50% of the school fiscal year now completed
Year-to-date revenues of $18,677,686 represent 38.14% of budget; Expenditures of $23,449,062 represent 48.49% of budget
by Janice Daniel
The Haralson County Board of Education held their Regular Monthly meeting on Tuesday, February 10th, 2026 at 6:00 p.m., at 299 Robertson Avenue, Tallapoosa, with the following board members present:
Mike Benefield, Chair
James Watson, Vice Chair
Brad Davis, Board Member
Brenda Agan, Board Member
Haralson County Schools Superintendent, Dr. Jerry Bell
Board Member Kendall Robinson was absent.
The Superintendent Spotlight for February highlighted the Spelling Bee winners and runners-up:
Buchanan Elementary School Runner-Up Cameron Schrieber
Winner Hope Hester
West Haralson Elementary Runner-Up Tatum Knott
Winner Rayna White
Haralson County Middle Runner-Up Brayson Andrews
Winner Peyton Lyle
2025-2026 District Winner Cameron Schrieber
The Facilities Maintenance Report advised that some dead trees at the high school baseball field have been removed, and some gutters were replaced at the Math Academy. The Buchanan Primary School freezer/cooler monitor is now on-line, and the high school/middle school concession stand restrooms are now operational.
Keshia Williams reported that discussions are going on about possible changes to make the Summer Feeding Program better.
Kendall Holderfield gave the school safety reports, advising that the department has completed Active Shooter Policy and Procedure Training, along with scenario-based exercises, focusing on making sure school safety officers are prepared to respond quickly and effectively in the school setting. Holderfield also advised that Corporal Chris Bagley, who came on board in January, was an instructor in the U.S. Army and POST accepted his training there as official certification. The department now has three in-house instructors, each with different areas of specialization, allowing for more training internally.
Benji Cole, head of Teaching and Learning, said that teachers from Woodland Middle School in Cartersille, Georgia, met and collaborated with the Haralson County School District’s 8th grade science teachers. A Heard County Administrator and an Elementary Principal came to meet with Haralson County leaders regarding Master Schedule, Benchmark Advance and how Haralson students have increased their score. An Assistant Principal from Carrollton City Schools came to visit 3rd grad classrooms Benchmark Advance and Direct Instruction. Cole said he was proud that other school districts have taken notice of the improvements Haralson County has made.
Zac Crosby said the Technology Department is in the process of going through the equipment surplus building in Buchanan, pulling items that need to be culled or released for surplus. He said they also expect to have their Five-Year Planning report ready by the first of March.
Transportation Director Joey Gallahar said they have named Brenda “Cookie” McWhorter January Employee of the month. He said he wants to acknowledge appreciation to one bus driver each month. “Mrs. McWhorter is a veteran bus driver of 26 years for our school system. Her commitment to her manifest and love for our school system is evident in all that she does.”
Finance Director Angie Campbell gave the Financial Reports as of December, 2025. With 50% of the school fiscal year now completed, year-to-date revenues of $18,677,686 represent 38.14% of budget, and expenditures of $23,449,062 represent 48.49% of budget. The open purchase order balance is $288,276. The SPLOST debt service fund is at $5,818,662 with $829,845 of that already moved to the SPLOST21 construction fund.
Campbell said she emailed Chief Tax Assessor Zach Smith about the outstanding property tax appeals, and asked whether the digest will change when these appeals are resolved. She advised that Smith said the school has received their final digest, but he doesn’t know when the tax bills will be sent out. Campbell added that Haralson County is not the only district where the digest is late.
Financial Reports were approved by the school board 4-0.
They also approved four upcoming overnight trips.
Per their normal procedure, the board reviewed and adopted nine (9) of their board policies, and added two paragraphs to Board Policy JRB Parents’ Bill of Rights regarding the timely transfer of student records between schools, which Superintendent Bell said was not a problem for the Haralson County District, but it was tabled to the next meeting until the information can be sent out about the changes.
Dr. Bell also presented school calendars for the next three (3) school years, with the only change being in the 2026-2027 year, one post-planning day was moved to be a pre-planning day. These three calendars were approved by the board unanimously 4-0. Bell said parents like to see these calendars in order to make plans for when their children will be out of school.
The board also unanimously approved a Facility Use Agreement with the City of Buchanan for the annual Easter egg hunt to be held at the field beside the elementary school. Bell said this is without a fee because they take care and clean up after the event.
There was an Executive Session (secret/not open to the public) to discuss personnel and the regular session was adjourned.