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Nutrition program debt to be ‘forgiven’;
graduation date & new dress code approved
BY KATELYN JENNINGS
The Byron Buzz
Peach County Board of
Education made the deci
sion during their meeting
on Friday, that they will
“forgive” the debt the School
Nutrition System owes. They
will do this by transferring
the money from the Board’s
General Fund account to the
Nutrition System’s account.
This will have them start off
the school year focusing on
how to best provide for the
students, according to the
board.
There could be budget cuts
coming from the state level
for the education system this
coming school year. At this
time, the Board of Education
is waiting on the state’s ed
ucation department to meet
on June 15th to determine
what type of budget cuts
will happen to the education
fund, and what changes are
needed in the school system
to meet the budget for the
year. For the month of July,
the Peach County’s School
Superintendent has decided
suspend all funds, from all
sources, generally spent in
July 2020, and not to exceed
1/12 of funds set for the next
school year, while they wait
to hear the final decision
made for the next school
year’s budget.
The Director of Finance
reviewed the financial report
ending in April, and advised
that the Board of Education
was 83% completed with
their fiscal year and were
rated 91.17% on budget and
81.55% on expenditures. The
board had a total of $8.8
million in the bank, and
$12.3 million in the SPLOST
account. There was a deposit
made in April in the amount
of $393K, and $38oKin
May. This is $8Kless than
this time last year, and the
director stated they were
please with these numbers
since everything was shut
down due to the Coronavi-
rus.
Tentatively, Peach County
High School plans to hold
their graduation ceremo
ny for the class of 2020 on
Saturday, June 27th at 9am.
Due to the current guide
lines for the virus, they will
be giving out tickets for a
certain number of people
to attend per student. They
have discussed renting a
jumbo-tron so everyone will
be able to see the gradua
tion, since they may have to
use the visitors and home
side of the football stadium
to keep the adequate amount
of social distance between
people. They have also
discussed livestreaming the
graduation for the people
unable to attend due to the
limited number of seat avail
able. There will be masks
provided for people who
wish to wear one, including
the students, however, it is
optional for people to wear
them.
The school administration
has decided they will not
require students to wear
uniforms for the next school
year. The dress code will stay
the same, students are not
allowed to wear gym shorts
or sweat pants. All shorts,
skirts, and dresses will still
be required to be the appro
priate length.
The Georgia High School
Association provided guid
ance on how the schools can
safely bring students back
and allow conditioning for
sports to start. No football,
softball, baseball, or volley
ball will be allowed at first,
there will only be condition
ing allowed. Conditioning
can begin on June 8th, and
there can only be groups of
20 people. The group of 20
includes the coaches, and
the group must remain the
same until further guidance
is received. There will be
a form sent out advising
parents that each child’s
temperature will be checked,
and if they have a fever over
103 degrees they will not
be allowed to participate.
Each sport will be allowed
their own 20 members.
At this time, each student
is required to bring their
own water, as it will not be
provided. There will also
be cleaning requirements
set in place for the weight
rooms, and everything must
be disinfected between each
class. Masks will also be pro
vided, but are not required
to be worn unless a parent is
requiring it for their child.
The final discussion that
took place was in regards
to the reroof project for the
Fort Valley Middle School.
The school will have GMC
Blue Service, Inc completing
the work. This company is
licensed, and they do not
subcontract their work out,
they will complete it them
selves. This company came
highly recommended by
several people, according
Frank Mitchell regarding
GMC Blue.
Uniforms no longer to be required by PC schools
Peach County Student
Dress Code 2020-2021
School Year
All students who attend
Peach County Schools will
be expected to maintain a
well-groomed appearance.
Uniforms will not be re
quired; however, adherence
to the dress code is expected.
Students are permitted to
wear the following items:
Pants/Shorts/Skirts/Dress
es
• Jeans, shorts, or pants
free from holes and worn at
the natural waistline.
• Skirts or dresses no more
than 2 inches above the
knee.
• Shorts for both males and
females may be not more
than 2 inches above the
knee.
