Newspaper Page Text
Schools face $200,000 deficit;
David Elder elected to board
Former Spalding County
Commissioner David Elder has
been elected to the school
board.
The system faces a $200,000
operating budget deficit.
Griffin will be headquarters
for a new school facility with an
annual budget of $230,000.
These were some of the things
taken up at last night’s Griffin-
Spalding school board meeting.
Mr. Elder was elected to
complete the term of W. G.
Blakeney who resigned in
March.
Under Georgia law, when a
school board member resigns,
the remaining members may
fill the vacancy.
Mr. Elder, who has a
daughter in the eighth grade,
was nominated by a board com
mittee made up of Russell
Smith (chairman), Bill West
moreland and Miss Anne Hill
Drewry. He received a majority
vote of the board.
SPIKES
Mrs. Mary Stinson had
nominated E. S. Spikes, retired
Spalding County agent. She
later said she made the nomina
tion as a formality, to give the
board a choice.
Mr. Elder will hold the Post
One seat through Dec. 31, 1976,
or until his successor qualifies.
A letter was sent to Mr.
Blakeney expressing the
board’s appreciation for his
many years of service.
DEFICIT
Supt. D. B. Christie told the
board it looks as if the school
system faces a $200,000
operating shortage this year.
He said the system is running
about $400,000 short of the
budget but he hopes half of that
amount will be sent in soon from
taxes collected from recent car
tag sales.
> “Usually by this time, the
board has received about 99
percent of local tax monies,” he
said. About SIOO,OOO of the
shortage may be accounted for
with the new homestead
exemption law, he added.
“Hard times, the recent loss
of several local industries and a
slowdown of county growth also
may contribute to the lack of
funds,” he continued.
BORROW
“If the tax money doesn’t
come up by July 1, the school
board may have to borrow the
money”, Christie said.
The board approved what
Chairman Henry Walker ter
med “the equivalent of a new
industry for Spalding County”.
The members voted for
Griffin to be headquarters for a
new psyco-educational center,
serving severely disturbed
children from Spalding and
seven other area counties.
The facility will have an
annual budget of $235,000 and
will begin with five teachers,
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GRIFFIN
DAI N E WS
Vol. 103 No. 89
paid for by the state, who are
trained in behavorial disorders.
The next school year, two more
teachers will be added.
SPALDING
The State Department of
Education designated Spalding
County as headquarters with
out-reach posts in Newton and
Upson Counties. Other counties
participating will be Fayette,
Henry, Butts, Pike, and Lamar.
To qualify, the board must
provide transportation of the
children to the center and a
building to house the project.
There are available rooms at
the old Kelsey Junior High
School building. They will be
renovated by the state.
As headquarters, the Griffin-
Spalding board will serve as
physical agent to handle the
center’s operating funds.
Mr. Christie said he is very
excited about the project.
The children who will use the
center have average IQ’s but
are emotionally disturbed. In
the past, they have been sent to
state mental hospitals.
BUILDING
Christie said not only will
Griffin get the equivalent of a
new $235,000 industry, but the
state will pay for remodeling a
building in terrible condition,
and the community will have
the benefit of several new
professionally trained
residents.
The center will have the
services of a psychiatrist, a full
time clinical psychologist, a
staff of comprehensive social
workers and highly trained
professionals in the classrooms.
The staff will also begin to
work with infants and preschool
age children.
The children can be referred
to the center by teachers and
private physicians.
The work of the center was
explained to the board by Bob
Gordon, director.
The center will open July 1. It
will start serving children in
October, Gordon said.
COMPLAINT
An American Civil Liberties
Union attorney and her com
panion came to last night’s
meeting to protest the recent
expulsion of a Spalding Junior
High School student.
Miss Ellen Leitzer, who said
she travels all over Georgia
fighting for children’s rights,
was representing a 14-year-old
black girl and her parents. The
girl was expelled for the
remainder of the school year
from Spalding Junior High
School, Unit II in March for
allegedly calling a white
teacher an offensive name.
