About The Banks County news. (Homer, Banks County, Ga.) 1968-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 18, 2023)
PAGE 2B BANKS COUNTY NEWS WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2023 Officer speaks to students on Internet safety H.E.R.O. Deputy Gilbert recently spoke to Banks County High School stu dents about internet safety, identifying the risks associ ated with current technolo gy- “This information is just as relevant to adults to re member,” he states. The tips include the fol lowing: •Filters and Artificial In telligence allow people to impersonate faces and voic es to appear younger. •Only accept follow/ friend requests from people you have met in-person, af ter verifying the profile’s le gitimacy by in-person com munication. •Information you pro vide online is trackable and downloadable, putting you at greater risk for your per- H.E.R.O. Deputy Gilbert is shown speaking to Banks County High School students about in ternet safety. sonally identifiable infor- *Any images or informa- manently exist on the inter- mation being publicized. tion posted by you will per- net, even if you delete it. School group wins charter bid to serve North Georgia area By Ben Munro ben@mainst reetnews .com Photo by Ben Munro A Braselton-area charter school has been proposed for the former campus of West Jackson Primary School. The local charter school group — New Schools Georgia — had its charter approved on Wednesday (Aug. 30). The group is still working toward a lease with the Town of Braselton to use the old West Jackson Primary School site. A local group seeking to open a school in Braselton secured its long-awaited charter. The State Charter Schools Commission of Georgia voted 5-2 to approve New Schools Georgia’s (NSG) application. The school will serve the North Geor gia area, including Banks County. “This is an exciting day for Braselton-area fami lies,” the group said in a statement. “We are grateful to the State Charter Schools Commission of Georgia for believing in our vision of opening a tuition-free public charter school: Four Points Preparatory Academy. Their decision to approve our charter application put us one step closer to realiz ing our vision of bringing high-quality educational choice to our community. We cannot wait to see what the future holds.” The group won its charter bid for Four Points Prepa ratory Academy despite a recommendation of denial from the commission’s staff. “We knew we had to go into (Wednesday’s) August board meeting of the com missioners and fight our way through this,” NSG’s Pam Estabrooke said. Estabrooke said the group had multiple elected offi cials “really come to bat for us” in earning the charter, noting the support of Bra selton Mayor Kurt Ward, State Senator Clint Dixon (Chairman of the Senate Committee on Education), State Representative Chuck Efstration (Senate Majority Leader) and State Represen tative Derrick McCollum. With the charter in hand, NSG and National Heri tage Academies (NHA) will continue to pursue a lease agreement with the Town of Braselton to house the school at the former site of West Jackson Primary School on Hwy. 53. NSG has partnered with NHA, a national charter school organization, to run the proposed charter school with NSG overseeing its operation. The school’s attendance zones would be identified as Gwinnett, Banks, Barrow, Jackson and Hall counties, and Buford, Gainesville, Commerce and Jefferson city schools. NSG plans to open Four Points Preparatory Acad emy in August 2024 with grades K-5 with plans to ex pand to K-8 in subsequent years. According to Estabrooke, 240 parents have requested information about the char ter school and indicated intentions to enroll their child. Grubs are out in force By ZACH MCCANN Over the last couple of weeks, I have received several calls about grass coming up with no roots at tached, or dying in certain areas. This damage is character istic of grub worms feeding on the roots of the grass. The damage has been worse than normal this year due to the recent dry spell, during which the grass did not grow new roots to replace the damaged ones. Grubs tend to avoid hard and compacted soils and prefer areas that stay more wet and softer throughout the year, making it easier for them to burrow and move. An infestation of grubs can also bring secondary dam age from armadillos that are looking for a meal, and cause further damage to yards in the process. A majority of our white grubs in Georgia are the larvae form of either green June bugs or Japanese bee tles. These beetles lay their eggs in the soil during their active period during the summer, and the grabs feed in the fall and spring pre dominately. The following summer the grabs pupate into beetles that emerge and complete