Wheeler BOE Recognizes District Employee of the Month

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Wheeler County Board of Education members and Superintendent Alex Alvarez recognized Custodian Beverly Anne Roberts as the District Employee of the Month during their meeting on Monday, January 12.

Each month, the Board recognizes one staff member that is making a difference within the district due to their excellence and diligence in their work. This staff member is honored by the Board during a presentation during the Board’s monthly meeting and given a gift as a “thank you” for all of their hard work.

“Mrs. Anne – as we call her – is always a smiling face at the school. She always looks nice [and] is nice, dependable, consistent – all the things we talk about for great employees. I know she brings smiles to our teachers’ faces and our kids’ faces, her department’s faces – all of us,” Alvarez emphasized.

He then turned to address Roberts. “We appreciate the hard work you do at the school,” he remarked. “She also helps us here at the board office, so we appreciate her stepping up and doing that extra role, too.”

Wheeler County Elementary School Assistant Principal Brandon Pope also spoke about Roberts’ dedication to the district. “Mrs. Anne is a light in the hallways. She is a hardworking woman, and on top of it all, she lives out [the biblical command to] ‘love thy neighbor as thyself’ every day,” he told the Board. “I’ve seen her pick up coworkers and take them home. I’ve watched her take younger employees under her wing and help them and love on them. It’s an honor every single day to have her there with us, and we love her.”

“My relationship with Mrs. Anne began 52 years ago. She and my mom were good friends and worked together. There’s actually a picture of me and her son laying on the couch when we were babies, so I always knew her as Miss Beverly,” Wheeler County Elementary School Principal Kim Stinson added. “My mama always cleaned – she was a cleaner and cleaned houses for a living for a long time. Mrs. Beverly cleans like my mama. She is a good cleaner – I just appreciate it. I really do. I appreciate everything.”

Action Items

As customary for the first meeting of the year, the Board voted to elect a chairman, vice chairman, attorney, and bank. Board members agreed to keep these delegations the same as in 2025, appointing Michael Morrison as chairman, Jody Benton as vice chairman, Perry Avery as the school lawyer (with PKKN, LLC delegated as the contact for education employment law), and Wheeler County State Bank as the bank.

Board members also agreed to accept the rollback millage rate for this year’s property taxes, setting the rate at 18.844 mills. This rollback rate will keep citizens from experiencing a tax increase while only causing the school a small variation in funding, as officials stated there would be less than a 0.5% difference in the money collected.

Reports

Finance

Wheeler County Schools Chief Financial Officer Janet Brown stated that the district received very little property tax revenues – totaling around $13,000 – in December, but that the Education Special Local Option Sales Tax (ESPLOST) collections reached a record high – totaling $50,900 throughout December. “I don’t think we have ever collected that much in Wheeler County,” she emphasized.

She continued, informing the Board that the expenses for the month remained consistent with other months, averaging around $210,000, and that general fund operations were remaining on track.

Brown reassured board members that she was continuing to monitor the changes coming from Wheeler County State Bank’s recent merger with SunMark Bancshares, Inc. “I’m not sure how the merger will impact the capital outlay. We will see. If it does impact, we will move that capital outlay,” she added.

Operations/Safety

Wheeler County Schools Depute Superintendent Quent Floyd told the Board that workers are currently working on the Bus Boss system, which will allow parents to track their students’ school buses throughout their route. He explained that Eric Newsome was being trained on the technology, and the goal was to have the program implemented on the district’s busses by the end of the 2025/2026 school year.

Floyd also shared that a district safety meeting was held on January 6 in preparation of the district’s application for the Georgia Ready Seal of Preparedness, which recognizes individual school efforts to safeguard their children, faculty, and staff. Individual schools wishing to receive the Seal of Preparedness must meet specific criteria that include emergency operations planning, drills and exercises, training, security interventions (to include a behavioral threat assessment and management team), safety technology, and data analysis.

The district’s Centegix emergency alert system is now linked with the schools’ audio and announces system, which allows announcements to be made informing teachers and students that a threat is present when the emergency alert is activated.

Floyd, Wheeler County Elementary School Principal Stinson, and Wheeler County Elementary School Assistant Principal Pope spoke to the Board about the recent bus safety drills and instruction completed with the elementary school students, as they explained that they are working to establish a foundational understanding of bus safety at a young age so that students can continue those safety practices as they grow older. Superintendent’s Report

Superintendent Alvarez told the Board that the Student Advisory group would begin meeting again on Wednesday, January 28, to review and provide input about the district’s strategic plan.

“We had our 45day school improvement meetings this past week for elementary, middle, and high school, and what that is is we look at progress on the school improvement plan,” Alvarez continued. “We are very in line with our school improvement plans and what we're seeing in our district strategic plan, which is great. We provide accommodations to the schools for the work they've done, improvement priorities, and then required next steps. That gives an action plan on the next 45 days when we meet again in March. So it serves just to kind of keep a thumb on those plans and provide support where needed.”

Alvarez shared that the district is looking at more options for their high school students, including the implementation of Cambridge education, which is a new advanced program initiative recognized in Georgia. These classes would potentially be available to the Honors Academy eighth grade students as they move on to high school next year.

He also stated that the teachers had provided feedback on the recent two teacher workdays of planning that were held prior to the students return from Winter Break. He explained that staff meetings were held on the first teacher workday while on the second teacher workday, teachers were able to spend time in their classrooms and prepare for students’ return. “The teachers really liked that,” Alvarez added.

Next Meeting

The Wheeler County Board of Education will hold their next monthly meeting at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, February 9, at the County Commissioners’ Board Room, located at 16 Forest Avenue in Alamo.