Newspaper Page Text
The Braselton News
Page 3A
Wednesday, March 22, 2023
Schools
JCSS hires new assistant principals for next school year
The Jackson County
School System has an
nounced the hires of four
new assistant principals
for the upcoming 2023-24
school year.
JCSS is promoting three
internal candidates to the
position. Wendy Dillow
will serve at East Jack-
son Elementary School;
Jessie Wood at East Jack-
son Comprehensive High
School; and Jade Paustian
will serve as West Jackson
Middle School. Maysville
Elementary has hired Kelli
Hall, who comes to JCSS
from a nearby school sys
tem.
All four will begin in
their new positions during
the upcoming 2023-24
school year.
More details about each
hire include;
•Dillow served as a stu
dent teacher during East
Jackson Elementary's in
augural year in 2003-04
prior to completing her
undergraduate degree in
the Spring of 2004. She
has been a EJES ever since
then, serving in a wide-va-
riety of positions that
include teaching. Multi-
Tiered System of Supports
(MTSS) Coordinator and
Parent and Family Engage
ment Specialist. She has
held her current position of
MTSS-Coordinator for the
past two years.
•Wood has been with
Jackson County Schools
for the past eight years and
is in the midst of her 14th
year in education. She has
served at EJCHS for the
past six years, the last four
of which as the instruction
al coach. Wood, who was
named EJCHS' Teacher of
the Year in 2019, will help
transition the eighth grad
ers from EJCHS into the
high school portion of the
building in her new role as
assistant principal.
•Paustian is in her eighth
year in education and is the
current Instructional Coach
at West Jackson Middle
School. She previously was
a teacher at North Oconee
High School, where she was
named the Teacher of the
Year in 2020 and the Girls
Lacrosse Area 4-AAAAA
Coach of the Year in 2022.
•Hall is currently an in
structional coach at Oak-
wood Elementary School
in Hall County. She is in
her ninth year in educa
tion. Hall noted her family
moved to Jackson County
nearly two years ago and
she was looking to engrain
herself into the Jackson
County community and al
low her two daughters to at
tend school where they live.
Publix continued from 1A
Schools
Jackson County schools announce
district leadership changes
The Jackson County
School System has an
nounced a trio of changes to
district leadership positions,
following the March Board
of Education meeting.
JCSS announced Lisa
Ellis as the new Director
of Elementary Education,
while Jason Wester will
serve as the Assistant Su
perintendent of Student
Services. The system also
announced Taylor Blake as
the new Director of School
Nutrition.
of Braselton, for a chief’s
vehicle that includes medi
cal equipment and a drone.
The SUV also serves as a
unified command post with
the Braselton Police De
partment in the event of a
large-scale incident.
•a mini pumper in 2019.
The pumper is essentially
a fire engine that fits on a
four-wheel-drive truck, al
lowing for higher maneu
verability.
Ellis is in her second year
as the principal of Gum
Springs Elementary School.
Wester has served as the
principal of Jackson Coun
ty High School since 2019.
Ellis and Wester will begin
their new positions on July
1. The search for new prin
cipal hires will begin imme
diately.
“Mrs. Ellis and Mr. West
er have been huge assets to
our school system, serving
in a multitude of positions,
most recently as principals
of two of the largest schools
within our county. I am
looking forward to working
with them in their new posi
tions as they continue their
work to benefit the students
within our system," Su
perintendent Philip Brown
said. “We welcome Ms.
Blake to Jackson County
and look forward to relying
on her expertise in school
nutrition to ensure we pro
vide our students with a va
riety of choices for school
breakfast and lunch."
Blake comes to the Jack-
son County School System
after serving as the Assis
tant Director for School
Nutrition for Forsyth Coun
ty Schools. She previously
served in Gwinnett County
Schools as a Coordinator
of Nutrition Support. She
holds a degree from Le Cor
don Bleu College of Culi
nary Arts and bachelors and
masters degrees from Geor
gia State University. Blake
will begin her new position
April 10.
Stephens, who praised
the work of the appara
tus committee in planning
for the vehicles, said he’s
excited to bolster the de
partment's fire-fighting
resources.
“It's great to be able to
round out that plan — to
get the right equipment
in the right place with the
right firefighters so that we
can better serve this com
munity," Stephens said.
square feet, with 12,000
square feet planned for shops
and one out parcel.
Project developer Will
Cobb, who also developed
the new Publix in Jefferson,
said building construction
could begin within four
months, “give or take." Cobb
said he’s already in discus
sions with potential tenants,
including restaurants, for the
shops and the out parcel.
According to Cobb, shop
ping center features include
golf cart parking and a mez
zanine level for dining.
