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PAGE 10A PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS THURSDAY. NOVEMBER 19. 2020
Continued From 1A
Parade
We will have the reading
of A Christmas Story. City
Council member Kirk Raf-
field will be reading this year, the evening. He will have merce, to keep everything happen. Please help us by chantsassociation@gmail.co
You will be able to hear over Christmas music and will be moving along and ensure we being part of the solution, m or call (706) 426-1968.
the radio as well. talking about the floats that are following the guidelines, and don’t let the virus steal
We have DJDano, of New you will see, and other fun. We want this to be as big as Christmas.
Years Eve fame, that will We have volunteers, cour- last year, but without you, the For more information,
keep us entertained through tesy of the Chamber of Com- public, we cannot make that contact us at jaspermer-
Continued From 1A
Calendar
Board chair Tucker Green
told the Progress students
will be expected to partici
pate in digital learning on
two scheduled days that are
also teacher workdays - Fri
day, Sept. 3 and Monday,
March 14 if the calendar is
approved.
“But this does not add the
number of days students will
be in school. It will be two of
the 180 days they are re
quired to have. In the big
scheme of things, from a
strategic standpoint,” Green
said they want continue to
utilize the digital learning
platforms in the future with
out all instruction necessarily
being face-to-face. By having
built-in digital learning days
students can get practice on
those platforms from home.
Digital learning could come
in handy if there is a signifi
cant weather event and
school has to be closed for a
long period. If conditions
allow during those times, stu
dents could use digital learn
ing instead of missing a day
of school that would need to
be made up later.
Green noted that last year
on the Friday before Jeep-
Fest, the board made that day
an early release day because
heavy traffic from the event
made afternoon bus routes
problematic. For 2021-2022
it is proposed that same Fri
day be a digital learning day
instead of early release.
The calendar was intro
duced for approval at the reg
ular board meeting on
Thursday, Nov. 12, but board
member Sue Finley re
quested that, despite the cal
endar not being significantly
different from last year, they
still survey the community
before final approval.
Visit the school webpage
for the survey link:
www.pickenscoun-
tyschools.org.
Meal service down due to
pandemic
Pickens Schools Director
of Operations Stacy Gille-
land reported lunch and
breakfast service has reduced
dramatically due to the ongo
ing pandemic, which is im
pacting the nutrition
department’s bottom line.
Gilleland told board mem
bers that pre-pandemic, be
fore March 13, the system
served an average of 2,800
lunch and 1,480 breakfast
meals.
On October 9, just before
the Harmony Elementary
campus was temporarily
closed, they served an aver
age of 1,795 lunch and 1,159
breakfast meals.
During the two week dis
tance learning period from
October 26 - November 6 the
system served on average
515 lunch and 502 breakfast
meals per day.
The nutrition department,
headed up by Beth Thomp
son, has been forced to get
creative with their meal de
livery system. They have
used the transportation de
partment to provide lunch
and breakfast to students on
distance and virtual learning.
Still, the numbers are
much lower than usual and
Gilleland said they do not get
reimbursed for meals they
don’t serve.
“That’s a hit. We’re feed
ing for free and we can’t give
it away for free,” he said.
“But if we take it and docu
ment it we get reimbursed.”
The U.S. Department of
Agriculture has waived all
school meal fees for the re
mainder of the school year,
which means students can re
ceive either breakfast or
lunch free through June 30,
2021.
Preliminary numbers
show that there has been a
4.76 percent drop in Pickens
student’s free and reduced
lunch rate, which brings the
district to a total of 46.43 per
cent of the student body. Be
cause student meal fees have
been waived this school year,
the nutrition department had
some difficulty getting par
ents to complete the free and
reduced meal application be
cause parents don’t feel it is
necessary.
But Pickens is currently a
Title I system, which means
it receives funding if a certain
percentage of their students
are low-income. Gilleland re
ported that all Title I schools
have 40 percent of the stu
dent populations on free and
reduced and above and that at
this point that number still
qualifies them, but that “It af
fects our funding if we don’t
get our numbers correct.”
When asked by board
member Finley if they would
need to supplement the nutri
tion department from the
general fund, Gilleland told
the board not this year, and
applauded Thompson’s
money management - but
added that the nutrition direc
tor is definitely seeing an im
pact to the bottom line.
“She’s going through her
fund balance rapidly because
we’re not serving kids like
we were,” he said, adding
that districts across the state
are experiencing similar is
sues.
In other news:
•Chief Finance Officer
Amy Smith reported there
were $514,607 in SPLOST
collections received in Octo
ber. This brings the 12-month
average to $511,113.