School officials said the girl
had given trouble several times
before the incident but her
parents had not been notified
until she was expelled.
She was given a hearing in
Griffin, Ga., 30223, Tuesday Afternoon, April 15,1975
Also in this story
—E. S. Spikes also nominated to fill vacancy.
—System may have to borrow some money.
—Board accepts psycho-educational center.
—Civil Liberties Union threatens to take system to court
in dispute over expelling student.
—Low pay for substitute teachers under fire.
—Request for gym turned down.
—Textile Classic approved.
—Drug poster contest planned.
—School calendar for 1975-76 approved.
—System will get Hawkes Library building.
—Tascar Williams among faculty members hired.
late March before the school
board which upheld the ex
pulsion.
RECONSIDER
Miss Leitzer asked the board
to reconsider. She contended
the punishment was too severe
and did not fit the crime.
The student is guilty of
nothing more than being
adolescent, with misbehavior or
resisting authority an often
cronic and, in fact, an involun
tary condition of that period of
life. To expel a child from
school for adolescent behavior
is shocking. . . expulsion is
unreasonable and too severe,
she stated.
“Unless the school board
reconsiders, the parents and
student will be forced to resort
to the courts to have their
fundamental rights restored to
them,” she warned.
SHOCKING
She said it was shocking the
board gave the girl the severest
form of punishment, the same
they would give a student
caught selling drugs in the
school.
Chairman Walker assured
Miss Leitzer the board’s
primary purpose was keeping
children in school and giving
them a good education.
He suggested the instruction
committee, made up of Miss
Anne Hill Drewry (chairman),
Dr. Tom Hunt, and Mrs. Yvonne
Langford review the case, listen
to the tapes of the hearing, and,
if they want the full board to
reconsider or if they feel a
lesser punishment is proper, he
will call a meeting of the board.
Walker said he would not push
the committee, but he assured
Miss Leitzer they would work as
quickly as possible.
Judge Whalen named
to court review panel
Griffin Judicial Circuit
Superior Court Judge Andrew J.
Whalen, Jr., has been named a
member of the State’s Superior
Courts Sentence Review Panel
for a term from April 1, 1975,
through June 30, 1975.
He is one of four Superior
Court judges in Georgia named
to this judicial panel responsi
ble for examining five-year and
longer sentences imposed by
Superior Court judges. The
panel is empowered to either
affirm or reduce Court-set
sentences, but cannot increase
any sentence. The panel was
created to assure that as much
as reasonably possible
criminals with similar personal
histories and records will
receive similar sentences.
The Sentence Review Panel
procedure was established in
1974 when the General
Assembly gave Superior Court
judges responsibility for sen
tencing persons found guilty by
a jury of non-capital offenses.
Such sentencing power prior to
the 1974 law was in the hands of
the jury. ,
Each panel is appointed for a
MRS. STINSON
Mrs. Mary Stinson asked to
sit in on the committee’s
meeting.
John Allison, president of the
Crescent PTO, objected to the
low pay of substitute teachers.
He said the sl6 per day pay for
college graduates to substitute
is below the minimum wage.
“The salary is too low and
there’s too much baby sitting,”
he complained.
He was told the board was
aware that something should be
done about the low pay and they
presently were working on next
year’s budget.
Mr. Allison also invited the
board to sponsor one of its
members for the Womanless
Beauty Contest at Crescent on
May 2. If the board member
wins, he is invited to donate his
prize to the school, Allison said.
TURNED DOWN
The board turned down one
request for an outside group to
use the high school gym, but
granted another request for
football games in the stadium.
Willie Lindsey asked to use
(Continued on page six)
Tornado hits
Brunswick
BRUNSWICK, Ga. (UPI) —
A small tornado ripped the roof
off a big wholesale liquor
warehouse and damaged sever
al houses during its quarter
mile rampage through a
commercial-residential section
of downtown Brunswick Mon
day night.
