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Staff Photo By Gene Espy
(FROM LEFT) TOMMY PLEDGER, LEROY SWEATMAN, DOT JOHNSON, LEROY MASSEY, FUZZ ANDERSON
Chattooga Board Of Education Members Honored For Service; Plaques Presented By Supt. Tom McCullough
Prom Is Discussed By
Chattooga School Panel
The Chattooga County
Board of Education heard a re
port from the prom committee at
Chattooga High School during
their regular session Monday
night.
A reception was held at the
meeting in honor of the board
members in belated recognition
of School Board Week. Each
board member was presented a
plaque in recognition of the work
they do for the school system.
Superintendent Tom
McCullough gave the recognition
to board members Leroy Massey,
Fuzz Anderson, Tommy Pledger,
Dot Johnson and Leroy
Sweatman.
Supt. McCullough told the
board tflat the prom had tenta
tively been set E)r the Lakeview
building, a new facility at Floyd
Colldge .
He said that 64 returned
surveys out of 128 given to CHS
juniors about what their prefer
ence would be for the junior-se
nior prom.
Fifty-five of the surveys fa
vored having the prom at Flovd
College. Tfiree favored The
Cliffs’; three favored Mount
Berry S(filare Mall; two favored
having the prom on a riverboat
and one favored the high school
gßym. - -
" “Ithought we discussed not
holding the prom outside the
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county?” board member Tommy
Pledger asked, “I just think it
ought to be considered holding
the prom in the county at the rec
reation center, civic center,
lunchroom or at the gym. When
we held the prom at The Cliffs it
was so fof%gy you could hardly see
to get oft that mountain. They
don’t need to be there.”
Pledger expressed his con
cern for the safety of the students
driving a lons way to the prom.
“They don’t need to be
riding up and down these roads
that fgr, that's a long way. I think
it will be better, some kids won't
be able to go, because it is too far
their parents won't let them go,”
Pledger continued.
IN COUNTY
“We need to hold it in the
county, somewhere close by. Par
ents may just want to ride by and
see if their kids are there. I don’t
think we need to support hold
ing these proms that far away
from home,” Pledger said.
Board Chairman Leroy
Massey said he agreed with that
point.. -
“I agree with Tommy
(Pledger) on that point. I'd like
to see the prom held in the
countty," Massey said, “It would
be safer.”
“I'd like to see it in the
county,” board member Leroy
Sweatman said, “Didn’t we,
when this came up last year say
that the board really didn't get
involved in the prom?”
“I was asked to put it on the
agenda,” Supt. McCullough said.
“It’s the biggest night of
their life, let themghave it where
they want to,” board member
Dot John#on said.
“I don’t agree,” Pledger said,
“I think you're opening t%le door
to a lot of trougle, the further
away from home you send
them.”
“Well, we've been doing it
for vears,” Johnson countered.
“I know how I thought when
I was at that age and [ knew how
some the guys I ran with thought
- we didn't think. It really isn’t
safe to be that far away from
home,” Pledger said.
AUDIENCE
Dot Johnson asked the au
dience if anyone had anything to
say.
A member of the audience
said, “We always had our prom
in the gg’m
“I don'’t see any problem in
that,” Pledger said.
“I don't either,” the person
answered.
“I'd rather see it local, but,”
Sweatman said before being in
terrupted by Johnson.
“Well, what are you going to
eat around this place?” Johnson
asked.
Pledger answered, “There’s
plenty of places.”
Ican’t see the board setting
involved,” Sweatman said.
“I feel like we need to get
involved,” Pledger countered.
“They have to go to Rome or
Chattanooga to eat anyway,”
Johnson ad%ed.
Pledger said his class always
decorateg the gym or the recre
ation center the night before and
the class had a good time.
“One time someone said
something about the floors being
refinishe%l. After the pictures
were taken we changed into our
tennis shoes and Ead adgood
time. You were there and you
were close by. I just think we're
pressing our luck the further
away you have to drive, the more
cars that will be on the road - it’s
a safety thing,” Pledger said.
“If I not mistaken, one of the
recent years the weather turned
off really bad while they were
away from home,” he continued.
POLICY
The discussion continued
on the board getting involved at
all in the process.
