About Barrow journal. (Winder, Ga.) 2008-2016 | View Entire Issue (July 27, 2016)
PAGE 2A BARROW JOURNAL WEDNESDAY, JULY 27, 2016 Barrow high schools below state average on Milestones By Al ex Pace Journal Reporter Barrow County’s high schools are still lagging behind the state average on standardized test scores. The Barrow County Board of Education discussed the recently released Georgia Milestones results at its July 26 meeting. The assessment tests students in several subjects, scoring them on levels 1-4 (with 4 being the highest). District-wide, Barrow County School System high schools scored worse than the state in most categories. BCSS had more students score in the bottom category than the state percentage in all sub jects except biology, U.S. history and economics. But BCSS did improve its scores over last year. Fewer students scored in the bottom cate gory this year in all subjects except physical science. The district performed worst in physical science, with 44 percent of its students scoring in the lowest category. Director of secondary education Melinda Kay said this may be because many of the district’s higher-performing students don't take physical science, rather honors biology. “We know we're not where we want to be, but we are definitely making some gains to get there,” said testing and date specialist Jennie Persinger. The scores were varied between the two high schools. The percentages of those scoring in the lowest category include: 2016 End of Course Results Percentage Scoring in Bottom Category Subject AHS WBHS District State 9th grade lit 16.7% 28.7% 24% 23% American lit 17.9 24.1 27 25 Algebra I 37.5 37 32* 30 Analytic Geom. 35.1 37.1 28 27 Biology 24.9 18.7 23 32 Phys. Science 45.5 42.2 44 34 U.S. history 21.8 20.4 24 25 Economics 23.7 36.6 27 28 *District score includes middle school scores. END OF GRADE TESTS BCSS elementary and middle school students had less students score in the bottom catego ry than the state in most subjects on End of Grade assessments. These assessments are given to students in third-eighth grades in language arts, math, science and social studies. District-wide, scores for the third-eighth grade End of Course test improved in all subjects. BCSS had fewer students score in the bottom category than the state in all subjects except sixth and eighth grade language arts and sixth grade social studies. But the district had fewer students than the state average scoring as proficient and above in several subjects. They were: • sixth, seventh and eighth grade language arts • sixth and eighth grade math • seventh grade science • third and fourth grade social studies See a breakdown of the End of Grade scores in the August 3 issue of the Barrow Journal. KEEPING CURRENT BID POLICY Also at its meeting, the BOE decided to keep its current bid policy. The BOE has been discussing the need for guidelines on choosing a local versus a low bidder. Apparently, the BOE has decided its current policy is suitable. The policy allows the board to consider certain factors (service, location and timeliness of delivery) when choosing bids that aren’t necessarily the low bid. The BOE will continue to receive the recommendation of district staff when making bid decisions. FUNDRAISER POLICY Also at its meeting, the BOE opted to table a policy revision on its fundraisers and solic itations. Assistant superintendent of business services Jennifer Houston recommended the policy prohibit school employees from depositing or reconciling funds from PTO or booster clubs. She also recommends requiring a more timely statement of funds from fundraisers. But PTOs and booster clubs are independent of the school district. The BOE discussed whether it has the authority to control these fundraisers. District staff plan to talk with the school governance teams before presenting the policy revision again. OTHER BUSINESS Also at its meeting, the BOE: • discussed its re-accreditation process which it must complete every five years. • discussed the replacement Russell Middle School. McNeal Road has been paved and temporary stripes have been applied. The state fire marshal’s office is inspecting the building later this week. • discussed its strategic plan, which it will likely vote on at its Aug. 2 meeting. • learned construction on the new elementary school is well under way. The district could soon release a survey on naming the school. Winder approves SPLOST resolution City of Winder officials approved a 2018 Spe cial Purpose Local Option Sales Tax Resolution during a called meeting Tuesday night although there was some hesitancy on the part