Newspaper Page Text
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 16, 2010
THE JACKSON HERALD
PAGE 3A
County school system to get new vocational director
BY KERRI TESTEMENT
The Jackson County School
System will have a new voca
tional director next school year
— someone who is already a
familiar face in the district.
Todd Schultz — an agricul
ture teacher at East Jackson
Comprehensive High School
— was named the new
CTAE (Career, Technical and
Agriculture Education) director
on Monday.
The move followed a 10-min
ute closed-door meeting of the
board of education. Schultz's
employment status was the only
position discussed by the board
when the meeting was opened to
the public.
Schultz will replace the school
system's long-time vocational
director, Kerry Hiland — whose
retirement was approved by the
board in May.
The Jackson County Board of
Education also approved the fol
lowing personnel changes:
NEW HIRES
Greg Bicknell, English spe
cial education teacher, EJCHS;
Whitney Black, first grade
teacher, EJES; Seth Brownlee,
social studies special educa
tion teacher, EJCHS; Kirsten
Burdsal, third grade teacher,
EJES; Rebekah Clark, Spanish
teacher, EJCHS; Stephanie
Elrod, second grade teacher,
BES; Robert Kelleher, special
education teacher, SJES; Karen
Mangino, first grade teacher,
BES; Georgianne McKown,
fourth grade teacher, BES; Lori
Scott, math teacher, JCCHS;
Russ Turpin, English teacher,
EJCHS; Brian Vance, eighth
grade teacher, WJMS; Katie
Webb, speech language pathol
ogist, system-wide; and Lisa
Wilbanks, third grade teacher,
GSES.
TRANSFERS
Laura Becker, third grade
teacher, BES to teacher, EJMS;
Charlene Butler, school nutrition
assistant, EJES to MES; Brandy
Crisp, seventh grade teacher,
KBMS to fourth grade teacher,
BES; Ernie Griggs, special edu
cation paraprofessional, KBMS
to WJMS; Deborah Howington,
special education paraprofes
sional, KBMS to EJES; Shannon
Kendrix, bookkeeper, WJMS to
accounting clerk, central office;
Cathy Langston, second grade
teacher, WJPS to second grade
teacher, BES; Taryne Mingo,
counselor (50 percent), BES to
counselor (100 percent), SJES;
and Shelly Salom, EIP teacher
(50 percent), GSES to EIP/ESOL
Teacher (100 percent), GSES.
RESIGNATIONS/
TERMINATIONS
Catherine Cantrell, fourth
grade teacher, BES; Todd
Chandler, chorus teacher,
JCCHS; Wanda Denton, school
nutrition assistant, JCCHS;
Lindsey Green, fourth grade
teacher, BES; Michelle Jones,
special education paraprofes
sional, JCCHS; Leigh Kosater,
speech language pathologist, sys
tem-wide; Misty Lewis, eighth
grade teacher, WJMS; Harold
Macias, counselor, JCCHS;
Carol McNabb, school nutri
tion assistant, JCCHS; David
Peek, director of instructional
technology System-wide; Chad
Pittman, math teacher, JCCHS;
Rebecca Ray, bus driver, WJPS;
Cass Robinson, 6-12 language
arts coordinator, system-wide;
Sid Smith, special educa
tion paraprofessional, EJCHS;
David Van Buren, band teacher,
EJMS; Elizabeth Walker, health
occupations teacher, JCCHS;
Kerri Williams, special educa
tion teacher, SJES; and Donna
Wood, school nutrition manag
er, JCCHS
RETIREMENTS
Kenneth Barnett, bus driver,
BES; Alice Jackson, bus driver,
EJES; Ronnie Maxwell, bus
driver, SJES; and Christine Wren,
counselor, SJES.
Benton speaks on legislative session at chamber breakfast
Benton to hold town hall meeting
REP. TOMMY BENTON will hold a “town hall meeting”
Tuesday June 22, at 7:30 p.m. at the Jefferson Civic Center.
