Summer Hours for BCSS
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CHEE East, Pod at AHS, Students in Pod Classroom, Bus for CHEE East
After the tragedy of September 4th, the Barrow County School System (BCSS) made many pressing and necessary logistical decisions to support Apalachee High School and maintain instruction. Those decisions included opening the CHEE East facility to temporarily accommodate lost classroom space, transportation to take students to and from CHEE East, substitutes, and leasing the classroom pod (semi-permanent classroom space) to have all students and staff back on the main campus.
BCSS was able to cover the costs (amounting to over $4 million) using the fund balance and Capital Project funds, but that also meant using money originally earmarked to fund salaries and future projects.
BCSS applied for the U.S. Department of Education Project SERV grant and we are grateful to be awarded approximately $1 million in federal funding. This amount can only be used to reimburse the following expenses:
- Temporary Classroom Pod (Small Unit) - A temporary pod of five classrooms and one office was available immediately (September 2024) to accommodate the missing classroom space.
- Lease of Full‐size Classroom Pod - A larger temporary pod of 16 classrooms was rented to replace the classroom space of J Hall.
- Transportation to CHEE East - From September 2024 through December 2024, before the large POD was delivered, buses took students to the alternative location for some of their instructional day.
- Substitute Expenses - These substitutes allowed our AHS staff to take time for breaks or mental health services.
- Additional Administrator Expenses - Added administrators offered support and helped students and staff navigate the additional campus at Chee East and later the new pod.
We are also thankful to have received other grants for additional mental health services and grants from the Barrow Community Foundation that have covered AHS-specific requests for mental health curriculum, accommodations of partitions and soft seating for classrooms and counseling areas, therapy dog needs, mental health providers, and substitutes for staff support.
BCSS appreciates the outpouring of support from our Federal, State, and local partners.