Barrow County board approves calendars, personnel report and officers; routine items pass by voice vote

At its Nov. 25 meeting the Barrow County Board of Education approved a set of routine and governance items, including academic calendars for 2026–27 and 2027–28, a personnel report and officer elections.

Board members approved the minutes from the Nov. 4 regular meeting and the Nov. 18 work session and called meeting after a motion and second. The agenda and the consent agenda were also adopted by voice vote.

Dr. Bowen, presenting the recommended academic calendars, summarized local input and the tradeoffs considered. "We have received 25 responses from 23 different people," Dr. Bowen said, noting that earlier larger surveys showed competing preferences: about 600 respondents favored a mid-August start and over 2,000 prioritized full-week fall and Thanksgiving breaks. After discussion, Miss Hendricks moved to approve the calendars for 2026–27 and 2027–28; Miss Bradford seconded and the board voted in favor.

The superintendent's personnel report was moved by Miss Kelly and seconded by Miss Maddox; the board approved the personnel report by voice vote.

For governance, the board opened nominations for chair for the 2026 calendar year. Lisa Malouf was nominated to continue as chair and, with no other nominations, was confirmed to serve as board chair. Paige Maddox was nominated and confirmed to continue as vice chair beginning in January.

All recorded approvals were taken by voice vote; the minutes and the meeting transcript do not record a roll-call tally or any dissent.