of at least one council mem ber. Bob Dixon said with the press in attendance he want ed city attorney John Stell to explain exactly what could and could not be done in terms of the division of pro ceeds from a SPLOST. Stell explained SPLOST funds could not be used for reve nue bond debt. Councilman Dixon then asked city manager Don Toms to explain what Wind er would be using its share of the SPLOST for. Toms said Winder would receive 20.33 percent and it would be used for projects such as roads, sidewalks, parking and recreation as well as benefiting the fire and police departments. At this point mayor David Maynard stopped Dixon from continuing with his questioning. “I’m running this meet ing,” Maynard said. "This is not a press conference. We are here to vote on this. If you need more information to help determine your vote, then that's fine. Otherwise, let’s move on.” Dixon said he was asking questions because he needed more information to decide how he was going to vote. Dixon did eventually vote in favor of the resolution. Prior to the meeting Dixon told a reporter he believed the county was wanting too high of a percentage in the SPLOST 2018. “We’ll go to court if we have to,” Dixon said. The City of Auburn also passed the SPLOST 2018 resolution although council members in that munici pality also had reservations about it. (See related story beginning on page 1A). Also at Monday’s called meeting, the Winder City Council voted to suspend the business license for Shipman Auto Repair at 251 N. Broad Street. There was concern about the son of the business owner working at the location despite having several run-ins with the law. When the business was granted a license, it was with the stipulation this person would not be on location. At one point, the Winder Police Department found him hiding under a car at the location. The council voted unan imously to suspend the license until a hearing on Aug. 2 at which time the business could be perma nently closed down. Coun cil members Al Brown and Michael Healan sustained from voting on the motion. BOC hears more budget details By Sharon Hog'an Journal Reporter The Barrow County Board of Commis sioners continued work on its proposed shortened Fiscal Year 2017 budget during a meeting on Tuesday, prior to the monthly meeting. The BOC, in an attempt to get their fiscal year to align with the state, will adopt a nine-month, Oct. 1, 2016 through June 30, 2017, budget for FY2017. The county’s fis cal year will then run July 1 through June 30, each year. The meeting was spent clearing up questions about Fiscal Year 2017 Capital Improvement Projects that were included in the county’s five-year Capital Improve ment Plan. County manager Mike Renshaw explained several issues that were ques tioned by the commissioners during the budget meeting on July 19, including: •additional inspector’s position for the stormwater department at a cost of $50,700, including benefits. Renshaw said contract ing out this work would be more costly to the county and less flexible than having someone in-house. The person hired to the new position would also help out with mapping and GIS work pertaining to the county’s stormwater system. The state cur rently requires the county’s urbanized area to be mapped and inspected and 35 percent of the county is urbanized. Renshaw rec ommended including this expense in the proposed FY 2017 budget. •9-1-1 Center - $45,000 for voice record er and $302,000 for phone system. Ren shaw stated the $45,000 for voice recorder had been reduced to $27,000. The current phone system hasn’t been upgraded in 11 years and it will not allow emergency calls to be texted into the 9-1-1 center and the new system will enable individuals to be able to text in calls for help. •roads and bridges - $176,000 for front- end loader and used skid steer/Bobcat. Renshaw said the current rubber tire front end loader is a 1996 model and it needs $60,000 in repairs. He said the department needs two usable tractors. •fire - service truck upgrades totaling $17,120. This expense is to upgrade a flat bed truck that the fire department currently has. The truck would then be used as a service truck. •tax assessor - additional position for someone to help with appraisals. Tax commissioner Don Elrod said this could help the county to see additional revenue. “Commercial/industrial appraisals are hurt ing right now,” Elrod said. “We are spread thin right now.” •sheriff’s department - five patrol dep uties, one School Resource Officer, four Criminal Investigations Division investi gators and 20 vehicles. Sheriff Judd Smith said the