Newspaper Page Text
The Braselton News
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Page 2A
Are a N e ws
Jackson Countv Board of Education
BOE hears complaints about JCCHS facilities
BY BRANDON REED
Complaints about the need
to upgrade facilities at Jackson
County Comprehensive High
School brought a large crowd to
Monday night’s board of education
meeting, but school officials said
there isn’t enough money to do
some of the things on the group’s
wish list.
Speaking on behalf of some
JCCHS patrons, Steve Crawford
told the Jackson County Board
of Education that the high school
needs better maintenance, new
facilities and a better attendance
policy for students currently being
forced to attend East Jackson
Comprehensive High School.
“You’ve got a lot of cheerlead
ers for this school,” Crawford said.
“We’re fans of the school system.
But today, we’re not fans of what
we’re getting as far as maintenance
and facility at Jackson County High
School.”
The facilities issue arose after
the opening of the new EJCHS last
fall. In several letters to the editor,
JCCHS patrons have complained
that the new school’s facilities are
far superior to JCCHS’ buildings.
Monday night, Crawford read a
prepared statement that expressed
concerns about classroom trailers
being used for storage, water leaks
in the high school gym, the trans
portation of students to the Gordon
Street facility, and the need for
a new gym facility. Crawford’s
statements also touched on a desire
by parents in the Hwy 11/
Hwy 82 “triangle” area
to have a choice in what
school their students
would attend.
But school officials
were not optimistic that
state funding would be
available to do many of
the items mentioned.
“I’m going to be real
truthful and upfront,” said
superintendent Shannon
Adams. “My anticipation is that we
will not qualify for very much high
school money, or for very much
elementary school money. The
facilities section does not make a
distinction by attendance zone at
all.”
Adams said the board would
receive a report from its consultants
on Jan. 17, which will help start an
update of the board’s seven-year
facility plan. Adams said that the
process would let the board know
to some degree how much state
capital outlay money the system
will qualify for in the next year.
Crawford asked if that meant that
the school system would not have
state funds to add on to JCCHS
until EJCHS is full.
“That pretty much is it,” Adams
said. “You earn money through that
program by demonstrating need.
And the way you demonstrate need
is to have a bunch of kids in por
table units. If a local school system
goes and puts forth a lot of local
effort, be it bonded indebtedness
ADAMS
or SPLOST revenue,
then you really kind of
shoot yourself in the
foot, because you have
those kids in permanent
classroom space and
you don’t earn capital
outlay money because
you don’t demonstrate
a need.”
Board chairman Kathy
Wilbanks said the sys
tem has worked to pre
vent using portable classrooms.
“By preventing that, it’s hurt us
this way, because we don’t have the
capital outlay that we can go down
there and spend $10 million,” she
said. “It’s just not there, because
we’ve been pro-active in building
schools.”
Adams said a potential solution
would be to ask voters to pass
another general obligation bond.
“I’m going to be real honest
about that,” he said. “I would be
scared to death of it right now. I
think that the atmosphere among
taxpayers and voters is not good.”
Adams said a lot of money that
could be spent on other things is
going toward interest on bonded
indebtedness.
Crawford said that members of
the parents group would be in
attendance at next month’s board
meeting to hear the results of the
Jan. 17 report.
“We’d like for y’all to use your
professional acumen in finding a
solution for us,” Crawford said.
Election
Advance voting to be held Jan. 28-Feb. 1
Absentee voting for the Feb. 5 election is going on
now in the Administrative Building in Jefferson.
Voting hours for absentee are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Mondays through Fridays. Absentee voting will be held
through Jan. 25.
In order to cast an absentee ballot, a voter must state
one of the following valid reasons for doing so: 75 years
of age or older; will be out of the precinct on election
day from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.; physically disabled; is an
election official who will be performing duties in con
nection with the election; religious holiday; or is a pub
lic servant who is required to be on duty in their precinct
from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on election day.
Advance voting will be held Jan. 28 through Feb. 1.
For this type of voting, there is no reason required to
vote—only that the voter wants to vote early.
Advance voting will also be in the Administrative
Building in Jefferson. Hours will be from 9 a.m. to 7
p.m.
ON THE BALLOT
Local issues on the ballot will be a proposed $15 mil
lion referendum for recreation purposes and alcohol by
the drink sales on Sundays.
Voters will also be required to select a Republican
or Democrat ballot in order to make a selection in the
presidential primary. Democrats on the ballot include
Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, Chris Dodd, John Edwards,
Mike Gravel, Dennis Kucinich, Barack Obama and Bill
Richardson. Republicans on the ballot include Rudy
Giuliani, Mike Huckabee, Duncan Hunter, Alan Keyes,
John McCain, Ron Paul, Mitt Romney, Tom Tancredo
and Fred Thompson.
MLK Jr. Birthday Celebration
Judge Jones to speak at MLK Jr. event
The 24th annual Martin Luther
King Jr. Birthday Celebration
in Jackson County will be held
Sunday, Jan. 20, at St. Paul First
Baptist Church, located at 573
Gordon Street in Jefferson.
The celebration will begin at
3:30 p.m. with a gospel music con
cert presented by “One Accord” of
Commerce. The ecumenical service
will begin at 4 p.m.
