Newspaper Page Text
Page 6C
July 13, 2022
aRfeporter
BOE eyes athletic upgrades, end of free lunches
By Diane Glidewell
news@mymcr.net
Providing breakfast and lunch
for students in Monroe County
Schools will be harder next year,
but the staff is trying to keep the
same quality of meals available
for students at the same cost. Lisa
Budd, school nutrition program
director, informed the Board
of Education about some of the
obstacles she is facing.
The one that she wants to let all
parents and caregivers know about
as soon as possible is that there
will no longer be free breakfast
and lunch for all students as there
has been for the last two years. In
response to the pandemic, the U.S.
Department of Agriculture funded
the free meals program, but the
program hasn’t been renewed for
the 2022-23 school year.
Monroe County Schools will re
turn to the National School Lunch
Program, which provides free or
reduced cost meals for students
whose parents meet income guide
lines showing a need for them.
Students who don’t apply for free/
reduced meals or who don’t qualify
for them must pay for meals at
the same price as in the 2019-20
school year, which varies based
on elementary, middle school and
high school meals. Parents who
wish to apply should do so as soon
as possible.
Budd said she has a Georgia
Above, the foundation has been poured for the new $1.5 million conces
sions/bathrooms at Dan Pitts Stadium. At right, workers have demolished
the MP tennis courts to prepare for new ones. (Photos/Park Davis)
waiver to keep prices at the pre
pandemic level for this year. She
said she could only go up 10 cents/
meal, which wouldn’t help much.
Other problems she is facing are
those to which restaurants and
other businesses across the nation
are trying to find answers: the
shortage of workers and supplies
and skyrocketing prices.
Budd said the large vendors, like
Sysco, are pulling out of school
programs, and it is hard to replace
them. It is difficult to find suppli
ers, regardless of high prices. She is
also having trouble hiring work
ers. She said she is used to dealing
with a shortage of employees in the
kitchen, but now she is also finding
it hard to keep cashier positions
filled. Board member Greg Head
asked why employees are leaving.
“Those who retired gave every
thing during the pandemic,” said
Budd. “It’s pure exhaustion.”
She said she is working with a
staffing agency and has adjusted
pay for substitute workers.
In an update on building projects
and grant applications that Mon
roe County Schools has in process,
assistant superintendent Jackson
Daniel said there are five proj
ects and two grant applications.
Regular summer maintenance
and cleaning of buildings is also
happening.
The work to mitigate erosion at
the Hubbard Elementary campus
is about 5 percent complete. The
project is estimated at $700,000, to
be funded by ESPLOST. A survey
has been done and information for
bids is being put together.
Work on the tennis courts at
Mary Persons are about 20 percent
complete. There is $483,000 bud
geted for the project, to be funded
by ESPLOST. The existing court
surface and subsurface is being
demolished.
Replacement of the rooftop
HVAC equipment at Monroe
County Middle School is about 10
percent complete but is expected to
be finished this summer. Authori
zation to proceed has been issued,
and the contractor is getting the
equipment to install. The $1.4 mil
lion project will be paid for with
state and ESPLOST funds.
The stadium restrooms and
concession stand are expected to
be completed by August, but 15
percent of the project had been
done in mid June with site work
underway. The $1.5 million project
is financed by the 2019 bond ac
count.
Planning for baseball/tennis
improvements at Mary Persons
main campus, including restrooms
and enclosure of the batting cage,
was 5 percent complete with a
conceptual plan and pricing be
ing developed for future bids or
proposals. There was not yet a
budget amount or projected date
of completion. The project will be
paid for by ESPLOST.
Monroe County Schools has
applied for a $56,000 grant from
the Department of Public Health
to help fund clinical/nursing staff.
Monroe County Schools will again
apply for a $3 million grant for
a College & Career Academy in
Monroe County. Administrators
are reviewing the grant applica
tion they submitted last year with
feedback about how to make it bet
ter and will have it ready to submit
again.
Everyday Hero: Walker creates Forsyth’s black history museum
By Steve Reece
stevereece@gmail.com
When it comes to firsts,
Rosemary Walker is
standing at the front of the
line. She was elected the
first Black homecoming
queen for Mary Persons
High School in 1972 and
is now the curator of the
first African American
history museum in Mon
roe County, the Telling
Our Story Museum which
houses a personal col
lection that documents
Black history in Forsyth
and Monroe County. The
museum is located at the
WM. Hubbard Complex
MONROE COUNTY’S
4 irk
EVERYDAY HEROES
at 500 Hwy. 83 in Forsyth
and recently sponsored a
Juneteenth gathering.
Rosemary founded the
museum at the Hollis
House at 81 East Main
Street in 2008 before mov
ing into the Conley Build
ing three years later. The
museum’s current location
is bursting at the seams
with artifacts with the
overflow going into a stor
age building. She says the
project is far from complete
with people calling her all
the time about items they
think should be displayed
and she foresees having to
expand the facility one day.
She said everyone knows
the story of Rosa Parks and
Martin Luther King, so
she wants to focus on local
history.
Rosemary, who was also
crowned “Miss Basket
ball” during high school
graduated from MP in
1973 and spent 14 years
keeping score for the girls’
and boys’ basketball teams.
She worked 40 years at the
Rec Department coach
ing basketball, football,
and cheerleading. She was
also a 3-term city council
member.
She has 3 daughters with
her husband of nearly 49
years, Kenny: Kawana, Tia,
and Cindy. The couple also
have 7 grandchildren who
are all interested in sports.
She is the fourth generation
of her family in Monroe
County and has always
lived here with no plans
of ever leaving or retiring.
She jokes that the nursing
home she goes into one day
will be here.
Rosemary has a large
mirror in the museum in
spired by a song by Michael
Jackson: “Man in the Mir
ror”. She tells young visitors
to look at themselves in the
mirror and then asks them,
“What do you see? That’s
what you start with. You
start with yourself, and you
can be anything that you
want to be but treat people
the way you want to be
treated along the way’
UPSON
Regional Medical Center
URMC
COVID-19
Vaccine Clinic
Vaccine clinic available on Fridays from
7:30am-12:00pm and 1:00pm-4:30pm
URMC Auditorium