About The Advance. (Vidalia, Ga.) 2003-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 25, 2021)
he ADVANCE, August 25, 2021/Page 10A Stye Aiiuancg Montgomery BOE Hires New Special Education Director Your Mind ONLINE Got a complaint? Got a compliment? Call Your Mind On Line at 537-6397 and let us know what's on your mind. Quotes are printed exactly as they are called in and are not nec essarily factual, but rather, callers' opinions. Libelous, slanderous, personal at tacks, and unfounded ac cusatory or lengthy com ments will not be printed. Two calls per week per caller, and calls should not exceed 30 seconds, please. “If we get through this debacle with Af ghanistan, it is imper ative to LIMIT THE TERMS OF OFFICE of our corruption ridden Congress and Su preme Court immedi ately. Our govern ment looks like it be longs in a third world country where all the "leaders" become billionaires while in of fice and have sev eral country estates all over the country." “If the covid vac cine works, why are those with the shots afraid of those with out? Why don't they just let the non-vaxx- ers die off? Then no covid." “We have a 3 part government for a reason - the Legisla tive branch (Con gress) to make the laws, the Judicial branch (Supreme Court) to interpret the laws, and the Ex ecutive branch (Pres ident) to enforce the laws. Congress and the Supreme Court have the Constitu tional right to take away the keys from the senile old grand father who is driving the car full of Ameri cans over the cliff. Right now Congress and the Supreme Court are just stand ing around sucking their thumbs. For Shame!" “Postpone 9/11 commemoration this year?? Postpone Halloween?? Post pone Thanksgiving?? Postpone Christ mas?? Postpone On- By Dave Williams Bureau Chief Capitol Beat News Service Gov. Brian Kemp is sued an executive order Thursday prohibiting lo cal governments in Geor gia from imposing mask mandates to discourage the spread of COVID-19. The cities of Atlanta and Savannah reinstated mask mandates late last month for public indoor spaces, citing a rise in cases of the virus driven by the highly contagious delta variant. Some school districts in Georgia also are requir ing students and teach ers to wear masks inside school buildings. While Kemp has sup ported letting individual school systems make those decisions, he said his executive order is ion Festival?? Why don't we just post pone breathing? Then we won't suck in any of those naughty covid germs at all. That ought to show it!" “Well, Biden has given the Taliban ter rorists an entire coun try from which to at tack us and the rest of the world. He is leaving American cit izens there and our Afghan allies to have their heads cut off and the female chil dren to be married off to Taliban war riors. And liberals are still making excuses for him." “Media hosts are now arguing about which "vaccine" company is the best, like the best shoe brands: " Don't take the Johnson and Johnson." "Mod- erna is the one I like." "No, you should take the Pfizer." Choose the one you like now - looks like you will soon be taking a booster every month." “What is wrong with Joe Biden and the democrat party? They want to give money to everybody that wants it except the ones who need it like disabled vets, se nior citizens. He will go down in history as the sorriest president we ever had." “If it is true, it is a bad tragedy that the Vidalia City School System will not allow kids to wear a shirt with the American flag on it or an Amer ican flag lapel pin. That is such a bad thing. That is a pure tragedy and a shame." “The City of Vidalia said we outgrew the Ed Smith Complex so we bought property out on Ezra Taylor Rd„ built a complex out there that nobody uses. Now we've pur chased the land that the Captain's Corner Restaurant was on so we can expand the Ed Smith Complex. I'm confused. Did we not make a good de cision before or are aimed at businesses. “Small businesses across our state should not be punished by local gov ernments,” he said. “Just as our economy is starting to return to normal, small businesses cannot survive another shutdown.” Kemp said Thursday’s order is in keeping with his commitment through out the course of the pan demic to protect “both lives and livelihoods.” Thanks to that stand, Georgia has been able to reduce unemployment and experience record job growth while still priori tizing seniors vulnerable to coronavirus and seeing to the needs of hospitals and schools, he said. “I trust hardworking Georgians to know what’s best for themselves, their we making a good decision now? Which is it?" “You go places around, closed, no help. If the govern ment would stop giv ing out unemploy ment money, get them a job because there's plenty of jobs out there, we wouldn't have all these problems. " “About the dress code thing at the Vi dalia Schools, the dress code should be changed. Pretty ob vious. This is the United States of America. We have our flag