The State Board of Education (SBOE) met March 25 and 26.

The board received an update on recent budget decisions by Dublin City Schools and actions taken by the Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE) in response to those decisions.

A meeting agenda is available through the button below. 

Audit Committee

Woods and GaDOE staff updated the board on the status of Dublin City Schools. Woods sent a letter, dated March 24, to the district informing leaders that GaDOE would be pulling on-site staff currently assigned to assist the district's turnaround efforts. This decision was based on disagreement with Dublin City Schools on several budget-related matters. Of note, the budget proposed by Dublin City Schools includes employee furlough days.

Interim Dublin City Schools Superintendent Marcee Pool subsequently responded to Woods’ letter, thanking GaDOE staff for their support and addressing several of the assertions in Woods’ letter, including those related to employee furlough days.

During the SBOE Audit Committee meeting, it was further reported that Cognia will soon release an assessment of Dublin City Schools. Negative results from the assessment could lead to further action against the school district.

SBOE members made several supportive comments about GaDOE's actions and expressed a desire to learn more about existing state law allowing for removal of local school board members in some situations, as well as pending bills in the legislature that seek to broaden leadership financial accountability.

The board also received an update on districts with outstanding audits from Fiscal Year(FY) 2023 and FY 2024.

Rules and Other Board Actions

The board voted to approve Career, Technical, & Agricultural Education (CTAE) standards for new Junior Leadership Corps courses.

All items on the consent calendar were approved.

Office of Whole Child Supports & Star Rating System Update

Justin Hill, deputy superintendent of the Office of Whole Child Supports, presented on his office's work, with a specific focus on the Georgia Multi-Tiered System of Supports (GaMTSS) and efforts to support school safety, attendance, and student physical and mental health.

Hill also presented on the updates to the School Climate Star Rating. The rating's attendance domain will now be based solely on student chronic absenteeism. The Safe and Substance Free Domain would now be calculated based on incidence rates per 100 students. Additionally, incidents factored into this domain's calculation would be used in the Discipline Domain to prevent double-counting. There is also a new school climate survey. Finally, the new rating system would provide star ratings for each domain and allow half-star ratings.

Student Performances and Projects

The March board meeting featured multiple Georgia student performances. The meeting opened with several songs from the GLOBE Academy student choir. Later in the meeting, a student from South Cobb High School performed as a DJ. Finally, several students who received awards in the SkillsUSA welding sculpture competition displayed and discussed their submitted creations.