Thomaston-Upson School Board Meeting

The Thomaston-Upson School Board voted 5-1 to approve a tentative mill rate of 14.01 mills. Board member Sheila Hall cast the only vote against the motion. Member Brian Salter was absent from the meeting. 

This is an increase of 0.8 mill over the current 13.21 mill rate and 1.791 mills over the computed rollback rate of 12.219 mills. The rate increase is proposed due to a state law which requires a school district to maintain a millage rate or an equivalent millage rate of 14 mills to qualify for Georgia's equalization grant funds, which equated to $4.1 million in funds for Thomaston-Upson Schools in FY23. The proposed 14.01 mill rate will protect equalization funding, which, at $4.1 million, equates to 5.32 mills of tax at the current 1 mill rate of $768,495. 

Public hearings on this tax increase will be held at the Board of Education Office, 205 Civic Center Drive on August 1, 2022, at 7:30 AM and 6:00 PM and on August 9, 2022, at 6:00 PM. This information about the proposed millage increase and 5-year history of levy can be found on the TU Schools website at www.upson.k12.ga.us.

Jim Pruett addressed the board regarding the old trophies from previous city and county schools that are stored at the Upson-Lee Alternative School. Pruett, Jim Fowler, and Steve Ellerbee volunteered their time to clean and repair these trophies. 

The original plan was to offer the trophies free of charge to community members, but the public expressed an interest in keeping the trophies together and preserving the history of these previous students' and schools' accomplishments. 

Pruett stated that the Thomaston-Upson Archives has agreed to accept these trophies, but they needed BOE permission to release the trophies to the archives. Board members granted that permission and thanked Pruett, Fowler, and Ellerbee for their continued help with this project. Pruett, Fowler, and Ellerbee will be working with the archives to find a suitable place to display the trophies.