Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 14A PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS THURSDAY. MAY 14. 2020
Continued From 1A
Gartrell
been a teacher for 24 years.),
I can see our schools from
multiple angles. The BOE
makes more financial deci
sions than decisions about
curriculum so my business
and life experiences could be
of great value as a member of
the board. I’ve dealt with
multimillion dollar budgets
with Fortune 500 companies
as well as the comparatively
modest budgets of my own
farm and multiple civic and
charitable organizations for
almost three decades. The
current school budget ex
ceeds $47 million as com
pared to the county budget of
around $26 million, but I still
consider $1,000 as a lot of
money particularly when it
comes from my friends, fam
ily and neighbors.
What is the top or main
reason you decided to seek
such a low-paid and time
consuming job?
Any success that I’ve en
joyed in my life wouldn’t be
possible without the founda
tion which I received as a stu
dent in Pickens County
schools. I feel an obligation
to pay that blessing forward.
Continued From 1A
O’Bryant
school experience wasn’t ter
ribly different from what it is
now. However I have reached
a point in my life where my
experience and maturity are
at a level suitable for making
decisions on a school board.
As we have seen having only
one of these things can cause
serious problems.
As for my background, if
anyone needs to see my re
sume you are welcome to ask
me for it anytime. However
what I think really stands out
in my background is my abil
ity to work with teams. I have
had the privilege to be a part
of as well as lead several
teams in different endeavors
from education, sports, and
work. That will translate di
rectly to the ability to com
municate required for this
position. Right now what we
see is a divide between the
members of the board, and a
divide between the board and
community. I hope that by
opening up communication
we can re-align the goals of
the board with the commu
nity, and in turn have the
members more on the same
page with one another.
What is the top or main
reason you decided to seek
such a low-paid and time
consuming job?
I have been a part of this
community my entire life. I
plan to see my child grow up
here one day, but after watch
ing what has taken place re
cently I wouldn’t put a child
into our current system until
there are some changes. I just
so happen to be in one of the
available districts where I
think some change could be
made. As I worked towards
making my decision to run
the final straw came after
watching a specific board
meeting. I watched, as the
largest group of the commu
nity I have seen at a board
meeting in sometime, de
manded the re-instatement of
the superintendent. What fol
lowed was a childish and un
professional display from the
board with a blatant lack of
concern for what the people
of Pickens had to say. This is
not how a board operates,
and I have long sense been a
believer in “if you want
something done right do it
yourself.”
COVID-19 and resulting
business restrictions have
had severe impacts on the
economy. How do you think
this will impact future
school system budgets, and
what are your plans for
next year’s budget?
At this point I think it is
too soon to know exactly
how this will impact our
budget over all. The short an
swer is we will likely be con
servative with the budget.
Over the last few years the
budget has worked out fairly
well. In an ideal situation we
would be able to structure the
COVID-19 and resulting
business restrictions have
had severe impacts on the
economy. How do you think
this will impact future
school system budgets, and
what are your plans for
next year’s budget?
If elected, I wouldn’t be
seated until January, so the
first full fiscal budget in
which I would be involved
covers the 2021-22 school
year. We hear about unspeci
fied budget cuts at the state
and federal level, but until we
know exactly what those cuts
are and have precise figures
on educational funds, it’s im
possible to predict. I remain
very optimistic about the
ability of our economy to re
bound quickly though.
High turnover rate among
top administrators has
been an issue in our sys
tem’s past and has been
linked to poor test scores,
among other problems.
With the recent hiring of a
new superintendent, how
will we build and maintain
consistent leadership?
Our lowest performing
school as far as test scores is
on its fourth administrator in
six years. Obviously, that
budget in a similar way as to
not take any large risk. Try
ing to make drastic changes
can cause expensive prob
lems if not calculated care
fully. Using the previous
budgets as a template we
should be able to trim some
excess spending, and come
through this in a good place
to continue to grow our
school system in a positive
direction despite any dam
ages done to our overall
budget.
High turnover rate among
top administrators has
been an issue in our sys
tem’s past and has been
linked to poor test scores,
among other problems.
With the recent hiring of a
new superintendent, how
will we build and maintain
consistent leadership?
It is rare that a reason
given tells the whole story.
Especially one as open for in
terpretation as test scores.
