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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