The Coffee County Board of Education recognized students whose artworks decorate this year’s Coffee County School System calendar and awarded them certificates for their artwork at the regular monthly Board of Education meeting on Thursday night. Over 20 years ago the board began posting student art on the calendars and now, every year one student from each school in the Coffee County School System has artwork selected for the calendar. The original artwork also hangs in the Board of Education office for the entire year to be appreciated year-long.
Sonny Lyons, owner of Lyon Management Company of Douglas, has been producing the calendars for Coffee County School System and several other county systems in the region. He was honored at the presentation Thursday night and gave a statement about the program. Because of the attention athletics within the school system gets, Lyons wanted to do something to shed light on those students who were not necessarily athletic but talented in other ways. His granddaughter was featured on this year’s calendar and he stated that his family’s business will be running for many years.
Childhood Cancer Awareness Month is officially recognized by the Coffee County Board of Education, and the local Childhood Cancer Awareness Group of Douglas was in attendance for the reading and approval of their proclamation.
A motion to end a contract with Service Solutions was approved, and the company will be given 60 days notice for termination. In the meantime, members of the board will be working on a plan to pay and provide custodial and other services in-house instead of going through a private company. Service Solutions has been providing services for the Coffee County School System for over three years and multiple problems with the company have arisen over the years.
Construction updates on several school grounds construction jobs were reviewed at the meeting. The gym at West Green Elementary is set to be completed near the end of March 2016. Plans for the Nicholls Elementary design were shown, and the bids for the construction will be going out in January 2016 and is estimated to be completed by the fall of 2017. Livestock barns and an ag building for the Coffee Middle School campus are planned to be completed by next fall.