The twister stripped the roof
off the Standard Distributors
Co., which is located next door
to the Brunswick News Buil
ding, the city’s daily news
paper.
three-month term by Council of
Superior Court Judges Presi
dent Harold Banke, Superior
Court judge in the Clayton
Judicial Circuit.
As of April 11, Clerk of the
Sentence Review Panel Phyllis
Tanner reported that 213 cases
had been docketed for review.
The first three panels reduced a
total of 12 cases (11.11 percent)
of the 108 cases reviewed.
In addition to Judge Whalen,
other members of this fourth
panel to review sentences are
Judge James Barrow, chair
man, Western Circuit (Clarke
and Oconee Counties); Judge H.
Lamar Knight, Coweta Circuit
(Carroll, Coweta, Heard, Meri
wether and Troup Counties),
and supernumerary member
Judge H. W. Lott, Alapaha
Judicial Circuit (Atkinson,
Berrien, Clinch, Cook and
Lanier Counties). The super
numerary member will sit on
the panel in the instance one of
the panel members disqualifies
himself or is unable to attend
the session.
Daily Since 1872
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Mark Reid, seventh grader in the Griffin-Spalding School
System, is the system’s spelling champ. Pictured with
him are Walker Cook (1), curriculum coordinator who
handled the contest; and his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Jimmy
Reid, 1720 Ridge street. Mark will represent the system in
the district meet April 18 at the education service center
in the old Vineyard Road school building. Other student
Man killed in wreck
A Griffin man, Charles
Reeves, 26, of 119 Loumae
drive, was killed in a traffic
accident last night on South Hill
street.
Mrs. Mildred Sawyer, 901
Morningside drive, the driver of
the other car, was injured and
was admitted to the Griffin-
Spalding Hospital. Mrs. Sawyer
is executive vice president of
the Griffin Area Chamber of
Commerce.
Officer John Nolan, one of the
Griffin police officers who in
vestigated the accident, said the
collision happened about 7:25
p.m. on South Hill near the
South Eighth street intersec
tion.
Officer Nolan said the acci
dent happened when Mrs.
Sawyer, who was traveling
north on Hill, lost control of her
car when she applied her brakes
to slow down for a car in front of
her. Her car went off the road’s
edge and when she attempted to
get it back in the traffic lane,
the auto went across the center
line and struck Reeves’
Volkswagen in the left side,
Nolan explained.
The small car went down an
embankment and into a creek.
Nolan said the Sawyer auto
probably also would have gone
into the creek if it had not struck
an iron post.
Reeves, who was conscious,
was trapped in his car some 15
minutes until Griffin firemen
could free him with their cutting
saw.
When police arrived, Nolan
said passers-by were standing
in the creek attempting to keep
the small car upright in the
swift current of water. Am
bulance attendants from the
Griffin hospital also were ad
ministering first aid, he said.
Both Reeves and Mrs. Sawyer
were brought to the hospital
emergency room where Reeves
died some two hours later.
Mrs. Sawyer was admitted to
the hospital and did not learn of
Reeves’ death until this mor
ning. She complained of chest,
shoulder and head pain, police
said.
Spelling champ
A native of Griffin, Mr.
Reeves was a graduate of
Griffin High School and Gordon
Military College. He was a
member of the Harvill-Walker
Sunday School Class of the First
Baptist Church.
Mr. Reeves was employed
with Interstate Life and Acci
dent Insurance Co., and was a
member and director of the
Underwriters’ Association. He
Hanoi offers safe
passage to Americans
SAIGON (UPI) — Radio
Hanoi said today North Viet-
Hospital
accredited
two years
The Griffin-Spalding Hospital
has earned a two-year
accreditation from the Joint
Commission on Accreditation of
Hospitals.
A letter from the commission
notified Administrator Carl
Ridley the hospital here had
met its standards.
The commission commended
Ridley on the operation of the
hospital as shown during the
inspection team’s visit earlier
this year.
Not too many hospitals are
earning accreditation for two
years, Mr. Ridley said. This
makes the latest accreditation
particularly significant, he
said.
Some are accredited for much
shorter periods, he said.