additional staff is needed to handle the large call volume that the department currently receives and the new vehicles are needed because of the deplorable condition of the vehicles in the sheriff's department fleet, "Today I had two deputies pushing one of our patrol vehicles into the parking lot at Akins Ford in the 100 degree heat,” Smith said. Smith told the BOC that so far this year he has spent over $180,000 on repairs to his fleet and he was only budget ed $100,000. BOC chairman Pat Graham asked Smith if he would be willing to sell the numerous weapons that he has ware housed in order to raise money to put into the purchase of new vehicles. Smith said, “I would be glad to sell the weapons. But that money is yours (BOC) to do with as you see fit.” Smith said the process to sell the weapons is a five-year process. •county fees - Renshaw presented a list of proposed fee increases to be implement ed in the FY 2017 budget. Fees in sanitary sewer, recreation, environmental health and other areas would increase as part of the proposed plan. No action was taken on the proposed FY 2017 budget. The BOC will vote at a date to be announced later. County approves SPLOST projects By Sharon Hog'an Journal Reporter The Barrow County Board of Commis sioners unanimously approved the list of proposed projects to be included in the 2018 Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST). At the meeting on Tuesday, county man ager Mike Renshaw presented a list of proposed projects to be funded with the county’s portion of the $56.6 million total projected from the five-year SPLOST, including: •$8,663 million, or 30 percent, for road, street, bridge, curb, sidewalk and stormwa ter improvement projects. •$8,663 million, or 30 percent, for the purchase of equipment, including voting equipment, transportation vehicles and equipment, communication equipment, and technology, systems and software upgrades and improvements. •$2,887 million, or 10 percent, for fire equipment and facilities. •$4,909 million, or 17 percent, for sewer system projects and equipment. •$2,310 million, or eight percent, for water system projects and equipment. •$1,443 million, or five percent, for county facility projects and improvements. The total for the projected projects is $28,878 million. The county will take $11.3 million off the top of the revenue collected to fund a Level 2 recreation project at Fort Yargo State Park that will include soccer and lacrosse fields. Before the vote was taken to approve the list of proposed county projects, BOC chairman Pat Graham reiterated the fact that City of Winder officials refused to agree to an inter-governmental agreement that would allow $4.5 million to be pulled off the top of the SPLOST collections to pay down county debt for the jail and courthouse. Since the City of Winder refused the inter-governmental agreement the upcom ing SPLOST vote will only be for a five- year period instead of six years. “In 2018, if the SPLOST is approved as is, the $4.5 million annual payment will be on the property tax bills for county taxpay ers,” Graham said. "This could amount to 2.7 mills.” Graham said she tried to explain to the Winder mayor that 30 percent of the SPLOST is paid by people outside Barrow County. OTHER BUSINESS In other business at Tuesday’s meeting, the BOC: •approved the Georgia Department of Transportation’s state highway system revision order of the commissioner regard ing the West Winder Bypass. •approved the GaDOT’s state highway system revision authorizing resolution for removal or abandonment regarding the West Winder Bypass. •approved a contract with the Northeast Georgia Regional Commission regarding the Department of Human Services Coor dinated Transportation Program for the senior center. ^ Northeast Georgia PHYSICIANS GROUP Urology Welcome to the Group! Ronald L. Brock, MD; Kapil Pareek, MD; Raj Ayyatliurai, MD; Devendar Katkoori, MD; and the staff at Northeast Georgia Physicians Group (NGPG) Urology welcome Kalpit Patel, MD, to the group. NGPG Urology Medical Plaza B 1404 River Place, Stc. 402 Braselton, GA 30517 770-219-UROL (8765) Monday - Friday: 8:30 a.m. - 5 p.m. North Ka, Pit Patel, MD 'east G, 1V 1LJ ^ Physician, Grn Urology ° rou P ~ Unseetz,, ‘^rreiaru 'Hty " Fn ons ~ ELevritezi Pca Dr. Patel received his medical degree from Northeast Ohio Medical University and completed his residency in urology at Cleveland Clinic - Akron General Medical Center. Dr. Patel is a member of the American Urological Association and the American College of Physicians. ~ p ehdc on au tcertre < CAJi ^tre«±H teKt dutcer *3?3 0 >y/«rolo 3 y
