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Columbia County School Board hears Safe Schools quarterly report; approves agenda and personnel items
Summary
The Columbia County School Board received its first quarterly Safe Schools report, which summarized compliance checks, threat-management caseloads, Baker Act incidents and staff training progress. The board also adopted the agenda (with a correction), approved personnel items and approved the consent agenda.
The Columbia County School Board heard its first quarterly report from the district Safe Schools office and approved routine meeting motions, including adoption of the agenda with a correction, approval of personnel items and the consent agenda.
Safe Schools office representative Jube Tatum told the board the office has completed compliance checks at five schools so far this year and found one door left open by accident, which was immediately corrected. "We've done 5 schools so far. All of them have done such a great job. We had 1 door open by accident. We immediately fixed that," Tatum said.
Tatum gave a breakdown of the district's threat-management work: the office has convened 26 threat-management meetings so far this school year, including seven self-harm cases, one unfounded case, 14 classified as low, two medium and two high. "When you break it down, it sounds a little bit not as serious as the other 26 number," she said.
Tatum also reported nine school-based Baker Act incidents to date and said those counts are roughly in line with last year. She described ongoing challenges in addressing students' underlying needs, noting the district can offer counseling and referrals but sometimes cannot contact parents or secure required consents.
On staff training, Tatum said about 85% of district staff have completed youth mental health first-aid training, above the district's stated legal minimum of 80 percent. Two large trainings for bus drivers are scheduled and "that'll probably push us to about 90%," she said, describing turnover over the summer as a factor that requires additional catch-up work.
Tatum said FSATs have been submitted for processing through the state education department and that funding tied to those assessments should begin arriving later in the fall, which the district plans to use for school improvements such as fencing and lighting.
A board member asked whether the district compares its intervention numbers with other counties; Tatum replied, "We do. We do. We're pretty much right in line with all the other counties." Board member Hudson thanked Tatum and the Safe Schools staff for the work and for the report, saying, "We like to hear that. But we know feel confident that you've got us covered."
After the presentation and questions, the board moved to action items. The board adopted the meeting agenda with an addendum and the stated correction to remove the resignation of Clarissa Wall, approved the personnel items on the agenda, and approved the consent agenda.
Votes at a glance: - Motion to close and adopt the agenda with the addendum and removal of Clarissa Wall's resignation — approved (mover/second not specified in the record). - Motion to approve personnel items on the agenda and the addendum — approved (mover/second not specified in the record). - Motion to approve the consent agenda with addendum items — approved (mover/second not specified in the record).
The meeting then opened the public-comment period, where a Columbus Teachers Association (CTA) representative commented on teacher bargaining and salary-schedule compression; those remarks were part of the public-comment record and not linked to board action at this meeting.
