No education, send 'em to Lake George (Home Sweet Home).

2007 Liberty County Grand Jury Summary
Findings
The jury noted when reviewing the LCBE financial statements for the year ended 2006 that it had $50.7 million in cash and cash investments, and receivables, while liabilities at that time amounted to only $12.1 million. It had no long term debt at that time. It had nearly $38.6 million in unrestricted cash reserves. We noted that revenues from all sources exceeded operating expenditures by $10.2 million in that year, and barring a change of which we are unaware, we see no reason why we should not expect the surplus over expenditures to continue in future years. Similar information for the fiscal year ended 2007 is not yet available, but we believe that the Board’s cash reserves will be even greater than at the end of the previous year. We contacted LCBE concerning its projected needs. That LCBE replied it did not anticipate a drastic increase in students. The school district will be able to accommodate the projected student population within its current facilities. The Board went on to say that it appears that the majority of its capital spending should take the form of renovations to existing facilities, and it provided us with a list of projects which it plans in the next five years. It is the recommendation of this jury that the Board develop a plan for reduction in the tax burden levied on the Liberty County taxpayer for education as its needs appear to be already met.

Please continue to next cooment. I could not fit it all in one.

The grand jury had also received comments from residents about the size of the new LCBE administration building which was completed at a cost of $8.2 million. Board members appearing before the grand jury stated that while they did see versions of the structure as the design was being developed, they were unaware of the cost until the Board’s architect presented the final plans to them. It was the consensus of the jury members who toured the administration building that it was an elegant structure, but perhaps not the wisest use of the taxpayers’ money. When the grand jury sent a letter to the Board requesting information about the planning and cost associated with this project, their response clearly stated that the architects met with management and every department head to be housed in the new building on "intense" planning sessions centered around current and future needs. The Board’s response also notes that LCBE was always concerned about cost. It notes that initial cost estimates were given, and those cost estimates were updated, distributed to management and discussed as changes to the design and scope of the original project developed. Finally, the Board states that the building was designed to accommodate future growth, and by designing both common areas and offices so that they could be used by multiple individuals and consolidating departments into one central space, considerable classroom space was freed up to be used for the district’s students. This grand jury sees two anomalies in this discussion. First, there appears to be a substantial lack of communication between LCBE operating management and its Board which we believe is clearly not in the best interests of a cohesive school system. Second, it is our opinion that the Board’s statement concerning planning for growth made earlier in this paragraph does not square completely with the projections for growth as outlined in the preceding paragraph in that, according to the projections about student population growth made by the Georgia Capital Outlay Program, Liberty County’s current facilities are adequate to accommodate student growth for at least five years. It is the recommendation of this jury that LCBE management obtain approval of the Board before planning expenditures to ensure the cost-effective expenditure of LCBE financial resources.
But they can't give our kids textbooks? It really burned me to hear that. Anyone got any ideas on what can be done?

To view complete article go to http://libertycountygrandjury2007.blogsp...

The LCBE has no financial relation to the County Commission that would regulate spending for the Library or Court House Complex.

Ok Im not sure how that applies to the textbooks? Help me out.

It appears to me that "Eyes" is trying to tie the building of a state of the art LCSD headquarters building and the rainy day surplus of approximately 50 million dollars together to illustrate her point. That point (hers) being that the LCSD high level officials have no real concern for the students of Liberty County. However, it does not address the real issue as brought forth by KMC.

KMC states that children do not have enough books to bring home one for homework. I am wondering if that means there are not enough textbooks in the classroom for teaching purposes. Or does that mean that there is not an extra copy of each book so the child can leave one at home for homework purposes? I had to carry my books back and forth from school each day if I had homework. Are the children of today incapable of doing that. Should the tax payers be responsible for purchasing twice as many books as required simply to provide an at home book for children? I don't think so.

Im not trying to tie anything together. The LCBE (Liberty County Board of Education)is what the entire post I made was referring to. My point is if their is such a huge reserve of funds for Liberty County schools, why in heavens name are these kids not getting what they need to excel? Chapin is right. If they cant bring a book home to do homework be cause there isnt enough for each child then parents need to be mighty vocal in their complaints. If the child is just too lazy to carry one home then let the clhild get a zero on homeowrk.

Chapin98 - I am stating that my children cannot bring their textbooks home. Not that they're physically incapable. The children have textbooks at school, however cannot bring them home in order to do homework, study more in-depth for tests, or simply review their work as needed. As it was explained to me...each grade has one set of book per subject. For example, one math text book will be shared by every class. Since the students have to share textbooks, they simply do not have enough to take home!

KMC15,

I would highly suggest that you take the time to review the textbooks. In some districts, this strategy is used to prevent parents from reviewing questionable curriculums and calling the material to question. Also, it my understanding that the county recently adopted an integrated mathematics curriculum. Many of these "new math" programs don't even utilize textbooks. Each student is assigned a workbook or journal. If this is the situation you are facing, I'd strongly suggest you research integrated mathematics. Programs such as these are problematic for numerous reasons.

Greetings, I am guessing you already contacted the principal about this situation. What school does your child attend? I don’t comprehend why any school in Liberty County would not give a parent a textbook to take home or why students would have to share books.

Unfortunately this is the typical response by someone who was fired up and simply created a blog to vent some anger. You have elicited a response from someone eager to prove he can do something for you. Thegreatest is a candidate for the Liberty County School Board and I am sure would like to do nothing more than prove the incompetence of anyone else on the board.

Yet, you have cooled off to the point that either you no longer feel that you will get any response, or worse yet, you no longer care if your child completes his/her homework. The system failed you so you will allow the system to fail your child.

Instead of simply blogging about your discontent why don't you call the Executive Director of Curriculum and Instruction, Dr. Karen B. Grant at 912.876.4876. Maybe she can provide you with an answer to your problem. Then, if you feel like sharing your answer you could post it on here. Or you could broswe on over to: http://www.liberty.k12.ga.us to see if there would be someone else you might like to contact.

Last Resort,

Actually, I have taken different path to help my child solve the problem - we have resorted to using the internet...a lot! It's not just anger...it's anger with a lot of frustration. This is turning out to be a lot like Milwaukee Public School system. The Board of Education, some School Administrators and to some extent, teachers are more concerned with school uniform code violations than teaching and providing text books. Like everyone else, I do pay taxes...in fact too much for the shear incompetence I’m seeing. Let’s even the score shall we! Why not make all teachers, administrators, and Board of Education members wear school uniforms as well.

I do worry about my child completing homework assignments. Anything less than a B for a grade is frowned upon. Yes, I have given up on the system and for many reasons. For example, when my child was experiencing a personal situation at school and needed to use the rest room, was reminded that there were 4 authorized bathroom breaks during a 18 week grading period. However, teachers and administrators can use the bathroom at any given time during the day. There are so many quirky rules that my head spins. Yes I am heated…and now, I’ll try to forget this blog for a while so I can cool off again.