The Polk County Board of Education concluded all their business for the month of July in one of their shortest public sessions in months, clocking in before taking a break for an executive session in under five minutes as the district gets ready for the start of a new school year in August.

The post-July 4 meeting had only a small number of items to cover, including a review of finances that with a general fund balance of $24,181,935.69 as of May 2022, are looking good heading into the 2022-23 academic calendar.

That doesn’t include balances in a number of leftover E-SPLOST and construction accounts to pay for building projects and upgrades over the past several years.

Find out more info about the balance sheet at the BoE website here.

WATCH: Subscriber-only video for Board of Education meeting.

The biggest two items for the July meeting were also a breeze to approve during the Tuesday, July 5 combined session.

Superintendent Dr. Katie Thomas recommended to the board they approve the long list of policies that needed changes after an audit was completed on the Polk School District’s overall policies for a variety of areas.

That list (see below) mostly went unchanged, but the 11 pages of policies but notable among them is retaining school closure rules as they were revised, a new replacement rule being adopted about professional learning opportunities, a new Drug-Free Workplace policy, and including policies on professional personnel vacations and ethics rules.

The long list of policies sat on the table for a month for board discussion and any potential revisions that might be caught before approval during the month of June.

The board approved the new policies in the long list unanimously.

Along with the policies, the board also approved a new strategic plan they discussed during a previous board retreat, updating a five-year plan for improvements in the district that covers various benchmark areas including student success, professional excellence, stakeholder engagement, and operational excellence. The whole of that strategic plan is available here. (It’ll require a story of its own in the coming days to cover the whole of the seven pages of goals. – KtE)

Before closing business, they welcomed a new administrator to the district. Thomas introduced Dr. Kyle Abernathy as the new principal of Northside Elementary School to the board and audience.

After the short main portion of the session, board members did come back and ultimately approve a number of new hires ahead of the start of the school year, and noted three resignations and a retirement. Find that list here.