The State Board of Education (SBOE) approved the FY 2022 budget for the Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE) as well as several new career pathways at its full board meeting May 13. The board held committee meetings May 12. 2020-2021 Georgia Teacher of the Year Tracey Pendley joined the SBOE for the first time since Gov. Brian Kemp signed SB 88, which added the Georgia Teacher of the Year as a non-voting member of the SBOE. Pendley has served as GTOY for two years due to the pandemic, and she shared with board members the challenges the position held as COVID-19 spread.
The board will next meet on Wednesday, June 16 and Thursday, June 17.
Funding Boost
The SBOE approved GaDOE’s FY 2022 budget at the meeting. PAGE’s summary of the budget can be found HERE. The full education budget can be found HERE. In addition to the budget, the board approved $14,755,936 for the third round of the Literacy for Learning, Living, and Leading (L4GA) grant.
There were 28 other budget items approved. For a full list, click HERE.
New Courses and Career Pathways Approved
The SBOE adopted standards for the following new courses:
Artificial Intelligence Career Pathway: Foundations of Artificial Intelligence, Artificial Intelligence Concepts, and Artificial Intelligence Applications
High school computer science elective courses: Data Science I, Data Science II, Introduction to Python, and E-Sports.
The board approved posting standards for the following courses for public comment for 30 days:
Cosmetology state licensure courses: The cosmetology industry worked with GaDOE to develop several courses for students to achieve the 1500 training hours required take the cosmetology certification exam. For a full list of the courses, click HERE. The cosmetology courses are listed under item 33.
Film Production Career Pathway: Introduction to Film Production and Film Production Applications
Poultry Science Career Pathway: Poultry Science and Avian Science and Biotechnology
Other Highlights
The 2021-2022 teacher salary schedule, which is considered on an annual basis by the SBOE, was approved. There was no change to the salary schedule for the upcoming school year. Additional schools were added to the Special Needs Scholarship Program private school list. Former Georgia House of Representatives and House Education Committee member Mike Dudgeon’s appointment to the State Charter Schools Commission was confirmed by the board.
GOSA 2020-2021 Assessment Research Report Representatives from the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement (GOSA) presented information regarding the agency’s 2020-2021 Assessment Research Report, which will illuminate how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted testing in Georgia. Typically, GOSA conducts an audit of the state test results from the previous school year, but the agency was unable to do so during the past school year due to the pandemic.