Board Business Briefs: Board Reviews Budget, Adopts New Instructional Resources

The Cherokee County School Board on Thursday, March 20, 2025 reviewed the Superintendent’s recommended budget for next school year, which invests more funding in teachers and resources that directly support student learning, while holding the millage rate steady.

The board also adopted comprehensive K-12 English language arts and math instructional resources (textbooks, workbooks, and digital resources) to build the toolbox of resources for teachers and students, received the Superintendent’s third Key Priorities Progress Report, and heard a report on operational improvements planned for next school year.

The meeting began with a work session at 5:15 p.m. followed by a regular business meeting at 7 p.m.  Both were livestreamed via YouTube, and the videos are archived on the CCSD website in the Board of Education area online here.

In honor of School Board Appreciation Month, Superintendent of Schools Mary Elizabeth Davis began the meeting with remarks recognizing the school board’s dedication to strengthening its governance.

“There is no stronger governance team in the state of Georgia, and there is no group of board members who are working harder,” she said.  “Tonight, our board will deliver on many of their personal and collective promises to improve compensation for teachers and support staff, improve resources for teachers and students, and redirect funds out of the central office and back into the classroom.  They are deserving of tremendous praise for their courage and their commitment; and, personally, I feel honored to serve under such an ambitious, caring, and dedicated group of public servants.”

Thank you to Chair Janet Read Welch; Vice Chair Patsy Jordan, District 2; and board members Kelly Poole, District 1; Chance Beam, District 3; Rick Steiner, District 4; Erin Ragsdale, District 5; and Dr. Susan Padgett-Harrison, District 6!

SUPERINTENDENT’S RECOMMENDED BUDGET REPORT
Chief Financial Officer Kenneth Owen shared a report on the proposed budget, which was designed to meet the School Board’s top priorities including: increasing compensation for teachers and staff directly supporting students, advancing school safety and security, and upgrading instructional resources and classroom supplies for teachers and students.

The full recommended budget is posted online here; Financial Facts, a report on the budget written for the community to better understand its details, is online here.  The board will consider adoption of the budget at its 7 p.m. April 17 meeting, following public hearings at 11:30 a.m. April 9 and 17 and 6:30 p.m. April 17.

The proposed overall budget is $843 million, which is a decrease from the current school year’s budget of $923 million.  The proposed budget includes the $603 million general fund for day-to-day operating costs, 92% of which is spent on employee compensation and benefits; the $132 million building fund for major construction projects including the new/replacement Cherokee High School campus and improvements to multiple high school campuses now underway; as well as budgets for School Nutrition operations, grants, and debt service to retire past construction bonds.  

The budget is based on no increase to the millage rate, which is recommended to hold at the historically lowest level of 17.95 mills.  Other financial stewardship highlights include: cuts of more than 5% in operating costs across all central office divisions, totaling $2.4 million; shifting $1.4 million from central office divisions’ funds to school-based funds to improve funding for fine arts, STEM and other classroom materials; and ending district contracts for redundant resources not aligned with learning standards.

The budget’s proposed improvements include:

•    For all teachers and support staff, increase salaries for 3% in addition to the longevity step increase.  Central office administrators are not scheduled to receive the additional 3% increase;
•    Lower class sizes for fourth- and fifth-grade classrooms to an average of 25.5 students (down from 27) by hiring more than 20 additional teachers;
•    Invest in comprehensive K-12 English language arts and math instructional resources (textbooks, workbooks, digital resources) to build the toolbox of resources for teachers and students;
•    Increase school-based budgets to support fine arts, STEM and other classroom consumable instructional materials, classroom supplies, and instructional expenses … in an effort to help reduce class fees to parents and teacher out-of-pocket expenses;
•    Add one campus security monitor to each of the three high schools with multiple buildings (Cherokee HS, Etowah HS, Sequoyah HS) to support the two POST-certified CCSD Police officers already assigned to each of these large campuses; and,
•    Equip all CCSD Police officers with body cameras.

Board members Chance Beam, Dr. Susan Padgett-Harrison, and Rick Steiner asked questions for more details about the budget, such as about average class sizes, reserves, rising healthcare benefits costs, and spending cuts.  Board member Kelly Poole praised the budget’s proposed salary increases for teachers and support staff.

Board Chair Janet Read Welch specifically thanked staff for its proposal to keep school breakfast and lunch prices steady for students in the face of rising food costs.  “That hits home for a lot of people, so thank you.”