Waits Unhappy
With Editorial
By D. J. LAAN
Staff Writer
Principal Thurman Waits of
Chattooga High School (CHS)
said We(fnesday that an editorial
in the Feb. 3 edition of The Sum
merville News regarding disci
pline issues at the school was in
correct.
The editorial criticized the
wearing of hats by males in the
classroom and called for addi
tional disciplinary measures to
ensure more courtesy and re
spect.
“HAT DAY”
“The visitor who came to
CHS from The Summerville
News, who is responsible for
writing the editorial last week,
came on a Friday, which is offi
cially ‘Hat Day,” Waits said. He
said students are allowed and
encouraged to wear headgear on
Fridays.
“Inthe past, students had to
pay $1 to the Student Council if
they wore a hat on Friday but I
discouraged that tradition and
we s\o longer are doing that,” he
said.
POSITIVE
Waits said that he tries to
keep his perspective in a “posi
tive mode” and tries to “not sink
into negativism.
“I read the editorial once
and I never picked it up again,”
he said.
He said one Eositive point
did emerge from the editorial.
Principal Waits said CHS
students overwhelming voiced
their support for the school by
writing essag's and letters show
ing they hold their school in high
esteem and have a great deal of
pride in being members of the
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“Do you think that the board
could legally say the prom had to
be held in the county?” Massey
asked board attorney Ken Bruce.
“I think you probably
could,” Bruce answered.
“We've never done it in the
past,” Johnson said.
“There’s not a policy oniit, I
looked for it last year,” Supt.
McCullough said.
“You can adopt a policy,”
Bruce added, “You can always
take the position that you want
your kids to be safe and could say
it had to be in the county, you
certainly could.”
“I'l{draw up a resolution
encouraging the prom to be held
in the county,” Supt. McCullough
said.
The board then went more
than the items to be voted on at
Monday night’s meeting at
Pennvilfe Elementary School.
After those items, Supt.
McCullough discussed positives
and negatives of the recent Geor
%{ia Department of Education
eport Card. (Those items are
covered in a related story about
the school’s dropout rate on page
1 of this week'’s paper.)
school’s student body.
“I consider our student body
to be very disciplined,” he said.
TEACHERS
He explained that a teacher
can ask students to remove a hat
if that teacher is uncomfortable
with the student’s headgear.
“Our teachers are very ca
?able of handling the discipline,
or the most part, of their class
room environments,” he said.
“Friday is our reward day
for the stug’ents and wearing of
hats was here long before I came.
This isn’t a ‘Thurman’s not do
ing anything about a situation,”
issue,” the principal said. “I have
no plans to do away with ‘Hat
Day.”
Second Week
Civil Trials
Cancelled
The second week of
Chattooga County Supe
rior Court civil trials,
scheduled to begin Mon
day, has been cancelled,
court officials said
Wednesday.
Prospective jurors
who had received a sum
mons to report Monday do
nqtd have to do so, officials
said.
The small number of
civil cases remaining on
the calendar was antici
pated to be finished this
week, they added.
Trion BOE Approves
Sod, Sprinkler Purchase
The Trion Board of Educa
tion met Monday in a called
meeting and approved buying
sod for the football field and a
new s'xprinkler system at the foot
ball field and new fields being
built behind the new school.
The board ;rproved grad
inq the Sam R. McCain football
field, putting in a new sprinkler
%stem and sodding the field.
e cost would be $3,500 for the
sprinkler ssfstem, plus labor,
grading and removing the old
sod for a total cost of $15,552 to
be paid from S'pecial Purpose
Local Option Sales Tax money.
Trion Mayor Don Hayes,
who was at the meeting, offered
the Town'’s help in some of the
projects to lower the board’s ex
penditure on the project.
The board also approved the
purchase of two sprinkling sys
tems at $3,500 each for the new
baseball and softball field. Any
additional cost would be labor
and running water to the field.
Superintendent Don Elam
asked Mayor Hayes the possibil
ity of running city water to the
school. Mayor Hayes said,
“We’re working in that.”
Elam also asked the Trion
Mayor if the Town could also
help the school system on a
drainage %roblem behind the
visitors’ bleachers at Sam
McCain Stadium. The Mayor
said they would help.
