Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

(Eift Aiiuancg The ADVANCE, January 6, 2021/Page 11A Majority of Toombs School System Operations Now in One Location Photo by Rebekah Arnold BOARD MEMBER RECOGNIZED — TCS Superintendent Barry Waller, left, recognizes out going District 6 Representative Toni Wilkes for her eight years of service on the board, Mrs. Wilkes is supported by her husband, Cordy Wilkes, at right. In the Midst of a Pandemic, TCHS Celebrates Highest Graduation Rate in History of the School By Rebekah Arnold Contributing Writer All of Toombs County School System operations, except Toombs Central Elementary School, will be located on Bulldog Road following the system ad ministration’s move into newly-renovated space. School Superintendent Barry Waller announced at the last Board of Educa tion meeting that the move was planned for December 18. The technology depart ment and half of the cur riculum department have already been relocated there. After construction of the bus shop, the goal is to sell the old board prop erties in Lyons. With this goal completed, all county school system operations will be located on Bulldog Road except Toombs Cen tral Elementary. The schools have suc cessfully completed the first semester of the 2020- 2021 year. Waller com mended the staff, teach ers, administrators and the students at TCS for be ing diligent to safely start the school year on time. The regular recognition at board meetings of teachers and students was put on hold due to crowd restric tions since March. The plan is to resume those recogni tions at the February board meeting. This meeting was the last one for District 6 Rep resentative Toni Wilkes, who has served on the Board of Education for two four-year terms. Josh Dixon will step into the position for District 6 in January. In recognizing Wilkes, Waller said, “My dad used to tell me, leave it better than you found it. I think our board members can agree, you’re leaving it better than you found it, and we thank you for your service.” Of the achievements during this time, Wilkes is most pleased with the facil ity improvements and of the student academic prog ress. Wilkes said, “We have built a new high school; remodeled our old high school and transitioned it into our primary school; remodeled Toombs Cen tral; we did a massive face lift to the "Pit" and added turf; and we have a brand new sports facility behind our new high school that is currently in use.” These kinds of im provements can only hap pen with cooperation from all system personnel and school board members. “I am proud of our ‘outward appearance,”’ Wilkes con tinued, “But the achieve ment I am most proud of is our ‘inward appear ance.’ We have improved our graduation rate by astonishing amounts and our students are competi tive in any field when they graduate from Toombs County. This comes only through cooperation, hard work and prioritizing stu dents over anything else.” Being a school board member pushed Wilkes to learn new things about op erations and finances. She said, “By serving on this board, I hope that I have led by example. My prayers and hopes are that in the future, more women step up and volunteer to serve on this board. This system needs a balance of voices and backgrounds. I am proud that I brought this to the table. My tenure on this board would not have been successful without the un derstanding and support of my fellow board mem bers, my family and this community. I feel honored and privileged to have been given this opportunity and will be forever grateful.” During the meeting Waller asked that prayers be extended to the fami lies of former TCS Super intendent, Johnny Mack Conner, and of former high school principal Ralph Hardy, who recently passed away. Toombs County School Superintendent Barry Waller observed that 2020 has undoubted ly been of the most chal lenging years in the his tory of the School System. “The COVID crisis caused an unprecedented shut down of our schools and we were left making decisions to try to accom modate our students who were also dealing with the uncertainty of not return ing to school for the quar ter of the school year.” But in the midst of a major health pandemic, the school system has been able to celebrate news of the highest gradu ation rate in school his tory at Toombs County High School of 95.1%. “This accomplishment eclipses the state of Geor gia graduation rate for the fourth consecutive year. This celebration in the midst of our challenges serves as validation of our teachers continued hard work and dedication to our students’ future.” During the pandemic, teachers, administrators and other staff joined in to assist in the distribu tion and development of virtual learning content, drive-through/pick-up packets and mobile meal delivery sites for the last eight weeks of the school year. “These challenges were met by our school system staff by working exhaustively to meet our student’s needs,” Waller said. Perhaps the most challenging aspect of all was trying to help the graduating class of 2020 experience a fitting trib ute to the completion of their years of school with a graduation. “Thankfully, through careful planning and a commitment from our board of education and school system staff, we were able to have a lim ited seating graduation for