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THE JACKSON HERALD
WEDNESDAY, JULY 26, 2017
Most county school slots filled
The Jackson County School System has only one
teaching position left to fill before the start of school
next month.
System officials told the board of education last week
that all other teaching posts are ready to go and that
most non-certified positions are also filled.
Among those approved last week was the transfer of
Bradley Hayes from social studies teacher to athletic
director for Jackson County Comprehensive High
School. Hayes has worked in the system for three years.
Several central office positions are also changing.
Jamie Hitzges, assistant superintendent for finance, left
earlier in the summer for a principal’s position in Hall
County; Bob Betz, the systems network engineer, has
also left for a position in another county; and the sys
tem’s facilities director, Dennis Patrick, has announced
his upcoming retirement in November.
Among those joining the central office staff this year
are Erin Bryant who will work in financial support and
Jan NeSmith who is the system’s new special education
director.
System communications coordinator Karen Bridge-
man is moving from part-time to full-time as well.
Overall, the system has hired 78 new staff members
for the 2017-2018 school year.
Some 46 percent of the new hires live in Jackson
County.
Of those hired, 24 percent worked in Gwinnett Coun
ty last year and of those, 68 percent already live in
Jackson County.
NEW HIRES
•Catherine Burgdorf, second grade teacher, South
Jackson Elementary School
•Erin Bryant, finance support, system
•Jamie Berrong, EIP teacher (63 percent), North
Jackson Elementary School
•Denise Black, Title I parent engagement/instruction
al aide, East Jackson Middle School (Title I funded)
•Brittley Blount, social studies teacher, Jackson
County Comprehensive High School
•Angela Bragg, kindergarten teacher, Maysville Ele
mentary School
•Tracey Carver, bus driver, system
•Dennis Cole, custodian, SJES
•Jeffrey DeGeorge, network engineer, system
•Amanda Epps, school nutrition assistant. Gum
Springs Elementary School
•Robin Fiore, special education paraprofessional.
West Jackson Elementary School
•Katie Garner, EIP teacher. East Jackson Elementary
School
•Kendra Giddens, school secretary, SJES
•Cheryl Gudtz, custodian, West Jackson Middle
School
•Brandi Hewell, second grade teacher, NJES
•Jessica Jacobs, special education paraprofessional,
NJES
•Dora Jarrard, teacher (49 percent). WJMS
•Donnie Johnston, bus driver, system
•Frances Kwiatkowski, sixth grade teacher, EJMS
•Kevin Lunger, bus driver, system
•Kelly Martin, custodian, JCCHS
•James Martin, bus driver, system
•Melissa Marx, bus driver, system
•Melissa Mayberry, special education paraprofes
sional, NJES
•Amanda McDaniel, bus driver, system
•Helen Millburn, kindergarten teacher, GSES
•Mary Muehling, third grade teacher. SJES
•Ansley Motes, special education teacher, EJMS
•Elizabeth Orehosky, art teacher (50 percent), SJES
•Savannah Patrick, eighth grade teacher, East Jack-
son Comprehensive High School
•DeLane Phillips, special education teacher, EJES
•Ben Propes, STEAM teacher (50 percent), WJES
•Kyle Roberts, fifth grade teacher, EJES
•Brad Samples, network engineer, system
•Tomas Sitton, social studies teacher (49 percent),
EJCHS
•Dana Thompson, bus driver, system
•Bridget Wellons, bus driver, system
•Amanda Wheeler, special education teacher. NJES
•Taylor Whitsel, special education teacher, EJCHS
•Tresler Wright, bus driver, system
RETIREMENT
•Dennis Patrick, director of facilities, system (effec
tive Nov. 3)
TRANSFERS
•Alice Alexander, school nutrition assistant, from
JCCHS to WJES
•Karen Bridgeman, communications coordinator,
system, from 63 percent to 100 percent
•Stacy Brown, NJES, from special education inclu
sion to shared service preschool
•Kim Butler, NJES, from special education parapro
fessional to special education inclusion teacher
•Andrea Clinkscales, from media resource specialist
at EJMS to Pre-K teacher at WJES
•Shane Cronic, K-5 teacher, from GSES to WJES
•Liza Davis, from Title I/migrant program (TOO
percent) at SJES to migrant program (75 percent) sys
tem-wide
•Amy Elrod, Pre-K paraprofessional, from GSES to
WJES
•Stephanie Elrod, from first grade teacher at NJES to
special education teacher at WJES
•Margie Gibbs, system, from media technician to IT
specialist-client support services
•Stacy Gutierrez, school nutrition assistant, from
NJES to WJES
•Bradley Hayes, JCCHS, from social studies teacher
to athletic director
•Austin Holcomb, media technician, from NJES to
JCCHS
•Melissa Nixon, SJES. from school secretary to
administrative assistant/family engagement specialist
(half funded through Title I)
•Janie Stevenson, from fourth grade teacher at WJES
to third grade teacher at MES
•Dena Voyles, from special education paraprofes
sional at JCCHS to special education teacher at WJMS
RESIGNATIONS AND
TERMINATIONS
•Christy Beasley, EIP teacher, MES
•Bob Betz, network engineer, system
•Sara Bryan, counselor (50 percent), EJES
•Ben Galis, special education paraprofessional, Ben
ton Elementary School
•Annel Hagerman, special education paraprofession
al, SJES
•Lisa Hickey, teacher. JCCHS
•Jamie Hitzges, assistant superintendent for finance
and operations, system
•Jessica Hoffman, special education paraprofession
al, WJES
•Vickie King, bus driver, system
•Emily Libengood, special education teacher. WJES
•Adam Lindsey, athletic director, JCCHS
•Tammy Love, ESOL teacher, NJES
•Kathy McCabe, special education paraprofessional,
WJES
•Rhonda McKittrick, special education paraprofes
sional. EJCHS
•Heather Reynolds, eighth grade registrat, EJMS
Industrial activity up; uncertainty part of process
By Ron Bridgeman
The uncertainty of industrial development was evi
dent Friday morning as the Jackson County Industrial
Development Authority talked about a booming area
building spree, potential projects in the county and a
very tight labor market.
