Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 2A
THE JACKSON HERALD
WEDNESDAY, JULY 21, 2010
Next county middle school may be built in WJ
BY KERRI TESTEMENT
THE BRASELTON-Hoschton area
could become the home of the Jackson
County School System's next middle
school, according to a recently-adopt
ed facilities plan.
But that plan all depends on growth
— especially how quickly new students
may continue to move into the district
in the midst of an economic and real
estate downturn.
“If we all the sudden start to gain a
bunch of kids because the growth rate
picks back up very quickly — which I
don’t think anyone assumes is going to
happen — it still is quite some time off,”
said superintendent Shannon Adams of
a potential new middle school.
Ideally, the school system would
build its next facility — an estimat
ed $8.2 million middle school — in
extreme northwestern Jackson County,
he said.
The district, however, isn't look
ing at real estate listings for potential
school sites.
“Back when we were looking a little
more actively, the price of land was so
high that we realistically couldn’t try
to purchase any,” Adams said Friday.
The proposed new middle school
would relieve West Jackson Middle
School — where about 800 students
were enrolled in May. according to an
attendance report.
East Jackson Middle School had
about 380 students for the same month,
while Kings Bridge Middle School
— which opened in 2007 — had about
430 students.
The unnamed middle school is one of
several projects outlined in a five-year
facilities plan recently adopted by the
Jackson County Board of Education
and approved in June by the state board
of education.
The facilities plan, however, can be
administratively updated by the school
system at any time, Adams said.
If all of the proposed projects
— which largely include renovations
or additions at existing schools — are
completed, it would cost $32.4 mil
lion.
Of that, the district would qualify
for $9.2 million in state funding. Local
money would have to fund the remain
ing $23.1 million for the projects.
A bond referendum, however, isn't
on the horizon for the school system.
“I don't foresee in the near future
us trying to have another bond refer
endum passed,” Adams said. “And it's
not that we haven’t been good stewards
of the bond money — we have — we
got a lot done with that $70 million ...
but this is just not the time to be going
to the taxpayers and asking them to
approve another increase. I think, right
now, the voters would not look favor
ably on a bond resolution.”
Voters in 2005 approved a $70
million bond referendum, which the
district used to build East Jackson
Comprehensive High School, Kings
Bridge Middle School and Gum
Springs Elementary School, among
other projects.
For the facilities plan approved
through the 2013-2014 school year,
the district anticipates using mostly
sales tax funds.
Jackson County Comprehensive High
School stands to see the most changes
on its campus by 2014, according to
the plan.
The district has already complet
ed major renovations at the existing
JCCHS gymnasium. It also plans to
build a second gym totaling 5,900
square-feet, and a new 9,800 square-
foot drama/chorus building across from
the existing auditorium at JCCHS.
The $9 million plans for the addition
al gym and new drama/chorus building
were outlined to the board of education
in February 2009, when officials said
the projects would hinge on raising
enough sales tax funds.
Adams said depending on how much
Special Purpose Local Option Sales
Tax (SPLOST) funds the district con
tinues to receive, the new construction
projects at JCCHS may begin in two to
three years.
JCCHS is also slated to get new
classrooms for its CTAE (Career,
Technical and Agricultural Education)
courses when the sales tax money is
available. The new classrooms would
eliminate the need to transport students
between JCCHS and the Gordon Street
Center — where some of the CTAE
classes are held.
The facilities plan acknowledges that
five of the new classrooms at JCCHS
will have to be built with local money,
due to a “surplus” of classrooms at
EJCHS.
Adams said when determining what
percentage of state money will fund
additional classroom space, the facili
ties plan looks at the inventory for the
entire school system. That includes the
number of empty classrooms, as well
as portable classrooms.
“If a school system has a lot of por
table units, then they’re demonstrating
a lot of need (for new classrooms) and
therefore they’re going to qualify for
a higher percentage of statewide fund
ing from the capital outlay formula,”
he said.
Likewise, those school systems that
keep up with growing student popula
tions with new schools don't earn as
much state money for new classrooms,
he added.
Some of the other plans for schools
in the facilities plan include a renova
tion and expansion project under way
at North Jackson Elementary School.
Renovations at six other schools
— Benton Elementary. South Jackson
Elementary, Maysville Elementary,
West Jackson Primary. West Jackson
Middle and East Jackson Middle
— include a number of projects rang
ing from replacement of lights to new
roofs or ceilings at some facilities.
BOC approves taxes for
car rentals, hotels/motels
BYANGELA GARY
RENTAL CARS and hotels/
motels will now bring in addi
tional tax revenue in Jackson
County.
The board of commissioners
voted Monday night to create a
tax for rental cars and a hotel/
motel tax.
The car rental tax revenue
will be three percent and will
be used to provide an addition
al source of revenue to fund
community and economic
development efforts.
The hotel/motel tax will be
used to generate revenue to
aid in the funding of tourism,
trade and development related
activities. The tax will be six
percent with three percent of
it going toward the promotion
of tourism.
On another tax-related issue,
the BOC agreed to form a
nine-member committee to
work on legislation to create
“community improvement
districts” in which businesses
or neighborhoods could vote
to tax themselves for specific
improvements.
In other business Monday
night, the BOC approved the
following:
•joining the National
Association of Counties
Prescription Discount Card
Program, which would enable
uninsured and underinsured
citizens to get discounts aver
aging 22 percent on prescrip
tion drugs. There will be no
cost to the county.
•a contract with Hussey,
Gay, Bell & Deyoung, General
Corporation, for designing
an industrial classroom at
Lanier Technical College’s
Commerce campus. The class
room is being funded by a
federal grant.
•an agreement with the
Georgia Forestry Commission
assessing a 10-cent-per-acre
charge for forest fire pro
tection. That amounts to an
increase of about $6,000 a year
over the four-cents-per-acre
fee charged since 1967.