That being said the best thing
the school board can do is
work hard to find the right
person for the job. That
doesn’t always mean it will
happen on the first try, but
one of the most influential
roles of the board is making
sure the right people are
where they need to be. After
that you have to give them
room to do their job. No one
can stay in a position where
every decision they make is
questioned by the board, and
no one has all of the right an
swers. As long as they un
derstand the needs of the
children in the school system
and work to meet those needs
everything else will fall in to
place.
What do you feel is the role
of the board to balance the
needs of teachers and the
needs of students, plus ac
commodating the desires of
parents?
Priority number 1 always
has been, and always will be
the students. Any teacher
that says anything to the con
trary doesn’t need to be a
teacher. It seems like every
year public school systems
fall further behind at prepar
ing kids for life. Anything
we can do to help better fu
ture generations has to be pri
oritized and that includes
giving them a chance to be
heard. After that the priority
falls to the parents. In no
way am I saying being a par
ent makes someone right, but
it does mean that it is there
child. Again this falls back
on communication. Consid
eration should always be
given to any issue brought by
a parent. This means teach
ers are left in a unique posi
tion. Because they are the
most important part of this
equation. As teachers there
needs are inherently less im
portant than that of the stu
dents, but if they cannot do
their job the students are the
ones who still suffer. This is
where you really have to find
a balance. You need to take
kind of turnover is a poor for
mula for success, so I see a
clear need for stability. Put
qualified people in place;
then, give them support and
encouragement and sufficient
time to achieve goals. In
business, I use the SMART
(Specific, Measurable,
Achievable, Relevant and
Timed) goal approach.
What do you feel is the role
of the board to balance the
needs of teachers and the
needs of students, plus ac
commodating the desires of
parents?
The BOE members are the
elected representatives of the
people and should be the
eyes, ears and voice of those
people. Applying good
judgement with respect to
needs and desires of teachers,
administrators, staff, parents
and the tax payers is no easy
task, but it should begin with
listening and actually hearing
input from the many points
of view involved. Con
versely, the BOE owes clear
and consistent communica
tion back to the citizens
whom they represent.
What criteria do you be
lieve is the best yardstick to
care of your teachers in order
to take care of the students.
So the relationship between
the board and all teachers
needs to be an understanding
that you may both need to
sacrifice if it is for the better
ment of the students, but the
teachers spend the most time
with the students so there
input may be the most crucial
piece for that betterment.
What criteria do you be
lieve is the best yardstick to
judge a school system?
How do you feel Pickens
schools stacks up against
other systems? What areas
do you feel could be im
proved within the system?
This is tough because
there isn’t really a right an
swer that can be quantified.
The easy answer would sim
ply be to say by the success
of the students, but then how
do you calculate their suc
cess. So next you might
think test scores, but as
everyone knows at this point
that doesn’t mean anything.
Personally I like graduation
statistics. If we could get a
100% of the kids we start
with to make it through the
school system then at the
bare minimum we are doing
our job. I would want to see
what comes next. How many
of those students that gradu
ate are making it through 1
year of college, 1 year of
trade school, or 1 year in a
job that opens up a real career
path. It would be hard to get
an accurate number for the
ones going straight into a job,
but these three are what will
show we have succeeded in
preparing them to start the
next phase of there life.
When it comes to stacking
up against other schools I ac
tually think we do ok in our
area. From my experiences
with Gilmer, Cherokee, or
Fannin I would much rather
have a child in Pickens
County schools. Outside of
our area I don’t think there is
really a fair way to compare
us to other schools. With
specific demographics come
specific needs. I think we
have done well so far and just
need to continue to focus on
getting better at what works
for Pickens.
As for things we could
improve on there will always
be plenty on that list. One
thing that I think could be im
portant for the students
though is a chance to see all
of their options before they
Small ads
produce
judge a school system?
How do you feel Pickens
schools stacks up against
other systems? What areas
do you feel could be im
proved within the system?
I don’t believe that there is
a magic yardstick to measure
the quality of a school system
as a whole. Standardized test
scores don’t tell the whole
story. College board scores
such as the ACT and SAT
only reveal data about the
children who plan to attend
college. There’s no test to
evaluate how prepared chil
dren are for adult life beyond
graduation. There’s also no
metric to measure the satis
faction level of teachers, stu
dents, parents or other
stakeholders. I believe that
our schools would compare
favorably with comparable
systems if there were a way
to tndy measure the entire
depth and breadth of each
system. Areas that I want to
see improved are communi
cation, mutual respect for
parents and educators, en
hancing vocational education
opportunities and practical
life skills training such as
banking, credit ratings, job
acquisition skills, and more.
