Newspaper Page Text
County finalizes school uniform policy
By Adrienne Turner
AUGUSTA FOCUS Staff Writer
AUGUSTA
Richmond County school board
members were the first to usher
in the new uniform policy adopted
for it’s elementary and middle
school students. AttheJuly 15th
school board meeting, Dr. Charles
G. Larke, Richmond County su
perintendent, was joined by the
members ofthe board in donning
their own version of the white
shirts and khaki pants that most
kids will be wearing in the fall.
With the exception of school
board president Mary Oglesby
who opted out, board members
wore very stylish white, polo
style shirts with gold embroidery
stating each persons name and
position, as well as, the symbol
for the Richmond County Board
of Education. Khakipants, skirts
and jumpers were also worn by
the board members.
Though the uniform policy has
been the subject of much debate,
many solutions were outlined in
the draft of the policy. The draft
Aiken police can’t be trusted, young black males say
By Timothy Cox
AUGUSTA FOCUS Staff Writer
AIKEN, S.C
" A group of young black guys are
hanging out on a hot, summer
evening on Aiken’s northside. It’s
about 8 p.m. and the sun has just
rested its fiery-orange head beyond
the western horizon.
The fellows are pretty much doing
nothing. Sitting on carsin a parking
lot of alocal restaurant and pool hall,
talking “stuff” as they say and drib
blingabasketball. When questioned
about their relationship with Aiken
county law enforcement, silence pre
vails. Then one fellow, who appears
to be a ring-leader type, abruptly
responds, “It'smessed up. Especially
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Richmond County school board members model adult version
of school uniforms. L-R at table: Ken Echols Sr., Cherie Foster
and Andrew Jefferson. Photo by Adrienne Turner
includes an “opt-out” clause for
students due to religious reasons
and financial hardship, as well as
an item providing assistance to
those families that may desire to
wear uniforms but find it unfea
sible due to lack of finances.
“The policy should make rea
sonable and discrete provisions
for parents who cannot afford to
with Public Safety. That’swholhave
my beef with. Not with the county,”
he says, as he distinguishes his mis
trust for Aiken city police compared
with the Aiken County Sheriff’s Of
fice.
Another fellow, who looks to be
about 17, adds to the conversation.
“I've been stopped so many times,
I can’t count ‘em.” When asked for
reasons why the stops, the teen ex
plains, “Once, for not having my
license. Ihadforgottenthemathome,
butiftheywouldn’thave been follow
ing me for no reason, they'd have
never known,” he answered.
While all said they’d prefer to re
main anonymous, the message was
easilyidentifiable—in Aiken county,
based on what these fellows had to
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All of Georgia except
V:lrlnctn
City/Region
purchase uniforms, by: (a) ac
quiring sponsors to provide assis
tance in uniform purchases; (b)
requesting other school parents
to work together to make uni
forms available for economically
disadvantaged students; (c) by
asking for donations of used uni
forms from graduatestobe avail
able for incoming students; and,
say, there appears to be a rift be
tween the police and some of the
young black men in the county.
Concerning the July 11 situation
near Beechlsland and Petticoat Jun
ction, whensheriff's deputiesstopped
three of their peers and detained
themalongtheroad withguns, there
wasno strongreaction. Infact,itwas
as ifthey weren’t surprised at all.
One fellow, who said he was 31,
said although he and his friends
weren’t doing anything of note on
this Tuesday evening, at any time,
they expected either Aiken Depart
ment of Public Safety patrol or a car
from the sheriffs office to roll into
the parkinglot oftheir favorite hang
out, a place called City B’s, and tell
them to move from the parking lot.
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(d) by any other reasonable action
taken by the school.”
In addition tothe uniform policy,
the board also revised the student
dress code that had been in effect
since 1973. The new dress code is
stricterinthat it sets county-wide,
gender neutral and content neu
tral guidelines such as males not
being able to wear earrings and
extreme hair color and/or styles
not being allowed. Teachers are
also included in the new dress
code being required to dress mod
estly, professionally and to be well
groomed.
The new dress code is to be
signed separately from the code of
conduct in an effort to insure that
parents are aware of the new
changes that have been imple
mented. _
When the school board voted
last month to approve the manda
tory school uniform policy for el
ementary and middle school stu
dents, Richmond County was the
only school district of the 180 in
Georgia to have a mandatory
school uniform policy. They have
since been joined by at least one
other county.
“They have so much authority,” he
added. |
“We used to hang out in that area,”
said his 16-year-old cousin, pointing
toalotbeyond thegatescorrallingthe
Crosland Apartments. “They (police)
told us we couldn’t be over there, so
westarted coming over here. All of us
live around here, either in the apart
ments or in houses,” he explained.
“Wecallourselvesthe Crosland Crew,”
headded. When thisreporter dubbed
them as“a gang,” the fellows quickly
reacted. Fearing to be typecast, one
guy said, “We’re not a gang. We just
all like hanging together because we
live around here.”
“Yea, just like you and your friends
used to do back in the day,” the ring
leader type added.
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MCG enrollment
From page one
v
to apply. §
And while the school of medi
cine has been working to improve
their statistics, the school of den
tistry seems to have taken a step
back. Averaging 3.756 African-
American students per class in
the spring of 1999, only two Afri
can-American students have been
accepted, thus far, for the fall
semester.
The dental hygiene program
even showed little change, aver
aging one African-American stu
dent enrolled in each class of it’s
two-year program in the spring
and having accepted two African-
Aztlxllerican students tobegininthe
fall.
MCG officials were careful to
point out that the number of Afri
can-American students accepted
may not be directly reflected in
the number that are enrolled be
cause the students make the final
decision as to whether or not they
will attend.
A primary factor in the lack of
enrollment on the part of African-
American students, however,
could be due to the fact that they
may not be made to feel at home
From page one
riage, childbirth and the deaths of
husbands. Now, as senior citi
zens, they assist each other with
daily household needs, the physi
cal abilities of one compensating
for the lack in the other. They
want to remain neighbors.
Thetwofriends managed tofind
a pair of houses they wanted —
adjacent properties in a clean,
quiet neighborhood — but realtor
Mike Dayger said, both duringthe
ot
AUG&A FOCUS JULY 22, 1999
financially. .
The school of medicine does not .
have scholarships that are ear- .
marked specifically for African
Americans, however, itisreported
that these students may fare well
receiving scholarships through
other avenues. The school of:.
dentistry has two scholarships:
designated for African Americans;
the Mcßae-Orrington scholarship,
named for the first two African-
American students to graduaté
from MCG’s dental school, and
another provided by area dentist
Dr. W. J. Walker Jr. The dental
hygiene program offers African-
American students specialized
scholarships that are provided by
the National Dental Association.
The lack of African-American
representation among the faculty -
may also be a contributing factor
to the lack of enrollment, though
the percentage of African Ameri
cans on the faculty is about equal
to that of the student body.
Hopefully, with the dawning of
anew millennium, MCG will con
tinue to look closely at their poli
cies and procedures and continue "
to strive to become more repre
sentative of the world in which we
live.
See MCG, page 8A :
June 11 meetingand at a previous
time, that he “will die” before he
sells the women the houses at the:
prices for which they were asking.
TheJune 11 meetingsadjourned
without resolution. In a second
letter she wrote to Florida Gov.
Jeb Bush, Bettye Stanley, daugh
ter of Mrs. Stanley, promised that
her family will not back down
from the fight. “My family will be
sitting on the porch waiting for
the bulldozers to come mow us
down,” she writes.
So far, the governor has not
responded to the family’s pleas for
help.
3A