Sports
Leopards complete
spring practice
■—'page 1B
In the Banks County Community
Relay
for Life
■—'page 6B
3K
Lula holds
Railroad
Days —page
8B
May 21,2008
The Banks County News
504^ Homer, Banks County, Georgia 30547 • A Publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. • mainstreetnews.com • 36 Pages, 3 Sections Plus Supplements • Vol. 39 No. 41
Graduation set
Friday at BCHS
BY CHRIS BRIDGES
Banks County High School seniors
will take their long-
awaited journey
across the gradu
ation stage Friday
night.
A total of 133 seniors are scheduled
to receive their diplomas during gradu
ation ceremonies Friday at 8 p.m. at
the BCHS football stadium. A rain
date has been set for Saturday at 11
a.m.
Sarah Major is this year’s valedic
torian while Branson Simmons is the
salutatorian. Whitney Sanders is the
first honorian.
Seniors are scheduled to practice
Wednesday morning for Friday night’s
ceremony.
The BCHS class of2007 has received
approximately $50,000 in scholarships,
principal Art Wheaton said.
Honor graduates from the class of
2008 include: Cody Ballenger, Lacey
Bennett, Jennifer Bowen, Kellie
Brown, Crystal Cruz, Krista Dodd,
Bobbie Hewell, Robin Kuhns and
Sarah Major.
Also, An Pham, Whitney Sanders,
Branson Simmons, Amanda
Smallwood, Diana Taylor, Nathan
Ward, Allison White and Gloria Yang.
Memorial Day
events ahead
Salute at BCHS
A Memorial Day salute to the
Armed Forces program and concert
will be presented in the Banks County
High School auditorium at 8 p.m. on
Thursday, May 29.
Northwinds Adult Community Band
of Gainesville will present a tribute to
all veterans.
There will also be pictures from the
wars and from local veterans.
Homer Park
A Memorial Day program will be
held at 10 a.m. on Monday, May 26,
at Veterans Memorial Park in Homer.
Lauren McDonald will be the guest
speaker. Those who attend are asked to
bring a lawn chair.
Maysville Park
The City of Maysville will have a
Memorial Day celebration at 11 a.m.
Monday at Veterans’ City Park in the
downtown area.
News - 2-3A
•Alto to apply for grant
for police car
— page 2A
•Bohannon to serve as
Baldwin’s mayor pro-tem
— page 3A
Op/Ed
• ‘Follow the party line
or get lost’— page 4A
Other news
BCES assistant principal placed on leave
Action stems from alleged incident involving water fountain
BY CHRIS BRIDGES
The assistant principal at Banks County
Elementary School has been placed on leave
pending an investigation into an alleged inci
dent at the school last week involving male
students having to drink from a water fountain
in which urine had possibly been poured into.
Banks County Superintendent of Schools
Chris Erwin said Monday that he is conduct
ing an investigation into the incident which
allegedly involved all fifth grade male students
at the school. BCES school assistant principal
Lori Rylee has been placed on leave while the
investigation is conducted.
“There are all kinds of rumors floating
around, but we are moving forward with the
investigation,” Erwin said. “We do not have a
date to have the investigation finished. We want
to be thorough in covering everything.”
The incident involves whether fifth grade
male students were made to drink from a water
foundation after a bottle containing some liquid
was poured into it. Erwin said there is some
question as to what the substance was, whether
it was urine or Gatorade.
Erwin said BCES principal Jan Bertrang
has been assisting with the investigation and
is working with parents and students on the
matter.
Per school system policy, Erwin said he could
not comment further on the incident since it
was a personnel matter.
“ When 100-plus children
have the same story then
it must be true.”
— Keith Segars, spokesman
for BCES fifth grade parents
A large crowd attended Monday night’s
board of education meeting. While several in
attendance were there to see their children rec
ognized by the BOE, many were there because
of the incident at BCES.
Keith Segars spoke to the board about the
incident and said he was a spokesman for
the fifth grade parents. Segars said the male
students were threatened if they told their
parents about the incident and were told law
enforcement and the Department of Family and
Children’s Services would be contacted.
“When 100-plus children have the same story
then it must be true,” Segars said. “The method
in how this was handled proves that better
administrative training is needed.”
