By Beth Alston

AMERICUS — The Sumter County Board of Education held its first meeting of the new year Monday as it held its monthly work session.
Associate Superintendent for Curriculum, Walter Knighton, gave a presentation which included several topics. One was the Advanced Academic Pathways which will allow students to earn 32 credits at graduation versus the 25 credits normally required.
Knighton also told the board that the Sumter County School district, along with all districts, is required to complete and file a FY2018 Disproportionality Determination form concerning students with disabilities. The district is required to develop a plan of action to address the issue.
He also touched on the improvements in CCRPI, as reported earlier, and Student Growth Percentiles.
Brian Wilson, IT director for Sumter County Schools, reported to the board that he had received three bids for updating the anti-virus software. The bids were for $42,114 from SOPHOS; $149,802 from PC Techware Inc.; and $139,900 from SOPHOS. Wilson recommended the first quote and the board will vote during its regular monthly meeting at 7 p.m. Thursday.
Board member Jim Reid, chairman of the Finance Committee, gave the financial report. He said the system is 50 percent finished the current school year and has received 46 percent of revenues. Total expenditures are at 36.90 percent. He also reported that the TAN (tax anticipation note) had been repaid before it was due. He put 2011 SPLOST collections at $19,579,156 and 2015 SPLOST average monthly revenues at $298,792 average monthly.
Property Committee chair, Meda Krenson reported that the committee had met earlier in the day with the architect and project management team on ways to cut back on square footage for the new high school project so as to remain within the budget.