24
Crawford County
Counseling Center will
raffle off a Savage 308
Caliver Rifle ■ Tickets
are $5 or you can get
15 tickets for $50, 35
tickets for $100.
Call 836-3825 for
tickets.
McLeighton
Elected To
Executive Board
Of Statewide
Association
Page 3 Inside
Rhe’a Harrell
FVSU Team
Success
Intern
Page 3 Inside
Issue 29
One Dollar
The Voice of Crawford County since 1921 (Also serving Byron & Peach Go.)
Thursday, July 18,2013
1 Sections, 12 Page
School System Scrambling To Overcome Cuts
Opening Day Pushed To September 3rd
By Susan Garnto
The Georgia Post
“We were at the end of our
rope and out of options with
all the cuts from the state,”
said Crawford County Su
perintendent of Schools John
Douglas after the board voted
to cut the school calendar
back to 160 days.
A 160-day calendar will
mean two weeks less of fuel
and electrical costs which was
one way for the system to cut
back to have more operational
money. The change means
school will not begin until
September 3rd, giving stu
dents extra summer time off.
Douglas said though the
QBE (Quality Basic Educa
tion Act) sets a formula for
systems to receive funds
based on the number of
students,(CC has 1856 stu
dents) they do not always al
locate all of that money to the
systems. He said Crawford
County has been cut a million
dollars a year since 2009 and
it was even more for this year.
As a result of less state
funding, Crawford County,
according to Douglas has
been cutting back more and
using what reserves they had
in hopes the state would come
back with more funding. That
did not happen. The system
has been using furlough days
and has cut back help at the
central office with those left
filling in, and not replacing
anyone who leaves. “It may
not be the best thing but we
are doing whatever we can,”
Douglas said. A hiring freeze
is also in place. Douglas also
said the board is looking into
other options such as out
sourcing transportation. They
are also taking proposals for
contracting custodial services.
“Do we have it all figured
out? Not yet,” he said. He also
noted that the classroom was
not being affected by anything
that had been done so far.
According to the Depart
ment of Education (DOE),
last year, the majority of
public school districts did not
have 180 days of instruction,
but between 170 to 179 days.
Some even have fewer with
Chattooga County having
only 144 days of school in
struction. Last year Crawford
County had 175 days. The
Georgia DOE policy defines
a school year as “180 days or
the equivalent”.
Teachers will return to
school on August 27 and the
system’s Open House will be
August 29, from 4-7 p.m. Ev
eryone inovlved in the school
system received an automated
phone notice announcing the
new start date.
The Board of Education
is holding a work session,
Tuesday, July 30th at 6 p.m.
to discuss the continually
dwindling state funds further.
Board chairman Raymond
Dickey objected to making
the calendar change but the
rest of the board approved it.
Some good news at last
week’s meeting was the
recognition of Mike Camp
bell (Principal of CCHS) and
Cynthia Dickey by Rhonda
Harris who gave a presenta
tion for the award. She spoke
of a plan a couple years ago
to improve the graduation
rate and student achieve
ment at the high school that
Campbell and Dickey and the
leadership team of Crawford
County High School came up
with at that time. There were
several things, one being a
Benchmarking Assessment
System, in which, students
were tested every two weeks
on content area, Content
Specialist to help teachers
with progress and Scientifi
cally Based Teaching Strate
gies. A whole new lesson
plan format (that was a joy for
faculty) and the board asked
for a Parent at Risk Contact
Mike
Camp
bell,
CCHS
princi
pal, left,
with
Ray
mond
Dickey
- board
chair
man and
Cynthia
Dickey
with
plaque
and flag
for CCHS
as a Title
1 High
Progress
Reward
School.
to be put in place. Crawford
County High School (CCHC)
did receive the Title 1 School-
Wide School recognition
and a High Progress Reward
for making the top 10% of
Georgia’s Title 1 Schools for
most progress for improve
ment of all students. Harris
said, “The icing on the cake
is a $3,000.00 reward for
getting this status.” Through
Title 1 some technology can
be purchased for teachers in
the building. CCHS received
this award for improvement in
the spring 2012 COTC scores
in closing the gaps in educa
tion. Upon presenting the
award Chairperson Raymond
Dickey said, “It is my plea
sure to stand here with Mr.
Mike Campbell and the board
to give this plaque that reads,
“Georgia Department of Edu
cation recognizes Crawford
County High School as Title 1
High Progress Reward School
2013.”
Sharon Craft presented the
board with the financial report
and the School Nutrition Bud
get. The report was approved
as presented. Tim Johnson
made a motion to approve
School Nutrition Budget as
information. It was approved.
