Newspaper Page Text
THE
ACKSON
y'T'i— r —rj
H Wednesday, February 17, 2010
ERALD
www.JacksonHeraldTODAY.com
VOL. 135 NO. 35 48 PACES 4 SECTIONS PLUS INSERTS A PUBLICATION OF MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. JEFFERSON, JACKSON COUNTY GEORGIA 30549 75« COPY
Local schools ‘clear’ in CRCT analysis
— Inside —
Area news:
•Jefferson church
expansion approved
page 2A
•Chiropractor arrest
ed for molestation
page 2A
•Yates to seek anoth
er term on BOC
page 3 A
Op/Ed:
•'What makes a
great teacher?'
page 4 A
Sports:
•JHS opens region play
page 1B
Features:
Snow day.. .page 1 C
Other News:
•Public Safety
pages 6-7A
•Legals
pages 8-28C
•Church News
pages 10-11A
•Obituaries
pages 8-9A
•School News
pages 6-8B
4 8 7 9 1 4 1 4 0 2
ALL OF the schools in
the Jackson, Jefferson and
Commerce school systems were
ranked in the “clear” category of
a statewide test erasure analysis.
The Governor’s Office of
Student Achievement (GOSA)
released its results last week
of the spring 2009 Criterion
Referenced Competency Test
(CRCT) erasure analysis.
The analysis focused on
the number of wrong answers
that had been changed to right
answers on individual stu
dent answer sheets in reading,
English-language arts and math
ematics in grades 1-8.
152 wrecks
reported
HEAVY SNOWFALL hit
Jackson County Friday afternoon
with low temperatures in the area
throughout the weekend.
All three school systems in
Jackson County closed Friday in
anticipation of a snow storm.
The snow fell from around 1
p.m. to 9 p.m. Friday, bringing
one to five inches of snow to
the area.
The 911 department handled
1,363 calls from the public for
assistance and units responded
to and assisted with 197 calls
for assistance dealing with or
related to the weather, with 152
of these being related to vehi
cle accidents. No injuries were
reported.
“During the winter weather
“The analysis looked on aver
age at 125.000 test takers in every
subject and grade level at which
the CRCT was administered and
provided a clear picture of typi
cal student test behavior against
which all schools could be com
pared,” said GOSA executive
director Kathleen Mathers in a
statement.
The analysis looked at what
ever there were more wrong
answers in a classroom erased
and changed to right answers.
Less than 0.15 percent of test
takers would be expected to fall
in that range naturally.
Most elementary and middle
for Jackson County Friday
through Saturday, units from the
Jackson County Sheriffs Office,
all city police departments, all
Jackson County fire and rescue
departments and Jackson County
schools in the state fell into
the “clear” category — mean
ing less than six percent of the
classes in a given school were
flagged.
The state identified 74 schools
in Georgia in the “severe con
cern” category as those having
25 percent or more of its class
es flagged for wrong-to-right
changes. None of those schools
are located in the Jackson,
Jefferson or Commerce school
districts.
In the Jackson County School
System, all but North and South
Jackson Elementary schools
scored zero percent on the anal-
911 worked though numerous
obstacles and harsh weather con
ditions to provide services for
the safety of Jackson County
citizens,” EMS director Steve
Nichols said.
ysis. North Jackson had 2.0 per
cent and South Jackson had 2.2
percent — still well within the
“clear” category of six percent.
In the Jefferson City School
System, Jefferson Elementary
scored zero percent, Jefferson
Academy scored 1.1 percent
and Jefferson Middle scored
1.7 percent, according to the
GOSA.
In the Commerce City School
System, both Commerce
Elementary and Primary scored
zero percent, while Commerce
Middle scored 1.0 percent.
The CRCT is a standardized
assessment given to students
BY KATIE HUSTON
WHAT'S OLD may again
be new. After being on block
scheduling for a number of years
— four 90 minute classes in
two semesters — Jefferson High
School officials are considering
moving back to a seven-period
day over all 180 days.
The switch has been discussed
for many weeks and even prior
to this school year, said JHS
Principal Kevin Smith, at the
Jefferson Board of Education
meeting last Thursday.
“It serves us well and it con
tinues to serve us well in many
aspects,” Smith said of the block
system. “We all know the chang
es that have been brought about
at the high school level.”
These include the addition
of several advanced placement
classes and changes to the math
curriculum at JHS.
“The dynamic at the high
school and (with the) high
BY MARK BEARDSLEY
THE JACKSON County
Water and Sewerage Authority
continues to try to protect
itself from a 2007 action by
Pendergrass mayor Monk
Tolbert.
Following a 59-minute
closed-to-the-public session last
Thursday night, the authority
unanimously approved an affi
davit rejecting Tolbert’s approval
of a final plat for the distressed
Pendergrass Depot subdivision.
In theory, that signature, done
without the authority’s knowl
edge, certifies that the water and
sewer systems (and other infra
structure) were installed by the
developer in the 300-lot devel
opment and are operational.
The truth is far different. Water
and sewer lines are washed out
in some areas, a sewage lift sta
tion was not installed and some
sewer easements are lacking.
Further, since Tolbert “accept
ed” the easements “on behalf
of’ the water authority, the docu
ment would purport to make the
authority responsible for man
agement of the systems.
