The Dawson County Board of Education approved a purchase this week for a tract of land that will become part of the school system’s new agricultural center and discussed COVID-19 vaccines for local teachers.
At their March 2 meeting, board members unanimously gave their approval to the purchase so that Superintendent Damon Gibbs could finalize the school system’s purchase of the land, which is located on the corner of Hwy.53 and Perimeter Road.
“This approval is just opening the way for me to sign all the appropriate paperwork to buy the corner of Highway 53 and Perimeter for a price not to exceed $275,000,” Gibbs said. “We own the property surrounding that, and that will be used as part of the new agriculture science center.”
As part of his report, Gibbs also discussed the new eligibility for teachers to receive vaccines, a rule which was made official by Gov. Brian Kemp in February, and how this new vaccine phase will affect Dawson County teachers.
“We are in the process of setting up dates and times for our staff that wish to be vaccinated to get that done,” Gibbs said. “We’re actually going to be allocating two days and working with the Department of Public Health to schedule those.”
Gibbs said that he and school administrators are working to find which two school locations will be the most convenient to hold the vaccinations during those two days.
“Unfortunately, because we only have two days we’re not gonna be able to do it in each school,” Gibbs said. “We’re actually gonna have two locations, probably one centrally and one down toward the middle school, so that we can be as convenient as possible for our staff members, so I’ll communicate that as I know more.”
According to Gibbs, Department of Public Health personnel will administer the vaccinations to school teachers and staff members.
Gibbs said that they are thankful for the opportunity to provide COVID-19 vaccinations to their school staff.
“Dawson County Schools is grateful that K-12 schools will be included in the next phase of COVID-19 vaccination in Georgia,” Gibbs said. “The health and safety of our students and staff remain a top priority for our school system. We are thankful for Governor Kemp’s leadership and his continued support of public education.”