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2A ♦ THURSDAY, AUGUST 3, 2006 COUNTY From page 1A - had a lot of public opposi tion. Several residents spoke out against the request and 60 of the 89 homeowners signed a petition against it. Residents’ concerns includ ed increased traffic, safety of the children due to prox imity to a lake and a private airstrip and decreased prop erty values. Hurst, “a military wife, raising four children and trying to support my fam ily,” said there was nothing in closing documents about the covenants. She said the previous owners did not tell her about it and said there was no problem with a day care. They only thing they said about the homeowners asso ciation was the dues, Hurst said. Hurst noted she is licensed through the state for six children maximum, and said the homeowners association had given false information about her request. She was not asking for rezoning and would not have 30 children, she said. A home occupation busi ness is also in violation of the covenant and would take unanimous approval of the homeowners associa tion at The Willows to get it approved, the commission ers said. Commission Chairman Ned Sanders also noted it SCHOOLS From page 1A The test consists of lan guage and academic assess ment. According to the Houston County Board of Education, the goals of the program “are to help stu dents obtain English lan guage proficiency and to meet age and grade appro priate academic achievement standards for grade promo tion and graduation.” Christina Warren is the other half of the team at Morningside. She works with schools throughout the county as a part of the Migrant Education Home School Liaison and is bi-lin gual. Warren works with migrant families, provid ing tutorials for the kids, advising families and assist ing with their acquisition of supplies, clothes, health care, and food. The Morningside and Perdue locations were chosen because of their close prox imity to ESOL cluster sites and Health Departments both schools are within walk ing distance in case a child needs vaccination shots or Back to School Part II Educating ALL the kids By CHARLOTTE PERKINS Journal Staff Writer At a time when plans for upscale subdivisions are making the news almost weekly, some Houston County residents could get the impression that the county’s growing population is mostly affluent. That’s not the case, though, and the challenge for the Houston County School System is making sure that children from a wide variety of backgrounds, including some who are from non-English-speaking fami lies, get a good education. According to Houston school records, 43 percent of the students in the sys tem are receiving free and reduced price lunches. This doesn’t mean that their par ents aren’t working, says Mike Mattingly, Assistant Superintendent for Teaching and Learning. It does mean that the family can’t afford to pay the full price for lunches. A single parent earning $30,000 per year with four children to support would 'We'd love to locate on an existing facil ity. It's infinitely cheaper than building a new tower, unfortunately the water tower was not tan enough.' - Jeff Evans, zoning and permitting specialist from T-Mobile South was not the county’s job to enforce covenants. Thomson made the motion to deny the request, noting that public outcry weighed heavy on the decision. Commissioner Jay Walker seconded the motion, recog nizing the need for daycare centers and Commissioner Tom McMichael said, “when it’s neighbor against neigh bor we can’t go with it.” • The board voted unani mously to deny the request. Hurst was told since it was denied she cannot apply again for six months. The board also approved two requests for cell phone towers and a home occupa tion for a computer repair business. One of the cell phone tower requests, had previ ous opposition at the plan ning board hearing, but after the second hearing and a SIO,OOO donation to the homeowners associa tion by the applicant Larry Sheets, there was no longer any opposition to Sheets’ plan for a cell phone tower off Hatcher Road between Carterswood and Imperial Forest subdivisions. Steve Gothenhauer, the chairman of the architec tural controls committee of Ml : 't "■ •. m, ■ | I jf-wtJ Hr I 8 S Wk : i Kimberly Breyer, ESOL Instructional Coach and Christina Warren with the Migrant Education Home School Liaison at their International Welcome Center location in Morningside Elementary. records. Students and their families can go to either location, but Perdue has proved to be busier because it is closer to all the schools in Warner Robins, whereas Morningside is more conve nient to the six schools of Perry. “Families that have come here seem relieved,” says Breyer. “We just want to help these families.” And the two stress that meet the criteria, Mattingly says. He also points out that Georgia has the fastest grow ing Spanish speaking popu lation in the southeast, with construction work bringing more workers from Mexico and countries in central and South America. However, it’s not a simple matter of having Spanish speaking kids who need to learn. There are 14 other languages to deal with, and the school system takes every child who is here to be educated, no questions asked. In the Houston County schools, children who are not DAVID OVERTON JEWELERS 905 Downtown Carroll St. • Perry the homeowners association at Carterswood West, spoke out in favor of the request. “I told Larry I wish I’d heard the information before” on the monopole tower with radiation being directed toward the hori zon, not down and noted the subdivision rescinded its petition in opposition. Sheets’ attorney Jeff Grube noted the SIO,OOO donation was being held in an escrow account. “It was a business decision of my client, that I don’t agree with.” Grube said Sheets has a contract with Nextel for the tower and letters of support from the