Newspaper Page Text
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 23, 2016
BARROW JOURNAL
PAGE 3A
Loganville woman faces charges
after deadly accident on Hwy. 316
Auburn prepares for April 7 meeting
By Sharon Hog'an
Journal Reporter
A Loganville woman has been charged
with two counts of homicide by vehicle,
among other charges, including driving
under the influence, following an accident
on Hwy. 316 March 19.
Barrow County Sheriff's deputies were
dispatched to the fatal accident at Uni
versity Parkway and Patrick Mill Road.
Deputies from the Sheriff's Office Traffic
Unit also responded and the case remains
under investigation.
According to a press release issued
by the BCSO, there were two vehicles
involved, a 2012 Kia Sorrento and a 2004
Ford Mustang. There were three occu
pants in the Mustang. The driver, Cathy
Moore, 41, of Flowery Branch and Brad
ley Atha, 36, of Dacula, were pronounced
deceased at the scene. The third passenger
was transported to an area hospital for
treatment.
Airport restaurant
Improvements to the Barrow County
Airport’s restaurant space have been com
pleted.
The Barrow County Airport Authority
received an update on the restaurant at its
March 15 meeting.
Now that upgrades have been com
pleted, the authority is beginning to look
for potential tenants wanting to lease the
building.
McMichael said the current testing and
school evaluation systems seem to impede
innovation.
“Participation in these tests has led to a
misguided assumption about how to best
educate students," he said. “By focusing so
much on test scores as the measure, we sell
our schools, teachers, children and commu
nities short in very many ways.”
In addition to the state required tests,
students in grades Pre-K through 12th grade
also take a pre and post-Student Learn
ing Objective (SLO) assessment. These are
required by the state, but are developed by
BCSS.
“Although SLOs are not considered “state”
tests and are not standardized because they
are locally developed assessments, we only
give them because we are required, by the
state, to generate a student growth measure
for every teacher as a portion of the teacher
evaluation system, and SLOs are the means
by which we are required, by the state, to do
so,” said McMichael.
Two different bills have been introduced
in the Georgia General Assembly to address
testing and teacher evaluations. Both the
House and Senate have passed SB 364 as of
March 15. The Senate passed SB 355, and
the House committee favorably reported on
the bill on March 11.
State superintendent Richard Woods has
spoken in support of SB 364 and said it
would reduce the number of state tests from
24 to 16 in third-eighth grades and reduce
the weight of test scores on teacher evalua
tions from 50 to 30 percent.
But McMichael said he is concerned the
proposed changes could actually increase the
use of assessments.
“Although the bills propose to reduce the
impact of using test results on teacher per
formance evaluations, they will, in actuality,
increase the already enormous burden on
school districts to develop and administer
these assessments,” he said. “Unless the per
centage amount is reduced to zero, there will
be no benefit to school systems. Systems
will continue to be required to develop and
administer SLO assessments or something
similar for every teacher who does not teach
a curriculum that is tied to a state assess
ment.”
McMichael said the SLOs are time-con-
The report states that there was only one
occupant in the Kia, Meghan Caldwell, 24,
of Loganville. She was transported to the
hospital as well, but was released approxi
mately six hours later.
Traffic deputies met with Caldwell at
the hospital. Based on their investiga
tion of the scene and interviews with the
involved parties, deputies arrested Cald
well for driving under the influence, seri
ous injury by motor vehicle, two counts of
homicide by vehicle, 1st degree and a red
light violation.
Captain Matt Guthas of the Barrow
County Sheriff’s Office said, “it appears
the Kia was traveling Eastbound on Uni
versity Parkway, Hwy. 316, when the
driver failed to stop for the red light. The
Mustang was traveling North on Patrick
Mill Road crossing Hwy 316 when it was
struck on the driver’s side.”
updates complete
OTHER UPDATES
The authority also received the follow
ing updates at its meeting:
•the runway 13/31 overlay project is
expected to begin in mid-May or June.
•the house owned by the authority on
Giles Road. The authority previously
advertised the house to be sold and moved.
The authority is considering advertising
this again.
suming, and thinks that time could be better
used inside the classroom instead of on the
assessment.
“In some cases, for one class of students,
up to six class days can be consumed in
simply administering SLO pre and post-as
sessments,” he said.
McMichael said he is also concerned that
reducing the number of standardized tests
would mean local districts are forced to cre
ate more SLOs.
“For example, should the state determine
that social studies courses will no longer
be assessed via standardized state tests, dis
tricts will then be burdened to create SLOs
(or something similar) for all social studies
teachers who are currently evaluated by the
state tests,” he said. "The only way to miti
gate this problem is to eliminate the student
growth measure entirely from the evaluation
system.”
Student performance plays a large part in
a teacher and administrator’s evaluations (at
least 50 percent for teachers and 70 percent
for administrator’s).
“Unless and until the state of Georgia
provides a valid and reliable achievement
measure that is administered consistently
across the state, student growth should not
be included as any portion of a teacher’s
evaluation,” said McMichael.
