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Page 2A
The Braselton News
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Area N e ws
Jackson County Board of Education
Fatal collison
Public charter school may be on horizon
Jackson County looking to start ‘Career Academy’
BY KERRI TESTEMENT
A public charter school focusing on stu
dents’ careers is the latest project for the
Jackson County School System.
The county school system is seeking a
$5,000 grant from the Georgia Department
of Education to begin planning a proposed
Career Academy. The grant would fund
planning activities prior to a charter being
approved by the state board of education.
Superintendent Shannon Adams said
Thursday that the Jackson County School
System's chances of landing the grant are
“excellent.”
A Career Academy in Jackson County would be a
partnership between the county school system and
Lanier Technical College.
The academy would provide dual enrollment pro
grams for high school students in a career-oriented
classroom.
“Kids will be able to get credit for vocational classes,
which they can do now, but they would have a chance
to get dual enrollment,” Adams said. “We would hope
that it would create a lot of interest outside of our
school system for other kids to come in as well.”
Proposed programs include: automotive, public
safety, digital design, early childhood education,
healthcare science, manufacturing, marketing, profes
sional foods, ag bio science and cosmetology. An alter
native school and a Nova Net Lab for non-traditional
students may also be included in the academy.
The proposed Career Academy may call the existing
Gordon Street Center, Jefferson, its home. The Gordon
Street Center currently houses the alternative school,
Regional Evening School and several classes for stu
dents at Jackson County Comprehensive High School.
Adams said opening the Career Academy
at the Gordon Street Center would require
major renovations to the labs at the facil
ity.
On a related matter, community leaders
are taking a look at the financial costs of the
Gordon Street Center, which is educating
fewer out-of-system students through the
Regional Evening School.
When the Regional Evening School was
established almost a decade ago, it was open
to students in the Jefferson, Commerce,
Banks County and Barrow County school
systems.
With declining student enrollment from those school
systems, Jackson County school leaders are reviewing
the financial impact of the Regional Evening School.
Adams said the Jackson County School System is
paying an estimated $300,000 to $400,000 a year in
local funds to operate the Regional Evening School.
“The need of students that go there are tremendous,
but there are just not that many students there,” Adams
said. “It’s not serving that many students right now.”
The fate of the Regional Evening School remains
unknown at this time, he added. A task force is slated
to ask community leaders about their support for the
program.
And should the school system move forward with its
plans for the Career Academy, an estimated $700,000
to $900,000 in initial grant funds from two state agen
cies are available. The Jackson County School System
may sustain the Career Academy with local funds and
possibly a HOPE grant for dual-enrollment students.
“We’re really, really early in that whole process. We
haven’t even completed the planning grant,” Adams
said of the proposed Career Academy.
ADAMS
Election
Schaefer to seek 10th Congressional seat
BY CHRIS BRIDGES
Nancy Schaefer, who has repre
sented Banks County in the state
senate for the past four years, will
run for U.S. Congress in 2008.
Senator Schaefer made the
announcement earlier this month
that she will challenge first-term
congressman Paul Broun Jr. for his
10th Congressional seat. Broun is
in his first term as a congressman.
The 10th Congressional District
runs from the eastside of Georgia
from Richmond County on the
South to Rabun and Town coun
ties on the north. The
district includes a total
of 21 counties, includ
ing Jackson County.
Eight of the counties in
the district make up the
50th Senatorial District,
which Schaefer has rep
resented in the state sen
ate the past four years.
Schaefer is a previous
Republican nominee for
Lieutenant Governor in
1994 and ran in the Republican pri
mary for Governor in 1998. She is
also a former candidate
for mayor of Atlanta. She
is involved in many reli
gious organizations.
Schaefer joins
state representative
Barry Fleming in the
Republication primary to
challenge Broun. More
are expected to enter the
race.
Democrats Terry
Holley and Bobby Saxon
have also announced they are seek
ing the office.
