Oct. 26, 2020 — Buford Board of Education Chairman Phillip Beard called the meeting to order at 7 p.m. at the Buford Arena. The Buford Middle School Girls Volleyball team was recognized for winning the Northeast Georgia Area Championship. The agenda and Sept. 21, 2020, meeting minutes were approved.
The board voted to surplus the following — BA Media & Technology surplus, BMS Media & Technology surplus, CO surplus and Transportation surplus.
A pay request for $20,981 was approved to be paid to BJ’s Mechanical Co. Inc. for work at the Fine Arts Center. The HVAC at the Buford Senior Academy required work in the amount of $5,199.
The board approved two fundraisers for BHS Band to sell candles and cookie dough, as well as a car wash for the BHS Track and Field teams.
In the principals’ reports, BES has 390 students enrolled and 80 in day care. They celebrated Red Ribbon Week and are in the midst of a book fair. BA’s enrollment is 1,176 students with 225 digital students, and 75 digital students recently returned to school. They had benchmarks and held virtual parent/teacher conferences. Now, 854 students are enrolled at BSA with 119 digital students. The school recently had 67 digital students return to in person learning. A virtual Multicultural Diversity Day was recently held and students celebrated Bus Driver Appreciation Week. BMS has an enrollment of 1,305 students with 170 students being digital, and 108 students recently returned to in person learning. The BMS Chorus has its fall concert available on its website for viewing. BHS has 1,666 students enrolled with 340 students still enrolled in digital learning. The CTAE clubs had a virtual conference. Students are in the process of electing their student leadership. National Signing Day will be held at the Performing Arts Center on Nov. 11.
Dr. Downs and Beard went over the recently released Niche rankings. Buford was selected for the sixth consecutive year as the No. 1 Public School System in the state. Dr. Lacrecia Smith gave an update on the Diversity and Inclusion Program. The school system recently celebrated the Hispanic Heritage Month, Multicultural Diversity and teacher training is ongoing.
Beard asked the attendees if they had any business to present to the board and as no one came forward, the meeting was adjourned. The next meeting will be held at noon Nov. 9, 2020, with the location to be determined.
— Alicia Couch Payne