Segars said parents had still not been offi
cially notified of the incident and only found
out after a few students began talking about it
and word spread of the incident.
continued on page 3A
Budget talks in Banks County
SHERIFF PRESENTS BUDGET
Sheriff Charles Chapman (R) presented his budget request at a hearing last week before the Banks
County Board of Commissioners. Department heads met with the BOC Wednesday and Thursday of
last week. See the story on page 3A. Photo by Sharon Hogan
A Day at the Fort
coming up Saturday
A Day at the Fort will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, May 24,
at Fort Hollingsworth/White House, located in Banks County, just off Hwy. 441
between Cornelia and Homer in the Hollingsworth community.
Activities include: Tours of the frontier fort built in 1793, music, storytelling,
old fashion arts and crafts. Civil War re-enactment, 1860s vintage dance and
food, including barbecue and fried pies.
“Bring a lawn chair and plan to spend the day,” organizers say.
For more information, call 706-754-4538 or email fort@forthollingsworth-
whitehouse.com.
Day at the Fort Schedule of Events
10 a.m. - Opening Ceremony
10:30 a.m. - Ralph White Family, The Woods Family Bluegrass Bandsf
11 a.m - Edith Goodson, Storyteller
11:15 a.m. - 1860s Vintage Dance
11:30 a.m. - Jean Martin (Pianist), KennethHart*(Soloist)
11:55 a.m.
The Woods Family Bluegrass Band
12:15 p.m. - Crystal River Bluegrass 'IBand
1:15 p.m. - 1860s Vintage Dance^j
1:35 p.m. - Edith Goodson, Storyteller
1:45 p.m. - Jeff and Nathaniel Samsel, Dulcimer Music
2 p.m. - Civil War Re-enactmentST
2:45 p.m. - Crystal River Bluegrass Band
3:30 p.m. - Dedications
4 p.m. - Closing
Graduation test m
scores in for Banks
Science results greatly improved,
language art scores down slightly
BY JANA A. MITCHAM
Local high school graduation test scores from 2008 have been
released, with results showing that the Banks County School System
is at or above the state average in percentage of students passing for
most test areas.
For the first time this year, the English/language arts and science
tests were fully aligned to the state’s new curriculum, according
to the Georgia Department of Education. The new exams “call
for higher order thinking” and test “more rigorous material.” Area
schools saw a drop in English/language arts scores this year, but saw
improvements in science.
The four content areas of the graduation test — English/ language
arts, math, social studies and science — are given for the first time
to juniors in the spring (see chart for all scores for area schools).
continued on page 3A
Percent Passing High School Graduation Test
ALL First-Time 11th Grade Test Takers
(Source: Georgia Department of Education, testing website)
2007
2008
2007
2008
English/Language Arts
Social Studies
Banks
90.1
87
Banks
83.7
89
Jefferson
97.7
92
Jefferson
93.9
88
Jackson
93.1
88
Jackson
88.3
88
Commerce
98.7
96
Commerce
92.2
94
Barrow
93.3
93
Barrow
87.4
97
Gwinnett
96.5
92
Gwinnett
91.4
90
Madison
96.2
86
Madison
82.9
85
State
96.2
90
State
87.1
86
Math
Science
Banks
88.8
96
Banks
68
86
Jefferson
97.7
94
Jefferson
83.3
89
Jackson
91.8
94
Jackson
72.4
87
Commerce
94.9
93
Commerce
75.6
93
Barrow
91.7
94
Barrow
73.7
89
Gwinnett
94.7
95
Gwinnett
82.7
90
Madison
89.1
94
Madison
68.2
85
State
91.7
92
State
73.6
86
•Social News — pages 8A
•School News — page 7B
•Public Safety — page 6A
• Legals — page 4B
•Church — page 5B
• Obituaries — page 7A
Maysville plans two meetings for May 29
The City of Maysville will have a special The Maysville City Council will hold
called meeting at 6 p.m. on Thursday, May a “workshop meeting” at 6:30 p.m. that
29, at the Maysville Public Library to dis- same evening, also at the Maysville Public
cuss ways to conserve gas. Library.
News office to be closed Memorial Day
The Banks County News office will be to the holiday.
closed on Monday, May 26, in observance The deadline for classified and display
of Memorial Day. advertising, as well as news items will be
The deadlines have been moved up due at noon on Friday, May 23.