Sheriffs Office and verbal support from the mayor of Centerville, because the new tower would improve the Nextel service in the area. Grube said the sheriffs office is having an awful problem, getting busy signals on their Nextel phones. Sheets noted the new tower at this location would take some of the call traffic off the existing tower on Carl Vinson Parkway, which is near 100 percent capacity. Only a certain number of calls can go through a tower the program is not just for Spanish speakers. This summer the centers have seen students from India and Korea as well as from Spanish speaking countries. Breyer likes the idea of the program because it allows the kids to have assistance as soon as school starts. In the past, school days have been used for the prelimi nary testing and paperwork. The two centers are reg- fluent in English are desig nated as “English Language Learners,” and the system has shifted from having the children go to the teachers who specialize in English as a Second Language, to hav ing the language teachers in the classroom so that the children don’t miss the con tent being taught. Under “No Child Left Behind” standards, students who fall within “sub-popu lations” such as those who are disabled, those who are economically disadvantaged and those who do not speak English as a first language, must meet the same stan dards set for all children. ■Jewelry Repair & Cleaning •Watch Repair •Engraving •Appraisals •Estate Jewelry •Class Rings Hours: Mon., TUes., Thurs., Fri 10am-6pm Wed. lOam-lpm LOCAL Bhhb Jjj n ■ Jeffrey Evans from T-Mobile explains the coverage area a new tower would provide to County Commissioners and County Director of Administration Steven Engle. at one time. Sheets also told the coun ty that other sites in the area like water towers and county property on Elberta Road are not suitable, and had line of sight difficulties. “Every tank was modeled,” he said. Grube said one was too close and the other too far to draw off the overloaded calls. istering students through Thursday. After that date, the school will contact the Welcome Center workers and they will arrange to meet the family by appointment at the established locations at Morningside and Perdue. “We anticipate 100 families between the two centers,” says Breyer. She expect ing to see a last minute rush, with school starting Friday. The program has been advertised in papers, on cable, and by posting fly Joumal/Kxisty Warren gj I FREE 1275 CAMERA PHONE with two-year agreement.’ > Built-in walkie-talkie > CPS enabled > Speakerphone > Web and email capable > Multimedia messaging NEXTEL’S POWERFUL WALKIE-TALKIE PHONES AVAILABLE AT THESE RETAILERS CALL 1-888-58-NEXTEL CLICK getnextelnow.com GO to Nextel retailers Operadcrcs en Fspato drspooibtes. HEMELBEMSIfiBiI MACON 4696 Presidential Pkwy. 478-405-7507 1687 Bass Road 478-476-4402 lifeline and linkup servios may be available to qualifying customers. Please call 1-888-566-64T1 or vtsrt the# website at www.tifelinesupport.org for further information on these sennces. “Next*! also Imposes a monthly federal Programs Cost Recovery (FPCIt) fee of $lB9 per Bne. The FPCR is not a tax or government-required charge. •Offers-. Expire August fl. 2006 Phone Oder. Tvroyear contrail and new activation required. Sate Plans: Rate plans start at $2999 per month, lwoyeat contract required. Nights at 7pm are only available on Fair and Flexible plans. Additional Fees: S2OO early terniinadcn and 51999 setup lee per phone, max of SBO per account. Monthly Mis include fees to awr our costs of complying with federal programs up to 160 X per Ml (may vary quarterly) and $289 per Sne Fees for state and local programs may apply (vary area), plus government taxes/fres Shipping and of $14.99 per unit, up to X) units per order may apply Monthly infrastructure fee 0t5199 pffXE»a*app!*s For Account inthepSn. purchase up to 500 minutes at $5 for every additional 50 minutes Overage above 500 minutes (SOJO/mln). Partial minutes charged as full minutes Nights f7pm-7am). Weekends {Fri 7pmMon. 7am). Anytime minutes do not share long Distance includes domestic calls only Wafoe-talkie local/Natfonwide waSaetolkie (SOB/rmi) AS wafoetafoe calls chargedtothe initi4or(ratexminidesxp9rtidpanls)Wa*iMalkie minutes ate available in your local calling area onyTeleNav: first 60 days of feWav sendee are free with new NexW service activation. 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Ah thiedparty product or service names are property of their respective owners AH rights reserved. The board unanimous ly passed the request. Thomson made the motion to approve noting no more public outcry. The board also unani mously approved William Woodard Jr.’s request to put a tower on his 36-acre tract off Woodard Road. Jeff Evans, zoning and permitting specialist from T-Mobile South, presented ers throughout the commu nity and churches. Famous Homemade Cinnamon Rolls irn*miui rlinrhw <-75 exn 136- ttr-terr 364<s Subscribe today Call 987-1823 FREE CAMERA PHONE. PICTURES IN AN INSTANT. PLANS START AS LOW AS $29*99 per month. Other monthly charges apply.” Now nights start at 7pm.* > No huge overages > Nationwide long distance included > Unlimited nights and weekends WARNER ROBINS 206 Russell Pkwy. Ste. 500 478-923-4339 HOUSTON DAILY JOURNAL Joaraal/Roy Lifhtner his case to the board. “We’d love to locate on an existing facility, he told the board, “it’s infinitely cheaper than building a new tower, unfortunately the water tower was not tall enough.” Evans also noted an exist ing tower in the area of Oakey Woods was “too far away and didn’t meet the coverage objective. PLACE YOUR AO IN THE MIDDLE GEORGIA LABOR LISTINGS.... and Spk reach m’XdK 1 homes Ix 2 every Wed., Fri., & Saturday 1 Month ONLY SIOO Call the classified department at 987-1823 or fax 988-9194 *atl ads must b# prepaid NEXTEL only from Sprint Q MOTOROM