Shirts/Blouses/Tops
• All shirts must have
finished edges and sized
appropriately.
• Sweaters, sweatshirts,
pullovers, and hoodies that
are sized appropriately.
Hoods may not be worn in
the building.
Shoes
• Appropriate shoes must
be worn at all times.
• Any sandals worn must
have a strap around the
back.
The following items are not
permitted:
• Pants worn below the
natural waistline.
• Gym / Athletic Shorts
• Jogging pants, sweat suits,
wind suits, or leggings.
• Any clothing which is
form fitting such as spandex.
• Sleeveless tops, dresses,
tank tops etc.
• Clothing with holes, cut
offs, or frayed edges.
• Any see-through clothing.
• Visible undergarments.
• Low cut or revealing
clothing.
• High heel shoes, flip flops,
athletic slides, or bedroom
shoes.
• Hats, hoods, head scarves,
bandannas or other head-
gear.
• Mouth adornment such as
metal grills.
• Piercings other than the
ears or stud rings in the
nose.
• Spiked jewelry or chains
of any kind.
• Clothing or any acces
sories which advertises
alcohol, drugs, any prohib
ited product, sex, depicts
or suggests violence, gang
related symbols, or which
contain suggestive writings,
pictures, or emblems that
are inflammatory, vulgar, or
discriminatory.
• Anything the adminis
tration determines to be
disruptive to the instruction
al environment.
~ “Any deviations from the
dress code and final deter
mination of questionable
dress is at the discretion of
the school administration.
Law enforcement speaks out on unnecessary use of force
Chief Lawrence Spurgeon
with Fort Valley Public
Safety, Terry Deese, Sher
iff of Peach County, and
Anita Howard, candidate
for District Attorney, issued
statements concerning poli
cies, etc. in the George Floyd
death in Minneapolis.
Chief Spurgeon: “Due
to the tragic situation in
Minneapolis we have been
inundated with questions in
ref to our use of force policy
. Those of you who follow us
or that are familiar with the
Fort Valley Department of
Public Safety know that it is
our policy not to discuss any
case that has not been adju
dicated fully in a court of law
but I will speak on our policy
as it pertains to individual
investigations.
First of all let me say that
our police are professionally
trained in the use of force,
including identifying the
signs and symptoms of po
sitional asphyxiaf Positional
asphyxia happens when a
person can’t get enough air
to breathe due to the posi
tioning of his/her body) and
excited delirium (Excited
delirium is a condition that
manifests as a combination
of delirium, psychomotor
agitation, anxiety, hallucina
tions, speech disturbances,
disorientation, violent and
bizarre behavior, insensitivi
ty to pain, and elevated body
temperature).
Our officers are trained that
once a person is in cuffs and
laying in a prone position
the officer should get him/
her off their stomach and
stop him from compress
ing his diaphragm as soon
as they can safely do so.
Officers are also trained
to cease force after a party
is in handcuffs unless the
person continues to thrash
his or her legs, spit etc.
in which case additional
pressure could be applied
to the individual’s back but
never to their neck or head.
Compressing the neck is not
allowable under Fort Valley
Police’s use-of-force policy
unless such force was used
to defend an officers life are
the life of a third party. Be
cause of the high probability
of great bodily harm and
injury choke holds and neck
restraints are unpractical
for standard arrest. To that
end: I cannot think of any
reason why an officer would
need to keep a handcuffed
man on the ground pinned
face-down with a knee to the
neck.
Lastly we hold our officers
to the highest ethical stan
dards and they are trained
that when one officer sees
another officer going beyond
what they should, they have
the duty to speak up and
say that’s wrong and stop
the behavior because we
have an obligation to also
protect those who have been
ACCUSED of committing
a crime just like any other
citizen.
