grady County students as Tuesday, Sept. 8. The new calendar reduces the Thanksgiving break by two days and eliminates completely the fall break in October. A week-long spring break in April is preserved.

The latest version of the calendar includes 170 days of student instruction and 190 days of work for certified personnel, according to Dr. Gilliard. The final day of school for students would be May 28 and the superintendent said the calendars for both Thomasville City Schools and Thomas County Schools are practically identical to the one he is recommending.

“This is also a calendar we could use if we have to go exclusively virtual?” board chairwoman Teresa Gee Hardy asked. According to Dr. Gilliard, it is.

The board voted unanimously Tuesday night to adopt the new calendar.

In other business Tuesday night, Dr. Gilliard reported that good progress is being made on the new cafeteria at Northside Elementary School.

The board voted to accept the lone bid of $88,004 from School & Office Supply of Knoxville, Tennessee for new furniture and interior design of the new Northside cafeteria. Bids were also solicited from Carroll Seating of Maryland Heights, Missouri and Varia, LLC of Nashville, Tennessee, but neither submitted a quote.

This expenditure will be covered with School Nutrition Program federal funds, according to Dr. Gilliard.

The board also approved payment of accounts payable totaling $1,604,922.49 on the recommendation of school system finance officer, Dan Broome.

A number of personnel items were also addressed Tuesday night.

Superintendent Gilliard recommended the hiring of the following personnel: Danteria Hart – paraprofessional teacher at Eastside Elementary School; Sandy Matias – parapro. at Eastside; Hanna Nix – accounting coordinator at the central office; Diane Maxwell – administrative assistant at the central office; Destiny Tise – special education parapro. at Washington Middle School; and Raphael Smith – special ed. teacher at Cairo High School.

Resignations from the following employees were accepted: Casey Bell – Pre-K-5 teacher at Southside ElementarySchool; Harold Edwards – science teacher at Cairo High School; Shana Richardson – parapro. at Eastside Elementary School; Gabriel Russo – computer support specialist; Heather Cooke – parapro. at Shiver Elementary School; Micah Graham – parapro. at Washington Middle School; Cynthia Thornton – health/P.E. teacher at W.M.S.; Haley Cooke – parapro. at Shiver; JoAnn Williams – special ed. parapro. at Northside Elementary School; and Brandy Brown – parapro. at Whigham Elementary School.

The superintendent also recommended the following transfers, which were approved: Heather Connell – from Washington Middle School parapro. to parapro. at Eastside Elementary School; Mindy Harrison – bus driver to special ed. parapro. at Whigham Elementary School; and Angie Scarbrough – from teacher at Shiver Elementary School to instructional coordinator at Shiver.