Newspaper Page Text
Serving Braselton, Hoschton, Chateau Elan, Traditions, Reunion, Deaton Creek and West Jackson $1.00 copy
Wednesday, February 23, 2022
Vol. 15 No. 11 A publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. www.BraseltonNewsTODAY.com 12 pages
Jackson Co. Schools
Jackson BOE
Brown, the cur
rent principal of
North Oconee High School,
was named by the BOE as its
only finalist during a called
board meeting
the morning of
Feb. 17.
The board
will now have
to wait a min
imum of 14
days before it
can take a final
vote to officially
name Brown as
superintendent.
He is replacing April How
ard who is retiring as super
intendent after serving in the
The Jackson
County Board
of Education
has announced
its finalist for
school superin
tendent of the
booming sys
tem.
Philip
PHILIP BROWN
names new superintendent
position for the last decade,
“AH candidates went
through a very deliberate and
thorough search process,” said
BOE chairman Don Clerici.
“In the end. Dr. Brown was
the top candidate. The board
believes that Dr. Brown will
quickly earn the respect of
the staff and community. I ap
preciate how hard the board
has worked through the entire
search process. We are excited
to work with Dr. Brown.”
Brown was one of three fi
nalists for the job of superin
tendent at Morgan County in
2019.
Brown has been principal of
North Oconee for the past 11
years. Under his leadership,
North Oconee is ranked as one
of the top five high schools
in the state according to the
state's CCRPI.
North Oconee was also rec
ognized as one of America's
Best High Schools by numer
ous national publications, in
cluding U.S. News and World
Report and received national
recognition for being one of
the best STEM high schools in
the country. The current grad
uation rate for North Oconee
is 98.9%.
North Oconee is an Ad
vanced Placement (AP)
School of Distinction and is
one of the few high schools in
the state to offer the Advanced
Placement Capstone Diploma.
The school is also consis
tently ranked as one of the top
public schools in athletics by
the Georgia High School As
sociation. North Oconee was
ranked as the top public school
in 4A for the past school year.
Brown served as the princi
pal of Oconee County Middle
School from July 2009 through
May 2011. Before being
named principal of OCMS, he
served as an assistant principal
for the 2008-2009 school year.
Brown taught middle school
math and science in Oconee,
See Superintendent, page 6A
Market begins
Photo by Ben Munro
Braselton resident Rod Saravia (right), of Sabor Provisions, helps a customer with an empanada
purchase Friday (Feb. 18) during the first Braselton Farmers Market of the year.
Hoschton
Hoschton PD close to moving into station
By Ben Munro
ben@mainstreetnews. com
Hoschton police chief
Brad Hill said the depart
ment is “hopefully a couple
weeks out” from occupying
its new space at a facility at
4162 Hwy. 53.
The site was formerly a
florist but is being repur
posed as the city’s police
headquarters.
“Everything is looking
great in there,” Hill told the
Hoschton City Council on
Monday (Feb. 21).
Hill said the department
— which was revived by the
city in 2021 after being dis
banded 11 years earlier — is
looking to hire a police clerk
and another officer.
He also said the depart
ment's patches have been
received and he's “ready to
start getting the uniforms
done.”
Hill added that he’s close
to completing ordinances,
which will be sent to the
city’s attorney and then go
before the council for ap
proval.
“So we're getting really,
really close,” Hill said of the
department overall. “I'm ex
cited about it. and I think the
whole city is excited about
it.”
In a related matter, the
council approved an agree
ment with the county for the
Hoschton Police Department
to provide assistance to and
receive assistance from the
Jackson County Sheriff's
Office. The council also ap
proved a contract with the
county to house Hoschton's
inmates at $40 per day per
inmate.
CITY HALL UPDATE
The City of Hoschton
will enter into contract
See Hoschton, page 6A
West Jackson
Child dies in
Hoschton house fire
A 10-year-old girl was
killed and her mother was in
jured in a residential house fire
in Hoschton on Saturday.
The names of the girl and
her mother have not been of
ficially released, but online
posts from the family have
identified the deceased juve
nile as Kaitlyn Price and her
mother as Sabrina Price.
According to a Jackson
County Sheriff’s Office news
release, deputies were called
to a residential fire on Skelton
Rd. around 11:30 p.m. on Sat
urday, Feb. 19.
“The caller advised her
10-year-old daughter was
trapped inside a bedroom,”
according to the press re
lease. “Deputies arrived at the
home to find it fully engulfed
in flames. Contact was made
with the caller who advised
her daughter was still in the
bedroom. Deputies attempted
to make entry however were
unsuccessful due to the smoke
and flames.”
Fire personnel arrived on
the scene and were able to
make entry and located the
child. She was taken to North
east Georgia Medical Center
and was pronounced dead.
The mother was taken to
Grady Hospital for her inju
ries. According to the online
updates from the family, she
has second degree bums in her
throat and lungs, as well as in
juries to her skin.
Deputies were previously
called to the residence earlier
that day (around 2 p.m.) for a
dispute. S. Price had reported
a man was at the residence
See Fire, page 6A
Housing
Clarification: Traditions
lots not going rental;
firm only buying
4-5 houses to rent
A news release from a
Nashville-based build-to-
rent firm incorrectly sug
gested that the company
planned to buy lots in Tra
ditions of Braselton to build
high-end rental houses.
Kinloch Partners said in
its original news release
that it would build what it
calls Single-Family Rentals
(SFR) in Traditions, along
with projects in Nashville
Tenn. and Blythewood, S.C.
However, the firm is only
buying four or five exist
ing homes in Traditions to
become part of its rental
See Traditions, page 6A
MAILING LABEL
O
Braselton
Major work along the river
Photo by Ben Munro
The Town of Braselton will spend $2.27 million for
a stream bank restoration project along the Mul
berry River. Some of the town’s infrastructure is
at risk if erosion problems persist.
Braselton spending
over $2 million to
shore up Mulberry
stream bank
By Ben Munro
ben@mainstreetnews.com
With $6 million worth of in
frastructure at stake, the town
of Braselton will soon spend
over $2 million for improve
ments to the Mulberry river-
bank.
The town council last week
awarded a $2.27 million bid to
restore the riverbank follow
ing years of erosion. The proj
ect will improve an approx
imate mile worth of stream
bank.
“It's extremely important,”
town manager Jennifer Scott
said. “It’s a combination of
factors that have created the
issue, and it’s obviously been
happening over time. The
large water and large winds
are what caused the issues.”
While erosion had been a
problem for years, Hurricane
Michael in 2018 exacerbated
the issue. In fact, erosion had
gotten so severe that a sewer
line had been exposed. The
See River, page 3A
Downtown
Hoschton
Hoschton
DDA looks to
hire part-time
director
By Ben Munro
ben@mainstreetnews. com
Similar to other cities,
Hoschton’s Downtown
Development Authority
could soon be overseen by
a paid employee.
The downtown devel
opment authority (DDA)
voted Feb. 15 to hire a
part-time executive direc
tor. The DDA’s request
will now go before the
Hoschton City Council for
approval.
“We want to go to the
next level and bring in a
See DDA, page 6A