The Jefferson Republican, who represents most of Jackson County
and tiny slices of Barrow and Hall counties in the 31 st Georgia House
District, said he is responding to a request from constituents.
“I had some people ask me if I would do this,” he said. “They want
to ask some questions in an informal setting.”
BY MARK BEARDSLEY
“DID WE do all we could?
Probably not, but we did the
best we could with the money
available.”
That's how Rep. Tommy
Benton summed up the 2010
legislative session in speak
ing to the membership of the
Jackson County Area Chamber
of Commerce Wednesday, June
2.
“We managed to get out of
town April 29 without doing a
tremendous amount of damage,”
said the District 31 representative
in his opening comments.
He spoke of the challenge of
crafting a budget when revenue
projections changed monthly, but
he pointed out that passage of a
balanced budget is the only thing
the legislature is required to do
by the state constitution.
All other bills “are just extra
stuff,” Benton insisted.
There was plenty of “extra
stuff” to go around. According
to Benton, the House introduced
1,600 bills over the past two
terms, 350-400 of which made
it to the governor's desk to be
signed. Members of the Senate
introduced another 600.
“At the end of (the legisla
tive session), there were 254 bills
on the governor's desk. We’re
waiting for those to be signed,”
Benton said.
As for the budget, Benton
reminded his audience that
Georgia has trimmed its budget
by about $4 billion - 20 percent -
over the past two years.
“If you think about all the
people out there counting on the
state to try to do something, to
try to help them, 20 percent is a
tremendous amount,” he said.
Georgia’s government, accord
ing to Benton, spends less money
per citizen than any state in the
nation.
“Instead of raising taxes, we
cut spending and cut spend
ing and cut more spending,” he
stated.
He also noted that education
“took a tremendous cut” and all
but promised more of the same
next year.
“Next year is not going to be
any better,” he said. “In fact, it’s
going to be worse.”
He based that prediction on the
fact that the current budget con
tains almost $2 billion in federal
stimulus funds that will not be
back next year.
“Unless revenues pick up,
we’ve got a $2 billion hole to find
our way out of,” he said. “That’s
$2 billion on top of what we’ve
already cut.”
The budget spends 59 cents of
every dollar for K-12 education,
18 cents on healthcare, nine cents
for postsecondary education and
four cents for transportation.
“What's left is 10 cents out of
every dollar. There’s not a whole
lot we can cut any more,” Benton
said.
Highlights (other than the
budget) of the legislative session
include passage of a transpor
tation bill in which Georgians
will be asked to enact a one-cent
sales tax for road work, an ethics
bill that tightens requirements on
both lobbyists and public offi
cials - including local elected
officials, a water conservation
bill and property tax reform.
The latter requires that each
property owner receive an annu
al assessment notice including
an estimated property tax, it
expands the appeal time from
30 days to 45 days, guarantees
an “automatic taxpayer victory”
on appeals if the government
does not respond in 45 days,
requires that assessments include
all “relevant” sales - including
foreclosures - in determining fair
market value, and requires that
only the current use of property
be considered in determining fair
market value, although it also
purports to have a sales price
“establish fair market value for
next year.”
Benton also reminded his
audience that it will get to vote in
November on a proposed consti
tutional amendment to increase
auto tag fees by $10 to fund
trauma care.
Georgia passed a “super
speeder law” last year adding
a $200 fine to certain speeding
cases, money that was supposed
to fund trauma care.
“Well, so far none of that
money has made it to ttauma
care,” said Benton, who voted
against the legislation. “It’s gone
to the general fund because there
was not a requirement to do that
(dedicate the money to ttauma
care).”
Jackson County road project named best in state
A ROAD project in Jackson
County has been named the
best in smoothness for new con
struction projects in the state,
the Georgia Department of
Transportation announced.
The award was given for the
6.22-mile long widening of U.S.