The Sheriff’s
Beat
From the Pickens
Sheriff’s Office
Additional Activities dur
ing COVID-19 pandemic:
Partnering with CARES,
Deputies delivered food to 42
families that could not get to
the facility to pick food up.
Deputies assisted in the
pickup and delivery of 4 pre
scription medications to indi
viduals that were Sheltered in
Place and unable to pick
them up.
Court Services
In addition to the above
activity from the Uniform
Patrol Division, Court Serv
ice Deputies reported the fol
lowing statistics for the past
week:
Persons Scanned at
Front Door: 427
Weapons Found: 0
Courts Held: 6
Arrest Made in the
Courthouse: 0
Civil Papers Received : 15
Civil Papers Served: 20
Adult Detention Center:
Total Jail population: 41
Total male inmates: 31
Total female inmates: 10
Sex Offenders:
There are currently 70 sex of
fenders registered with the
Pickens Sheriff’s Office.
have to make life changing
decision based only on what
they have been told. We need
a way for all students to have
an opportunity to get a feel
for each of the pathways
available to them after high
school. College is important,
but that doesn’t mean it is for
everyone. It could be crucial
for their future for students to
have some way to find that
out ahead of time. This was
something that our previous
super intendant had begun
work on, but should be a pri
ority moving forward.
As always if anyone has any
questions for me I can be
reached at any of the contacts
below.
C 770-894-1237
E
mathe wobryant@gmail. com
F O’Bryant for School Board
During this past week, the Pickens Sheriff’s
Office responded
to or initiated 1,560 calls for service. These numbers are taken
from the report provided directly from the 911 Center where all
calls are logged as they are perfonned. Below is a breakdown
of all dispatched calls by the call type for each incident.
Accidents
10
Suicide Threats / Attempts
3
Domestics
14
Theft / Burglary Related
18
Forgery / Fraud
2
Traffic Stops
31
Citations Issued
4
Animal Investigations
10
Suspicious Persons/Activity
32
Alarm Calls
7
Stranded Motorists
10
Street Hazards
12
Vandalism
3
Abandoned Vehicles
0
Extra Patrol - neighborhoods, businesses, residences l,244In
addition to these, other calls include search warrants, civil serv-
ice, 911 hang-up calls, assaults, disorderly persons, missing per-
sons, assistance with medical calls, natural death investigations,
demented persons, funeral escorts, harassment, trespassing, and
many more.
Breakdown of Charges for those Arrested:
7 individuals were booked into the Adult Detention Center on
charges from the Pickens Sheriff’s Office. Out of these, the fol-
lowing charges were taken by PSO deputies (note: some indi-
viduals have multiple charges):
Simple Assault
1
Driving Under the Influence
2
Accountability Court Violation
1
Probation Violation
1
Violation of Ga. Controlled Substance Act
1
Theft by Taking
1
Reckless Driving
1
Terroristic Threats
1
Obstruction of Law Enforcement Officer
1
GRISHAM&PO OLE, PC
Criminal Defense | Family Law
“You can’t go back and change the beginning,
but you can start where you are and change
the ending.’’ ~ c.s. Lewis
21 COURT STREET
JASPER, GEORGIA
678.880.9360
Experienced. Established. Effective.
Speed Burger
562 E. Church St. Jasper, GA
Family owned & operated since 1964
1
Plates
Hamburger Steak
Chicken Tenders
Grilled/Fried Chicken Fillet
Country Fried Chicken/Steak
Fish or Shrimp
Half, Quarter or All White
results
Progress classifieds
706-253-2457
Sides
Fries
Slaw
Mashed Potatoes
Gravy
Green Beans
Mac-n-Cheese
Onion Rings
Burgers, Hotdogs,
Sandwhiches, Salads,
Homemade Vegetable Beef Soup,
Crackers, Cornbread, PB&J
Call-in Welcome 706-692-5136
Open 10am-8:30pm, Mon.-Fri.