Two years is the maximum
the commission can award.
Some get one year or less
accrediting.
The certification means that
the commission will not have to
check the hospital again for
another two years.
The same inspection team
never comes to a hospital twice.
Elderly woman
dies in fire
An elderly woman died this
morning when flames engulfed
her Birdie Community home.
Mrs. Georgia May Fields,
said to be more than 90-years
old, perished in her home which
was discovered burning by a
passer-by around 9 this mor
ning. The six-room frame house
was on Patterson road and was
owned by Robert Ritchey of
Pine Valley road.
Dundee Volunteer firemen
who answered the call said they
did not know anyone was inside
the house until they arrived at
the scene and found it engulfed
in flames.
They were told two women
were inside.
Others who lived in the home
winners in the system spelling contest were: Lynn
Murphy, Junior High II who was second place winner;
Ralph Gray, Atkinson; Ina Allison, Crescent; Jay Collier,
East Griffin; Patricia Woodard, Fourth Ward; Mona
Harris, Jackson road; George Mixon, Orrs; Larry Brind
ley, Third Ward; and Elizabeth Fenley, West Griffin.
was a member of Elks Lodge
1207, a member and served on
the board of directors of the
Cabin Creek Golf Club.
Survivors include his wife,
Mrs. Alice Crouch Reeves; a
daughter, Miss Laura Alice
Reeves; mother, Mrs. Mildred
Thorton, all of Griffin; father,
George Reeves of Thomaston;
several aunts and uncles also
survive.
nam has offered safe passage
to Americans leaving South
Vietnam as long as they leave
quickly.
A broadcast monitored in
Saigon said official Americans,
regarded as military advisers
by the North Vietnmese, should
be withdrawn “all and at
once.”
“The Vietnamese people en
sured the safe withdrawal of
the U.S. expeditionary corps in
March, 1973,” following the
signing of the Paris peace
agreement, the broadcast said.
“They will see to it that these
American military personnel
(now in South Vietnam) are
pulled out safely.”
The broadcast said there are
“tens of thousands of military
personnel who are illegally
operating in South Vietnam
under civilian guise, running
the war machine, jeopardizing
the peace agreement and
opposing the fundamental na-
Weather
ESTIMATED HIGH TODAY
65, low today 50, high yesterday
70, low yesterday 44, total
rainfall 2.02 inches. High
tomorrow in mid 70s, low
tonight in mid 40s. Sunrise
tomorrow 7:12, sunset
tomorrow 8:03.
were Mrs. Fields’ daughter and
her daughter’s husband,
Raymond Harrison. It was
some time before firemen
learned Mr. Harrison’s wife
already had left for work. Mr.
Harrison was contacted at the
Georgia Experiment Station
where he is employed.
A woman driving by spotted
the flames and went to the home
of Oscar Mobley, a neighbor, to
call firemen.
Mrs. Fields was burned
beyond recognition. Her body
was found on a porch of the
leveled home where apparently
she had attempted to escape the
flames.
Dundee Fire Chief Kenneth
Roberts said the cause of the
blaze has not been determined.
The funeral will be conducted
Wednesday afternoon at 2
o’clock in First Baptist Church.
The Rev. Bruce M. Morgan and
the Rev. W. Thurman Fountain
will officiate and burial will be
in Oak Hill cemetery. The body
will remain at Pittman Rawls
Funeral Home. Friends may
visit the family at the home of
Mr. and Mrs. W. H. Crouch, 312
Maddox road.
tional rights of the Vietnamese
people.”
“They are criminals and
ought to be punished,” Radio
Hanoi said. But it said
Communist forces are able to
offer them safe exits if the
Americans leave at once.
Dynamite
found
ATLANTA (UPI) - Thirty
sticks of dynamite which had
decomposed into more than a
quart of nitroglycerin was
found Monday in the rear of a
building on Ponce de Leon
Street in downtown Atlanta.
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“If you’ve found away to be
helpful to others, you’ve found
the way to be happy.”