About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 29, 2020)
LOCA^STATE The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com Wednesday, January 29, 2020 7A Ga. could cap college course payments for high schoolers BY JEFF AMY Associated Press ATLANTA — Georgia high school students would face a cap on the number of college courses the state would pay for under a bill that passed the state Senate on Tuesday. House Bill 444 passed on a 34-18 vote and now moves to the House for more debate. Gov. Brian Kemp and a number of lawmak ers say the cost of Georgia’s dual enrollment program, which pays for college courses for high schoolers, is growing too fast. Most students would be limited to 30 hours of college credit, what a student typically has to take to reach college sophomore status. “Dual enrollment is not going away,” said Senate Majority Leader Mike Dugan, a Car rollton Republican. “Dual enrollment is effec tive. Dual enrollment is providing opportunity for our kids and we want to make sure it’s pro viding opportunity for our future.” But most Democrats opposed the bill, say ing there are better ways to control costs than an arbitrary cap and reducing funding could burden students. “Students who are pursuing higher edu cation are going to end up with more debt,” said Sen. Nan Orrock, an Atlanta Democrat. “Why balance a budget on the backs of striv ing young students?” The state would pay for only regular aca demic courses in English and language arts, mathematics, science, social studies, and foreign languages. It also would pay for tech nical courses in one of the 17 career path ways designated by the Georgia Department of Education. The state would no longer pay for some fine arts courses or for physical education at colleges. High school freshmen would generally be banned from dual enrollment. High school sophomores could enroll in career-technical classes but could take academic classes only if they score high on the SAT or ACT college tests. Students could still take courses above the caps or outside those prescribed by the state if they paid themselves. Kemp and fellow Republicans want to hold spending at its current level of $105 million a year. In 2015, when the state liberalized rules, it was spending only $23 million a year. The state already stopped paying for student fees and books to hold costs down, but the program is projected to grow to 73,000 students spend ing $123 million in the budget year beginning July 1 if nothing changes. Sen. Brian Strickland, a McDonough Republican, said that without action, the state would have to impose some other kind of limits. “If we don’t have this bill, we’ll have to means-test it or do a lottery system,” he said. The number of course hours taken tripled from 2013 to 2017, with much growth concen trated at technical colleges in rural and exur- ban areas. Beyond tuition payments to public and private colleges, Georgia also pays public colleges and high schools additional aid based on enrollment. Sponsors say students who take dual enroll ment courses accumulate 17 hours of credit, on average, by graduation. The Georgia Stu dent Finance Commission said that in the 2019 budget year, 6,397 out of 51,298 students in the program had taken more than 30 hours of credit. MANS ■ Continued from 1A block phone,” Multi Agency Narcotics Squad Lt. Don Scalia wrote in a news release. The Times is awaiting a response to an inquiry with the Hall County Sheriff’s Office regarding the moni toring of jail phone calls. “(MANS investigators) had gotten evidence that (Bouchereau) had been in constant contact with him via that phone in the jail cellblock with her phone,” Scalia said. The MANS unit worked for weeks on devel oping information on suspects distributing methamphetamine. Agents tried to arrest Bouchereau Jan. 24, in a Jesse Jewell Parkway park ing lot. Lt. Don Scalia said she drove away and struck one vehicle with two officers inside. “She then nearly struck another officer who was approaching her on foot, forcing the officer to jump out of the path of her vehicle to avoid being struck,” Sca lia said in a news release. No officers were hurt. Scalia said Bouchereau’s truck was discovered dam aged a short distance away. “She abandoned it with a couple of flat tires and bent rims, so she must have hit a curb somewhere,” Scalia said. Bouchereau was arrested the next day at an acquain tance’s residence in the 1000 block of Lathem Drive. Officers found 145 grams of methamphetamine in six separate bags during the arrest. Bouchereau was charged with three counts of aggravated assault on a peace officer, possession of meth with the intent to distribute, use of a commu nication device to facilitate a drug transaction and leav ing the scene of an accident with damage. The estimated street value of the drugs was $14,500. Nuckles was previously arrested by the MANS unit in October for charges of heroin, meth and cocaine distribution, Scalia said. No further charges are expected. NASHVILLE MUSIC CITY ADVENTURE April 20, 21, 22, 2020 3 Day / 2 Night All Inclusive Payment deadline March 18, 2020. 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