Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 6A
- FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS - Sunday, February 22. 2004
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Vandalism atop Sawnee Mountain
The Forsyth County Parks and Recreation Department reported Feb. 18 that someone has been vandalizing
areas on Sawnee Mountain that are under development for a passive park. In particular, the areas around
the Indian Seat rocks on the top of the mountain have been vandalized through the past several months.
Messages inscribed on a garbage can near the area included “Why did you cut down the trees at the Indian
Seats?” The stumps of trees which department officials said were cut down because pine beetles had
killed the trees were painted red and spiked with nails. Someone also has damaged county property in
the area, such as gates and “No Trespassing” signs. Department Outdoor Program Supervisor Matthew Pate
said a county ranger will begin patrolling the area in the near future.
Board of Education has harsh words for Legislature
By Nicole Green
Staff Writer •
Board of Education mem
ber Paul Kreager compares the
state Legislature's proposed
budget cuts to his mother's idea
of spring cleaning. Local
school systems may need to
rummage through the discarded
items to recover valuable pro
grams before they are gone per
manently.
"It’s kind of like your mama
cleaning house. You lose some
of your treasured possessions.”
Kreager said at Thursday's
school board meeting.
“It's the mentality of the
state to sweep deep and clean."
Forsyth County Schools
faces an S 8 million to SIO mil
lion reduction in state cuts.
While this is not a large slice of
■\ Come on in and have a seat.,. JB
\ a 1920's Style Theatre Seat that is... designed especially for the Cumming Playhouse housed within the 1923 i
|| Cumming Public School Cumming High School. The school, located at 101 School Street, attained National fl
|| Historic Register Status in February of 2000 through the efforts of the Historical Society of Forsyth County. fl
tIH The Cumming Playhouse is scheduled to open mid-late Spring 2004. fl
Pictured is an example of the beautiful chair by American Seating, America's Oldest Seat Maker. Mr. Gary' II
Smith. Voter Registrar of Forsyth County, is shown presenting the first check to Mayor H. Ford Gravitt for a I
seat in the theatre w hich will carry an inscription in honor of Mr. Smith's family.
The 1 K seats w ill be sold on a first-come, first-serve basis. Please be reminded that the purchase of the seat
does not affect the purchase of tickets for individual performances.
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/ ■* ■JBJhKIF I Cumming Playhouse Theatre !V S
/ < Seating Purchase Application ! «
/ KBP 9 ' 2004 : 1
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. / --Contact person. I \B
; Address •
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\ I The plates will measure approximately 2" high by 6" long and will allow /]
. jjdfl|MflM||flfl] for two- three lines of legible inscription Plates will be installed on the | /
\ wooden backs of the seats. The City of Cumming does reserve the right to /
B . w I monitor the wording for content, length and correctness. /•:
. Example: I /■
I J K i In Honor of The John Smith Family { jH
1 2004 l /fl
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Qmmtity of Seats desired with the above inscription j ' '
1 * C()r P <)ratl<)ns In ‘*y * x * interested in buying a row of seats ® $1925 00. 7
1 • Please be reminded that the purchase of a theatre seat does not cover I : c'y
the cost of tickets for shows or presentations x
1 * I,eae " inc: 15, 2004 to meet installation date of April 15.
I • This form can be mailed or brought to: City Hall 100 Main Street, 2nd I
floor. Suite 232. Cumming, GA 30040 Att: Office of Linda Heard, along by
With a check in the amount of $275.00 made payable to; The City of
'/ 1 Cumming Payment must accompany application to put the order in
process. To contact: (770) 781-2010 I I
emaiLlindawheardOcityofcumming.net
I * This form may be copied.
---------------------------- -------- -_ _ a IB
BB
the $146 million pie. it could
still mean a millage rate
increase of two mills. One mill
equals one dollar in taxes per
SI,OOO of
assessed prop
erty value.
