Two new Board of Education members were sworn in Wednesday in Effingham County.
Probate Judge Beth Mosley swore in Robert Grant, a stay-at-home father who faced no opposition for the District 1 seat. Eddie Tomberlin chose not to run again for the seat.
Mosley also administered the oath of office to Beth Helmly. Helmly, a retired educator, defeated three other people to take the District 4 seat that was vacated by Mose Mock, who resigned last year. She has been serving on the board since last June.
Also at Wednesday’s meeting, Lamar Allen was unanimously re-elected as chairman and Troy Alford was unanimously re-elected as vice chairman.
No one else was nominated for the positions.
Check writing
Board members on Wednesday agreed unanimously to spend $32,900 for an upgraded check-writing system.
The new system will keep staff from having to fold, stuff and seal checks and advices for employees and vendors. The work takes employees in Accounts Payable eight to 10 hours each month and staff members in Payroll 11 to 12 hours a month.
“All of these many hours will be reduced to minutes per month using this system,” Slade Helmly, executive director of administrative services, said in a letter to the board.
The new system also will save 18 to 20 hours of staff time for processing W-2 forms.
It also has the ability to email payroll advices to each employee without having to print a hard copy, a service the district will consider offering once the system is up and running.
Slade Helmly said Bryan County has had the system for two years and highly recommends it.
Board member Vickie Decker asked for an estimate of the cost savings of sending payroll advices by email. Superintendent Randy Shearouse said that could be computed.
Board members also learned Wednesday that a state-mandated review of how the district handles special-purpose, local-option sales taxes (SPLOST) found no areas of concern.
The annual review is conducted after the financial audit, according to Finance Director Ron Wilson. The district brings in about $7.8 million in SPLOST money each year.
On another topic, Shearouse told board members that the district has 11,082 students, up 106 from the same time a year ago.
In a math curriculum update, board members heard that Common Core has not changed the content of what is being taught, but has organized the content differently across grade levels.
Keeli Wadley, a third-grade teacher at Blandford Elementary School, said overall, her students are better problems solvers under Common Core.
“The only negative I’ve seen with Common Core is that parents and even teachers don’t understand the strategies because we weren’t taught that way,” she said.
Jenni DeLoach, a teacher at Effingham County High School, said she wants to see what changes the state board makes to Common Core soon.
The proposed changes will mean more work for teachers, especially high school teachers, said consultant Susan Halligan.
“Everything seems to be going in the right direction but talk to me in a year,” DeLoach said.