By Beth Alston

AMERICUS — The Sumter County Board of Education, during its monthly meeting on Thursday, voted to approve the requested design changes to the Ignite College & Career Academy (C&CA), and its cost of $500,000. The C&CA will be constructed as part of the new Sumter County High School, for which ground will be broken in June.
Russ Moore, the consultant who has been working with One Sumter and its partners on the C&CA, rolled out the changes, encompassing a 2,400 sq. ft. addition. The total square footage for the C&CA will be 52,400 sq. ft. with the changes.
— Expansion of commons areas throughout the wing of about 1,000 ft. for the lobby and hall to provide areas for connectivity for devices and meeting in small groups.
— Addition of a dining room next to the culinary arts lab that can be used for students to learn serving techniques. The area can be used for public meetings with or without a meal served. The space will also be used as a student-run business during the week where anyone can come and purchase food.
— There is also provision for another student-run store for DECA which will offer, shirts, hats, etc. with the C&CA logo.
— Originally plans were for the school health clinic to be located in the main school building but it is now planned to be located in the C&CA adjacent to the health services classrooms and lab. The clinic will have exam rooms, a room for counseling and space for drawing blood, etc., as well as a reception area.
In other business during Thursday’s meeting, the board voted to partner with the Americus Chapter Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. to partner with Sumter County Schools to provide mentoring for students at various grade levels, as needed.
The most surprising element of the meeting came at the end when the board approved the resignation of the Americus-Sumter County High School head football coach Larry Harold, along with personnel matters. (See separate story elsewhere on this page.)
In addition to Harold’s resignation, the other personnel matters approved were the following:
Retirement: Barbara Holloway
Resignations: Carswella Major, Miranda McCray, Candace Harris, Lavette Thomas, Erika Morales, Jimmie Gaddy, Telisa Cutts, Jason Kelly
Employments: Alexandria Fuller, Keisha Holmes. Mary E. Green
Family Leave Requests: Lawrence Wright, Lashana Green, Kim Smith, Beth Smith, Valerie Trice, Emily Smothers
Long-Term Substitutes: Sally Davis and Rakia Zanders
Long-Term Substitutes: Cynthia Davis, Oneida Ingram
Third Party Contract: Ann Mock Garber