Stephens Co. BOE Names Moore As New Chair

The Stephens County Board of Education gets its New Year started.

On Tuesday, the school board elected a chair and vice-chair for 2017.

Board of Education members unanimously selected Rod Moore to serve as Board Chair for the year ahead.

Moore is in his first term on the board.

He said he is humbled for the opportunity.

“I appreciate the board’s confidence in me and giving me the opportunity to serve as this year’s Chairperson,” said Moore. “I am excited about this new board and I feel like there is a lot of positive impacts we can make for our students and for our teachers.”

Moore said he also expects it to be a busy year.

“I think there are lots of things coming up that we will have to look at,” said Moore. “There are some infrastructure issues that we will have to address. There are pending audits we need to finish up, CTAE improvements and of course, the new SPLOST that will be coming out. I look forward to a good year and I am excited about serving and look forward to working with everyone.”

He said that the renewal vote on E-SPLOST, scheduled for March, will be an early priority.

“I think we really need to get out there and show the public how we desperately will need it,” said Moore. “There are lots of infrastructure issues at some of the schools that will need to be repaired and other improvements to make.”

Currently, the Stephens County Board of Education has four people on it who are in their first year as a board member.

With that in mind, Moore said he would like to see presentations about what is happening out there in the education world and things the board may need to look at.

Moore said that the school system has had a rough several years, but now the system is in a place to continue making positive changes.

He said he appreciates the job School Superintendent Bryan Dorsey has done and looks forward to working with him as School Board Chair.

Meanwhile, Jim Bellamy, also in his first term on the board, was unanimously elected Vice-Chair, and Harbin, Hartley, and Hawkins was re-appointed as Board Attorney.

The Stephens County Board of Education also set its meeting dates for the next 12 months.

Business meetings will continue to be the third Tuesday of the month at 5:30 p.m., except for November and December, which were moved up to the second Tuesday of the month.

Work sessions will be the Thursday prior to the business meeting at 5:30 p.m.

All meetings are set to take place at the Stephens County School System administrative offices on Big A School Road in Toccoa.