Bryan County Schools will hold a pair of public hearings this month to get input on the system’s tentatively adopted fiscal year 2023 budget. The first hearing is set for 5 p.m. June 7 at the Bryan County School District Central Office in Black Creek.
A second public meeting will be held at 9 a.m. June 14 at the same location.
The system is set to approve a general fund operating budget of more than $100 million for the 2023 fiscal year, which gets under way July 1.
Last year’s budget was more than $91.8 million.
The school system is not raising the millage rate, according of officials.
More on the budget to come in next week’s Bryan County News.
REACH scholars
Bryan County Middle High School students Destiny Carr and Darius Edwards Jr. and Richmond Hill Middle School students Elvis Canjay-Palma and Amya Osorio are Bryan County Schools REACH Scholars for 2022, the school system announced recently.
During the REACH signing ceremonies, held at BCMHS and RHMS, 8th grade REACH Scholars and their families signed contracts to maintain a grade point average, maintain good attendance, and meet with their academic coaches while remaining crime, drug, and behavior issue free.
Initiated in 2012, REACH Georgia is a needs-based mentoring and scholarship program designed to ensure that the state’s academically promising students have the academic, social, and financial support needed to graduate from high school and complete college.
Bryan County Schools is among the group of 20 school systems that joined the program in 2019. The Georgia Student Finance Commission (GSFC) holds the scholarships for scholars until they graduate from high school.
With the upholding of the contract’s requirements, each REACH scholar will receive a $10,000 scholarship upon graduating high school. Many colleges and universities have also agreed to additional financial assistance for REACH scholars who enroll in their institution. All funds raised for REACH Georgia locally will go to future recipients.
Chromebooks
Bryan County Schools will get nearly $3 million to purchase Chromebooks and Wi-Fi hotspots from the Federal Communications Commission, the system announced recently.
Bryan County Schools prepared and submitted a grant application to the FCC for funds totaling over $2.5 million, and his grant, coupled with a previous award in January, brings the total of grant funds received to almost $3 million this fiscal year.
The FCC created the Emergency Connectivity Fund as part of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, according to Bryan county Schools.
The ECF Program will cover the cost of laptops and tablet computers; Wi-Fi hotspots; modems; routers; and broadband connectivity purchases for off-campus use by students and school staff.
Funding for this project is contingent upon the purchase of eligible services and product as well as compliance with all federal, statutory, regulatory, and procedural requirements of the ECF Program and the FCC’s rules.
In the press release, Bryan County Schools Superintendent Dr. Paul Brooksher said the awarding of the grant is big news.
“This is a monumental accomplishment and the Bryan County Board of Education and I want to commend staff for their grant writing efforts as they secured significant funding for our students,” he said. “Receiving almost $3 million to support technology through grants will allow us to invest encumbered funds committed to technology into other areas of need.”