•allocating $152,882 to
install a traffic signal at the
intersection of Hwy. 124 and
Hwy. 332. The extension will
be to the Zion Church Road
project. The contract is with
E.R. Snell Contractor Inc.
•spending $748,362 for
the second phase of the Hog
Mountain Road improve
ment project. The contract
is with Pittman Construction
Company.
•adding $19,023 to the John
B. Brooks Road contract for
additional roadway, erosion
control and signing and mark
ing items.
•three change orders with
Blue Frog Construction regard
ing work on the old courthouse.
One adds $15,858 to bring
permanent power and lighting
for the courthouse clock and
for structural work. Another,
costing $41,841, is for addi
tional labor and material on the
exterior contract. The third is
a $8,050 credit on scaffolding
rental and base rental.
•approved a relocation agree
ment with Atmos Energy for
the adjustment of three cross
country gas lines in conflict
with the Gum Springs Church
Road project.
Jefferson motel damaged by heavy rains
BYANGELA GARY
COMFORT INN, located on Hwy. 129,
Jefferson, was damaged by flooding caused by
heavy rains on Friday.
The Jefferson Fire Department was called
to the hotel at 4880 Hwy. 129 North at the
Comfort Inn on a report of a wall collapsing
and flooding. Due to heavy rain in the area, a
retaining wall collapsed causing a large amount
of water and mud to filtrate the Comfort Inn
and cause damage to the building.
The business received moderate water dam
age to the structure. No injuries were reported.
Some evacuation of the motel was needed due
to water damage.
A heavy thunderstorm was occurring in the
area during this incident with reports of three
inches of rain and hail.
Correction
A story in last week's
edition about school-
level CRCT (Criterion-
Referenced Competency
Tests) contained an error.
The story should have
said 90.3 percent of third
graders at East Jackson
Elementary School and
87.5 percent of third
graders at South Jackson
Elementary School passed
the reading portion of the
CRCT.
The story reversed the
figure for the schools.
A chart printed with the
story contained the correct
figures. We apologize for
the error.
Chamber collecting school supplies
THE EDUCATION Committee of the Jackson County
Area Chamber of Commerce is collecting school supplies
through Sept. 1.
The donated supplies will be given to students in all three
school systems in Jackson County. Eight drop-off locations
are available.
The most needed supplies include copy paper, hand sani
tizer, tissues, book bags and notebook paper.
Other suggested supplies include construction paper, glue
sticks, sanitizer spray, pencils, colored pencils, dry erase
markers, masking tape, Scotch tape, staples, staplers, cray
ons, file folders, red pens, highlighters, erasers, jump/flash
drives, Band-Aids, notebooks, scissors and head phones.
Drop-off locations include First Commerce Bank, Randstad,
Funopolis, Jackson County Farm Bureau, Gwinnett Federal
Credit Union, Jackson EMC, Hometown Community Bank
and the Jackson County Area Chamber of Commerce office.
For more information, contact Linda Foster at the chamber
at 706-367-0300 or linda@jacksoncountyga.com.
Check out the e-edition
jacksonheraldtoday.
com/eedition
Jefferson gets grant for water plant
THE CITY of Jefferson has been awarded $300,000 in
funding from the Appalachian Regional Commission for
water treatment plan improvements.
AYP continued from page 1A
of the test — which was one of the reasons
for the school not making AYP in 2010.
The state said 74.9 percent of students must
pass.
A subgroup of JCCHS students — those
who are economically disadvantaged — also
didn’t make AYP for 80.0 percent passing
the English/Language Arts portion of the
test when the state required that 87.7 percent
pass.
JCCHS, however, did make a significant
improvement in its graduation rate — from
79.1 percent in 2009 to 83.4 percent in 2010.
The state required that high schools gradu
ate at least 80 percent of students in 2010 to
meet AYP.
Last year, JCCHS didn’t make AYP for
having a graduation rate below the state
requirement.
MIDDLE SCHOOL
At KBMS, a subgroup of students with
disabilities failing to meet standards on the
CRCT lead the school to not make AYP.
On the math portion of the CRCT, 45.2
percent of students with disabilities at KBMS
passed the test, while the state said at least
67.7 percent were required to pass to make
AYP.
Also at KBMS, 60.5 percent of students
with disabilities passed the English/Language
Arts portion of the CRCT. To make AYP. the
state required that 73.3 percent of students
pass the test.
Hawley said she expects that several of the
Jackson County Schools System will make
AYP in 2010 when the state automatically
recalculates its figures to include summer
retest scores.
Superintendent Shannon Adams had said
last week that the Jackson County Board of
Education was expecting a complete AYP
report in August and anticipated that some of
its schools may have failed to make AYP.
Elsewhere in Jackson County, no schools
in the Jefferson City School System failed to
meet AYP and one did fail in the Commerce
City School System.
At Commerce Middle School, 45.1 percent
of students with disabilities passed the math
portion of the CRCT. The school didn’t make
AYP because the state required that 67.6 per
cent of students pass the test.
Reservoir continued from page JA
authority voted to deny that request. That
led to the lawsuit.
A finding on behalf of Jackson County
would have a huge impact on Athens-
Clarke, which has a 44-percent stake in
the reservoir. If Jackson’s figures are right.
Athens-Clarke would be entitled to about
10.5 mgd from the reservoir. At times.
Athens-Clarke has drawn 18 mgd or more.
Jackson County owns 25 percent of the res
ervoir’s capacity.
Jackson County’s position is that when
other members of the group use more than
their entitlement, they should have to pay
the counties from whom they take it for the
water.
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2:00-3:00 p.m. • $15/person
Registration is required.
Call (706) 475-5620
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