Newspaper Page Text
20 Pages, 2 Sections, Plus Preprints A Publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. Winder, Barrow County, Georgia $1.00 Copy Wednesday, December 25, 2019
Bus schedules may cause change in Barrow school start times
By Ron Bridgeman
ron@mainstreetne ws. com
Three tiers, shuttle buses, held trips,
sports teams, different age groups — just a
few of the factors involved in running about
150 buses a day for the Barrow County
School System.
A task force of nine people has met a few
times and will begin meeting regularly after
the mid-year break.
Ken Greene, assistant superintendent for
support services, oversees that task force
and emphasizes the group’s “goal” is to
make recommendations for bus service
during the 2020-21 year at the February
work session and approve those recommen
dations at the March 3 board meeting.
That would give the school system nearly
five months to “use every means of commu
nication available” to tell parents — and tell
them again — what the bus routes will be
and when they will run.
The transportation department, which
also has a new director. Jason Ayers, who
came to Barrow from Franklin County sev
eral weeks ago, will have new deliveries to
make in the upcoming year.
The Barrow Arts and Sciences Academy,
the county's third high school, will open in
August. It is a “choice” school — students
decide to go there. But Barrow County has
its twist on the new school — it will provide
transportation to the school for all students.
That will mean extra runs each day from
at least six other schools — four middle
schools and two high schools.
A “three-tiered” bus system could be a
change, he said. That would group grade
levels — elementary, middle and high
schools — together, which might mean
changing starting times for the school day.
Now, the district has two “tiers,” one for
middle and high schools and the second for
elementary schools.
Greene said the shuttles from oth
er schools to Sims Academy. AIM at the
Center for Innovative Teaching and the
new Barrow Arts and Sciences Academy
were “a challenge.” Sims and the new high
school are adjacent to one another, but stu
dents go to and from Sims twice a day.
See Schools, page 2A
Photo by Ron Bridgeman
One of the last buses to unload in the morning at Holsenbeck Elementary School
brings a load of students to the school.
Barrow
Briefs
LOCAL BLOOD DRIVES
COMING UP
The following American
Red Cross blood drives are
coming up in Barrow Coun
ty:
•1-6 p.m. Thursday, Jan.
2. at the Winder Public Li
brary, 189 Bellview St.
•noon to 6 p.m. Friday,
Jan. 3, at Winder First Unit
ed Methodist Church, 280
North Broad St.
•3-7 p.m. Monday, Jan.
13. at Winder Wesleyan
Church. 64 East Midland
Ave.
To donate blood, down
load the American Red
Cross Blood Donor App,
visit RedCrossBlood.org,
call 1-800-RED CROSS
(1-800-733-2767) or enable
the Blood Donor Skill on
any Alexa Echo device to
make an appointment or for
more information.
All blood types are need
ed to ensure a reliable sup
ply for patients, leaders
state.
A blood donor card or
driver's license or two other
forms of identification are
required at check-in. Indi
viduals who are 17 years of
See Briefs,
page 2A
Index:
Public Safety
7-8 A
Church News
9A
Classifieds
4B
Legals
5-8B
Obituaries
10-11A
Opinion
4-5A
Sports
1-2B
MAILING LABEL
New Winder fire station open
Photos courtesy of Joan Mathews
RIBBON CUTTING HELD FOR NEW CHARLIE EBERHARTFIRE STATION
A ribbon cutting ceremony was held Dec. 6 for the new Charlie Eberhart Fire Station near the inter
section of Loganville Highway (Highway 81) and Matthews School Road in Winder. The Winder Fire
Department relocated its Station 2 to the new building for quicker access to the city’s response areas
around Highway 316 and the south side of town. The new station’s address is 492 Loganville Hwy. The
station is named for the late Eberhart, who served on the city council from 1991 until his death on Jan.
30, 2013. Eberhart was a member of the council’s fire committee. Speakers at the ceremony included
state Sen. Frank Ginn, Mayor David Maynard, councilman Travis Singley, Fire Chief Matt Whiting, and
family members Pamala Eberhart, Nisha Eberhart, Kenny Eberhart, Clifford Eberhart, along with the
Rev. Alfred Hazel.
Fire Chief Matt Whiting speaks at the ribbon cut- State Sen. Frank Ginn speaks at the ribbon cut
ting ceremony. ting ceremony.
Members of Charlie Eberhart’s family are pictured next to a picture of the late Winder city councilman,
whom the new fire station on Loganville Highway was named after.
DDA
approves
$7.3M
in bonds
for DFGS
facility
By Scott Thompson
sthompson@barrownewsjournal.
com
The Winder Downtown
Development Authority
board, during its Thursday,
Dec. 19 meeting, approved
the sale of $7.3 million in
bonds to facilitate the con
struction of a new Division
of Family and Children Ser
vices building, which the
authority will own after 15
years.
The building, projected
to be around 24,000 square
feet, will be constructed
on 3 acres of land on Lays
Drive off East Broad Street
in Winder, near the Social
Security Administration
building. It will roughly
triple the amount of space
occupied by DFCS around
Winder — buildings which
local officials have said is
far inferior to the planned
facility. Construction on the
facility is expected to begin
in the summer.
Buford-based Forum De
velopment Services, which
was awarded the project by
the State Properties Com
mission, will oversee con
struction of and manage
the facility, which will be
leased to the state for a 15-
year term. Those lease pay
ments will pay for the $7.3
million debt at a 3.18-per
cent interest rate, according
to the bond resolution ap
proved by the DDA. Forum
has constructed two dozen
DFCS buildings and sev
eral other similar facilities
across the state over the last
20 years, Margaret Bowen,
the company’s president,
told the DDA in a meeting
earlier this year.
The DDA will act as a
financing “conduit” for the
project and will have own
ership of the building after
the 15 years. At that point,
the state would either con
tinue leasing the building
and making payments to the
DDA, or the DDA could find
another use for the building.
The DDA has discussed
the project for the past sev
eral months and, in Sep
tember, created the Winder
See DDA, page 2A
o