All of us at the Fort Val
ley Department of Public
Safety want you to know that
we cherish and value our
diverse community and that
your safety and protection is
our highest regard. “
Sheriff Deese: “I am out
of town this week but have
received numerous messages
asking if I had seen the video
and what I thought. I don’t
normally comment on cur
rent cases or investigations
but this one struck a nerve. I
couldn’t watch much of the
video because it made me
sick to think that this could
happen and nobody stepped
up to stop it. The actions on
the video was clearly a crime
in progress. Normally we
hear the comment, “Well we
didn’t see what happened
prior to what is shown in
the video.” Doesn’t matter
what happened in this case
because Mr. George Floyd
was clearly in custody and
not a threat.
Law Enforcement is only
allowed to use the amount of
force necessary to affect the
arrest. ALL physical force
stops once the suspect is
hand cuffed and under con
trol. The tactic seen in this
video is not taught during
any law enforcement train
ing. In fact no amount of
force used around the neck
is allowed or taught during
any of our training exercises.
Law Enforcement Officers
come in contact with the
public thousands of times
each day with no problems
but it only takes one sense
less action like this one to
tarnish the reputation of all
the great Professional Law
FORCE. Page 2B
Vehicle explodes on Hwy. 96
Monday around 2 p.m. the Peach County Fire Department, Peach
County EMS, EMS Rescue and Peach County Sheriff Department
answered a call on Hwy 96 East of Fort Valley and East of Lane’s.
The person was working on a vehicle and it exploded causing 45%
of his body to be burned. He was transported to the burn center in
Atlanta. Chief Jeff Doles, Timothy L. Bechtel, Joe Tucker, Ryan Rob
erts, Doug Kelley Jr., Jared Moncrief, Tyler Tolbert, Travis Emmert
Jr., Ebin Jones, Andre Ka’Navius West, EMS director Alfonzo Ford
Sr., Peach County OHS-EMA and Peach County Rescue Mike Giles
were all part of the responding units.
Alcantar faces Alfred H. Ellis, III
Wrapping up our candidate
information this week, Rosa
Alcantar was the only one
who responded to our ques
tions. She is seeking the post
vacated by the retirement
of Birdelle Jackson and is
being challenged by Alfred
H. Ellis, III.
Friday is the last day for
early voting and the actual
election date if June 9th.
Alcantar is a native of Fort
Valley, grown and raised in
Peach County. She gradu-
she received a high-quality
education.
“I believe if we support our
educators a great education
can be achieved for every
one. I am a single mother of
three girls, two of which are
in the Peach County School
system. I can personally re
late to the type of education
our children are receiving as
well as the challenges many
parents face. But most im
portantly what I bring to the
table is an extreme desire
for all the children in Peach
County to receive an excel
lent education, such as I did.
Rosa Alcantar
I believe if we have better
communication between,
the parents, students, and
educators the quality for
education we desire for our
children can be achieved. I
can be the liaison that brings
about the necessary inter
action between all involved.
I want to do everything
possible to ensure every
child in Peach County gets
an excellent education he/
she deserves.”
One dead in FV shooting
Fort Valley Department of Public Safety responded to a call
of shots fired at 1103 Edward’s St Lakeview Apartments at
approx 5:20 p.m. Officers arrived and found a black male
subject had been shot in the upper torso. Officers attempted
to render aid and EMS was contacted. The victim was trans
ported to the Peach County Medical Center.
Detectives responded and began processing the crime
scene. Officers are currently canvassing for witnesses. The
Fort Valley Department of Public Safety is being assisted
in the investigation by the GBI, The Peach County Sheriffs
Department and the Peach County Drug Enforcement Unit.
The victim from the aggravated assault in Lakeview Apart
ments was identified as Juan Stewart, 24. Stewart was pro
nounced dead at the Peach County Medical Center.
Chief Lawrence Spurgeon stated, “We are in the prelimi
nary stages of our investigation if anyone has any informa
tion please contact the Fort Valley Police Department at 478
825-3384-”
Lt. Warren obtains Criminal Justice degree
The Fort Valley
Department of
Public Safety
congratulates Lt.
Patrick Warren,
Class of 2020.
Lt. P. Warren
is currently
assigned to the
Patrol Division
and has served
the Community
over 10 years.
Lt. P. Warren
graduated from
University of
Phoenix obtain
ing his Bache
lors Degree in
Criminal Justice.