About Barrow journal. (Winder, Ga.) 2008-2016 | View Entire Issue (March 23, 2016)
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. DEALER SALE! Now thru April 3‘ 10% - 60% off BMdBmMfeWMlMlH "MU Ho MkaBS SteOSa a© _ 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.