School lunch prices may
CUTS, Page 2
The Medical Center of Peach County opened Tuesday, July 16th and the Roberta
Chamber of Commerce celebrated the ER opening by accompanying Turner’s Hot
wings to present food to ER employees.. From left, Sara Turner, Charles Cook -
RCCCOC President, Nancy Peed - MCPC CEO, Eric Simpson - RN, Dr. Spencer Price
-, ER Medical Director, Leandrea Lopez - ED Nurse Manager,and “Little Bit” (Felicia)
Turner. All facilities are now up and running at the new location and the old location
has shut down. The Medical Center of Peach County is now located on Hwy. 247 Con
nector, Byron and is part of the Central Georgia Healthcare System and a partner of the
Medical Center of Middle Georgia.
Taste Food At New RCCCOC Event
Crawford County/Roberta has much to offer in
satisfying hunger pains. To show off what is avail
able in our community the Roberta Crawford
County Chamber of Commerce will be holding a
Fresh Taste of Crawford County on Friday, July
26 from 6:30-8 p.m. at the Depot. In case of rain,
the event will be held at the CGTC Roberta cam
pus inside. For $3 a person or $10 for a family
of four you can “taste” signature food items from
local eateries.
Participants who will be providing the “taste”
items includes Till’s Treats, Kuntry Kitchen, Hud
son’s BBQ, Subway, Turner’s Wings, Champion’s
Restaurant and Big Chic.
There will be a People’s Choice vote for best
decorated table and the winner will be announced
before the night ends. Chamber directors are hop
ing that this will become an annual event.
Though reservations are not needed, the Cham
ber would like to get an approximate head count
for the restaurants so if you plan on attending
please let Patti know at the Chamber office. For
more information contact Patti at the Chamber of
fice, 478-836-3825.
Flint Energies Asks Chamber To
Partner For Youth Leadership
By Susan Garnto
The Georgia Post
Signs, schools and a
potential partnership were
main topics at this month’s
meeting of the Roberta
-Crawford County Chamber
of Commerce.
A decision on signs was
under old business. Direc
tor Patti Temple had a quote
for $1,000.00 for two big
free standing signs. After the
board members discussed
the high cost of the two
signs it was then decided
that the free standing signs
were out. President Charles
Cook said there were four
intersections and they need
ed eight signs which could
be attached to the county
signs. Board members
agreed it would be better to
go with the smaller signs.
Crawford County High
School Principal Mike
Campbell, a guest, spoke
to the board on how he was
surprised he was presented
with a flag and a plaque
from the State of Georgia
recognizing our status as
a reward school 2013 at
the CC Board of Education
meeting. He told the board
the schools no longer will
have report cards. It will
now be called the College
and Career Rating Perfor
mance Index (CCRPI).
Explaining the change, he
said it was a much more fair
assessment of the perfor
mance of the school. There
are 19 criteria that they
judge on not just test scores.
Test scores are judged but
other things are taken into
consideration like “Path
way Completers,” such as
CTA courses and Vocational
courses. The more Pathway
Completers you have the
better score you will get. A
Pathway is just like a major
you get to the 9th grade you
declare a pathway and that
gets you to thinking about
what you want to do when
you get out of school. You
have to take three courses
in that Pathway whether it
is Agriculture, Nursing or
Technology, Art, Foreign
Language or JROTC. All of
these are considered Path
ways. The more completers
you have the better score
you will get. It also takes
into consideration how
many graduates you have
to go to college whether
its a Tech school or a 2
or 4 year school. “We’re
very proud, top 10% in the
state,” he said noting it was
very competitive. Camp
bell went on to compliment
parents, teachers and stu
dents. Campbell continued
that they would be offering
an off-campus lunch this
year. It will be a 1 14 hour
lunch offered to seniors as a
reward because he said they
are not rewarded enough.
Laquita McCrary brought
before the board a request
that Flint would like to
partner with the Chamber,
if willing, and also partner
with the B.O.E. (Board
of Education) to begin a
Youth Leadership Program.
McCrary gave the board
materials to go over to see
if they would be interested
in pursuing the program.
Included were the Applica
tion, rules and ideas from
other EMC’s that participate
in this to try to develop
leadership for anyone who
is a Junior of Crawford
County. The juniors will fill
out an application at the end
of the year and the student
is told whether they will be
accepted. The juniors will
visit local businesses, maybe
once a month, such as City
Government, to learn about
what goes on in the city.
This program will be called,
CHAMBER, Page 2
