Gilmer County board approves routine business: calendar, contracts, bills and personnel hires

At its April meeting the Gilmer County Schools board approved several routine but consequential items: the 2026–27 school calendar, vendor rate/contract bids for internet services, routine bills and a set of personnel actions.

Calendar: The board approved "draft two" of the 2026–27 calendar, which moves three professional-learning days (10/16, 2/12 and 4/16) from Wednesdays to Fridays to align better with the Calhoun Gilmer Career Center and to ease childcare scheduling for families. Trustees noted graduation is scheduled for Sunday, May 23, 2027, with the last student day on May 21.

Contracts and rates: Dr. Benny presented two service agreements (Frontier and a Chantel/Chintel provider) covering multiple service addresses and a stadium/fieldhouse location. Board members discussed bid participation by City Net, bandwidth/latency and availability; after discussion the board voted to approve the presented rate/contract bids for a 36-month term beginning July 1, 2026.

Finance: The board approved payment of presented bills and authorized staff to pay utility bills through April 21 to avoid late fees. Ginger flagged large annual loan payments tied to an energy service agreement (figures stated in the transcript: 83,928 and 31,182) and noted the loan is amortized over 15 years. The board accepted the cash report for February, which shows about $4.4 million cash on hand.

Personnel: Trustees approved professional, service and extracurricular hires as recommended by the superintendent (including Brianna Browning, Abigail Shifflet, Tanya Stewart, Leslie Campbell, Tanya Talbert, Darlene Smithson) and accepted the resignation of Ashley Halbert effective March 27, 2026.

All motions on these routine items were moved, seconded and carried by voice vote as recorded in the minutes.