Newspaper Page Text
32 Pages 3 Sections, Plus Preprints A Publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. Winder, Barrow County Georgia 50« Copy Wednesday, April 25, 2018
BOC wants more pay for BCSO employees
Barrow
Briefs
WDBA golf
tournament
The Winder Downtown Busi
ness Association will host its
first annual golf tournament
Wednesday, May, 9, with a
shotgun start beginning at 1
p.m., at The Chimneys, 338
Monroe Hwy., Winder. The fee
is $100 per player and $400 per
foursome. Team hole sponsor
ships are available for $500,
vendor tent sponsorships are
available for $200 and a hole
sponsorship is available for
$150. Make checks payable to
the Winder Downtown Busi
ness Association or pay at pay-
pal.me/WDBA.
For more information, call
404-213-8579 or email winder-
downtownba@gmail.com.
Joint WBHS
class reunion
set for May
The Winder-Barrow High
School Class of 1983 and Class
of 1984 will hold a reunion
from 9 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. on
Monday, Dec. 31, New Year’s
Eve. at the Statham Community
Center.
“Ring in the New Year with
old friends!’’ leaders state. “Join
us on New Year’s Eve.’’
The class pictures will be
taken at 10 p.m. Attire is fes
tive.
XL Mixmaster will be the
DJ and heavy hors d’oeuvres
will be prepared by Lee Epting
Catering.
The cost is $30 per person, if
postmarked by May 1; $40 per
person. May 2 through Dec. 1;
and $50. cash only, at the door.
“We must have 40 pre-paid
attendees by May 1 to secure
the caterer,” leaders said.
Make check or money order
payable to: WBHS Class
Reunion. Pam Thomas Kinnell,
106 Sunningdale Drive, Wind
er, Ga. 30680.
For more information about
the event, contact Cindy
Hemphill Ellington at cel-
lington30680@yahoo.com or
John Brueshaber at john.brue-
shaber@live.com.
Index:
Public Safety
8, 10A
Opinion
4-6A
Lifestyle columns
6-7A
Church News
3C
Classifieds
4C
Legals
6-11C
Obituaries
11A
Sports
1-4, 6B
Mailing
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8 "0 4879 14541 7
By Scott Thompson
News-Journal Editor
After receiving feedback from
county commissioners, county
manager Mike Renshaw said
Tuesday he would work to bud
get for full implementation of
a pay classification and salary
study’s recommendations for
Barrow County Sheriff’s Office
and Detention Center employees
in Fiscal Year 2019.
The board of commissioners
held its second budget work ses
sion Tuesday afternoon as the
county works on crafting and
By Ron Bridg'eman
News-Journal Reporter
“They have to talk with one
another.”
Michelle Beck, the only
woman automotive instructor in
Georgia, uses that phrase like a
mantra. Beck has been teaching
automotive classes for 11 years.
She is talking about the two
Sims Academy of Innovation
and Technology teams practic
ing for the “competition engine
building” shows. The group took
first and second place April 14
at Birmingham in the Alabama
competition and will be at the
Hot Rodders of Tomorrow com
petition Saturday.
“They’re (the two teams)
going to nationals,” Beck said,
almost as often as the “talk to
each other” comment.
The national competition will
be in December, probably in
Indianapolis, she said.
The goal of the teams is to
take a 350-cubic inch Chevrolet
engine apart and reassemble it in
33 minutes, Beck said.
One team completed the work
in 24 minutes and 1 second this
day. Why then is she so wor
ried about the nationals, Beck
is asked.
“Nationals are different,” she
said. “Anything can happen.”
The Sims Academy extra-cur
ricular group has been practicing
with taking apart and putting
back together twice a week since
August, Beck said. The teams
practice from 3-6 p.m. Tuesdays
and Thursdays.
In March, the teams went to
the International Auto Show in
Atlanta. The competition “is
loud,” Beck said, good prepa
ration for competition. The stu-
adopting a budget for FY2019,
which begins July 1.
At an April 10 work ses
sion, Renshaw recommended
implementing the 3.4-percent
across-the-board pay increases
for BCSO employees — rec
ommended by the Condrey and
Associates study — which would
have an estimated $315,482
impact on the budget. But he
did not recommend an estimat
ed $400,000 equity adjustment
to counteract pay compression,
though he did suggest budgeting
for over $150,000 in merit-pay
increases.
But after a lengthy discussion
Tuesday of three options Ren
shaw presented to them, com
missioners directed the county
manager to pursue full imple
mentation of the study.