Hoschton city officials
participated in a construction
meeting last week, which in
cluded discussion of the de
velopment’s water and sew
er connections. According
to Hoschton Public Works
Director Joe Hayes, Publix
will tie into a 12-inch water
line planned along Hwy. 53.
The Twin Lakes develop
ment will provide the sewer
connection. Kolter Homes,
which is developing Twin
Lakes, left a crossing for
sewer tie-in from one side of
Twin Lakes Blvd. to the oth
er (Kolter designed the Twin
Lakes development for three
commercial areas along
Hwy. 53). Stormwater mon
itoring will be conducted by
a representative from Publix,
who the city will monitor.
This store will be the third
new Publix built in the area
in the past year. The Jeffer
son Publix opened in Febru
ary, following the addition of
a Publix in Winder in 2022.
The new Hoschton store
will be located approximate
ly five miles from the Publix
at West Jackson Crossing at
the comer of Hwy. 332 and
Hwy. 124.
CREEK CONCERNS
As work begins at the new
Publix site, Hoschton resi
dent Ross Billingsley voiced
concern for the creek behind
the Publix property.
Speaking to the city coun
cil on Monday (March 20),
Billingsley, who lives in
Cresswind, asked that a silt
fence be installed immedi
ately at the site to protect
the stream that feeds into
the lakes at Twin Lakes and
Cresswind.
“It’s actually pristine,” he
said. “There's minnows in it
right now.”
Billingsley said he was
told the silt fence would be
installed once tree clearing
was complete.
“There’s plenty of access
down there,” he said. “We've
had a good week this week.
There's no rain in the fore
cast. I don’t see why we
can’t get down there and get
that put in ASAP.”
Engines continued from 1A
•the department’s first
ladder truck in 2020. The
100-foot truck allows for
higher reach to fight larg-
er-scale fires in an area
with the potential for big
ger blazes given its indus
trial and higher-density
commercial growth.
Stephens said adding the
fire engines now gives the
department “a newer fleet
that is more modernized
and streamlined to what
we need.” Looking toward
the future, Stephens said
whenever a new fire sta
tion is needed, the depart
ment can station one of the
fire engines at that new
facility.
West Jackson fire per
sonnel have already start
ed training with the new
engines, and Stephens
estimates the department
will put the vehicles into
service within a month.
Hoschton continued from 1A
ty measure for city staff.
“We’ve had some pretty
disturbing visits to our city
hall recently,” Carswell
said.
Mayor Lauren O’Leary
and City Manager Jennifer
Kidd-Harrison noted that
some area municipalities
have bullet-proof windows
within their facilities.
The bullet-proof win
dow is part of a proposed
$24,628 budget adjustment
for the new city hall build
ing. The total includes
$5,750 for additional base
cabinets for the facility.
Carswell said the $18,878
price for the bullet-proof
window is reasonable.
“I don’t know that you
could get it any cheaper.”
Carswell said.
Kidd-Harrison said post
poning the decision on
the bullet-proof window
wouldn’t delay the con
struction of the building.
COUNCIL REJECTS
PANTHER CT. SEWER
EXPANSION BID
At over $3 million, the
lone bid for a sanitary
sewer system expansion
for Panther Court, which
has 31 homes, came in
well over Hoschton’s $1.6
million cost estimate for
the project. The council
unanimously denied the
bid and will ask the city’s
engineering firm to explore
more options for the proj
ect.
“I do not like this bid at
all,” Hoschton Mayor Lau
ren O'Leary said.
The city has secured
a $600,000 grant for the
project, first proposed in
2016.
OTHER BUSINESS
In other business, the
council:
•approved the city's up
dated alcoholic beverage
ordinance.
•accepted the final plat
for the 300-unit Cambridge
at Towne Center develop
ment contingent upon the
developer remedying pav
ing issues at Towne Center.
•approved a new fran
chise fee agreement with
Comcast that would pay
the city an increased fee of
5% of the gross revenue.
•approved the closure of
Railroad Ave. for the city’s
April 8 Easter egg hunt
event and the closure of
City Square on May 20 for
the city’s spring festival.
•approved $8,400 to
repair windows at the
Hoschton Coffee Compa
ny and provide automat
ic doors for the building,
which the city owns.
•renewed an agreement
with the Jackson County
Sheriff’s Office (JCSO).
allowing Hoschton police
and the JCSO to assist
each other on calls.
•tabled decisions on an
electrical quote for proper
ty at 29 West Broad St. and
a consulting proposal for a
city park at 153 Mulberry
Lane.
•approved a $6,710 ex
pense for services from
CivicPlus to incorporate
the city’s subdivision, zon
ing and land-development
codes. CivicPlus will up
date all of the city's ordi
nances and codes online as
the city amends them.
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