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FRIDAY, JANUARY 4, 2019 | $1.00 | GAINESVILLE, GEORGIA | gainesvilletimes.com
Honestly Local
Schools, lawmakers at odds on dates
Ga. Senate panel tries to balance tourism interests with educators’ and parents’ wishes
BY JOSHUA SILAVENT
jsilavent@gainesvilletimes.com
With students in Hall County
Schools returning to class this
week, and Gainesville City Schools
students set to return next week, a
Georgia Senate study committee is
recommending more uniformity in
school calendars for 181 districts
across the state.
Among the committee’s many
suggestions for lawmakers to con
sider when the Georgia General
Assembly convenes this year is a
requirement that school districts
start classes no earlier than seven
to 10 days prior to the first Monday
in September, and end on or about
June 1.
But the proposal to push back
the start of the academic year
(Hall County Schools and Gaines
ville City Schools begin in early
August, for example) has been con
tinually met with opposition from
local school district officials and
educators’ associations.
Hall County
Schools Super
intendent Will
Schofield and
Gainesville City
Schools Superin
tendent Jeremy
Williams have
said “local con
trol” of school
calendars is
imperative to meet the needs and
demands of each community and
district.
Representa
tives from the
Professional
Association of
Georgia Educa
tors and Georgia
Association of
Educators told
the committee
— made up of
lawmakers, state
education officials and tourism
industry leaders — they oppose
state mandates on school calen
dars and support local control.
But the committee, which
described its recommendations as
“guardrails” for lawmakers to con
sider, said early start dates to the
academic year have major nega
tive impacts on the state’s travel
and tourism industry, while also
placing additional financial bur
dens on low-income families.
More uniformity could also bet
ter align school district calendars
■ Please see SCHOOLS, 8A
Schofield
Williams
Tour shows off new office spaces,
courtrooms in Hall County annex
Photos by AUSTIN STEELE I The Times
Judge Lindsay Buron’s courtroom is on display during an open house at the Courthouse Annex for Hall County commissioners
and others on Thursday, Jan. 3.
Tentative date for final shuffle after $2.5M renovation set for March
Judge Lindsay Buron’s courtroom is seen during the open house.
BY NICK WATSON
nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com
Hall County commissioners toured
the county’s courthouse annex Thurs
day, Jan. 3, as the main courthouse
edges closer to finalizing the shuffling
of offices and courtrooms.
Clerk of Courts Charles Baker and
Juvenile Court Judge Lindsay Bur
ton led parts of the tour around the
courthouse.
“It gives everybody more room and
a much better working situation,” Com
mission Chairman Richard Higgins
said.
The $2.5 million annex renovation
was funded by the special purpose
local option sales tax, or SPLOST. Juve
nile Court and Probate Court moved to
the Spring Street annex and have been
operational since the summertime.
While walking through the bottom
floor of the annex, Baker pointed out
dedicated space to the Board of Equal
ization, which reviews property value
appeals. Before the move, the board
would borrow courtrooms or any con
ference room available.
The move to the courthouse annex
also opens up room for State Court
Judge Larry Baldwin II and Superior
Court Judge Clint Bearden, who do not
have their own courtrooms.
The annex was previously the coun
ty’s primary courthouse. After the Hall
County Courthouse on Green Street was
constructed, the annex housed county
offices. When the Hall County Govern
ment Center on Browns Bridge Road
opened in 2012, that left the annex
vacant.
‘It gives everybody
more room and a
much better working
situation.’
Richard Higgins
Commission Chairman
“Since they occupied it, it’s been
very smooth. We haven’t had any
major issues as to the building and the
remodeling,” Court Administrator Reg
gie Forrester said of the move.
Forrester said Magistrate Court will
move to the third floor of the main
courthouse, where Juvenile Court for
merly occupied.
Baldwin and Bearden will then take
one of the former Magistrate Court
courtrooms. Forrester said those court
rooms are “jury-ready,” meaning they
only need to put in a jury box.
“It looks like perhaps mid-March,
and that’s not much more than a guess
timate right now, but it’s the best guess
timate we can make. It’s just according
to how our subcontractors are able to
come and how our supplies come in,”
Forrester said of the shift.
Forrester noted the estimate is
extremely tentative, and officials may
be able to confirm a date in the next 30
to 40 days.
Woman loses
part of leg
in conveyor
incident
BY NICK WATSON
nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com
Authorities believe a woman will lose much
of her leg after an incident Wednesday, Jan. 2,
at Country Charm Eggs in Gillsville.
Banks County Fire and EMS found a
“female patient entrapped in a conveyor
system with lower limb amputation” after
responding to the Cargill Drive business
around 11 a.m. Wednesday.
The woman was extricated and taken to
Northeast Georgia Medical Center.
Fire Chief Steve Nichols said the conveyor
severed the limb at the ankle.
“It stripped everything below the knee. I
would imagine she will lose everything just
from below the knee down,” Nichols said.
Nichols did not have information on the
woman other than a suspected age in her 40s.
No other injuries were reported, and the
case is still under investigation.
“We will follow up on it to see what else
comes out of it,” Nichols said.
The Times left a message seeking comment
from the owners of Country Charm Eggs, but
it was not returned.
A representative from the Occupational
Safety and Health Administration confirmed
the agency is investigating the incident,
but the person did not release any further
information.
FLOWERY BRANCH
June 18 special
election set to fill
vacant council seat
BY JEFF GILL
jgill@gainesvilletimes.com
A June 18 special election to replace former
Flowery Branch City Councilwoman Mary
Jones, who resigned in December, got the coun
cil’s first OK Thursday night.
Qualifying for the Post 2
seat is set for April 15-17, tak
ing place at City Hall, 5410 W.
Pine St.
The winner will serve out
Jones’ term, which ends Dec.
31.
The Post 2 seat otherwise
is up for grabs for a four-year
term starting Jan. 1,2020.
The council also voted
Thursday, Jan. 3, to set the
election for that seat — as well
as the Post 1 seat, currently
held by Chris Mundy — for
Nov. 5.
Qualifying is set for Aug.
19-21 at City Hall. The qualify
ing fee is $144 in both elections.
The City Council is set to give final approval
to the election ordinances on Jan. 17.
Jones’ last meeting was on Dec. 20, her depar
ture announced by Mayor Mike Miller.
■ Please see COUNCIL, 8A
Jones
Inside
Flowery
Branch
OKs earlier
Sunday
alcohol
sales, 8A
INSIDE
0 40901
06835 8
Advice
6B
Bridge
6B
Business
8B
Calendar
2A
Classified
9B
Comics
7B
Life 5B
Lottery 2A
Opinion 7A
Our Region 8A
Sports 1B
TV/puzzles 6B
WEATHER 2A
High Low
yfcf 60 41
Lake Lanier level: 1,073.89 feet
Winter full pool 1,070. No change in 24 hours
DEATHS 9A
Maudell Adams, 84
Alice Boland, 59
Raymond Cich, 74
Blanche Cook, 93
Edwin Cook, 81
Bibiana Dominguez, 42
Bart Durham
Jason Faulkner, 47
James Ferguson, 70
Roy Gardiner, 82
Dwayne Gill, 17
Thomas Holton, 73
Dorothy Jones, 82
Linda Kinkead, 70
Angela Medley, 59
Nathan Mize, 74
Billy Owensby, 57
Mary Reed, 89
Lonia Roberts, 90
Misael Santiago-Ruiz, 25
Rickey Self, 63
David Souther, 34
Don Stonecypher, 87
Winifred Swingle, 92
Hugh Totherow, 58
