I hope you have had a good transition into the new year. Time sure does move fast these days!

Along with the new year came word of a new state budget. It looks like funding will be very lean next year. It’s too early to tell how this will affect our school district; we will have to wait until the Legislature does its work. In the meantime, it’s important that we maintain a strong focus on academics as we wait to see how all of this plays out.

Our technology folks have been dealing with the state-mandated change from STI to Infinite Campus, a new software for managing student data. This has been a slow and frustrating process, and our people are moving as fast as possible to complete the conversion. We currently are piloting the parent household portal with some families to see how it works. Hopefully this will be up and running for most people by the end of the month. People at Infinite Campus told us that they have never seen a district bring up the parent portal in less than six months, and our goal is six weeks! On top of that, all of the household information has to be transferred by hand, and that is a lot of data to be entered. There are lots of issues surrounding this transition, and we are trying to be as patient as possible while also pushing to get done what is needed.

Looking down the road, our three new elementary schools – William Wells Brown, Liberty and Sandersville – all are on schedule. Staff architect Bill Wallace says the contractors expect to finish on time, by the end of June. After that, workers will move in furnishings and touch up paint in time for the start of school this fall.

Speaking of fall, we encourage parents to sign up their children early, so don’t forget to mark your calendars for the 2008-09 kindergarten registration:
• Feb. 19 to March 28
• May 5 to May 30
• July 28 through Aug. 13 (the first day of school)

It’s hard to believe we’re already looking toward the next school year, but being prepared and pushing ahead are what propel us into a bright future.