About Lake Oconee news. (Greensboro, GA) 199?-current | View Entire Issue (May 12, 2017)
Your official newspaper serving Greene, Morgan and Putnam counties in Georgia’s Lake Country \ www.LakeOconeeNews.us VOL. 19 NO. 19 FRIDAY MAY 12 2017 75 CENTS GREENE COUNTY State orders LOA to hold second lottery School faces probation if it fails to comply Mark Engel engel@lakeoconeenews.us Lake Oconee Academy has been ordered to conduct a second lottery for new admissions for the 2017- 2018 school year. It must be held before Friday, May 19, or it “will result in Lake Oconee Academy being placed on probation.” Louis Erste, associate superinten dent for policy, charter schools at the Georgia Department of Education, in an email to LOA CEO Dr. Otho Tucker and other school officials on Tuesday, said that all slots awarded in the April 5 lottery to non-residents of Greene County must be rescinded. Those positions, according to the email, must be distributed in a lottery pool made up of only families who were county residents when they submitted their applications. Of the 502 applicants for next year’s enrollment, 153 came from families outside of Greene County, according to Tucker. A total of 69 applications were selected in the April lottery but at press time is was not clear how many of those had been awarded to non-residents of Greene County. Tucker and LOA board attorney Richard Schmidt say they will call a special meeting of the LOA board to discuss the situation but add that the ruling “doesn’t leave us much of a choice.” For years, the school’s policy of allowing parents who do not live in Greene County to apply for admis sion for their child has been contro- SEE LOA » A3 Mark Engel/Staff Lake Oconee Academy CEO Dr. Otho Tucker attends the most recent meeting of the Greene County Board of Education. GREENE COUNTY 1-20 wreck driver T. Michael Stone michael@lakeoconeenews.us A chain reaction accident near the Greensboro exit on 1-20 claimed the life of a Sharpsburg woman Sunday after noon. According to a report from the Georgia State Patrol, Sandra Rowe Giles, 43, was Contributed SEE WRECK » A10 This Toyota was one of four vehicles involved in fatal wreck on 1-20. index Calendar B4 Churches B8 Classifieds D3 Community B1 Obituaries A9 Opinions A4 Recipes D1 Sports C1 Sports C1 FRIDAY 83/61 T-storms Likely WEATHER »D6 0 94922 87855 7 Published by Smith Communications Inc. Contributed Steve Stempenski and Madison Police Chief Bill Ashburn express their ideas on the pawn shop to city council. Pawn shop law sparks controversy Katherine Klimt katherine@lakeoconeenews.us During Monday evening’s city council meeting, a proposed ordinance amend ment that aims to strengthen the city’s ability to track and recover stolen property provoked protest from local business owner Steve Stempinski and was eventual ly tabled for further review. The amendment mandates additional restrictions on pawn shop brokers, requir ing them to keep detailed records of their transactions and submit these records to the city. The records would include infor mation about customers including their names, a general description of their ap pearance and their driver’s license number, and details about the transaction itself, such as item descriptions and the amount of money loaned. The intent of this leg islation, according to city attorney Jim Reitman, is to help police more quickly recover stolen property. The provision SEE MADISON » A2 Hillary Meeler Lara Still New principals named for two Morgan schools The Morgan County Board of Education has announced the hiring of two new principals. Lara Still has been named the new princi pal at Morgan County Elementary School, re placing Ty Snyder who is leaving at the end of this school year to take a position in Jasper County. Hillary Meeler has been named the new princi pal at Morgan County Middle School, replacing Dr. Darrell Stephens. Still is a graduate of Morgan County High School. She earned her BS from the University of Georgia and her master’s and Ed. S degrees from Piedmont College. Presently completing her third year working as an assistant principal with the Oconee County school system, Still has worked in Morgan County as an instruc tional lead teacher, third grade teacher, EIP (remedial) teacher, kin dergarten teacher and teacher of the gifted. She was a first and fourth grade teacher at Morrow Elementary School and a fourth grade teacher at North Jonesboro Elemen tary School as well. She earned the Oconee County Pursuit of Excel lence Award for Lead ership Employees this year and was the Morgan County Primary School Teacher of the Year in 2001. She has 27 years of ex perience as an educator, with seven of them as an administrator. “I am excited to be returning to Morgan County and to have the opportunity to serve as principal of Morgan County Elementary School,” Still said. “My goal as an administrator is to partner with parents, teachers and staff to foster an environment where students are growing as learners, building strong character,and develop ing the skills needed to be successful in the 21st century. I look forward to becoming a part of the MCESteam.” Hillary Meeler gradu ated from Monroe Area High School and also earned her BS from the University of Georgia. SEE SCHOOLS » A10 OUTDATED HEATING AND COOLING SYSTEM CLEANING OUT YOUR WMUMff CALL WILSON BRYANT • Commercial • Residential • Maintenance • New Install 866 Harmony Rd. Eatonton, GA 706-485-5456 www.bryant-air.com * BBB