the class of 2020 at ‘The Pit’ on Saturday, July 18, and gain closure on their senior year of high school for our graduating class. Throughout the sum mer, school and system staff worked diligently to start school safely with face to face instruction as well as to provide a “virtu al learning” option for stu dents who would choose to remain at home while the COVID crisis con tinues. “Our system was able to use guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as well as the Department of Public Health and de velop a plan to safely start school on time.” “During the first half of this school year, we are thankful our schools have remained open and we have been able to return to our focus of student learning and achievement while keeping our staff and students safe with en hanced cleaning and sani tizing measures, morning temperature checks, and thorough communica tions with our local health department in reporting positive COVID cases and quarantines,” Waller commented. “The first half of this school year has looked different from any other year with the enhanced safety measures in place, however, our teachers and staff met the challenge by providing a safe and nur turing environment for our students to learn ef fectively.” City of Vidalia Ends 2020 On Sound Financial Ground;New Airport Director Named Photo by Evan Riekhof THANKS FOR SERVICE — Retiring Montgomery County Coroner Jimmy Sharpton, left, received a plaque from County Commission Chair Leland Adams. Sharpton was recognized at the Commission's December 14 meeting for his service to the county, Laurie Holland was recently sworn into office at the county's new coroner, Photo by Evan Riekhof OUTGOING COMMISSIONER— District 3, Post 1 Com missioner Greg Palmer, left, was thanked for his years of service to the Montgomery County Commission at the Commission's last session of 2020, He received a plaque commemorating his years of service from Commissioner Chair from Leland Adams. Ginger Byrd Morris was re cently elected to fill this seat on the Commission, MOCO Commission Authorizes Purchase of New Vehicle for Sheriff By Deborah Clark Regional Editor dclarkadvance@gmail. com In its last meeting of 2020, the Montgomery County Commission ap proved budget and insur ance premium resolutions, authorized the purchase of a new vehicle for the sher iff’s office and bid farewell to two county officials. Meeting on December 14 at the Adult Literacy Center, the Commission approved an amendment to an ordinance to permit the Sunday sale of alcohol as authorized by voters in a June 9 special election. Also, the Commission ap proved a resolution to for mally adopt the 2021 coun ty budget of $4.5 million as well as a resolution to use $367,545.87 in insurance premium tax proceeds to fund rural fire services and solid waste collection and disposal. In other matters, the Commission approved the purchase of a Dodge Char ger for the Sheriff’s Office at a cost of $26,318. The Commission authorized the transfer of funds from the General Account to Capital Projects to make the purchase. The Commission ap proved a hazard mitiga tion plan and gave a nod to amending the schedule of fees to increase beer and wine retail license fees from $650 to $700 annu ally. An application from Bharat C. Patel for a beer and wine retail license was approved, as well as the county’s 2021 Workman’s Compensation policy. During the session, outgoing County Com missioner Greg Palmer was thanked for his years of ser vice on the Commission, as well as outgoing County Coroner Jimmy Sharp- ton. Both men were given plaques to commemorate their service. By Deborah Clark Regional Editor dclarkadvance@gmail.com The City of Vidalia ended 2020 “in an ex tremely good financial po sition,” Finance Clerk Bill Bedingfield announced at the council’s last session of the year on December 14. Meeting at the City Multi purpose Center in down town Vidalia, the council heard reports from depart ment heads as part of its end of the year duties. Bedingfield, who re tired at the end of Decem ber, introduced his replace ment, Amy Murray, at the December session. Bedingfield told coun cil members that the local option sales tax in Decem ber “is amazing at $190, 101.06, up 16.53% year to date.” He added that the special local option sales tax mirrors this trend, up 19.12% year to date. Transportation tax was up 15.03% year to date while hotel/motel taxes were down for the year by 11.51% and alcohol sales taxes were up by 11.38% for the year. He said the city was at 99.65% of its budget in December with the gen eral fund at 91.67% for the highest fund balances year to date. So far, 26.61% of ad valorem taxes have been collected and outstanding taxes will be turned over to Peach State for collection. He also took note of the Vidalia Airport finances achieving 114% of budget ed revenue and with a fund balance of $142,027.50. He said that fuel sales at the airport were 34,418 gallons ahead of 2019 sales at this same point. Also, during the ex ecutive session, the City Council named interim Airport Director Billy Ra gan as the facility’s perma nent director. Vidalia Police Com missioner Brian Scott re ported that the Vidalia Police Department has re sponded to 29,274 calls for service, up 25% over 2019. He said that aggravated as- Please see Vidalia page 12A