ACADEMICS & ACCOUNTABILITY REPORT AND INSTRUCTIONAL RESOURCES ADOPTION
Over the past year, the School Board has been laser focused on improving the instructional resources available to teachers and students.  Through the development of their first-ever governance policy, board members established the expectation for a Cohesive System of Teaching and Learning and supportive accountability.

The Cohesive System of Teaching and Learning includes:
•    Customized standards aligned to the state-required standards of what concepts students should be learning in core content classes (English language arts, math, science, social studies) at each grade level, known as CCSD Teaching & Learning Standards;
•    A “toolbox” of instructional resources, tightly aligned to those standards, for teachers and students, as well as teacher-developed exemplar instructional plans and examples; and,
•    Tools to monitor that students are learning, including a diagnostic reading screener, formative and summative assessment tools, and intervention and extension resources, to ensure students are learning and meeting their potential.

Chief Academic Officer Dr. Josh Heath, during the work session, gave a report on the Academics & Accountability team’s progress in developing this system, followed by the board’s action at its regular meeting to adopt new instructional resources.

Earlier this month, the school district hosted a three-day showcase event to give teachers, parents and the community at large the opportunity to review possible choices for the district’s new core instructional resources for math and English language arts for grades K-12.  More than 800 people participated in the event, providing valued feedback to inform the selection process.

From the options of four vendors each for English language arts and math, the committee recommended the board’s adoption of resources from Savaas Learning Company for English language arts K-12 and math K-8 and Cengage Learning for high school math.

The board unanimously approved that adoption, and the Academics & Accountability team now will begin the process of ordering materials and scheduling professional development for teachers to begin in post-planning in May and continue through the summer and pre-planning to ensure readiness for use beginning in August. 

In tandem with this process, the Academics & Accountability team will continue its work to adjust the customized CCSD Teaching and Learning Standards -- which expand upon the state’s required minimum learning standards -- in math, English language arts, science and social studies for board adoption in April.

Board Chair Janet Read Welch and board members Patsy Jordan, Kelly Poole and Erin Ragsdale all expressed their appreciation for the work, by teachers who participated in the showcase review and Academics & Accountability team members who led the efforts, to make the adoption of new instructional resources possible.

“I am so excited -- I hope our teachers are excited,” Ms. Ragsdale said.  “I just hope this makes teaching and learning so much easier.” 

KEY PRIORTIES PROGRESS REPORT
The school district’s Key Priorities are based on Superintendent Mary Elizabeth Davis’s entry plan work last spring to listen to the community and analyze financial, operational and student performance reports.  

The four Key Priorities informed by this feedback now are driving CCSD’s work as an organization, with regular progress reports to the community, followed by the future development of a long-range strategic plan. 

Superintendent Davis during Thursday’s work session shared the third quarterly progress report, which is online here.  The report details the status of specific Action Steps that she set in the spring for each Key Priority.  For each Action Step, underlying activities have been implemented to ensure measurable success. 

The report shows nearing completion of all activities in the four Key Priorities areas: academics and achievement for all students; effective School Board-Superintendent Governance; district coordination and alignment of goals, systems, and processes; and embracing a pervasive high-quality school environment defined by high standards, effective supports, and consistent practices. 

Highlights noted in the new report include the completion of: an evaluation of all reoccurring expenditures for redundancies to sunset; an audit of literacy investments to determine strengths, weaknesses, and gaps; an audit of the current student device inventory to determine a long-range expansion and replacement plan; a plan to prepare for the roll-out of new state English language arts student learning standards; and organizational work plans for all divisions to prepare for next school year. 

Another milestone reflected in the report is the School Board’s development of its own collaboratively drafted core policies for accountability and literacy.  The board on Thursday heard the first reading of its literacy policy, which is online here.  It’s designed to ensure consistent expectations, experiences and outcomes for students, teachers and parents for student literacy, which encompasses reading, writing and communicating.

2025‐26 SCHOOL YEAR OUTLOOK REPORT
To build upon the success achieved over the past year in elevating the excellence in all four Key Priority areas, Superintendent Davis directed senior staff to develop upcoming school year plans in time to communicate in this March meeting.

During the work session, Chief School Leadership & Operations Officer Dr. Debra Murdock reviewed a 2025-26 School Year Outlook Report, which is online here, outlining an overview of that work.

