Newspaper Page Text
Page 2
The Oglethorpe Echo
Thursday, November 9, 2023
CASSIDY HETTESHEIMER/THE OGLETHORPE ECHO
Oglethorpe County Primary and Elementary School principal Katie
Baldwin hugs special education parapro Toni Evans after present
ing her with the OCES Classified Employee of the Year award at
the BOE meeting on Tuesday. Three of the county's four classified
employees of the year were honored at the meeting.
BOE approves
purchase of three
new school buses
By Caleb Baldwin
and Cassidy Hettesheimer
The Oglethorpe Echo
The Oglethorpe County Board
of Education approved buying
three new buses and discussed oth
er structural improvements at its
Tuesday meeting.
As a part of the school system???s
yearly bus replacement rotation,
Oglethorpe County will buy two
new Blue Bird gas-powered route
buses for $141,999 each, for a to
tal of $283,998. The school system
will also add an additional special
education bus for $153,320.
These will be the county???s first
buses with air conditioning.
???Our fleet is around 25 route
buses, and so we try to replace two
buses every year,??? said Paul Thiel,
director of operations for the
school system. ???The state wants
you to have, they???re called ???in-cy
cle,??? so you don???t run buses that
are really, really old.???
Board members also discussed
spending for drainage solutions
for the northwest side of the
Oglethorpe County High School
track, which is necessary to re
ceive a warranty on the track. The
quoted cost of a drain system in
stallation would be $19,000.
Track and field improvements
were also a topic for the board ???
quoted at $71,040 ??? in order for
the discus, shot put and long jump
pits to be suitable for a March
2024 competition. Board members
weighed the merits of sodding or
hydroseeding a 40,000-square-foot
space where the field events may
be moved; this space has previous
ly been used for overflow parking.
The board will continue the
drainage and field improvement
discussions at its work session on
Nov. 16.
In other news,
the board:
??? Recognized the 2023-2024
system teacher of the year: Shonda
Cronic, OCPS kindergarten
??? Recognized the 2023-2024
classified employees of the year:
Kathi Matthews, OCPS nurse; Toni
Evans, OCES special education
paraprofessional; Saundra Gabri
el, OCMS nurse and cheer coach;
Meredith Meyer, OCHS secretary
??? Announced that Oglethorpe
County Primary School completed
its sensory room to be used for stu
dents with special needs or senso
ry issues. The room has a series of
relaxing, interactive objects with
which students can interact.
??? Noted that 49 OCHS stu
dents took the ACT in 2023, up
from 37 in 2022 and 36 in 2021;
average reading and English
scores decreased, while math and
science scores increased
??? Approved a new special ed
ucation paraprofessional at OCPS
??? Discussed an opportunity,
paid for by the bus company, for
the transportation director and a
mechanic to visit the Roush Plant
in Michigan to learn about pro
pane buses.
??? Highlighted activities in
schools??? computer science pro
grams, including game design at
OCHS and 3D printing at OCES
??? Recognized The Oglethorpe
Echo for receiving the Georgia
School Board Association???s Bea
con Award.
Echo wins Beacon Award
for coverage of schools
Staff Report
The Oglethorpe Echo has re
ceived an award for its reporting
on the public education system in
Oglethorpe County.
The Beacon Award, sponsored
by the Georgia School Board As
sociation, recognizes reporting
that has ???created an understand
ing of public education issues by
informing the general public about
programs, policies and/or issues
affecting the public schools, stu
dents, and/or communities,??? ac
cording to the GSBA website.
Echo Editor Andy Johnston will
accept the award on Nov. 30 at a
ceremony in Atlanta.
???The partnership we have built
with The Echo is priceless, not
only for the school system, but
for the journalism students,??? the
Oglethorpe County Board of Edu
cation wrote in its nominating letter.
In nominating The Echo, the
Board of Education submitted an
Echo feature on the first senior
class of REACH Scholars, cov
erage of millage rate changes and
Q&As with district teachers of
the year ??? reporting done by fall
2023 education reporters Cassidy
Hettesheimer and Caleb Baldwin.
The Class of 2023 special sec
tion created by The Echo was also
part of the nomination.
???Because this is a very unique
set-up for a local paper, we were
skeptical that students could man
age the tasks, but it has worked out
very well,??? the Board wrote in the
letter. ???This arrangement has al
lowed us to view the school sys
tem through another lens ??? that of
a reporter. It is very important to
tell our own story, and this allows
us to do so through another voice
and a much wider circulation of
readers.???
BANKSTON
CONCRETE &
CONSTRUCTION
(770) 337-8958
Building Slabs,
Driveways, Sidewalks,
Retainer Walls, Decora
tive Concrete
FREE ESTIMATES
30 Years
Experience
Big or Small Jobs
From the Oglethorpe County Democrats:
We Believe All people are created equal, that this is America???s
fundamental ideal.
We Believe That America is a democracy, by and for the
people: ruled by the Constitution and its interpretations,
protected by the Bill of Rights, and inspired by the Declara
tion of Independence.
We Believe These founding documents demand Freedom,
Justice, and Opportunity for all Americans, in full and equal
measure ??? regardless of who you are, what you believe or
where you live.
We Believe That the Duty of government is to strive endlessly
to make the ideals of Freedom, Justice, and Opportunity a
reality for all.
We Believe That the Purpose of government is to protect our
nation, defend our democracy, and to endlessly promote
the welfare of each and every one of us.
We Believe That fighting for these ideals is our purpose as a
political party.
The Oglethomfe Echo
Telling Oglethorpe's story since 1874!
And when you subscribe and provide your email address, you get a free e-edition
That means wherever you go, your 150-year-old newspaper goes with you.
P.O. Box 268, Lexington, GA 30648 | 706.743.3111 ||www.theoglethorpeecho.com
In-Countv: lyr $21.60 (incl tax) ??? Adjoining County: lyr $28.08 (incl tax)
Elsewhere in GA: lyr $34.56 (incl tax) ??? Out-of-State: lyr $35 (no tax)
Amount Received:
From
Subscription #
Renewal
Address:
Name:
Email Address
Subscribe
???.??
.A*
f il
1
i -C
TJ i i