10 NEW TEACHERS?
Supt. Don Elam told the
board that if the Governor’s Edu
cation Reform continues to go as
it is; he wanted the board to be
aware the board would have a
significant need.
“If it passes, even close to
the original intent of the bill,
then we are going to have to have
these classrooms,” Supt. Elam
said.
Elam said he spent Monday
at the Capitol and indications he
heard was that the bill would
pass.
“You talk to some and they
sa{ it will change a lot, maybe it
will. In any event, we're going to
have additional classrooms,” he
added.
As an example, Elam said
the bill called for a one teacher
to 18 students ratio in kindergar
ten and 1 to 20 infrade one
through three. He said the school
base(ftheir grades on around
100 students. Trion has four
teachers teaching 25 each.
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“We have to drop that down
to 20. They say we can possibly
Fet a waiver for three kids. That
eaves two kids we have to pro
vide for out of the five. So we
have four classes that equals
eight kids so that means another
classroom,” Elam said.
The school would have to
prpgide space for remedial, Elam
said.
“What it would amount to
would be four teachers and a re
medial teacher for each one of
those classes. In
kindergarten we need two
additional teachers,” he said.
The loss of some parapro
fessionals was also discussed if
the bill was approved.
“Our paraprofessionals
}m\]'e always takte}rl\ away all ltlhe
ittle nitty gritty things a teacher
has to do. All those things that
allows teachers quality instruc
tion time and max instruction
time with the classroom would
be gone,” Trion Elementary Prin
cipal Richard Lindsay said, “We
feel like it will hurt our instruc
tional program and we have a
good one.”
Lindsay added it looks like
the school was going to have to
add one teacher to every grade
level and two to the kindergar
ten.
“That would mean five
classrooms in the elementary
school, Lindsa{ said, “We've
juggled and liugg ed and we have
one extra classroom right now
and that’s remedial. So if we
count that classroom and take
the teacher work room, I don’t
know where we would put the
copy machine, but it is bi
enough for a classroom. I couls
kcep my K-2 in B Hall and fit ev
eryone in and move Spanish and
Gifted out to the new building. I
would put the Gifted in the nice
size conference room. I would
put Spanish and Music out there
and use their classroom for fifth
§rade. Then, I could have third,
ourth and fifth grades and art all
in C building. We could get it
done and that would %ifi'e the
high school two rooms. That is if
we add the extra four rooms and
take out the In-School Suspen
sion.
“We’re tight,” Lindsay
added.
HIGH SCHOOL
“There are some pluses for
us,” Principal Ben Desper said.
“Basically it is like Richard
and the elementary school it
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The Summerville News, Thursday, February 10, 2000 —
would be a teacher added at each
one of those srade levels. The
groblem would be that we have
one a lot of work on the Char
ter School concept and if we go
to back to the junior high con
cept, it would cut out art and
music in the middle school,”
Desper said.
The high school would be
more difficult to predict until
registration is held for classes
because of the differences in en
rollments from graduating
classes and incoming classes,
Desper added.
He also discussed sharing of
Grand Jurors’ Room
Fitted With Panes
An extra pane of glass de
signed to better muffle sounds
from {)assing vehicles has been
installed in all windows of the
Grand Jury room on the second
floor of the Chattooga County
Courthouse.
Commissioner Jim Parker
noted that the A:gust termof the
Grand Jury asked that the panel
be relocated because of the noise
from Commerce and West
Washington streets.
“We couldn’t find a room
that would be ade%uate," the
commissioner said. “The room
on the other side of the court
room is too small and we don’t
have one in the annex that would
be suitable.”
The glass pane was installed
on the inside of each window in
the Grand Jury room, he said.
The dead air space between the
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teachers between the high school
and middle school to accommo
date the new bill.
“It looks like we may have to
“float” four teachers next year,”
Desper said.
This year Trion High School
floats two teachers who have no
homeroomsbetween classes that
are not being used certain peri
ods of the day.
“It’s like Dr. Elam said. We
have to wait and see what mate
rializes out of this thing. There
may be more changes. It's only a
ballpark guess,” Dr. Desper
added.
outside window and the inside
window should help reduce noise
in the Grand Jury room, he said
early this week.
“It should dampen the
sound a little bit,” he said. “It was
the only feasible thing to do.”
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