Board approves digital archiving of special‑education records and multiple budget amendments

The Coffee County Board of Education authorized several budget amendments and a project to digitize special-education records during Tuesday’s meeting.

The board approved digitizing special-education records for an initial cost of $14,400, with annual maintenance expected thereafter; staff said the special-education budget will cover ongoing costs. Technology staff told the board a tentative start date of June 11 to begin scanning records in-house, then storing them off-site with secure login access.

In addition to the SPED digitization, trustees approved a set of budget amendments to close out state grants, add summer-school funding and accept a private donation for academic coaches’ supplies. Staff described the amendments as cleanups and routine adjustments needed before closing the fiscal year.

Trustees also approved a capital reallocation to pull $42,000 from the district’s restricted capital fund for athletic lighting construction documents and to begin purchasing equipment and supplies for track improvements. Finance staff said the transfer reduces the restricted capital balance but is part of ongoing facility improvements.

All budget amendments presented at the meeting passed by unanimous votes. Staff said the amendments do not create unaudited liabilities and that some of the funding moves were required to close grant accounts for the year.

The digitization project was framed as a way to reduce storage needs, improve secure off-site access and speed records retrieval for former students and district operations.