and any per son should be able to display the flag on a shirt. I understand that there are peo ple who object to it, but there is a tasteful way to do it. I think if you can't wear the flag in the schools, you might as well shut the schools." “All the chaos that Biden has brought upon this country in the 6 months he's been in office is not just stupidity. A lot of it is deliberate de struction on this na tion. He's taking his orders from China. Notice how quick Chinese moved in to Kabul after the Tali ban took over? We need to impeach this president and Ka- mala as soon as pos sible while we still have a country." “Since Vidalia City Schools have gone all woke and every thing, when will they start teaching critical race Theory and white privilege? Ask ing for a friend." “Joe Biden has now completed one of his campaign promises. He has united this country in a way I never thought it would be. Demo crats, republicans, socialists, commu nists, liberals, conser vatives, doesn't mat ter what you call yourself. Everybody knows something's got to be done about Joe, but everybody's scared of what the effects are going to be. Joe's got to go." families and their employ ees,” he said. With cases of CO- VID-19 rising in Georgia to the point of strain ing hospital emergency rooms and ICUs, Kemp has taken heat in recent weeks from critics calling on the governor to take a more forceful stand on mask wearing. Georgia passed the 1 million mark in con firmed cases of the virus this week. As of Thursday afternoon, 69,797 Geor gians had been hospital ized with COVID-19 and the virus was responsible for 22,151 confirmed or probable deaths. Georgia and other Southern states also con tinued to lag behind the nation in COVID-19 vac cination rates. By Makaylee Randolph Contributing Writer The Montgomery County Board of Education in its monthly meeting Au gust 16, approved the hir ing of Alicia Hartley as the School System’s new Special Education director, replac ing Audrey Walters who re tired for health reasons. Hartley worked at Wheeler County Elemen tary School since 1995. She studied speech-language pathology at Valdosta State University, and received a specialist degree from Geor gia College and State Uni versity in 2017. Pre-Literacy Coordinator The system is also ac cepting applications for a Pre-Literacy Coordinator. This newly-created posi tion will not only provide an employee to work within the school but also within the community through day cares, HeadStart, churches, and in other ways. The co ordinator will help children acquire early literacy skills and provide assistance to parents to better prepare their children for school. Interim Superintendent Mark Davidson said of the new position, “We are work ing to do everything we can to give our kids the best opportunity to read by 3rd grade,” he explained. The school already of fers community literacy outreach through the Eagle TCHS continued from page 1A explained. He stressed the need for these kinds of skilled laborers in local industries. “Both Chicken of the Sea and McLendon Enterprises have repeatedly shared that they need equipment op erators.” This program is also an innovative option for students disinterested in pursuing college. Toombs County CTAE Director Carmen Roberts noted, “Most pathways are geared toward students going to college, which can be frus trating for individuals who do not wish to follow that plan. Having this pathway gives more choice in stu dents’ educations to pre pare them for the future; it is a very necessary addi tion.” The pathway will not only equip students to op erate heavy equipment but will also give them the op portunity to secure neces sary employment certifica tions, such as OSELA 10. Students will learn safety skills as well as how to op erate heavy equipment such as forklifts, dump trucks and excavators. McLendon Enterprises CEO Benny McLendon explained the versatility of learning the controls to any heavy machinery: “Most equipment has the same controls; these students can take this operation knowl edge and work on numer ous pieces of equipment throughout farming, con struction, factory work, and logging—all of which are common industries in this area.” The course will be taught by Coach Tom Brodnax, who praised the community’s support. “I have spoken with Sean Scott, who works with the Georgia Highway Contrac- Express program, a mobile project that assists children with homework and tutor ing. School Millage Rate The Board tentatively approved the setting of the millage rate for school taxes to remain at 15 mills. The state has suggested the pos sibility of lowering the mill- age rate because of the rise in property values; however, “dropping the millage rate below 15 would cause the school to lose equalization and other funding,” David son said. “In my experiences in other school systems, it is harder to raise the millage rate after dropping below 15; thus, for the sake of the future and current