“We are trying to get as much
public notification as possible,”
explained the authority’s attor
ney, Paul Smart, after the meet
ing.
The authority, added manager
Eric Klerk, wants to make sure
that any potential buyer of the
property is fully aware that the
utility systems are inoperable
and incomplete.
The authority directed Klerk
to “give this affidavit for record
ing on the records of the Superior
Coun of Jackson County for the
purpose of notifying the pub
lic and any parties interested in
the Pendergrass Depot subdivi
sion that the JCWSA has no
responsibility for the water and
sewer infrastructure and or any
in grades 1-8 in Georgia. The
test is designed to measure how
well students at each grade level
have learned the state’s curricu
lum. CRCT results are used to
determine whether schools have
made Adequate Yearly Progress
(AYP) as required by No Child
Left Behind (NCLB).
GOSA plans future analyses
of standardized test scores, pos
sibly including End of Course
Tests (EOCT) and Georgia
High School Graduation Tests
(GHSGT), and will also exam
ine graduation and dropout rates
and other factors that determine
student achievement.
school instructional program is
much different now than it was
just three, four (and) five years
ago,” he added.
The system is looking for a
model that will include teacher
corroboration and provide tutor
ing and remediation opportuni
ties during the regular school
day. Smith said that many stu
dents are not able to stay after
school for tutoring, therefore
aren’t able to take full advantage
of those opportunities.
The board will examine what
other schools in the area are
doing and decide what will ulti
mately benefit the school most.
“It’s been an obviously very
hot topic of concern in conversa
tion at the high school,” Smith
said.
More discussion and recom
mendations will be discussed
at the board’s upcoming retreat
March 12-13.
continued on page 5A
easements located within said
subdivision.”
The affidavit also states the
authority’s position that “the
final plat approval language con
tained in the plat is invalid and
without authority or force as it
pertains to JCWSA.”
TOLBERT TO CLARIFY?
Meanwhile, Klerk said
Thursday night that Tolbert
called him last week after the
situation became public to say
it was not his intent in signing
the plat to obligate the authority
to take over the water and sewer
systems in the subdivision.
“I asked him if he would put
that in writing,” Klerk said. “He
said he would and asked for our
address.”
The authority is also research
ing to see whether Tolbert simi
larly signed a final plat on anoth
er distressed subdivision once
known as Pendergrass Town
Homes, a high-density develop
ment with 160 units.
“They were developed almost
simultaneously,” Klerk said.
“They stopped at about the same
time. That’s why we’re suspi
cious of that.”
The bank that financed
Pendergrass Depot was taken
over by the Federal Deposit
Insurance Corp., which has hired
a company to assess the value of
the property. The presence of a
valid signed final plat would nor
mally make that property more
valuable because it signals that
the infrastructure is intact.
Pendergrass is in the author
ity’s water and sewerage service
territory. Under the authority’s
guidelines, developers must build
water and sewerage infrastruc
ture to the authority's standards,
and only the authority can sign
off on the work before it takes
over ownership and responsibil
ity for the infrastructure.
Stringer sentenced to life in prison for murder
BYANGELA GARY
HENRY LEE Stringer
pled guilty to murdering four
people and was sentenced
Thursday morning to serve
the rest of his life in prison
without the possibility of
parole.
Wearing an orange prison
jumpsuit and showing no STRINGER
emotion or remorse, Stringer,
37, told Judge Joe Booth that he and his attorneys
decided pleading guilty would be the best option.
If he had continued to plead not guilty and a trial
had been held, a death penalty sentence was pos
sible.
“We feel like it’s impossible to win this case in
this county,” Stringer told the judge.
When the judge asked Stringer if he committed
the murders, he said that he did.
Stringer, 35, killed his ex-girlfriend, Marvelette
Stringer, 29, hermother, Evelyn Strickland, 68, and
his two children with his ex-girlfriend, J’Majuan,
4, and J’Lasia, 2. Their bodies were found in a
burning house on Hwy. 332 in Hoschton in the
early morning of May 30, 2006. The mother and
grandmother were stabbed by an unknown object,
while the children died after the fire was set in
the home.
Stringer was arrested and charged in the inci
dent on May 31,2007. One of the reasons for the
delay was because Stringer was in an accident
shortly after the murders. He was hit by a train in
Buford and spent several months recovering at an
Atlanta hospital.
FAMILY SPEAKS
At the sentencing Thursday at the Jackson
County courthouse, four family members of the
victims spoke.
A cousin of the victims asked, “How could
he take his own kids’ lives. I want him to stay in
prison until he dies.”
Another family member said, “I can still see
those four caskets lined up at the funeral home.
Just imagine the two little caskets for the kids.
How could you kill your own kids. I just don’t
continued on page 5A
SNOW MONSTER AT JHS
Tripp Porter, Alex Porter, Lexis Riedling and Kile Porter made this snow monster
Saturday at Jefferson High School. See pages 1C and 12Afor more snow photos
Photo by Al McLeod
Snow blankets county Friday
JHS looks at alternate
scheduling options
SNOW LADIES
Linda Martin Peel (left) and Ann Murphy (right) of Talmo
are shown with the snow lady they made after the win
ter weather blanketed Jackson County on Friday.
JCWSA rejects Tolbert’s action