129/S.R. 11 in Jackson County.
“Of all the road construc
tion projects under way across
Georgia in Fiscal Year 09, the
widening of US 129/State Route
11 from State Route 330 to the
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NOTICE TO PUBLIC
Georgia, Jackson County
There will be sold at public outcry to the highest
and best bidder for cash, between the legal
hours of sale before the courthouse door in
Jackson County, Georgia on the first Tuesday in
July, 2010 the following property to wit;
2000 Mitsubishi Monterosport
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satisfy a FI.FA. in favor of Tommy Smallwood
against Amy Ritchie, issued in the superior court
of Jackson County, Georgia levied on as the
property in the FI.FA.
This 25th Day of May, 2010
Stan E. Evans, Sheriff, Jackson Co.
New system may reduce
county schools’ energy bills
BY KERRI TESTEMENT
THE JACKSON County
School System will invest
about $300,000 to upgrade
a system that could lead to
reduced energy bills.
On Monday, the board of
education approved spend
ing sales tax funds earmarked
for maintenance for the
project — which will cost
$196,000 for the equipment
and $100,000 in software
upgrades.
Once complete, the
revamped energy manage
ment system will allow dis
trict maintenance employees
to precisely target which
rooms in which schools will
be heated or cooled at specific
times.
And, it will allow mainte
nance employees to regulate
temperatures at a consistent
level for all schools.
Last week, maintenance
employee Josh Patton told the
board of education that the
district could save an estimat
ed 10 percent on its monthly
energy bills and potentially
up to 20 percent of those costs
with the new system. He esti
mated that the school system
would recoup its $300,000
investment within two years.
For the latest energy bill in
April, the school system paid
a total of $113,000 — com
pared to $148,400 in March.
Jackson County School
System superintendent
Shannon Adams said all of
the schools lowered their
energy costs for the same
month since the district began
closely monitoring its utility
bills in July 2009.
On average, each school’s
energy bill dropped by 23 per
cent from March to April.
Adams said he and Patton
met with Scott Martin of
Jackson EMC to discuss the
plan on Monday.
The meeting didn’t center
on a rate change, but focused
on equipment upgrades, he
said.
The new Staefa energy
management conUols will be
available in all buildings in
the school system. Installation
is expected to be complet
ed before school starts in
August, with additional work
on the software continuing
after that.
OTHER BUSINESS
In other business on
Monday, the Jackson County
School System:
•learned that the board will
hold a combined work ses
sion and regular meeting on
Monday, July 12, at 6 p.m., at
the Gordon Street Center.
•learned that the latest col
lection of Special Purpose
Local Option Sales Tax
(SPLOST) totaled $428,700
in April. In March, the school
system collected $471,400 in
sales tax funds.
•approved up to $450 in
SPLOST funds for an electri
cal hookup to operate lights
in a new message sign at East
Jackson Middle School.
•approved up to $4,455 in
SPLOST funds to remove
carpet and replace it with tile
in three classrooms at West
Jackson Middle School.
•renewed its workers com
pensation insurance policy
with Liberty Mutual through
Arthur J. Gallagher Risk
Management Services with
no deductible provision. The
board also renewed its lia
bility insurance policy with
Chastain and Associates.
•approved a resolution
to change providers for its
Section 125 cafeteria plan,
which includes its flex
ible spending accounts for
employees. Betty Vamadore,
director of the district’s busi
ness office, said its current
provider hasn’t been offering
the proper customer service.
The new provider will also
cost less.
•approved the leader
ship and special assignment
supplement schedules for
the 2010-2011 school year.
The board also approved the
certified and classified sal
ary schedules for next school
year.
•learned that West Jackson
Intermediate School earned
the highest attendance per
centage for May and the high
est for the 2009-2010 school
year.
County furlough day set June 25
THE JACKSON County government offices and courthouse
will be closed on Friday, June 25, due to a furlough day.
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