SCHAEFER
Gwinnett firefighter killed in 1-85 accident
A Gwinnett County firefighter was killed in a three-
car collision on 1-85 in Jackson County on Friday morn
ing.
Lt. Don Howard Kirkpatrick, 46, Hartwell, was
off-duty at the time of the accident, according to the
Gwinnett County Department of Fire and Emergency
Services.
Two others were injured when a vehicle crossed the
interstate and struck Kirkpatrick’s vehicle about three
miles south of Commerce, according to the Georgia
State Patrol.
Kirkpatrick started his career with the Gwinnett
County Fire Department in April 1981.
“This is a tremendous loss for the members of our fire
service family,” Capt. Thomas Rutledge, spokesperson
for the fire department, said on Friday.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the immediate
family during this difficult time,” Rutledge added.
Barrow County
Ft. Yargo receives award from Georgia DNR
For the best park programming
in Georgia, look no further than Ft.
Yargo State Park in Winder.
The Georgia Department of
Natural Resources recently honored
22 state parks and historic sites
for customer service, programming,
maintenance and other achieve
ments. Fort Yargo State Park was
honored as the best in year round
park programming. The award
was announced during the January
Managers Conference and the
February Rangers Conference held
at Unicoi State Park in Helen.
Ft. Yargo was selected based on
the wide range of programming
held throughout the year and for the
numerous events held at the park
including Xterra Points Series Off
Road Triathlon, NORBA Georgia
Championship Series Mountain
Bike Race, Dirty Spokes Mountain
Bike Race, Tri-The-Parks Triathlon,
Memorial Day Celebration, National
Trails Day Work Party, Yellow
River Bass Masters Youth Fishing
Tournament, Siege Yargo Trailblazer
Race, 4th of July Celebration, 2nd
Annual Intertribal Powwow and
Autumn Nights at Yargo.
Ft. Yargo staff members were also
honored for their work with the
Barrow County School system in
the implementation of a new Safe
Kids Program.
Ft. Yargo offers programs to
schools, Scout troops, civic clubs
and sportsmen groups. Staff at the
park teach hunter safety classes and
conduct classes for college groups
on park management and natural
resource management.
Ft. Yargo’s staff also present liv
ing-history demonstrations at the
old fort and have added other struc
tures including a smoke house, cook
shed and educational kiosk.
Volunteers and partnerships are an
important part of Fort Yargo’s pro
gramming efforts. Partners include
SORBA, Friends of Fort Yargo,
Yargo Biking Association, the
Master Gardener Program, various
living history groups, the Georgia
Forestry Commission and DNR’s
Wildlife Resources Division.
Jackson County
Airport runway extension to begin in Jackson Co.
With a $1.6 million AirGeorgia grant in hand and a
funding commitment from the county, work is expect
ed to begin the first week in April on lengthening the
runway at the Jackson County Airport.
Local officials went to Hawkinsville last week to
sign the contract, which allocates the money to the
Georgia Department of Transportation, which will
disburse it to the Jackson County Airport Authority.
The grant was approved the last week in February.
AirGeorgia is a program established by Gov. Sonny
Perdue and is funded by state revenue from the fed
eral tobacco suit settlement.
The project would extend the runway 900 feet to
5,001 feet, long enough for small corporate jets to use
the facility, explains Bob Stapleton, airport manager.
The low bid for the work is $2.7 million, and the
project is expected to take about a year. A half million
cubic yards of dirt must be brought in to create the
expansion, which takes the runway across a gully.
“The first week of April we should be moving
dirt,” Stapleton said. The contractor is Ace Grading,
Dawsonville, but Stapleton said Ace will use local
contractors to move and haul the dirt for the project.
“A good bit of those funds, with all likelihood, will
stay in Jackson County,” he predicted.
In addition to the $2.7 million contract, the project
will require approximately another $300,000 for engi
neering, environmental work, design and administra
tion, Stapleton said. Other sources of revenue include
over $1 million in Federal Aviation Administration
money put aside for the project over several years,
and approximately $385,000 from a previous project.
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