Houston County BOE celebrates top spot on “Forbes” list

At Tuesday’s board meeting, Superintendent of Schools Dr. Mark Scott and the members of Houston County Board of Education were all smiles—and for good reason. Houston County School District had the distinct honor of taking the number one spot on “Forbes” magazine’s “Best Employers in Georgia” list.

“We were overwhelmed that over 80,000 employees were surveyed across the United States, and of the large companies that were included on that list in Georgia were the likes of Amazon, Chick-Fil-A, Coca-Cola, Delta Airlines, Department of Defense, Google, Lockheed Martin, Microsoft and many, many more,” Scott remarked. “To be atop that list is just affirmation of the work that our employees do. When you think about customer service, you don’t always think about employees providing customer service to other employees, but many of the people in this room are about providing customer service and that starts with our department heads, our administrators at our schools, our principals … and I so appreciate the leadership of the board.”

In part, a clearly excited Board Vice Chair Helen Hughes told the room of attendees as well as those who watched the meeting online through live feed, “If I were a cheerleader, I probably would run out right now, turn a couple of cartwheels and go, ‘Number one! Number one!’” She went on to say, “I think the thing that most got my attention was when I read the headline in the AJC. I don’t know if most of you saw that. But the headline was, ‘Forbes’ Top Georgia Employer is a School District that is not in Metro Atlanta,” and I kind of had to chuckle. I’m sure, Atlanta, we’ve got your attention now.”

To the laughter of the crowd, Chairman Wilson said, “I’d just like to say I echo everything Helen said, except I can’t do the cartwheels. Great job, everybody.”

Words of appreciation and thanks were extended to the school district’s entire staff of employees. Additionally, Wilson was given special recognition by both Scott and Hughes as they spoke of his unyielding emphasis on the significance of teamwork.

Hughes said, “Hardly a meeting has ever gone by that he doesn’t mention and remind us of the importance of teamwork. Teamwork was and is and continues to be an integral part of the success of our school system, so I’m certainly honored and proud to be on this team and a part of the Houston County School System.”

During his time of speaking, Scott declared, “Fred, we appreciate you. There’s no bigger cheerleader than you all, and we appreciate what you do. A lot of times, it goes unnoticed and you don’t get a lot of thanks. You usually get criticism, and it’s often because of the decisions that I’ve made. A lot of people don’t understand that, but I do, and I appreciate your cooperation and teamwork. It’s really about teamwork for the board and the government’s team, but it’s also about teamwork among our staff and executive staff.”

In other matters of showing honor and appreciation, Dr. Scott spent some time recognizing the BOE’s premiere sponsors for the district. In past years, this had been something done in a more personal manner; however, due to the ongoing pandemic and social distance guidelines, the recognitions were given virtually. Scott made mention that later, each sponsor would receive a plaque and a coin commemorating the school system’s 150-year anniversary.

The superintendent clarified that premiere sponsors are those who support teachers, schools, districts and public education overall, on an annual basis, through sponsorships of $5,000 or more. According to Scott, since 2001, event sponsors, ranking from friends of the BOE to the premiere level, have contributed a total of $460,400 in cash. Additional in-kind support has multiplied that amount.

In his accolades, Dr. Scott said, “Flint Energy has contributed $49,000 to our district since 2001. In addition, Flint supports our schools and students in many ways, such as grants for our schools and scholarships for our students. HEA Federal Credit Union is our teachers’ credit union. HEA has been a sponsor since 2001 and has contributed a total of $80,400 over the years in support of our district events. In addition, we appreciate that HEA financially supports our new teacher orientation and years of service programs. Parrish Construction has been a premiere sponsor since 2005 and has contributed $95,000 toward the district events. Parrish is also a school board advertiser at all three of our stadiums and a supporter in many other ways. Totem Solutions is our benefits company. Totem has supported our district as a sponsor since 2017. We were thrilled this year that Totem contributed $10,000 as a premier sponsor to support our district level recognition programs and other initiatives.”

In his mention of the in-kind premier sponsor, Scott explained that the services provided came at no cost to the district. “For many years, Houston Healthcare has provided athletic trainer services, sports clinic and sports physicals for our middle school and high school athletes. EMS services are also available at our games. In 2019 alone, their support services were valued at more than $375,000. Safety is our number one priority in our district, and this service means so much to our families and to the district overall.”

In a different matter of interest, Dr. Scott conveyed the message that U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Purdue had made the August 31 announcement at Hunter Elementary School that the Federal USDA was extending free meals to all children through December 31. This took effect on September 1, and Scott assured parents that any charges that had been made prior to the announcement would be reimbursed.

Following the reading and discussion of reports by department heads and board members, the public meeting was adjourned.

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