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The ADVANCE, January 19, 2022/Page 11A
Ajohda Welcomed to Vidalia City Schools BOE
Photo by John Koon
NEW MEMBER — The Vidalia City Schools Board of Education welcomed Sadia Ajohda
to fill the seat of former BOE Chairman Tim Truxel. Ajohda (left) was sworn in by City
Court Judge Daniel O'Connor (right) at the Board's regular meeting on January 11,
By Makaylee Randolph
Staff Writer
mrandolphadvance@gmail.com
The Vidalia City
Schools Board of Educa
tion welcomed a new face
to its Board on January
11 as Sadia Ajohda was
sworn in as the successor
to Ward 2 representative
Tim Truxel.
Truxel completed his
last board meeting as both
chairman and a member of
the governing body in De
cember. Recently Truxel
changed his location of
residency which left him
unqualified to represent
the ward. Truxel had
served on the BOE for 14
years and left a message of
hope upon his departure.
" Vidalia is my home,
and I will always be an In
dian!” Truxel assured. "We
have always had good lead
ership, but right now, we
have a set of leaders who
work together, and that
are pulling the rope in the
same direction, and I'm
just excited about where
they are going to take this
system in the next five or
six years."
Because of Truxel’s
departure before the end
of his term, the Board was
left with the task of ap
pointing a citizen of the
ward to serve as BOE rep
resentative.
Ajohda is Director
and Instructor of Biology
at Southeastern Technical
College. She is also a par
ent of students within the
school system and owner
of Vidalia Karate. She
serves on Vidalia’s Down
town Development Au
thority and participates in
many local events.
“This appointment is
such an honor,” Ajohda
commented. “We have
lived in Vidalia the past 26
years and have developed
an immeasurable appre
ciation and dedication to
our community. I hold our
Vidalia City School Sys
tem in high regard, and I
am committed to serving
at my utmost capacity in
my new role.”
Superintendent Gar
rett Wilcox shared his
excitement for Ajohda
to join the Board. “Mrs.
Ajohda has been a vital
part of our school system
for many years as she has
served on school gover
nance councils and parent
organizations in the past,”
he remarked. “The system
is very fortunate to have
Sadia on board to be a
part of providing support
and direction for years to
come.”
Ajohda was officially
sworn into the position
by City Judge Daniel
O’Connor at the begin
ning of the meeting, and
quickly got to work help
ing to govern the schools.
Curriculum Report
Assistant Superinten
dent Ginger Morris pre
sented a monthly curricu
lum report that focused on
the process of accredita
tion preparation through
Cognia, an institution for
mally known as Advanced
Ed and/or Southern As
sociation of Colleges and
Schools (SACS) that pro
vides the school with ac
creditation.
Morris shared that the
Cognia survey results from
staff, students, and parents
had become available and
were reviewed by Wilcox
and herself. These surveys
inform administration of
the top five things each
school scored best on, and
the top five things each
school scored lowest on.
These results are fed back
into the school level lead
ership teams to adjust the
educational atmosphere
to provide the best possi
ble education for students.
These results are also
compared to the Cognia
network of accredited
schools that allows the
administration to see how
the school compares to
other schools outside of
the local area. “We are very
excited about where we
stand with those results,”
Morris said, “Dr. Wilcox
and I have reviewed the
data and will soon meet
with each school principal
to discuss what has been
found.”
Passed Items
Board members unan
imously passed the 2022-
2023 School Year Cal
endar, which has school
beginning on August 5.
The calendar features 176
days of instruction, with
the last day of the school
year being May 26, 2023.
There will be a five-day
break for Thanksgiving
Holidays, a 12-day break
for Christmas Holidays,
and Spring Break will be
April 3-4, 2023.
The Board unani
mously approved the
transportation request for
the Vidalia High School
Girls and Boys Track
Teams to travel to Bir
mingham, Alabama, on
January 29-30 to compete
in their sport. The hir
ing of a new maintenance
assistant for the HVAC
units in the schools was
also approved, and the
district is excited to wel
come Travis Vassey to staff
for what Wilcox described
as a “long awaited helping
hand.”
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Julia McKenzie
Julia was bom and raised in Thomasville, Georgia and graduated Magna Cum
Laude from the University of Georgia with a B.B.A. in Finance and certificate in
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a mortgage lender. She has originated conventional, USDA, FHA, and VA loans during
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Greg McKenzie, Jr. and has moved to the sweet city of Vidalia.
“I have been in local banking for about five years now,
and it is a dream of a job. I love getting to help my friends,
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Ex-Paulding DA
deads guilty in sexual
larassment case
By Dave Williams
Bureau Chief
Capitol Beat News Service
Former Paulding
County District Attorney
Dick Donovan has plead
ed guilty to one count of
unprofessional conduct
and been sentenced to
12 months on probation,
Georgia Attorney Gen
eral Chris Carr announced
Thursday.
Gov. Brian Kemp sus
pended Donovan last Feb
ruary after he was indicted
on four felonies including
bribery, violation of oath
by a public officer and two
counts of false swearing.
The charges stemmed
from an accusation of sex
ual harassment filed against
Donovan by a staff mem
ber at the Paulding district
attorney’s office. When he
denied the allegation, the
woman produced audio
tapes and written notes
backing up her accusations.
'As independently-
elected public servants,
Georgia's district attorneys
must fulfill their solemn
obligation to uphold the
rule of law no matter the
circumstance," Carr said
Thursday.
"When these same in
dividuals abuse their pow
er with complete disregard
for their sworn duties, they
harm the very justice sys
tem they are put in place
to defend and protect. We
will not hesitate to hold ac
countable public officials
who violate the law and
their oaths of office and
hope this case sends a mes
sage that public corruption
of any kind will not be tol
erated here in Georgia."
As a result of the sen
tence, Donovan has re
signed his position and is
required to surrender his
license to practice law.
The Georgia Bureau of
Investigation handled the
investigation of the charges
against Donovan.
This story is available
through a news partnership
with Capitoi Beat News
Service, a project of the
Georgia Press Educational
Foundation.
Lowry
continued from page 6A
no sense. To avoid an un
likely harm — unvacci
nated kids getting a serious
case of COVID — the
schools wanted to impose
an almost-guaranteed
harm by excluding thou
sands of students from the
classroom, kneecapping
their education. At best,
this is playing chicken with
the well-being of children;
at worst, it is thoughtless
and cruel policy in stub
born pursuit of the goal of
substituting the judgment
of public-school manda
rins for parents.
Already, roughly
40,000 students have
dropped out or disengaged
from L.A. schools this year,
and the school board
wanted effectively to match
that via ham-handed en
forcement of its mandate.
The same impulse to
punish kids whose parents
don’t want to go along is
seen in vaccine passport
policies, like that in New
York City, that exclude un
vaccinated children from a
swath of activities in public
places and from after
school programs. It’s as if
public officials got together
and decided children
hadn’t experienced enough
social isolation already
during the pandemic.
One can only hope
there’s enough pushback
from parents who value
their judgment and author
ity over that of the politi
cians and administrators
whose default is mandates
over persuasion.
Rich Lowry is editor of the
National Review.
(c) 2022 by King Features
Synd., Inc.