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Board hears plan for LETRS stipends, discusses nutrition bids and summer feeding
Summary
Officials sought board approval to pay $1,000 stipends to 94 teachers who completed LETRS training, discussed renewing several nutrition bids, noted local food purchases and outlined summer feeding plans including mobile bus routes under a waiver.
The Coffee County Board of Education heard a request to award $1,000 stipends to 94 teachers who completed LETRS (Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling), funding the payments from federal programs, Kim Miller told the board.
Miller said the 94 participants — primarily kindergarten through second‑grade teachers with a few special‑education teachers — completed a two‑year LETRS course aligned to the state’s science‑of‑reading requirements. Miller described the stipend as recognition for online and outside coursework the teachers completed and said the funding will come from federal programs.
The board also discussed renewing several nutrition and food‑service vendor contracts that were rebid last year and are eligible for rollover: Williams Institutional Foods (groceries and paper), Portion Pack (chemical supplies) and Flowers Baking Company (bread). Procurement staff member Dawn Lewis presented the renewals as rollovers from last year’s bid packages.
A board member told the meeting they would abstain on the school‑nutrition bids “out of caution for conflict and interest” and said those items should not be included on the consent agenda. The board agreed to separate at least one nutrition bid for a separate vote to address the potential conflict.
School nutrition staff also reviewed local sourcing and summer feeding. They said the district recently purchased local blueberries from farmers in Nahannah and Lake Hunter (described as veteran‑owned producers) and continues to pursue local purchases where feasible. Regarding summer meals, staff said they released summer feeding plans for 2025 and secured a waiver that allows the district to operate mobile bus routes and walk‑up meal service similar to previous years; the district has been subject to multiple audits of its school‑nutrition program this year and said auditors will return over the summer.
No final vote on the stipends or bid renewals was recorded in the transcript. The transcript records that the board placed the separate surplus property item on the consent agenda and that at least one nutrition bid item will be removed from consent because of the abstention.
