Newspaper Page Text
20 Pages, 2 Sections, Plus Preprints A Publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. Winder, Barrow County, Georgia $1.00 Copy Wednesday, January 1, 2020
‘Marrying’ tests is goal of school pilot projects
By Ron Bridgeman
ron@mainstreetnews.com
“How do we make that work?”
Jennie Persinger, the Barrow County
School System's testing and data special
ist, says that, or something similar, more
times than not when questioned about the
“pilot” testing project the school system is
involved in with nine other school districts.
Georgia has “pilot” projects underway to
reduce the number and maybe importance
of standardized tests in its schools. If all
goes well, a new test could be ready for the
2021-22 year, Persinger said.
Jackson County also is in the middle of
those projects.
The two counties are part of a consor
tium of 10 districts working with NWEA,
a not-for-profit organization that supports
students and educators by creating assess
ment solutions.
The group working on the project meets
a couple of times per year “face to face,”
she said. The group meets several times in
a virtual setting.
Persinger takes the lead for the district on
the GMAP project.
GMAP is a moniker that combines Geor
gia and MAP, which stands for Measure of
Academic Progress.
Barrow County has been using Map
Growth tests for the past several years. It is
given three times a year — beginning, mid
dle and end. The tests take 45 to 60 minutes.
Persinger says “marrying” the current
MAP test, which is a “formative” assess
ment, and the Georgia Milestones, which is
a “summative” assessment, is complicated.
One of the major factors is the writ
ing portion of the Milestones test — an
“open-ended” part of the test that requires
more thought and takes longer to grade than
the multiple-choice questions from other
parts of the test.
Whatever the results of the “pilot” proj
ect, Persinger said it will include “some
kind of writing component.”
GMAP “is not the test that we're giving
now,” Persinger said. “We can’t just cut out
Milestones altogether.”
“The development of GMAP will allow
us to use one assessment for both purpos
es,” superintendent Chris McMichael said
by email.
The MAP tests have been given to stu
dents three times each year — beginning,
middle and end.
The tests provide results nearly imme
diately so programs for students can be al
tered right away.
Milestones tests do not allow for that.
Schools get the results quicker now than
in the past, Persinger said, but it still is not
soon enough.
Milestones testing is done in the late
spring. By the time the results are known,
a few days may remain in the school year
or school may be over. It is far too late to
help students.
That is the most obvious benefit from the
MAP testing. Questions are geared to indi
viduals. When it is answered incorrectly,
the student gets another question that is a
bit less complex.
Teachers prefer the MAP process,
See Projects, page 2A
Winder
man
arrested for
prostitution
solicitation
A Winder man was arrest
ed recently for adult prosti
tution solicitation as part of
a sting operation by the Hall
County Sheriff's Office and
Georgia Bureau of Investi
gation.
Jack William Rosa, 25,
was arrested Dec. 20 and
charged with pandering, ac
cording to a news release.
He was among 10 people
arrested as part of the un
dercover Internet Crimes
Against Children/Pandering
sting, according to a news
release.
The arrests occurred at a
location in the north Hall
area, where the suspects are
accused of committing the
crimes with who they are al
leged to have believed were
child victims or prostitutes.
Law enforcement officers
acted in an undercover ca
pacity in this operation, the
release said.
All of the pandering sus
pects were arrested for so
liciting adults for acts of
prostitution, the release
said.
No further arrests are an
ticipated as a result of the
investigation.
Index:
Public Safety
7A
Church News
8A
Classifieds
9A
Legals
4-7B
Obituaries
10-11A
Opinion
4-6A
Sports
1-2B
A look back at 2019
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Officials broke ground on the Victor Lord Park expansion project in June.
Photos by Scott Thompson
Reviewing top local news stories of the year
Here are the top 10 local news stories in Barrow
County from 2019.
COUNTY, WINDER STILL APART
ON SDS ISSUES
After a handful of mediation sessions, Barrow
County and the City of Winder still could not resolve
two outstanding service-delivery issues, leaving the
county and its municipalities without an updated ser
vice-delivery strategy agreement more than a year af
ter an update was due.
