Newspaper Page Text
Thursday, December 23, 2021
UPSON
BEACON
T-U BOE Achieves Exemplary Board Status
Hollis and Eubanks Selected as Chair and Vice Chair
Luke Haney/Upson Beacon
L-R: Board Members Scott Roberts, Angeline McGill, Stephen Sadler, Chair Jaqueline Hollis,
Vice Chair Jaye Eubanks, Sheila Hall, and Brian Salter.
Luke Haney
Lifestyles Editor
lhaney@upsonbeacon.com
At the Dec. 14 meeting of the
Thomaston-Upson Board of Educa
tion, Superintendent Dr. Larry Derico
recognized the board, which recently
achieved Exemplary Board Status,
the highest level in board governance
within the state of Georgia, according
to Derico.
The Georgia School Board Associa
tion developed this board recognition
program to reflect the state stan
dards, which offer school boards ad
ditional ways to increase their
effectiveness. The T-U BOE is one of
only 60 exemplary boards in the state
and was one of the original few to
achieve this distinction when the rec
ognition program was initiated, and
has maintained the distinction.
During the meeting, Jaqueline Hollis
and Jaye Eubanks were unanimously
voted to serve another year as chair
and vice chair of the board.
In other news,
•McGriff Insurance representative
Scott Boatright presented updates on
the board’s insurance carriers, Selec
tive and Amerisure Insurance, along
with comparisons to 2021-22 and
2022-23 premiums. Boatright ex
plained an increase due to liability
and workers compensation rate in
creases, commonly seen statewide.
The total renewable premium Is
$456,786, up from last year’s pre
mium of $441,434. Boatright stated
that he, along with school officials, are
looking into cyber-insurance options,
plan to have all options inhouse, and
will decide by the first of the year.
•The board approved the date, time,
Upson County reports 5,514 pos
itive COVID-19 cases with 190 deaths
as of noon last Tuesday, according to
the Johns Hopkins University &
Medicine Coronavirus Resource
Center.
Numbers reflect 20 new cases
(up from 12 last week) and no
new deaths (down from one last
week) since Tuesday one week prior.
Johns Hopkins lists the following
confirmed cases for counties border
ing Upson: Monroe, 4,326 (up 26)
cases with 153 (no change) deaths;
and place of monthly meetings for
2022. All meetings will be held on the
second Tuesday of each month at 6
p.m., except for October, in which a
meeting will be held on the first Tues
day.
•Alan Connell of Connell and Wheeler
was approved to remain as the board
attorney.
•The board approved surplus
requests for outdated ActivPanels and
an unused dance floormat at the fine
arts center.
Pike, 3,940 (up 34) with 73 (up one)
deaths; Lamar, 3,517 (up 19) with
100 (up one) deaths; Meriwether,
3,092 (up 37) with 121 (up one)
deaths; Taylor, 1,303 (up four) with
41 (up one) deaths; Crawford, 1,158
(up six) with 46 (no change) deaths;
and Talbot, 755 (up seven) with 29
(no change) deaths.
Georgia reports 1,700,763 (up
18,857; up from 10,119 last week)
positive cases and 31,038 (up 178; up
from 169 last week) deaths with 51.5
percent of population vaccinated.
COVID-19 REPORT
Infection Rate Rising in Georgia
Page 5A
Courtesy of Upson Farm Bureau
Georgia Farm Bureau President Tom McCall, right, congratulates
Upson County Farm Bureau President Marcus South on the county
Farm Bureau being named a finalist for the GFB McKemie Award
during the 2021 GFB convention held Dec. 5-7 on Jekyll Island.
Upson Farm Bureau is
Finalist for State Award
Upson County Farm Bu
reau was recognized as one
of the top county Farm Bu
reau programs in the state
during the organization’s
84th annual convention held
Dec. 5-7 on Jekyll Island.
The county chapter was
named a finalist for the pres
tigious McKemie Award -
the highest honor that a
county Farm Bureau in the
state can receive - in rec
ognition of the activities it
sponsored during the past
year to promote agriculture.
UCFB was one of nine
county Farm Bureaus to be
recognized as a finalist in
the small membership cate
gory. Crawford County won
the award. Marcus South is
the UCFB president.
Founded in 1937, the
Georgia Farm Bureau Feder
ation is the state’s largest
general farm organization
with 158 county chapters. As
a membership-driven, non
governmental organization,
GFB serves as the voice of
Georgia farmers and rural
Georgia by advocating for
them on legislative issues
and promoting Georgia com
modities. Its volunteer
members actively partici
pate in activities that pro
mote agriculture awareness.
GFB membership is open
to the public and offers a
wide variety of benefits, in
cluding insurance and dis
counts for health services,
travel, and family entertain
ment. Enrollment in any of
the member benefits is op
tional and not a requirement
for membership. If you
would like more information
about agriculture, please
visit www.gfb.org, like Geor
gia Farm Bureau on Face-
book @GeorgiaFarmBureau
or follow on Twitter at @Ga-
FarmBureau.
i N COVID-19 i'
A.
Vaccine Clinic Holiday Hours
November 26- NO CLINIC
November 30- 1:00pm-4:30pm
December 24- NO CLINIC
December 31- NO CLINIC
Regular Clinic Hours
Tuesdays & Fridays 7:30am-12pm
& 1:00-4:30 pm
UPSON
Walk-Ins Welcome
Regional Medical Center