Henry County Schools

This quarterly report outlines the progress of the 2021-2026 Strategic Plan for Henry County Board of Education. The plan is designed around five strategic actions: advancing learning opportunities for all students, improving school leadership and classroom instruction, enhancing community connectivity and engagement, promoting student and employee health and wellness, and developing a high-performing operational culture. The overarching goal is to achieve priority student outcomes in college, career, and life readiness, literacy proficiency, and access to learning, ultimately transforming the district into a high-performing school community.

The document emphasizes the importance of community partnerships and a shared vision in advancing public education within Henry County. It highlights the collaborative spirit aimed at elevating student success and empowering all students through exceptional opportunities and access, including literacy initiatives and business partnerships for apprenticeships and internships. The plan acknowledges past achievements under the current strategic framework while laying the groundwork for future initiatives over the next five years, underscoring the critical role of family and community involvement.

The meeting provided a comprehensive update on the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds, which are the third installment of ESSER funding intended to support safe school reopening, sustained operations, and addressing student academic, social-emotional, and mental health needs. The presentation reviewed the utilization of the first phase of funding (two-thirds of the total grant) which supported crisis management, quarantine bridge programs, mental health facilitators, and the Impact Academy virtual program. For the final phase (the remaining one-third, approximately $18.7 million), the board sought endorsement for investments determined after community feedback solicitation, which included funding for an early kindergarten class focusing on literacy, a review of course schedules to address pandemic-related learning gaps and advance rigorous course opportunities, expansion of the School of Scholars program, expansion of a K-5 program to serve grades 6-8, and replacement of unreturned classroom and media center materials from the 2020 closure.

This document outlines the 11th Grade English Language Arts Teaching & Learning Standards for Henry County Schools. It details HCS Graduate Learner Outcomes focusing on critical reading, analytical writing, research skills, effective collaboration and communication, and the application of language conventions, supported by specific Georgia Standard Codes.

The briefing provided an update on the response to a cyber incident first detected on November 6th, which was later identified as a ransomware attack initiated by a criminal organization outside the United States. The district activated its response plan, engaging with Homeland Security and the FBI, and severed the network on November 9th to mitigate impact. The core conclusion is that essential applications, including Infinite Campus (SIS), HR/Finance platforms, email, Google, and Microsoft 365, remain secure and clean. However, an unauthorized user accessed a segment of the network containing predominantly historical files and procedural documents. The impact assessment is ongoing, with a third-party team reviewing the accessed container for personally identifiable information, and individuals affected will be formally notified. Restoration efforts are focused on securely reconstructing and restoring network services, including an enterprise password reset. Full internet service restoration is anticipated after the holiday break following the deployment of new MDR and EDR security solutions. The response to date has incurred expenditures totaling $24,300, primarily for the new cyber prevention tools.