The featured speaker will be
Steve Jones, Superior Court judge
of the Western Judicial Circuit,
which includes Oconee and Athens-
Clarke. He was appointed as judge
of this circuit in November 1995 by
Gov. Zell Miller. Prior to this, he
served as municipal court judge for
Athens-Clarke County
from 1992 to 1995 and as
assistant district attorney
for the Western Judicial
Circuit from 1987 to
1992. He served as direc
tor of the child support
recovery unit from 1978
to 1985.
Jones has a bachelor
of business administra
tion degree from the
University of Georgia in
1978 and a juris doctor degree
from the UGA School of Law in
1987. A native of Athens-Clarke
County, Jones has served on numer
ous civic and community boards, as
well as receiving many awards and
JONES
recognitions. He is mar
ried to the former Lillian
Kincey.
AWARDS TO BE
PRESENTED
Several awards in dif
ferent categories will
be presented to citi
zens from throughout
Northeast Georgia.
Among those to be rec
ognized are Jefferson
Motors, Entrepreneur of
the Year, and Mrs. Brenda Duncan,
retired Jefferson city clerk.
The celebration is sponsored by
the Jackson County MLK Birthday
Council. The Rev. R. E. Cooper is
the president.
Jackson Countv
Bond vote for recreation projects ahead Feb. 5
Rec. director to speak
BY ANGELA GARY
A county-wide recreation center,
land for more parks and improve
ments at current facilities are among
the projects that would be funded
with a $15 million bond referendum
that voters will decide on Feb. 5.
Recreation director Rick Sanders
said the plans were developed by a
citizens’ committee.
“If we can get this done, that will
get us in good shape for the next 15
to 20 years,” Sanders said.
The projects would get under way
after the bond vote and be completed
in 24 to 36 months.
If the bonds are approved, recre
ation staff estimates that the aver
age cost to a property owner with
a home valued at $150,000 will be
approximately $25 per year.
Sanders said one of the benefits
of the bonds would be increasing
recreation programs for people of
all ages, an expo center that could
attract large events to the county,
and an indoor aquatic center that
could be used by area high schools.
The expo center would be used for
agriculture shows, rodeos, concerts
and other events. It would seat 4,000
to 5,000 people.
“We have a lot of agriculture in
the county,” Sanders said. “It will
The Hoschton Women’s Civic Club will host Ricky Sanders,
director of the Jackson County Parks and Recreation
m., at the depot,
erendum on Feb.
Department, on Tuesday, Jan. 22, at 7:30
Sanders will speak about the bond ret
5, asking voters to approve funds for additional parks and
recreation programs.
Anyone interested in learning about the bond referendum
is invited to attend.
Also, Kristen Smith of Hamilton State Bank will be on the
program.
allow us to have a lot of events that
will bring people into the county.”
Additional programs that could
be added by the new and expanded
recreation facilities include racquet
ball, adult volleyball and walking.
“We need to be providing more of
these programs,” Sanders said.
The projects include:
• a new recreation center adjacent
to Lamer Murphy Park in Jefferson.
The center would have two multi
purpose basketball courts with
seating; an eight-lane indoor pool,
including an aerobic pool and kid
play area; two racquetball courts; a
meeting room that would seat 150
people; and parks and recreation
staff offices. The center would be
built to serve as an emergency shel
ter, when needed.
• buying 340 acres of land for
additional parks. This includes 79
acres on Holiday Cemetery Road,
80 acres on Creek Nation Road, 22
acres adjacent to Hurricane Shoals
Park, 80 acres in the Plainview area
and 20 acres adjacent to Lamar
Murphy Park.
• a “Field of Dreams” built for
wheelchair participants.
• a covered arena exposition center
adjacent to Hurricane Shoals Park.
• a large soccer field and tennis
courts at the West Jackson Park.
• a soccer/football stadium with
restroom and concession building at
the Lamar Murphy Park.
Recycle!
FOR THE BEST BUYS, READ THE CLASSIFIED ADS
Enviro-Grind
Have Underbrush &
Hedge Taken Over?
ENVIRO-GRIND
Can Make Your Property
Have A More Park-Like Appearance.
706-680-0346
www.enviro-grind.com • Mitchell Owensby
Cuslorn’Slone? Sne?
v Residential & Commercial
i INDOOR & OUTDOOR
\ FIREPLACES
FOUNDATIONS • WALKWAYS
FREE ESTIMATES • LICENSED & INSURED
Lin'd open dent ly O w necj&‘ O per at ed I
S9&!B5.9!l.S96
tior pe mm TiigiFr am
Christian Outreach
Thrift St
ore
k)£W and usev Fuewiruae,
viArreesses, eLor^&,
HOUSetJOCD goods, Ere...
('"Noah's Ark
335-6084
2183 N. Elm St Commerce, GA
Your patronage helps provide for those in need.
This* llteyTo
Showroom Samples Close Outs Scratch-N-Dent Warranty Claims
premium furniture
outlet prices
STEAKS • SEAFOOD • AND MORE!!
Great food in a casual dining atmosphere!
Early Bird Specials 4 p.m. ■ 6 p.m. Tues. - Sat.
Make Plans Now to join us on Valentine's Day for a special menu!
Located 1.8 miles off 1-85 Exit 129 in Hoschton
Hours of Operation: Tuesday - Saturday 1 1:00 a.m. until ??
Closed Sunday and Monday
115 Towne Center Pkwy.
Hoschton, GA 30548
Q ue<$,.«
(706) 335-4944
O'
706-824-7265
321 Pottery Factory Drive, Commerce -- across from OUT3ACK STEAK House