A district official told the Coffee County Board of Education that a recent tour of Hyundai's new plant in Richmond Hill and a visit to the port underscored potential future job opportunities for local students. The official said the plant will ultimately employ about 18,000 people and that at full capacity that site would produce roughly 1,500 cars per day.

The official said the plant uses automated "little robots" to move cars through the production process and described the facility as large and highly automated. He said the plant visit required a two-hour drive for the delegation and that the scale of operations suggests future opportunities that the district should prepare students to access.

Separately, the same district official said the district's graduation rate is embargoed until Monday and declined to release specifics at the meeting, but said officials expect the rate will show improvement at McCallie High School and Wiregrass College and Career Academy.

Board members who attended the retreat with economic development and chamber leaders raised the plant and port visits as opportunities to align workforce development with regional employers. The board did not take formal action during the report; members discussed outreach and coordination that could prepare graduates for manufacturing and logistics jobs.