Pickens County School District
2021-2022 Calendar DRAFT
JULY
S M T
W
T
F
s
1
2
3
4 5 6
7
8
9
10
11 12 13
14
15
16
17
18 19 20
21
22
23
24
25 26 27
28
29
30
31
OCTOBER
S M T
W
T
F S
1 2
3 4 5
6
7
8 9
10 11 12
13
14
15 16
17 18 19
20
21
22 23
24 25 26
27
28
29 30
31
| JANUARY
s
M T
W
T
F
s
1
2
3 1
5
6
8
9
10 11
12
13
14
15
16
17 ,8
19
20
21
22
23
24 25
26
27
28
29
30
31
APRIL
S M T W T F S
II 1 2
3 | 4 5 6 || | 9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
AUGUST
S M
T
W
T
F
S
1 2
3
4
5
6
7
8 9
10
n
12
13
14
15 16
17
18
19
20
21
22 23
24
25
26
27
28
29 30
31
NOVEMBER
S M
T W
T
F S
1
2 3
4
5 6
7 8
9 10
11
12 13
14 15
16 17
18
19 20
21 22 23 24 25 26 27
28 29
30
FEBRUARY
S
M
T
W T F S
1
2 3 4 5
6
7
8
9 10 11 12
13
14
15
16 17 18 19
20
21
22
23 24 25 26
27
28
MAY
S
M
T W T
F
s
1
2
3 4 5
6
7
8
9
10 11 12
13
14
15
16
17 18 19
20
21
22
23
24 25 26
27
28
29
30
31
SEPTEMBER
2021
2022
S M
T
W
T F
s
July
January
1
2 3
4
26-30
Pre-planning
3
Teacher In Service/ Professional Learning
5 6
7
8
9 10
1 1
4
Students Return / First Day of Semister
12 13
14
15
16 17
18
August
7
Report Cards
19 20 21 22 23 24
25
2
First Day of School
17
Martin Luther King Floliday
26 27
28
29
30
September
February
3
Digital Learning/Teacher Workday
21-22
Winter Break
DECEMBER
6
Labor Day Holiday
23-25
Winter Break / Possible Inclement
S M
T
W
T F
S
20-24
Fall Break
Weather Make-Up Days
1
2 3
4
5 6
7
8
9 10
1 1
October
March
12 13
14
15
16 | ,7
18
8
Mid Semester Progress Reports
14
Digital Learning/Teacher Workc
19 20 21 22 23 24
25
11
Teacher In Service / Professional Learning
16
Mid Semester Progress Reports
26 27 28 29 30 31
November April
MARCH
s
M
T
w
T
rn
S
1 2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
2
Teacher In Service/Election Day
4-8
Spring Break
22-26
Thanksgiving Flolidays
December
May
17
Last Day of Semester
27
Last Day of School & Graduation
20-24
Christmas Flolidays
30
Memorial Day Floliday
27-31
Christmas Flolidays
31
Teacher Post Planning
June
1 Teacher Post Planning
JUNE
S M
T W
T
F S
1 2
3 4
5 6
7 8
9
10 11
12 13
14 15
16
17 18
19 20
21 22
23
24 25
26 27
28 29
30
Calendar Legend:
Digital Learning / Teacher Workday
Report Cards
First Day of School / /First Day of Semester
Student Holiday
Last Day of School/Graduation/Report Cards
Teacher In Service / Professional Learning Day
Last Day of Semester
Winter Break/Inclement Weather Days
Mid Semester Progress Reports
Continued From 1A
Train
that will compliment the
brewery,” said Talking Rock
Mayor Randy Banks as he
briefly discussed the vision
for the downtown area. “This
could really be a great thing
for our town.”
Banks explained that the
train car tenant will lease the
structure from Talking Rock
for a monthly rate. The tenant
would be required to pay for
renovations to the interior of
the car, which is about 500
square feet, but the cost of
those renovations would be
given as credit on monthly
lease payments.
“It’s a win-win for us be
cause we will still have the
interior renovated if the ten
ant leaves, and Talking Rock
would be able to rent it to an
other tenant. That’s why we
would take those expenses
off the rent,” Banks said.
The town of Talking Rock
will provide exterior touch-
ups to the car and will pro
vide access to water,
electricity, and septic, the lat
ter of which is in final stages
leading to installation. Banks
said permitting has been ob
tained for septic, and that
they are just waiting on
prices from vendors to move
ahead.
Legally, the town is re
quired to request bids for the
train car lease, which they
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have advertised in the past,
with one party expressing in
terest but the deal not ulti
mately panning out. Banks
said town council will review
bids and concepts for the
restaurant train car and de
cide which they think will be
the best fit for the town and
the brewery. He noted that
there will be a few restric
tions regarding how the
restaurant can operate per or
ders of the health department.
Contact Talking Rock
Town Hall at 706-253-5515
for more information about
how to submit a bid and other
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