By refus
ing to raise
taxes, the state
is shifting the
financial bur
den of educa
tion to the
local school
"It's kind of like
your mama cleaning
house. You lose some
of your treasured pos
sessions."
-Paul Kreager
systems.
Superintendent Paula Gault
said Thursday. The Georgia
Constitution specifically gives
the responsibility of funding
public education to the state
government.
At a recent meeting
between legislators and the
school board, state Sen. Dan
Moody, R-Alpharetta. said he
was not aware of the state’s
constitutional
responsibility
to hind educa
tion, board
member
Rebecca
Dowell said.
Kreager
contrasted the
Legislature's
priorities.
While the state
is giving local systems more
financial responsibility, they
are reviewing a bill that would
give the state oversight in pun
ishment of school bullies.
Simply put, the Legislature
seems to say local schools can
—.x!
swallow more of the cost of
education but cannot handle the
conduct of their students, he
said.
The bullying bill also would
incur training costs for local
school personnel and require
more paperwork, which could
take teachers away from the
classroom.
Board member Nancy
Roche said that on a national
level education is underfunded
because educators do not com
plain enough to their legisla
tors. Educators tend to be opti
mists who “make do” with
what they are given. The Board
of Education is ready for the
needs of Forsyth County
Schools to be heanl.
"We have to get involved
and stop making do," Roche
Two won’t seek
re-election to board
By Nicole Green
Staff Writer
Two members of the
Forsyth County Board of
Education say they will not
seek re-election when their
terms expire on Dec. 31.
At Thursday’s regular
school board meeting, District
4 board member Paul Kreager
said that he is retiring after
eight years of service.
"As a retiring board mem
ber of eight years...l do not
plan to run again..." Kreager
said during a discussion about
state budget cuts that could
mean a property tax increase
for Forsyth residents.
Kreager retired from IBM
in 1988 and works as an eco
nomic development consultant
at the University of Georgia.
He and his wife Marcie
Kreager, a Forsyth County
Commissioner, have lived in
Forsyth since 1980.
Board Chairman Jeffrey
Stephens of District 3 also will
not run again for school board.
“My wife and I have been
said.
The board Thursday sub
mitted a resolution to the state
Legislature urging the delayed
implementation of class size
reductions scheduled to begin
in 2004-2005.
Small classes mean more
teachers must be hired.
Because the state is actually
contributing less money than
should be allocated according
to funding formulas, local sys
tems will foot the bill for the
state mandate.
If the current population
growth trend continues,
Forsyth County Schools will
gain another 2,000 students.
Without adding teachers to
reduce class sizes, Forsyth will
spend $9.6 million to purchase
teachers for their new students.
looking for a year and a half
for a house. We finally found
one we’re just in love with, but
it’s just not in District 3,"
Stephens said.
Stephens and his wife
Jackie have recently added
two members to their house
hold twins. With three chil
dren, they needed a new place
to live, he said.
“That’s a really tough deci
sion for me to make because I
really love being on the
board,” Stephens said.
“I did consider running
again and then living out of
district because there is some
justification for that since it’s
a countywide election ... But I
just didn’t feel that was ethi
cal,” he said.
Stephens said he plans to
stay active in the school sys
tem, especially since his oldest
child starts kindergarten next
year.
Stephens filled the remain
der of the late Don Hendricks’
term and was elected in his
own right in November 2002.
He is an accountant.
"It’s time for us to take a
much more proactive ap
proach,” board chairman
Jeffrey Stephens said. "We’ve
been able to pull rabbits out of
the hat for the last couple of
years, and we’re almost to the
end of that.”
Board vice chairman Ann
Crow said that funding educa
tion not only affects the chil
dren. All Georgians benefit
from the economic impact of a
good school system, se said.
Forsyth County Schools' repu
tation of excellence draws resi
dents, and business, to the
county.
"It’s time the politicians in
Georgia took that responsibility
seriously,” Crow said. "They
need to start changing the focus
from politics to education.”