funding, I think it is necessary to leave the rate where it is,” David son said. “It is what is best for the kids in our school system to retain funding.” The final decision re garding the millage rate will be made in September. The BOE will host three public hearings to address public concerns about this action. Hearing dates will be an nounced later. New Staff Other personnel also added to the Montgomery County Schools staff include Yolanda Robinson, BOE secretary; Nikki McDaniel, prekindergarten parapro- fessional; Bernice Stanley, afternoon bus monitor; and tors Association, and he as sured me of his assistance with whatever is necessary,” Brodnax explained. “Also, Brent Holcomb, who works in the Safety Department at McLendon Enterprises, volunteered his services to actually come in and teach a class on safety” This community sup port has expanded from mere individual commit ments to the supply of equipment and dirt for stu dent practice sessions. Also, Southeastern Early College and Career Academy (SEC- CA) has united with TCHS to give students from other area high schools the op portunity to fill vacant seats in the class on a first-come, first-served basis. “This will truly be a program that is great for the community not only because it will pro vide a workforce, but also because it gives so many lo cal youths the opportunity,” TCHS Principal Marissa Morris said. SECCA CEO Shelly Smith added her thoughts on the creation of the pro gram and the impact it has on surrounding counties. "SECCA is unique in that students may take classes at our campus, but they also may take classes on one another’s campuses,” she explained. "Now that Toombs County is adding the heavy equipment path way, students from Vidalia High, Treutlen High, and Montgomery County High can enroll in these courses, as well. SECCA is the um brella for sharing and maxi mizing all the resources in all four school districts, and we are so excited to be a part of the new program.” The pathway began in August as 31 students en tered the program through enrollment in the Founda tions of Industry class. The total program will last three semesters with three differ ent classes and is available to any interested students. Michael Berkins, Rita Curl, and Karen Nobles, substi tute roster; Shane Taylor and Buck Brazell, long-term substitute bus drivers, and Melissa Fernandez, Early In tervention Program teacher for students struggling aca demically. Equipment The replacement of a broken air conditioning unit at the elementary school was approved unanimously by the board at a cost of $10,240 using SPLOST funds. The BOE also dis cussed the possibility of us ing CARES 3 funding for the purchase of a new bus to replace the special educa tion department bus, which is becoming unreliable be cause of age and mileage. The possibility of a new maintenance truck to re place a wrecked vehicle was also considered. The purchase of the GHSA-mandated lightning detector for the sports com plex was approved at a cost of $21,450. Athletics Volunteers The athletics depart ment of the school an nounced the need for volun teers to work the concession stand and/or cook for the concession stand during home football games. Any interested party can reach out to Davidson for further guidance. By the end of the path way, students will receive a certificate of completion of pathway, OSHA safety certification, and licensure to enter the workforce as li censed operators. Funding for the course is derived from both invest ments and donations from local industries, as well as funding received from the state for courses and stu dents. “The funding from the state is determined by the number of students in each class and may vary year to year,” Roberts explained. The pilot program is approved as a locally-de veloped pathway through the Georgia Department of Transportation. Superin tendent Waller explained, “There are only two other states, Kentucky and Ohio, that even offer the program to students. Since it’s the first program of its kind in Georgia, several schools in the state have reached out to let us know they are watching our experience for possible implementation in their own systems.” McLendon also shared his excitement for the pro gram. “This program truly fits the community. With the large number of indus tries that require this work, combined with the current supply and demand situa tion for the workforce, this program puts interested students in the best possible position to not only provide for themselves and have a career upon leaving high school, but to excel in this provision and career.” Brodnax will maintain records that will measure the results of the program on the individual students and the program’s impact on the area workforce. Brod nax plans to help students make connections with area industries like McLendon Enterprises and Chicken of The Sea, to help give them a jumpstart on their careers. Kemp to local governments: No mask mandates
