Trenton, GA- With the summer winddown in sight, the Dade County Board of Education begins looking ahead to the next school year, namely on its operational budget along with new instructional materials for the classroom, in its regularly scheduled board meeting Monday night.
In addition to passing Superintendent Josh Ingle’s preliminary 2025-26 school budget with an estimated shortfall of $2.6 million in revenue, the board also approved purchase for a trio of HMH instructional programs, tailored for K-5 math and reading as well as 6-8th grade English Language Arts for fall classes in Dade County classrooms.
Dade County Schools Director of Testing Chris Davis says teachers have already seen qualitative results by students from the school system’s initial purchase of HMH Into Reading, version 2, last year. Davis says HMH has since updated to a version 3 and with the purchase so recent, Dade’s upgrade would be a nominal $800.
Suggesting it more pricey but well worth the cost, Davis then went to request of the board to fund proposals of $62,078 for K-5 reading, $33,767 for 6-8 ELA and $49,643 for Eureka Math Squared, designed for K-5 mathematics.
Making the numbers more palatable for a budget conscious board, Davis stated “43 percent of the cost is SPLOST eligible” for the HMH reading program.
For the Eureka Math instructionals, Davis said 79% of the annual $42,000 cost can be recouped using SPLOST funds.
Davis said he recommended HMH to the board noting the program’s compliance to new state educational requirements and other Georgia school systems who are current HMH clients.
Supporters of HMH curriculum say the program is tailored for the needs of specific grade levels or age groups and is based on a rigorous, research-based approach to learning.
Dade County teachers present at Monday’s meeting voiced their support for HMH, saying it provides students critical thinking skills that can be seen beyond the current lesson. They also praised the program’s interactive enhancements, keeping both students and teacher focused on learning and in line with new state standards.
Board members went on to vote unanimously for purchasing all 3 learning programs as requested.
In other board action, the recommended appointment of Erin Clark to the Dade County Public Library Board of Trustees for a three year term was approved, with Clark succeeding Leigh Ann Beasley at the post.
Superintendent Josh Ingle said he would once again recommend Republic Garbage, as the lone bidder for the school system’s annual trash contract, at a cost of 3,867 monthly. The trash bid motion was also unanimously approved by the board.
Dade County Schools also extended a memorandum of understanding with Bridge Health to continue student counseling needs within the system.
Superintendent Ingle forecasted June 9th, June 17th and the regularly scheduled June 23rd board meeting as the three required public hearings for the 2025-26 budget, due July 1st.
The Superintendent also welcomed the community to the summer meal program set to begin June 2nd at Dade County High School. Breakfasts and lunch will be served Mondays through Thursdays at 8:30am and 11:30 am respectively. The summer nutrition program at DCHS is set to conclude June 26th.