Newspaper Page Text
Wednesday, July 5,2023
Fayette County News A3
Chamber loins Henry,
Clayton at DEI Summit
Brigitte Greer
Staff Writer
bgreer@fayette-news.net
Fayette County Chamber
of Commerce teamed up
with Henry County’s and
Clayton County’s chambers
of commerce for the Stronger
Together Diversity, Equity,
and Inclusion Summit.
Hosted by Henry County
Chamber of Commerce, the
summit allowed business
owners and executives from
across the three counties to
engage in workshops to learn
how to promote, support,
and maintain diversity,
equity, and inclusion within
their company and their
community.
The summit was held
Tuesday, June 27, at the
Merle Manders Conference
Center in Stockbridge.
Business executives listen to a lecture at the Stronger Together Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Summit in Henry County.
BOE,
Continued from Front
ignated the platform Par-
entSquare as the most easy
and accessible sole method
of communication to bridge
the communication gap be
tween schools, parents, and
families.
“I had some really good
conversations with refer
ences who were using the
platform and they really
said that this was a really
beneficial resource,” Farmer
said.
While the platform has
many variations, Farmer
said that the first goal would
be to ensure that the
teachers were acclimated to
the platform first, and then
working in the other aspects
of the platform, like its stu
dent affiliate, StudentS-
quare.
Following discussion,
board members were pre
sented with proposed
changes in the student code
of conduct, and board
member Dr. Regina Daigre
voiced concern when the
topic of expulsions and
qualification of expulsions
did not include the use of
racial slurs as “bullying,”
but rather “harassment.”
According to the current
handbook, the definition for
“harassment” is “any act of
harassment based upon
race, color, religion, na
tional origin, disability, and
gender. This includes, but is
not limited to, sexual ha
rassment as used in connec
tion with Title IX of the
education amendments of
1972.”
Although this is listed as
the definition, Daigre be
lieves that there should be a
consequence in place that
highlights the aspect of bul
lying to correct the behav
ior, rather than only
implementing a punish
ment like being out of
school.
“I’m just saying that
when there are some racial
slurs, they should be seen as
‘bullying’,” Daigre said, “and
I’m speaking on what has
even brought to me. It
seems like nothing is being
done.”
Superintendent Dr. Jo
nathan Patterson assured
Daigre that there are con
sequences for these negative
actions and that the school
system is “doing some
thing.”
Additional documents
brought to the board for re
vision were tied to student
handbooks for elementary
school and high school stu
dents.
According to the super
intendent’s report, the stu
dent code of conduct and
handbook revisions entailed
the addition of the Georgia
Student Health Survey
(GSHS) to the elementary
school student and
parent/guardian signature
page.
According to the revised
document, the survey is an
anonymous statewide sur
vey instrument that dis
cusses different topics that
impact a schools’ climate.
Topics include peer and
adult social support, bully
ing, mental health, sub
stance abuse, and suicidal
ideation.
Parents have the option
to “opt-out” of the survey if
they so choose.
For the secondary stu
dent and parent/guardian
signature page, there are
options for parents to now
opt out of allowing the
school to provide their high
school student’s directory
information to U.S. military
recruiters and institutions
for higher learning. Parents
can also choose whether
their student will participate
in the Georgia Student
Health Survey II for stu
dents in grades six through
12 for substance abuse and
violence. Lastly, the signa
ture page includes the op
tion for parents to allow
their child to participle in
Fayette FACTOR and Drug
Free Fayette Coalition sur
veys.
Following, the board
discussed possible cell
phone policy changes in
high schools. The prior
procedures of cell phones
use varied per school, sub
ject area, and teacher imple
menting the guideline.
Attendees heard from
Yolanda Briggs-Johnson,
principal of Fayette County
High School, and Susan
King, a teacher and social
studies department chair of
Starr’s Mill High School.
Briggs-Johnson high
lighted the method that
Fayette County High School
currently uses to maintain
the structure and focus of
students as they navigate
through the school day.
She stated that Fayette
County High School had 44
cell phone violations
throughout the 180 school
days.
King followed Briggs-
Johnson by discussing how
she navigates the use of cell
phones in the classroom.
She emphasized that while
she is not against students
having cell phones, she does
see the personal device in
the classroom as a “double-
edged sword.”
“It’s not like a drug add
iction or like things are bad,
because I think that some of
the students are actually
using their phones, some
times, to do things that we
actually want them to do,”
King said, “which is why I
adopted the use of a ‘cell
phone pouch’. This is my at
tendance method. So, I
know whose phone is sup
posed to go in which pouch.
In my classroom, it’s right in
the front. Kids come in the
door, they deposit their cell
phones, and I use that as a
visual scan as to who is
here.”
King emphasized that
she is not against cell
phones, but highlighted the
struggles of monitoring and
understanding what stu
dents are truly using their
phones for during the day.
Her only “hang up” about
the method is how to mon
itor smartwatches and
wearable technology.
Daigre stated that she
wanted to know what the
solution would be to coexist
with cell phones and tech
nology.
“I believe part of it is
good, but there is a liability
issue here, and I don’t know
how we would get around
that,” Daigre said.
Briggs-Johnson reiter
ated that teachers and fac
ulty want students to focus
on learning in the class
room, and it is up to the
teacher to implement the
cell phone guidelines that
work for their classroom.
Other topics during the
meeting spanned from the
budget for mathematics
textbooks, as well as the rec
ommendation for the board
to approve the budget for
the Inman Elementary
School addition and ren
ovation.
HOLY TRINITY
CATHOLIC CHURCH
welcome konw.
Holy Trinity a vibrant
Catholic community
in Peachtree City, GA
invites and welcomes
you to our parish.
Thank you for being with
us this weekend as we
gather together at the
table of the Eucharist.
Saturday- 4:00p.m. and 5:30p.m.
Sunday- 7:15a.m., 10:30a.m.
12:15p.m., 1:45p.m. (Spanish)
and 4:30p.m. (Lifeteen)
HOLYTRINITYPTC.ORG
770-487-7672
101 WALT BANKS RD.
PEACHTREE CITY, GA 30269
Saint tya&Uel
152 Antioch Rd • Fayetteville • Parish Office: 770-461-0492
^Religiou^ducation^7^6^49^Tax^7^6^374
Weekend Mass Schedule
Saturday. 5 pm
Sunday. 8 am and 1030 am
Seating on a first come, first served basis.
Weekday Mass Schedule
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, & Friday. 9 am
Confessions Saturdays, 4 pm - 430 pm
All weekend Masses will livestream outside (weather permitting)
in the courtyard. Please bring your own chair. No reservations needed.
Holy Days of Obligation contact Parish Office - www.stgabrielga.com
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