Renshaw said the study’s
implementation should help
with attracting and retaining
higher-quality deputies and
reducing overtime expenses.
Sheriff Jud Smith has strongly
advocated for raises to make his
deputies’ and detention center
officers’ pay more competitive
with surrounding law enforce
ment agencies. He gave a pre
pared statement Tuesday to the
board and expressed frustration
with the idea of not fully imple
menting the study’s recommen
dations.
He said implementation of the
pay raises recommended by the
study would pay his deputies in
the 75th percentile compared to
the roughly 20 other agencies
that Condrey and Associates
examined. He added that the
equity adjustment was “vital” to
making the study a success.
“If it’s not implemented cor
rectly, then we begin the vicious
See Pay on Page 7A
Engine building is team building
ENGINE BUILDING
Both completion engine building teams at Sims Academy of Innovation and Technology
work on taking an engine apart and putting it back together during practice last week.
Michelle Beck, automotive instructor, watches the work of one team. Working on the
engines are, from left, Jason Steele, aka Man of Steele; Allison Edwards, Buttercup; facing
engine, Jason Martinez; partially hidden, Eric Xiong, Anchor; and Christian Price, Squirrel;
foreground, Erik Ayala, Michelle Beck, Milton Yanez, who is the interpreter for Ayala; Joey
Martin, Pillsbury; Chris Combs, Tank; and partly hidden, Nicole Aten, Wonder Woman.
Photos by Ron Bridgeman
Sims Academy student teams
having success at competitions
WORKING TOGETHER
Students working on this engine were on different parts of
the motor than they typically did. Michelle Beck, automotive
instructor, admitted the group was slower than normal, but
she said learning different areas in the process would help
the group.
dents also went to “Caffeine
and Octane,” a monthly show at
Perimeter Mall in Atlanta.
Each team has five students.
One is the “anchor.” who arrang
es parts on a table so they are
easily reachable. The anchors
have “got to have a loud mouth,”
Beck said.
Only one senior is among the
10 students. Four are sopho
mores and freshmen. Three are
girls.
“More than half (of the stu
dents on the teams) can’t even
drive,” Beck said.
In addition to time, the teams
face a host of penalties for
everything from dropping a tool.
to breaking a spark plug, to get
ting oil where it should not be,
to failing to make a correction a
judge warns you about. That last
one is 50 minutes as a penalty.
Beck said the rulebook has
three pages of penalties.
One of the attractions is schol
arship money. The competition
in Birmingham had $50,000 for
first place and $25,000 for sec
ond — per person on the team.
The national competition is
$125,000 per person per team.
One team member is blunt
about her interest in the money.
Allison Edwards, aka “Butter
cup,” is a freshman who wants
See Teams on Page 7A
BCSS
budget
would be
$127M
By Ron Bridg'eman
News-Journal Reporter
Barrow County’s school
budget for Fiscal Year 2019
would increase nearly $8
million over the current
budget - if the board of
education approves the pro
posed budget.
The school district budget
tentatively calls for spend
ing $127.4 million and
using nearly $2.5 million in
reserve funds.
The current budget is
about $119 million and
uses about $3.6 million in
reserve funds.
The reserve funds for
June 30, 2018, were project
ed to be about $6 million.
The FY2019 budget proj
ects the starting reserves,
June 30. 2018, to be about
$10 million. After using the
reserves, it is projected to be
about $7.5 million.
The board heard its first
presentation of budget num
bers at its meeting last week
and discussed those and an
additional $4.1 million in
other items at its work ses
sion Tuesday.
The budget is expected
to be tentatively approved
Tuesday at the board’s reg
ular meeting. The budget
and tentative millage rate,
the current 18.5 mills, are
expected to be approved at
the June 5 meeting.
Public hearings on the
budget are set for 2 p.m.
June 7 and 6 p.m. June 14.
Both hearings will be at the
central school office.
The final approval is
planned for a called meeting
June 19. Public hearings on
the millage rate are planned
for 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. June
20. The millage rate will be
set at a June 28 meeting.
The state is requiring
school districts to increase
teacher retirement pay from
16.81 percent of gross pay
to 20.9 percent. That will
cost $3 million.
Barrow County is expect
ed to receive about $4.1 mil
lion from the in additional
money - a total of $82.3
million.
Local tax revenue is
projected to increase $4.2
million to $37.2 million
because the tax digest is
expected to increase 13.14
percent.
The tentative budget
includes 32.68 new teaching
positions. Those are based
on anticipated growth in
student enrollment and a
goal for smaller class sizes.
See Budget on Page 2A
o