Newspaper Page Text
The Braselton News
Wednesday, December 23, 2020
Page 3A
GCPS extends
one-time salary
adjustment
The Gwinnett County Board of Education recent
ly approved a one-time salary adjustment of $700
to all active, benefit-eligible employees (as of No
vember 19), who were not included in the award
approved at the district’s November meeting. This
salary adjustment will be paid in a lump sum and
included in these employees' January 2021 monthly
paycheck.
In November, the board approved a $700 payment
to all active, benefit-eligible employees paid on the
Teacher Salary Schedule. Recipients of the payment
approved in November included teachers, coun
selors, speech language pathologists, local school
technology coordinators and media specialists.
Those employees will receive the $700 payment in
their December paycheck.
In making their decision in November, board
members indicated their thanks to Gwinnett’s teach
ers and a desire to extend the one-time salary adjust
ment to others. However, the delay in extending the
salary adjustment to other categories of employees
was the result of the need to manage cash flow for
the district, Gwinnett County Public Schools lead
ers said. Gwinnett County property tax bills were
sent out approximately 45 days later than in prior
years due to the pandemic and because of a modifi
cation to the tax bills to include a new levy imposed
by Gwinnett County. As a result, this year’s proper
ty tax receipts were not due until December 1.
"By announcing the one-time payment adjust
ment in two phases, the district was able to ensure
it would be able to afford it without dipping into
its end-of-the-year fund balance,” explains CEO/
Superintendent J. Alvin Wilbanks. "We know when
we made the announcement for teachers last month
that many of our other employees had questions.
This has been a challenging year for all of our em
ployees, and the Board and I are pleased that we are
able to extend the one-time payment adjustment to
include other categories of employees beyond those
paid on the teacher salary schedule.”
The extension of this one-time payment to other
employees will affect approximately 9.000 employ
ees, including support personnel and school admin
istrators, and will cost the district approximately $8
million. This action does not encumber funds in fu
ture budgets, and, due to the district’s conservative
approach to budgeting, will not decrease the year-
end budgeted ending fund balance.
WJFD hosts annual awards and recognition banquet
The West Jackson Fire
Department held its annu
al Awards and Recognition
Banquet in Braselton re
cently to honor and recog
nize members of the WJFD
staff.
Captain Joel Keith re
ceived his fifth Longevi
ty Award for 25 years of
service and was awarded
a WJFD Axe Plaque for
his tenure and dedication
to the department. Sheri
Brown. WJFD board mem
ber, received a recognition
and appreciation award
for her years of service as
a member of the board of
directors, but announced
her resignation earlier last
month due to moving out
of the fire district.
Firefighter service
awards included:
Capt. David Edge and
Capt. Josh Leblanc — 15
years of service
Fire Marshal Shannon
Martin and Damon Lock-
ridge — 10 years of service
Kenny Dove, Kenyon
Levine and John Landress
— five years of service
The West Jackson Fire
Department, which is cur
rently in the process of
building its second station
located on Ednaville Road,
announced last month the
department’s district had
an ISO Public Protection
Classification Improve
ment.
"We are pleased to an
nounce that on March 1,
2021, our Public Protec
tion Classification will im
prove from a 4 to a 3. This
improvement could mean
lower insurance premiums
for property insurance in
the district,” stated WJFD
Chief Ben Stephens. "This
improvement also makes
WJFD in the top 15 per
cent (15%) of fire depart
ment’s across the country
using ISO. We thank you
for your continued support
to our department and our
community.”
Also new for 2021, the
WJFD will increase its
staffing to five firefighters/
EMTs 24-hours per day
in January, and expects to
take delivery of their 100-
foot Sutphen Ladder Truck
in the third quarter of the
new year.
Hall County suspends youth basketball
Hall County Parks
and Leisure is suspend
ing youth basketball due
to the recent uptick in
COVID-19 cases in Hall
County.
"The decision is made
with great regret, howev
er, the safety and health
of our players, coaches,
and our community re
mains our top priority,”
said Hall County Parks
and Leisure Director
Mike Little.
Youth basketball prac
tices began Nov. 30
with health and safety
guidelines in place due
to the ongoing pandem
ic. Coaches, volunteers
and fans were required to
wear masks, social dis
tancing guidelines were
followed and concessions
were not available, and
a number of other mea
sures were followed in
order to stop the spread
of COVID-19.
“We will reevaluate
the situation after the
first of the year and will
continue to follow state
and local guidelines,”
Little said. "We will also
continue to monitor the
recommendations of the
Georgia Recreation and
Parks Association and
the National Recreation
and Parks Association.”
Youth basketball games
were set to begin Jan. 4.
Members of the Hall County Sheriff’s Office staff await a flurry of activity on
Friday, Dec. 18, distributing more than 100 bicycles to families in need during
the HCSO Christmas Bicycle Program. Pictured are: Danny Sridej, John
Barnes, Santa Claus, Sheriff Gerald Couch, Major Chris Matthews, Captain
Kelley Edwards, Lt. Greg Cochran and Sandy Garrett.
Community helps make
HCSO Christmas bicycle
program a success
The Hall County Sher
iff’s Office exceeded its
goal in its annual Christmas
Bicycle Program.
Sheriff Gerald Couch,
other members of the agen
cy’s command staff and
deputies distributed the bi
cycles at the HCSO head
quarters on Friday, Dec. 18.
Santa was on hand to
help greet families and load
the shiny new bikes into
vehicles. Bikes were also
delivered to the homes of
those families that couldn’t
be present at the event.
The HCSO provided 112
bicycles to those in need at
no cost to them. In addition
to 37 individual families,
the effort provided bicycles
to the Edmondson-Telford
Child Advocacy Center,
Hall-Dawson CASA Pro
gram and Hall County Vic
tim Services.
The HCSO has raised
funding for the program
through the Sheriff’s Show
& Shine summer car show
and donations from dep
uties and the community.
The car show was can
celled this year due to the
pandemic, but support from
local businesses and in
dividuals helped push the
program past its $10,000
goal.
“We knew the program
would be difficult to pull
off this year,” Sheriff
Couch said. “That difficul
ty is the exact reason the bi
cycles for families were so
important this year. We feel
blessed that so many have
stepped up to support the
program to help us provide
a little Christmas joy for
many children who would
have otherwise been with
out gifts.”
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