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THE JACKSON HERALD
WEDNESDAY, JULY 19, 2017
ROBOTICS
TEAM SHOWS
OFF SKILLS
April Sorrow, sec
ond from right,
chair of the steering
committee for the
college and career
academy, learns
how to steer the
robot of the Jackson
County 4-H robotics
team Tuesday. This
was held during an
event to promote
the college and
career academy in
Jackson County. Lt.
Gov. Casey Cagle
also spoke about
the academy during
the luncheon at
Jackson EMC.
amawncH
Cagle helps promote college, career academy
By Ron Bridgeman
It's a community effort and requires business and indus
try to lead it.
That was the message Tuesday at a luncheon promoting
Jackson County's effort to develop a college and career
academy.
Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle joined about 150 people to talk
about the concept, one he originated and has promoted for
a decade.
Also speaking at the luncheon were John Uesseler, CEO
and principal for Academy of Advanced Studies in Henry
County; April Sorrow, the chair for the steering committee
for the academy; Chad Bingham, small business owner
and member of the steering committee; and Jim Shaw,
president and CEO of the Jackson County Area Chamber
of Commerce.
Speakers urged those attending to write letters of support.
About 100 letters have been submitted.
Cagle, who also is a candidate for governor in 2018, is
from neighboring Hall County. He said the state has about
40 college and career academies.
Jackson County has been working on a proposal for an
academy for about two years. A steering committee of
business, industry, political and education leaders has been
leading the effort.
The group expects to submit an application for a $3 mil
lion grant to the state in September. A decision should be
announced by December.
The steering committee is aiming for 150 letters before
the grant application is submitted in September.
The proposal uses the current Jackson County
Comprehensive High School as the college and career
academy and includes a new high school in west Jackson
County.
“Education is the great equalizer," Cagle told the audi
ence and said that does not just mean a four-year college
degree.
He said the key to success with an academy is “building
an educational system that is aligned with industry's needs"
and “aligns with the industry that we have today but also
with the industries that we want to get tomorrow."
Cagle said the state has 150,000 jobs open now and only
25 percent of them require four-year degrees.
The other 75 percent, he said, need an industry certifica
tion or a two-year degree.
If a college and career academy is available in a county,
the high school graduation rate can increase, particularly for
students who are at-risk of dropping out.
The EC3 Academy plans to open its main campus in
2019-2020. It would provide for courses students could
use to earn associate degrees and-or industry certifications
while in high school. The cost would be paid through state
and local funds and by HOPE scholarship money for stu
dents who qualify. That HOPE money would not take
HOWARD, CAGLE TALK BEFORE LUNCH
April Howard, superintendent of Jackson County
schools, and Casey Cagle, Georgia’s lieutenant
governor, talk before lunch at the meeting Tuesday.
away from the money a student might qualify for in
college.
Uesseler, a former agriculture teacher at Jackson
County High School, said Henry County’s Academy
of Advanced Studies has 47 career pathways and will
have over 2,400 students this year. It is four years old.
He said the county will bus 1,000 students this year.
Henry County also shared a building with a high school,
as is proposed in Jackson County, when it started. It also
will build a new high school, he said.
He said the Jackson County academy should be structured
“to your needs."
Uesseler pointed to a Henry County program for diesel
technicians that was started because a local industry, Yancey
Brothers, emphasized the need. From one class, the pro
gram is expected to grow to six classes this year.
That is an example of the “community saying, ‘This is
what we need,"’ Uesseler said. “It can’t be just the school
system.”
Bingham said the academy would “personalize learning”
for students and also would be available for people in the
community.
“We’re getting ready to unleash an economic engine
like you’ve never seen before,” Cagle said, about the
academy.
CAGLE SPEAKS AT
LUNCHEON
Casey Cagle, who has
promoted college and
career academies for
a decade and is the
state’s lieutenant gov
ernor, gestures during
his talk Tuesday at a
luncheon to promote
Jackson County’s effort
to develop an academy.
LARGE CROWD ATTENDS
About 150 people attended the luncheon to promote the Jackson County
college and career academy Tuesday. The county school district and local
business and industry are preparing a grant for $3 million for the academy.
System sees reserves grow
The money's in the bank.
That could be the new motto for the Jackson County
School System now that it has dramatically rebuilt its
reserves.
