Residents and community members urge Rockdale board to reconsider graduation venue, press for board visibility and HB 581 clarity

Several members of the public used the meeting's citizen comment period to press the Rockdale County Board of Education on a recent decision to hold graduation outside the county and to request greater board visibility and clarity about HB 581.

Alexia Derizio, representing the NAACP Rockdale County and speaking as a parent, said the decision to hold graduation outside the county — at a cost she cited as $90,000 — hurt community pride and presented transportation barriers for families. She said, "The decision to have the graduation moved out of the County at a $90,000 cost is very concerning to most of us." Derizio urged the board to consider local venues and to think about student and family experience, saying that moving graduation away "kills the sense of pride" and can reduce turnout.

DeMarne Kenny also spoke in support of community engagement and thanked board members he sees at schools, encouraging continued presence: "...continue to be engaged with your community because they need to see your faces."

Longtime resident George Kelleczyk reviewed the district's strategic plan and said the plan's citizen responses did not give education sufficient weight. He urged the board to make education a higher visible priority in community planning and made two recommendations: that each board member visit two schools per quarter and that a district representative attend county commission and city council meetings to follow strategic issues. He also said he would address HB 581 at a later meeting and that the county tax commissioner "is currently developing a complete comprehensive assessment regarding HB 581. I'll see you next week."

Speakers were reminded by the board chair that the board does not normally resolve personnel matters during public comment and that administration has established grievance procedures for individual legal claims. The board did not take action during the public-comment period on graduation venue or on Kelleczyk's specific requests; those topics were discussed later or deferred to staff and subsequent meetings.

The board acknowledged the comments and later discussed the agenda process and whether HB 581 should be added to that evening's discussion; a motion to substitute a discussion of HB 581 for a previously scheduled budget-cuts discussion was made by Larry Cox, seconded by Justin Kenny, and failed because it did not attain a majority (members recorded three votes in favor but an abstention left the motion short of passage). The board chair said the HB 581 discussion would be scheduled later.