Proposed Three Year Budget for 2014 2015/2015 2016/2016

2017
UWG Student: Christina Crowe
Library Media Specialist: Ginger ONeal
School: South Salem Elementary
Mission Statement:
The Newton County School Media Services strive to create an engaged
learning community through accessibility, collaboration, and
innovation.
School Community:
Situated in rural Covington, Georgia is South Salem Elementary School;
which encompasses a media center that serves approximately 1,053
students in grades prekindergarten through fifth and approximately 75
staff members. The school is seven years old. The media center is the
focal point of the school and is located in proximity of the entrance and
front office. Of the 1,053 students, 502 are female and 551 are male.
Illustrated in the table below, more than fifty percent of the students
are African American, eleven percent Hispanic, and thirty-three percent
white. Based upon current expenditure of fifteen dollars per child, the
media center should receive approximately $15,795.
Needs Assessment:
Based upon data retrieved from Statewide Longitudinal Data System
(SLDS), the data indicates low testing scores at South Salem
Elementary in the following areas: Mathematics and Science. SLDS
illustrated low scores in writing across the school district. The School

Improvement Plan mirrors these needs and has implemented

strategies to help improve the three areas. This budget has been
created to help support the SIP plan and the needs of South Salem
students. This year students will also have to take a new criterionreferenced test, The Georgia Milestones. According to the Georgia
Department of Education, the Georgia Milestones will be administered
online. Currently South Salem is equipped with enough computers to
accommodate the minimum of 30% of students required to take it
online the first year. By year three, there should be a minimum of 80%
of students taking the test online. The ten laptop computers that will
be purchased each year for the next three years will help meet the
DOE requirements. The laptop computers will also help increase the
use of technology within the classroom. Library books will need to be
updated to reflect Lexile Levels (this will require the media specialists
to add the scores to the outside of each library book and create new
charts to reflect the scores).
2014-2015
$26,144

2015-2016
$22,799

2016-2017
$22,799

TOTAL
$71,742

Budget: See attached Excel documents for exact dollar amounts.

There are two different documents. One includes just the 2014-2015
budget and the other one is the 2015-2016 and 2016-2017 because
the budget is the same.
Books:
Due to the CRCT scores from the 2014 school year indicating a drop in
the area of Science, specifically Earth and Life Sciences, the media
center will be updated to include more books in these areas. According
to the TitleWise Collection Analysis, there are 206 Earth Science books
and 166 Life Science books. Each area will be updated with 40 to 50

books. For the remaining two years for this report the actual books
purchased will depend upon the areas of need based upon the Georgia
Milestones scores and teacher requests. South Salem Elementary
participates in the Helen Ruffin Reading bowl each year. For 2014-2015
there are 17 different titles that members will read. The media center
will need at least three copies of each title.
Author Visits:
To help increase students interest in reading and writing, authors will
visit South Salem Elementary. The author(s) will depend on the
previous years scores on state test. Since the scores indicated a low
score in Science, Math, and Writing, the authors chosen for 2014-2015
school year will focus on non-fiction books about Life or Earth Science.
Author visits can help make a connection between the author and the
students. They can also increase students interest in writing and the
writing process (CCW). Each year a needs assessment will be
conducted to determine the areas of weakness and an author visit will
be set up using the Scholastic Website.
Periodicals and Newspaper:
Life Science and Earth Science magazines will be purchased for each
3rd and 5th grade student to use within the classroom. These magazines
will help increase student interest in Earth and Life Science and will
help increase scores on Georgia Milestones. The Newton Citizen
Newspaper subscription will continue for the next three years to keep
students and teachers updated on current events. The newspaper will
help when planning for the morning announcements.
Supplies for Media Center:
Each year the media center will be allotted $200 dollars to help
purchase office supplies such as pens, paper, pencils, chart paper, and

any other additional materials needed for lessons. Treats and snacks
for the Accelerated Reader parties will also be purchased from this
allotment.
Software:
The required software will be purchased to add to the thirty additional
laptop computers. This allotment also allows for any other software
they may be required for Georgia Milestones online assessment.
AV Material:
TumbleBooks, an online subscription of e-books, will be purchased to
help support the Daily 5 management system that has been employed
in grades K-1 across the school district. Daily 5 offers students choices
to participate in a variety of reading and writing activities. One of the
choices is Listen to Reading; when students partake in listening to
others read it improves their own fluency (CCRF) and comprehension
skills (CCRI).
Equipment:
To support engagement among 21st Learners, 15 iPad minis will be
purchased over the next three years. The iPad minis will be utilized to
assist students in creating Book Trailers. The Book Trailers will meet
several of the Common Core Standards with students in grades K
through 5th grade, especially their speaking and listening skills (CCSL).
IMovie Software will also be purchased for each iPad mini along with
iPad mini cases. One MacBook will also be purchased to assist with the
making of Book Trailers.
References:

Common Core State Standards Initiative. (2014). Read the Standards.

Retrieved from
http://www.corestandards.org/read-the-standards/
Georgia Department of Education. (2014). Gerogia Milestones
Assessment System.
Retrieved from http://www.gadoe.org/Curriculum-Instruction-andAssessment/Assessment/Pages/Georgia-Milestones-AssessmentSystem.aspx
Scholastic. (2014). Invite an Author. Retrieved from
http://teacher.scholastic.com/products/tradebooks/inviteanauthor.htm
Statewide Longitudinal Data System. (2014). Historical Data. Retrieved
from
https://slds.gadoe.org/sldsweb/Dashboard.aspx
Tumblebooks. (n.d). Frequently Asked Questions. Retrieved from
http://www.tumblebooks.com/library/asp/faq.asp