By BETH ALSTON
beth.alston@americustimesrecorder.com
www.americustimesrecorder.com

AMERICUS — The Sumter County Board of Education voted to proceed with ordering new equipment for the kitchens of all eight of the schools at its monthly meeting on Thursday. The total cost of the project is $237,671.97 and is within budget. The bid goes to Strategic, based in Smyrna. Rick Barnes, chairman of the property committee, recommended accepting the bid. He, Jim Reid, Sylvia Roland, and Meda Krenson voted to approve, while Alice Green and Edith Green voted against. Board chair Mike Busman was not present.
In other business, the board took the following action.
• Unanimously approved the bid of $28,300 from Parrish Construction Group of Perry for repainting corridor walls with one stripe throughout the building at Sumter County Middle School.
• Unanimously approved the bid of $99,880.90 from Rush for an International, gas-powered school bus. Rick Barnes commented that they need to consider budgeting to purchase more than one bus each years as many of the fleet have excessive miles.
• Unanimously approved the October financial report, accounts payable and the preliminary cash flow report. Finance committee chair, Jim Reid, reported the school year is one-third completed and that 15.72 percent of total projected revenue of $36,018,829 budget for FY 2017 budget year had been received. Reid reported that bus mileage is down almost 25,000 this year with a savings of over $62,000 to the school system.
• Unanimously approved the following policies. The policies had been sitting on the table from the previous month’s meeting for board review.
— Policy BH: Board Code of Ethics
— Policy JBC(4): Awarding Units and Transferring Credit
— Policy JR — Student Records. This policy was approved only after the old policy had been rescinded.
— Policy JRA: Student Data Privacy Complaints
• Unanimously approved the following personnel items.
— Retirement: Sharon Champion Johnson
— Resignations: Joe Williams and Lemecia Smith
— Transfers: Kimbly Nelson, Tawanna Willis, Marnie Dutcher
— Family Medical Leave: Wanda Wilson
— Third Party Contractor: Ashleigh Neverve
The next board work session is at 6 p.m. Dec. 5 and the monthly meeting is at 7 p.m. Dec. 8. The meetings are held at the administrative offices, 100 Learning Lane, Americus, and are open to the public.