the life cycle. To monitor for grabs in an area, peel up a small section of sod and look for grabs in the top two inches of soil. During very dry spells, the grabs will travel deeper in the soil in search of mois ture and can be much harder this fall ZACH MCCANN to detect. Grabs will also burrow deeper as the soil cools off in the fall months and they are typically dor mant during the winter months, making scouting and treatment more difficult or ineffective. If you have grab damage, but cannot locate them in the top inch or two of soil, then a treatment with insec ticide is likely to be ineffec tive in controlling the grabs. The ideal time to control grabs is April through Sep tember when the grabs are most active and close to the surface. There are a variety of products labeled for con trol of grabs, though it is important to note that these products need to reach the top couple inches of soil. This is usually achieved by watering the product in or treating before a rainfall for the product to soak in to the root zone of the grass. We are always here to help at the Banks County Extension office. Ways to contact us are to call us at 706-677-6230, by email at zmccann@uga.edu, or to come by the office at 413 Evans street, Homer, GA. Zach McCann is the Banks County extension agent. Banks Rotary Club sponsors Food 2 Kids Program for schools The Banks County Rotary Club is sponsoring the Food 2 Kids Program in the county school system. “School isn’t just a place for learning,” organizers state. “For some of our most impoverished kids, it’s also the only reliable source of food in their lives.” Food 2 Kids is a program that helps bridge that gap for some of the community’s neediest kids. Sacks of kid-friendly food—enough for at least six meals—are handed out every week to children identified by school teachers, counselors and officials as being most in need, organizers report. The disposable sacks will have approximately seven to 10 pounds of food—enough for two days of meals. The food is in easy-to-open packaging and doesn’t require any cooking. To donate or for more information, contact Becky Carlan at 706-540-3828. Mail in contributions for the program to: Banks County Rotary Club Food 2 Kids, P.O. Box 54, Homer, Ga„ 30547. School system governance meetings set The Banks County School System will hold gover nance meetings at each school on the following dates for the 2023-2024 school year at 6 p.m. PRIMARY SCHOOL Banks County Primary School will hold meetings on Nov. 14, Jan. 9, February 13, March 12 and April 16. The meetings will be held in the Banks County Primary School conference room.. ELEMENTARY SCHOOL Banks County Ele mentary School will hold meetings on Nov. 14. The meetings will be held at the Banks County Elementary School conference roonm. MIDDLE SCHOOL Banks County Middle School will hold meetings on Nov. 28 , Jan. 16, Febru ary 20, March 19 and April 23. The meeting will be held at the Banks County Middle School conference room. HIGH SCHOOL Banks County High School will hold meetings on Nov 14, Dec. 12, Jan. 9, Feb. 13, March 12 and April 16. The meetings will be held at the Banks Coun ty High School conference room. After school program offered Banks County High School is offering an af ter-school program to help students stay on track and graduate. The program is offered from 3:15 p.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Thurs days in Room 313 (Good win’s). Snacks are provided. Transportation is provid ed at the following drop-off points at Maysville Gaze bo at the railroad tracks, 5:15 p.m.; Howard John son’s, 5:30 p.m.; Dollar General Store, 5:45 p.m.; and Alto Congregational Holiness Church. 6 p.m. Registration forms are in the front office, ninth grade office or Mr. Goodwin’s room (313). All forms must be re turned to the front office or room 313 before attending the offered after school pro gram. Call 706-983-1128 or email dgoodwin@banks. kl2.ga.us for more informa tion. For about the cost of a cup of coffee... ...You can find out what’s going on in Banks County every week. Read The Banks County News. To subscribe, call 706/367-5233 or go online to subscribe at banksnewstodav.com Yes! Sign me up for one year of: The Banks County News p,easemo ' to ' Subscriptions t The Banks County News 13/YEAR-52 issues* p.o. box 908 Jefferson, GA 30549 (55 and older is just $40/year) Taxes and USPS delivery is included in prices. Offer is good for new & existing customers. Please allow two weeks for processing. Subscribe at BanksNewsTODAY.Com Name Phone Delivery Address_ City State Check Enclosed $_ . Email (for access to web site)_ Or charge to: □ Visa DMasterCard DAMXCard# Billing Address (if different from delivery address) City State_ _Amt Charged_ Exp. Date_ Signature_
