Newspaper Page Text
C M
K
Inside
Ready for the stage
Woman
Bowl games
Reading bowl teams
from Camden nab
second place in the
regional contest.
see 8A
Just for kids
Play Valentine’s Day
puzzles and games.
see 8B
Index
Obituaries
2A
Opinion
4A
Upcoming Events
6A
Sports
1B
People
3B
Classifieds
9B
Legals
11B
Today’s Poll
Do you think
parents should go
to jail if their
children are
chronically absent
from school?
Vote online at
tribune-georgian.com
Submitted photo
Jiamelishua Browne and Mike Pilolla rehearse a scene from the upcoming play “Colorblind.” The St. Marys
LittleTheatre production runs Feb. 22-44 atTheatre by theTrax.
‘Colorblind’ highlights struggles
Local actors are preparing
now to close out Black History
Month with “Colorblind,” an
original play that will be per
formed by St. Marys Little The
atre at Theatre by the Trax from
Feb. 22 through Feb. 24.
The play was written by St.
Marys resident Gaila Brandon
and is filled with emotional mo
ments that tug at one’s con
sciousness as they witness the
truths of yesterday melding into
the hopes of tomorrow.
“The idea for ‘Colorblind’
came from a personal experience
I had with my bi-racial grandson
last year,” Brandon said. “We at
tended a play commemorating
Black History Month, in Jack
sonville. After the play, we talked
about writing something for our
town and had the idea that we
might create a story about a con
temporary family facing its own
challenges of bias. I have found
through my own experiences
how difficult it is to overcome
personal misconceptions about
others based on factors such as
race, and to accept people for
who they are inside. I realized
See PLAY, page 9A
BLACK
HISTORY
charged
in assault
on child
Jocelyn Brumbaugh
jocelyn@tribune-georgian.com
A Kingsland woman has been
charged with two felonies after al
legedly molesting and sexually as
saulting a child.
Dawn Michelle Clark, 43, was ar
rested Feb. 6 and charged with child
molestation and
aggravated sexual
battery, accord
ing to the Cam
den County
Sheriff’s Office
(CCSO).
According to
an incident re
port, a law en
forcement officer
responded to a call on Dec. 31 re
garding a possible sexual assault of a
child. The complainant said the vic
tim made a statement to her but
would not talk to officers because she
was frightened. The complainant
also filed a statement with police.
The complainant called authorities
again on Jan. 3 and the victim was
sent for a forensic interview, where
more details were collected. Another
interview was held with the com
plainant on Jan. 4 and another police
report was filed afterward.
Clark was arrested on a CCSO
warrant and is still in custody.
Students’ truancy could land parents in j ail
Tribune &
Georgian
P.O. Box 6960,
St. Marys, Ga.
31558
Volume 110, No. 12
22 pages* Two sections
tribune-georgian.com
© 2013, Tribune & Georgian,
Community Newspapers Inc.
Emily Heglund
editorl@tds.net
Camden County parents
may soon be doing the time
even if their children commit
ted the crime.
The county’s local intera
gency planning team is imple
menting a state policy that
allows parents to be arrested,
jailed and fined if their chil
dren do not attend school
regularly.
“Educational neglect is
something we’ve been con
tending with for years,” team
chairman Celenda Perry said.
The planning team com
prises representatives of sev
eral state and local agencies,
including the Department of
Family and Children Serv
ices, the school system, De
partment of Juvenile Justice,
Court Appointed Special Ad
vocates, local police depart
ments, Camden Community
Alliance & Resources, Kings
Bay Fleet and Family Support
and the base school liason.
Before an arrest can be
made on the misdemeanor
charge of “mandatory educa
tion for children between ages
6 and 16,” the Camden
County school system first
exhausts all of its policies and
procedures relating to getting
a child back in the classroom,
school social worker Shuntay
Strachan said.
These procedures include
several attempts by the
schools to contact parents di
rectly. If a student continues
to be absent, parents then re
ceive a certified letter from
the planning team notifying
them of the next attendance
panel meeting.
Parents who come to the
attendance panels can strike
an agreement with the team
to address their child’s ab
sence from school. If the child
continues to miss classes, the
team contacts a school re
source officer, and an arrest
warrant can be issued.
Officer Tyler Bell, the re
source officer at St. Marys
Middle School, has already
arrested two parents this
school year on the mandatory
education charge.
“I exhaust all resources to
try to get them to get the
child in school,” he said.
If convicted, parents can
face a fine between $25 and
$100, up to 30 days in jail,
community service or a com
bination of the three; proba
tion fees could apply, as well.
Bond conditions can also be
set requiring parents to en
sure that their children attend
school, chief magistrate judge
Jennifer Lewis said.
“The legal system is really
a last resort,” she said. “The
real goal is to get these chil
dren in school.”
I
O
c
.0
N
O)
b ci
CO oo
-Q 00
« c\T
V T—
b
$3
t o
IS
CO
84264
(J (J (J U 3
Agencies step up
to help children
Johna Strickland Rush
iohna@tribune-georgian.com
Stacey Porch vividly re
members the day she
learned her 10-month-old
son had mild to moderate
hearing loss.
The diagnosis was a
shock followed by after
shocks as the Kingsland
family discovered a single
pair of hearing aids would
cost between $2,000 and
$4,000 — and their insur
ance company did not cover
the devices for pre-lingual
children.
Babies Can’t Wait, ad
ministered by the Georgia
Department of Public
Health, helped purchase
Waylon Porch’s first hear
ing aids.
A few years later, Waylon
needed new aids as his hear
ing loss had become moder
ate to severe but he had
aged out of Babies Can’t
Wait and insurance still did
not offer coverage.
For six months, Waylon,
now 4, wore a pair bor
rowed from the manufac
turer while his parents
See HEAR, page 9A
Submitted photo
Waylon Porch, a 4-year-old Kingsland resident, has moderate to severe hearing loss and de
pends on hearing aids, which his family must pay for out of pocket because their insurance
company does not cover the devices.The Georgia House of Representatives is consider
ing a bill that would require insurance companies to better cover hearing aids.