Highlights of improvements in the area of academics and achievement for all students include: new instructional resources for English language arts and math and associated professional development, and adjusted customized CCSD Teaching & Learning Standards; expanding the use of the CCSD Reading Screener to grades 9 and 10; piloting a new Orton-Gillingham reading intervention program; lowering class size for fourth- and fifth-grade classes; and developing a new Superintendent’s teacher advisory council built from nominated representatives from each school.

For the Key Priority focused on effective School Board-Superintendent Governance, the board next school year will monitor progress on achieving its student performance goals for English language arts and math; consider policy changes for grade reporting, promotion and retention; and begin the development of a long-term strategic plan and a local accountability model.

Highlights of improvements in the area of district coordination and alignment of goals, systems, and processes, include: advancing the Principal Support & Accountability Model; updating the school improvement planning timeline; increasing school-based funds to support classroom instruction; updating the human resources information system; increasing competitiveness of employee compensation; and implementing new employee recruitment and retention strategies.

For the Key Priority focused on embracing a pervasive high-quality school environment defined by high standards, effective supports, and consistent practices, district staff will: 
•    Improve clarity and consistency within the student Code of Conduct, including strengthening disciplinary consequences for vaping; 
•    Improve behavior intervention and supports at the elementary school level;
•    Partner with the Cherokee Office of Economic Development on the Foundational Leadership and Entrepreneur eXperience (FLEX) Partnership program for high school students; 
•    Equip CCSD Police officers with body cameras; 
•    Integrate school security cameras with the Cherokee Sheriff Office’s security system; 
•    Audit school-based furniture and equipment at the middle and high school levels; 
•    Complete construction of the new/replacement Free Home ES, classroom additions at Creekland MS and Creekview HS, and Teasley MS driveway improvements; 
•    Continue/start construction of projects at River Ridge HS, Sequoyah HS, and Woodstock HS; and,
•    Complete maintenance projects including the installation of new flooring at Boston ES, Hasty ES Fine Arts Academy, Woodstock HS and Woodstock MS; interior painting at Creekland MS, Freedom MS, Johnston ES, Little River ES, Mountain Road ES, R.M. Moore ES STEM Academy and Sequoyah SHS; LED lighting installation at Cherokee HS North, R.M. Moore ES STEM Academy, E.T. Booth MS, Freedom MS, River Ridge HS, Sequoyah HS and Teasley MS; roof replacements at Etowah HS and Sequoyah HS; and intercom system upgrades at Cherokee HS North, Knox ES STEM Academy and Liberty ES.

Board member Dr. Susan Padgett-Harrison thanked staff for their work to develop these plans, noting they are making so many of the board members’ priorities, such as investing in more resources closest to the classroom, a reality.

The School Board also:

•    Heard the monthly financial report, which is online here;
•    Heard the monthly capital outlay report, which is online here.  All projects, including construction of the new replacement Cherokee HS campus and Free Home ES campus, are on schedule and within budget; 
•    Heard a legislative report updating them on education-related legislation under consideration by the Georgia General Assembly, which is online here;
•    Recognized Special Olympics State Winter Games Gold Medalists.  Learn more here;
•    Recognized U.S. Presidential Scholars Program Candidates.  Learn more here;
•    Recognized CCSD Media Specialist of the Year.  Learn more here;
•    Recognized All-State Art Symposium Honoree.  Learn more here;
•    Recognized Regional First Lego League Robotics Competition Winners.  Learn more here;
•    Recognized STAR Students and Teachers.  Learn more here;
•    Recognized Spelling Bee Winners.  Learn more here;
•    Recognized Middle School Academic Bowl Team Champions.  Learn more here;
•    Recognized Elementary School and Middle School Reading Bowl Champions.  Learn more here;
•    Recognized Georgia High School Association State and Regional Champions.  Learn more here;
•    Recognized School Board Appreciation Week.  Learn more here;
•    Approved an intergovernmental agreement for tax assessment consulting services;
•    Approved contracting with Summit Construction & Development for the Teasley Middle School driveway improvement project;
•    Approved a Georgia Department of Education resolution for the Five-Year Facility Plan;
•    Approved the renewal of the Partnership Agreement with the Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University;
•    Approved board member Kelly Poole as the board’s GSBA School Board Delegate and board member Erin Ragsdale as the alternate;
•    Approved the monthly Human Resources employment recommendations; and,
•    Amended its agenda and moved to approve, 5-2, a forensic audit of district finances.