The IDA met for the first time since March, and Jim
Shaw, head of economic development for the county,
described it as a “bring-’em-up-to-date” meeting.
Shaw said the county has 20 projects on its potential
list, 10 of those in the manufacturing area. He said that
list includes one project that has been on the list for two
years, others that have visited the area and some that
“somebody from Electric Cities of Georgia letting me
know they turned in.”
He said site visits have picked up recently. One
occurred last week, he said, that involved 10 people for
only 30 minutes and only one person from the company
involved.
Scott Martin, chair of the IDA. noted the spate of
buildings under construction from here to south of
Atlanta.
He said there is “feverish activity” to put up specu
lative buildings.
He said one project is considering Jackson County,
but representatives have not been here.
The name, amount of investment and number of
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employees, all basic information, are unknowns.
“They haven’t formally asked us for anything,” he
said.
Shaw added a request could come “very quickly.”
David Lathem said the area “has the tightest labor
market I think I’ve ever seen.” He characterized the
labor market as a “total turnaround” from about 2012.
Shaw added in those years, “All you needed was to
have a job” available and applicants were plentiful.
Shaw said the projects looking at the county were
“about equally divided.” He said nine are on the east
side of the county, four are in central locations and
three are on the west side. Another four have consid
ered multiple sites.
In addition to manufacturing, he said four are distri
bution businesses, two are research and development
and four are unknown.
“It’s been a little quiet until recently,” Shaw said.
He told the board a packet of information on one
project was due that morning.
THE SWAMP!
‘5 ELECTED OFFICIALS GET THEIR
STREETS RESURFACED”*
”**
SERVE OTHERS, NOT OURSELVES
ETHICAL CANDIDATES
NEEDED FOR
COMMERCE CITY COUNCIL
DRAIN THE COMMERCE
SWAMP NOV. 7, 2017
*The Commerce News, Nov. 5, 2014
**lst Principle of Commerce’s Certified
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2016 shows slight
dip in crashes
By Alex Pace
Jackson County saw a slight dip in the number of
crashes last year, but fatalities reached a four-year high.
The Gainesville-Hall Metropolitan Planning tech
nical coordinating committee got a look at last year’s
crash data at its meeting last week.
The total number of wrecks dropped from 2.281 in
2015 to 2,097 in 2016. Injuries were also down slightly
(from 862 to 793 injured).
But the number of fatal crashes and fatalities
increased slightly in the county. There were 22 fatal
crashes in 2016 with 25 fatalities (up from 19 crashes
and 23 fatalities in 2015).
While the county saw a drop in the number of crash
es and injuries last year, the numbers are up signifi
cantly from 2012. Four years ago, there were 1,747
reported crashes, with 609 injures and 13 killed.
“The overall trend is an increase in fatalities and
injuries from year to year, which is consistent with the
rest of Georgia,” according to the presentation. “Ris
ing population numbers and an increase in recorded
distracted driving incidents are widely believed to be
partially contributing to the rise of crashes across the
country.”
Other highlights from the Jackson County crash data
included:
•the highest accident locations were at SR 15 and
SR 98; and SR 11/Hwy. 129 and 1-85. While these
locations had the highest number of accidents, there
was only one fatality at either.
•there were 37 pedestrian-involved crashes in 2016.
•November had the highest number of crashes
followed by December, October, March and August.
The lowest number of crashes was reported in June.
Most wrecks occurred on Friday, followed by Tuesday
and Wednesday. Saturday and Sunday had the lowest
number of crashes. The most common time of day for
crashes was mid-afternoon (3 p.m. and 6 p.m.).
•the large majority of crashes (1,549 incidents)
resulted in property-damage only.
Hoard plans reading,
signing of new book
G. Richard “Dickey” Hoard will host a book reading
and signing for his new book, “The Missing Boys.”
The event, which will be held Aug. 7 at 7 p.m. at the
historic courthouse, is hosted by the Jackson County
Historic Courthouse and Historic Archives.
It is the 50th anniversary of the death of Hoard’s
father, solicitor Floyd Hoard.
D. Hoard will be reading a selection from his newly
published book “The Missing Boys,” a story of murder
in a small town, and also from his previous book “Alone
Among the Living: A Memoir of the Floyd Hoard Mur
der.”
Light refreshments will follow the readings. Books
will be available for purchase and signing.
Admission is free, but reservations are required due
to limited seating.
To make a reservation, call 706-387-7683.
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