School finance leaders told the board of education
Monday night that the system’s reserves topped $8.5 mil
lion at the end of the fiscal year in June. That's a dramatic
increase over last year when the system had $5.1 million
in reserves.
That $8.5 million still isn’t as much as school leaders
would like to have in reserves. State guidelines call for
local governments to have 15 to 25 percent of annual
spending in reserves.
The system would need to have $9.7 million in reserves
to meet the 15 percent benchmark based on last year's
spending.
During the recession, the system faced a major finan
cial crunch as the local tax digest fell, bringing down tax
revenues with it. State cuts also hammered the system's
bottom line.
As a result, the system saw its reserves fall from $9.3
million in 2011 to $1.9 million at the end of FY2014 as it
spent reserves to pay ongoing expenses.
Because of the financial pressure, the system cut the
number of school days and froze other spending in an
effort to stave off a deficit.
In FY2017, the system took in $69.4 million in its gen
eral fund and spent $64.8 million.
Applicants walk
back water,
sewer requests
BY CINDY EDGE
Three applications to the Jackson County Water and
Sewerage Authority for water and wastewater service
got a cold reception last week. Because of some lin
gering questions, action on all three applications was
postponed until next month’s meeting.
JCDB, LLC submitted an application for Summit at
Springs Church. The project, located on Hwy. 124 in
the western portion of the county, calls for construction
of a 400-lot active adult residential subdivision with
construction to begin in 2019.
But authority manager Eric Klerk recommended deni
al of the application. Klerk said the application lacked
information, such as how many homes are proposed to
be built in each phase of construction. Also, he said the
minimum finished floor elevation is not shown on the
preliminary plan.
A second application was submitted by Brad Hughes
for service to a development of 71 houses in Jefferson
Downs subdivision located west of the intersection of
Hwy. 124 and Hwy. 11. Construction is proposed to
begin in 2018.
This is a development that was proposed to start
up many years ago, but construction stopped during
the recession. Klerk also recommended denial of the
request due to lack of information provided in the orig
inal application.
A third request was received from Exeter Property
Group for service to industrial property located along
Hwy. 129 in the northern part of the county.
Klerk said the application should reflect how the
applicant proposes to remove sewer from the site, by use
of a lift station or through gravity sewer.
A representative for the applicant said some of
the questions posed on the application can be easily
answered, but some, such as easement requirements,
are pretty in-depth and possibly could not be answered
within the 30-day period requirement by authority pol
icy.
It was noted by Authority Engineer Joey Leslie that
the authority is not requiring the applicant to obtain the
easements, just to give assurance that easements are
obtainable.
“It would not be our recommendation for the board
to approve the preliminary application if there is no
physical way to get the sewer from the site,” Leslie said.
“We just have to get to a level where we are confident if
we approve this and it is built, we would have a place to
run the sewer.”
LIFT STATIONS
Klerk also presented an overview to the board of the
location of operational wastewater lift stations and those
about to be placed on line. Citing the high cost of main
taining and operating the lift stations, Klerk noted this is
part of the reason for posing such questions to developers
as how the wastewater is getting off the property.
Some of the county’s lift stations have been in service
for over ten years, and according to Klerk, this is the time
problems usually begin to occur.
“This is why it is so important for us to ask how the
wastewater is getting off someone's property,” Klerk
said. “Sometimes if it seems we are being a little hard on
applicants coming in, this is why. We are ultimately stuck
with these assets forever once the board takes them over.”
The authority has ten lift stations currently in oper
ation and four more planned to come on line at a later
date.
In other business:
Dylan Wilbanks was unanimously elected as Chair
man of the board. The seat was recently vacated when
the position held by David Ehrhardt expired. Pat Bell
was elected to replace Wilbanks as Vice Chairman of
the board.
A bid of $149,191 was accepted from Caldwell Elec
tric for a generator to be placed at the Galilee pump
station. Total cost of this project, including purchase of
the generator, electrical design, project management and
contingencies will be $187,370.
Two employees were presented service awards. Water
Manager Harold Garrison and Water Foreman Tim Ward
have been with the authority for ten years. “These two
gentlemen are the people that are 24/7, on call all the
time and make sure your water is always flowing.” said
Klerk. “They are the backbone of the water system.”
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