OTHER PARTS OF THE BILL
McMichael said he does support some
parts of the bills including reducing the
number of observations for veteran/high-per
forming teachers and requiring 90 percent
attendance for a student to be counted in a
teacher's Student Growth Percentile calcu
lations.
“That said, I am not a fan of using the
attendance measure at all - I’m not sure how
much an individual teacher can influence
a student’s attendance if the parents aren’t
part of the equation (same goes for using it
in CCRPI calculations for schools and dis
tricts),” he said. “Too many outside factor to
control well.”
McMichael said there are some changes
he is “leery” about, including “requiring
annual assessments for all students which
are locally adopted and are used to deter
mine student progress not to evaluate teach
ers” and requiring assessments for upcoming
first graders.
The Auburn City Council, at the work
session meeting on March 17, discussed
several issues to be voted on at the 6 p.m.
April 7, council meeting, including:
•a proclamation to proclaim May 1-7 at
Municipal Clerk’s Week.
•approval of the Municode Advantage
(MCCa) contract renewal at $1,443 per
month for three years with the option for a
24 month extension. The city has utilized
MCCA since June 2008 for the printing
and mailing of the utility bills, printing and
mailing of newsletter inserts included in
the utility bills, and the codification of the
city’s ordinances for the code books.
•a revision to the municipal court per
sonnel contracts for solicitor and public
defender.
•entering a six-month agreement with
Taser International to extend the current
Evidence.com agreement that expired on
March 15, 2016, until October 2016, at a
cost of $2,623.
•allowing the surplus sale of a 2007
Chevrolet Impala marked patrol vehicle.
•approval of the addendum to the origi
nal lease with Lamar Outdoor Advertising.
The negotiated deal includes: removal of
the digital faces, but leaving the structure;
Lamar will continue to pay $220 per month
to the City of Auburn’s Downtown Devel
opment Authority (DDA); Lamar will put
The Barrow County Board of Education
will discuss several district policies at its
March 29 meeting. The district released
its agenda for the work session last week.
The BOE is set to discuss the following
policies:
•dual/joint enrollment programs (to
ensure Move on When Ready procedures
follow Georgia Department of Education
guidelines).
•scheduling for instruction (to eliminate
references to programs and processes that
not longer exist/have been renamed).
•graduation requirements (to define the
diploma with distinction and diploma
with highest distinction, and to eliminate
references to outdates requirements).
•class rankings (to ensure equity for
students in the determination of class
rankings).
a three-phase sign on one side for their
income; and the city keeps access to the
other side of the board with free static sign
production and application.
•approval of the 6th Street Park concep
tual plan for a dog park. Plans call for the
park to be completed in two phases.
•approval of an agreement with Carter
Watkins Architects Associates Inc., for
planning and design work on Whistlestop
Shops and Auburn City Hall at a cost of
$4,500.
Funding for this will come out of Bar-
row County Special Purpose Local Option
Sales Tax (SPLOST) revenue,
•approval for professional engineering
services of Engineering Management Inc.
(EMI) for the design, easements, bid phase
management and oversight of the drainage
problems associated with the Honeysuck
le Terrace cul-de-sac in the amount of
$14,760. Funding for this will come out of
the city’s roads and stormwater enterprise
funds.
•permanently closing the unopened por
tion of the right-of-way of Poole Circle for
street purposes and incorporating it into the
6th Street Park for public purposes.
•authorizing Po Boys Plumbing Inc. to
install an entrance from Parks Mill Road
to the city’s raw water storage pond for an
amount not to exceed $37,500. The City of
Winder has agreed to reimburse the city for
two-thirds of the final cost, not to exceed
$25,000.
•building and grounds management pol
icy and policies on facilities bid advertise
ment, opening procedures and contracts
awards procedures.
•head lice.
•personnel sick leave bank.
•non-exempt personnel overtime pay.
OTHER ITEMS
Other items on the agenda include:
•a policy on awarding units and trans
ferring credit which will have been tabled
for 30 days for public comment. The BOE
discussed the policy last month.
•a policy on gender equity and sports
which will have been tabled for 30 days
for public comment. The BOE discussed
the policy last month.
•a new Career, Technical and Agri
cultural Education course, AP Computer
Science A.
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_ TerryI*
England
(or Georgia
i
“Representing the
values and interests of
Barrow County has been a
tremendous honor.
I ask for your vote and
your trust to continue
working for Our Future
^ Working Hard
For Barrow County
★ Trusted To Serve
With Integrity
★ Proven Results
Promises Kept
Tuesday, May 24th
Vote Terry England
FOR STATE REPRESENTATIVE
www.TerryEnglandForCeorgia.com
PAID FOR BY THE COMMITTEE TO ELECT TERRY ENGLAND
Education continued from 1A
BOE set to discuss district policies
We will be closed on March 27 for Easter Sunday.
