Newton County Schools highlights Q1 progress, expands literacy and safety measures
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Summary
Ben Rountree presented the district's quarter-1 report: expansions in literacy programs, refinement of assessments, multimillion-dollar investments in the EPIC safety system and continued random weapons/canine screenings; enrollment and early FY26 financials were also reported.
Ben Rountree, chief of staff for Newton County Schools, presented the board's quarter-1 informational report, outlining academic priorities, safety investments and early fiscal-year results.
Rountree said the district expanded its READ literacy initiative to six elementary schools and is providing Let's Read Georgia training for other schools, and that a district literacy blueprint is expected by year'end. "These efforts will be unified in a single literacy blueprint designed to guide ongoing improvements in literacy," he said.
The district also described work to strengthen the instructional core and to refine its balanced assessment system to "lessen the testing burden for teachers and to deepen their knowledge on how to use the data." Rountree told the board that personalized learning pathways generated from the universal screener will be used to target interventions in reading and math.
On safety, the district reported implementation of the EPIC communication and safety system across all schools and a "multimillion dollar investment" in FY26 to support EPIC and upgrades to the SAFE system. Rountree said random weapons-detection screenings and random canine searches in middle and high schools were reinstituted and are operational.
Finance and enrollment figures were also included in the report. Enrollment as of Nov. 3 was reported at 18,359 students. Erica Robinson later provided financial detail for the month ending Oct. 31: general fund revenue to date stands at approximately $53,500,000 and October property-tax receipts were about $4,200,000; after revenues and expenditures the reported ending fund balance was approximately $21,100,000.
Board members used the report to press for clearer communication about planned assessment changes, teacher feedback gathered through surveys and advisory councils, and supports for educator mental health. Several members requested school-level feedback and more runway for staff to implement new tools with fidelity.
The district said updated photographs and project information (for capital projects) are posted on the district's online tracker and that a more detailed literacy blueprint will be shared when complete.