Elected representatives and other officials repre
senting the county and each municipality in the coun
ty met in a court-ordered private session for more than
six hours Nov. 5 at the Georgia Club in Statham to
discuss the issues of water utility service and coun
ty road maintenance but did not come away with an
agreement.
The case was sent back to retired Chief Judge
David Sweat of the Western Judicial Circuit in Ath-
ens-Clarke and Oconee counties, who was assigned
to the case in Barrow County Superior Court. It was
unclear whether Sweat would order the parties to talk
again or make a ruling on the issues, or when the case
would go back in front of him.
EMS DISPUTE RESOLVED
On March 22, the Barrow County Board of Com
missioners approved a three-year contract between
the county and Northeast Georgia Health System for
Barrow County Emergency Services to station a ful
ly-staffed ambulance at Northeast Georgia Medical
Center Barrow to cover the existing emergency re
sponse zones within the Winder city limits.
The agreement brought to an apparent end a year
long dispute between the county and city over EMS
service and response times.
The city had sought to have the emergency response
zones inside the city opened so it could operate its own
service through a private company, but the Region 10
EMS Council shot that request down in November
2018. In January 2019, interim Georgia Public Health
Commissioner Patrick O’Neal overruled the regional
council and directed it to open up all zones inside Bar-
row County to proposals from interested providers.
But then, in a Feb. 22 letter, O'Neal rescinded that de
cision and allowed the regional council vote to stand.
The new unit went into operation in July.
GOVERNMENT CHANGES IN STATHAM
On Nov. 5, Joe Piper was elected the new may
or of Statham, defeating former city councilman
See 2019, page 2A
MAILING LABEL
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WINDER SRT HELPS SENIORS
Submitted photo
The Winder Police Department presented 45 members of the Barrow County Senior Center with hol
iday care packages that included candy and treats, playing cards and activity books, various hygiene
items and gift cards for food at local grocery stores and restaurants. The Special Response Team, for
its annual service project, chose to benefit senior citizens. The group joined the Barrow County Senior
Center for their annual Christmas luncheon. The team raised $3,000 through fundraisers and 12 local
businesses. The Barrow County Sheriff’s Office helped with the Thanksgiving Turkey Shoot. Chick-
fil-A of Winder helped assemble the 45 care packages.
Barrow
Briefs
SUPPORT GROUP
FOR DEMENTIA
CAREGIVERS
A new support group for
dementia caregivers is com
ing to Barrow County.
Co-facilitated by Cloud
Conrad and Jessica Bank
ston. the group will meet
from 1-2 p.m. on the second
Wednesday of every month,
beginning Jan. 8. All caregiv
ers are welcome to attend.
The meetings will be held
at the Winder Adult Day Cen
ter, located at 63 Lee St.
For more information and/
or to RSVP, contact Bankston
at 678-425-0718 or jbank-
ston@accaging.org
LOCAL BLOOD DRIVES
COMING UP
The following American
Red Cross blood drives are
coming up in Barrow County:
•1-6 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 2,
at the Winder Public Library,
189 Bellview St.
•noon to 6 p.m. Friday,
Jan. 3, at Winder First United
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 Red-
CrossBlood.org, call 1-800-
RED CROSS (1-800-733-
2767) or enable the Blood
Donor Skill on any Alexa
Echo device to make an ap
pointment or for more infor
mation.
BRING ONE FOR THE
CHIPPER EVENT SET
Keep Barrow Beautiful
will host a “Bring One for
the Chipper” event Saturday,
Jan. 4.
The event will take place
from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the
Barrow County Leisure Ser
vices Complex, 80 Lee St.,
Winder, between fields 8-11.
People are encouraged to
bring their Christmas trees to
be recycled. AKA Tree Care
is sponsoring the event.
For more information, con
tact Danielle Austin at daus-
tin@barrowga.org or 770-
307-3005.
WOMEN’S SHARE
GROUP
CAM Pregnancy Care
Center, 127 West Candler St.,
Winder, will host a confiden
tial share group for women
only at 7 p.m. Monday, Jan.
6.
“Coffee Break Share Group
is a great way for women
to get together to share the
laughter and hard times of
their lives.” leaders state.
The share group is held
monthly.
For more information, call
770-867-3000 or email cen-
ter@campregnancycare.com.
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