Newspaper Page Text
o
o
NOVEMBER 3, 2022
Madison County Journal
Merged with The Comer News and The Danielsville Monitor, 2006
MadisonJoumaITODAY.com
Vol. 39 No. 39 • Publication No. 1074-987 • Danielsville, Madison County, Georgia 30633 • A Publication of MainStreet Newspapers Inc. • 20 Pages, 2 Sections Plus Supplements
$1.00
FESTIVAL
Pioneer
Harvest
Festival set
for Saturday
The annual Pioneer
Harvest Festival will be
held 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Nov.
5 at tire Madison County
Fairgrounds.
Admission is free. There
will be agricultural exhibits,
local food, youth activities,
craft and market, historical
demonstrations, live music,
farmers market and UGA
tailgating.
IN HONOR
MCHS to
hold Veterans
Day ceremony
Madison County High
School will hold a Veterans
Day ceremony at 10 a.m.,
Friday, Nov. 11 in the school
gym.
The ceremony is to remem
ber and pay respect to all who
served. A reception will follow
the ceremony.
Veterans planning to attend
are asked to RSVP to Col.
Robert Stuart at rstuart@
madison.kl2.gaus or call
706410-4868.
Fun ‘Under the Stars’
Danielle Williamson (L) and Brinley Drake (R) enjoy a laugh at the “Under
the Stars” Pageant at the Madison County High School Theater Oct. 27. See
pages 6-7A for more photos. Photo by Zach Mitcham
EDUCATION
Funding for
Foothills
CLEANUP
Tire amnesty event
ends this week
A source of hope for students
faces uncertain financial outlook
OPINION: Foothills and the bigger picture. Page 4A
The Madison County Trans
fer Station will hold “Tire
Amnesty Disposal” through
Saturday, Nov. 5.
Tires can be dropped off from
8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Thursday
and Friday at the transfer sta
tion. which is located at 2100
Colbert Danielsville Road,
Danielsville.
The event is for residents, not
businesses. Up to 10 tires will
be taken per citizen.
No rims or large, heavy
equipment tires.
Index:
News — 1-3A
Opinions — 4-5A
Social — 8A
Crime — 9A
Church — 10A
Sports — 1-3B
School — 4B, 8B
Classifieds —11A
Obituaries — 5B
Legals — 7B
Contact:
Phone: 706-367-5233
Web: MadisonJournal
TODAY.com
News submissions:
zach@
mainstreetnews.com
Inside, Page 4B
Foothills welding students honored
By Zach Mitcham
zach @ mainstreetnews.com
The number 49 carried a
heavy weight in Madison
County in 2003. That was
the graduation rate that year.
Of course, the other 51 per
cent weren't just numbers
but actual teenagers staring
at the job market without a
diploma.
Quite a lot has been done
locally to turn that dismal
number around and give
teens hope, not fear, when
looking at the future. Madi
son County's graduation rate
has turned from a source of
pain to a point of pride, sitting
at 94.7 percent this past year.
That improvement has a
lot to do with programs now
on the Madison County High
School campus. For instance,
Madison County established
the Broad River College
and Career Academy that
provides training for various
career paths. Madison Coun
ty is also a host site for Foot
hills Education Charter High
School, a charter school that
serves 15 northeast Georgia
school districts.
Foothills is joined by the
Coastal Plains and Moun
tain Education schools in
Georgia, with the three sys
tems currently serving 7,600
students. The systems have
graduated 8,000 students
since their inception.
Go to Foothills on the
Madison County High
School campus, and you'll
see young people working
to better their future. It’s high
school, but at a different pace
and with evening hours. Stu
dents have mentors. They're
encouraged to keep going, to
not give up.
“The value of a charter
school like Foothills is the
huge flexibility that we are
allowed with the charter,
allowing students to have
unique educational opportu
nities that they would not be
able to get in traditional high
schools,” said Irene Munn,
Regional Career Pathway
Coordinator for Foothills.
Participating school sys
tems, such as Madison
County, provide Foothills
with facilities, internet, cus
todial service and school
resource officers, while Foot
hills — in its own words
— “provides an instructional
model that meets the needs of
students who have dropped
out of high school, are at
risk of dropping out of high
school, or require a non-tradi-
tional model to enhance their
opportunities for success.”
But the whole setup is in
jeopardy if state legislators
move forward with imple
mentation of Senate Bill
153, which could eliminate
state funding for Foothills
and shift it to local taxpay
ers. Foothills leaders say the
potential elimination of a
state charter school supple
ment could effectively shut
down Foothills.
Former Madison County
assistant superintendent of
schools Bonnie Knight, who
now works as the finance
director for Foothills, offered
an overview recently of Foot
hills" financial outlook.
She explained that Foot
hills receives Quality Basic
Education (QBE) funding
from the state based on stu
dent population, as well as
a supplemental budget for
chatter schools. This year’s
QBE allotment for Foothills
is S9 million. The supple
ment is $15.8 million. The
$15.8 million could be elim
inated.
So why?
Knight said that Foothills
has been receiving too much
from the state for "capital
outlay” to cover facility
needs. That funding jumped
dramatically when Foothills
moved its regional office
from Madison County to
Athens, because the state
funding formula took Clarke
County’s numbers into
account instead of Madison
County. The Foothills fund
balance was growing and
Knight said a new allocation
formula was clearly needed.
Foothills raised its hand in
class. “Hey, we’re getting too
much money here.”
"We started the conversa
tion with the state, saying
we need a different formula,”
said Knight.
She noted that school dis
tricts provide facilities and
some services for Foothills,
pointing out that Madison
County’s “in-kind” contribu
tion amounts to about $2,000
annually per student
Knight said the state
money allotted for facilities
needed to be returned and a
new allocation system estab
lished.
"We want to give you (the
state) this money back,” she
said. “Create a new formula
for us and let us have this
partnership (with school sys-
See ‘Foothills’ on 2A
INSIDE
Madison County’s
perfect-season coach
remembered, Page 3B
ELECTIONS
Local choices
on Nov. 8 ballot
— Meet the BOC candidates, Page 3A
Decision day is nearly here.
The 2022 general elections are set for Nov. 8, with early
voting continuing in Madison County through Nov. 4 at the
Madison County Board of Elections and Registration Office
at 20 Albany Avenue in Danielsville next to the county gov
ernment complex.
The ballot includes several Madison County decisions.
Two seats are up for grabs at the commissioners’ table.
Voters in District 3 will choose between Democrat Larry
Gresham and Republican incumbent Frank May. In District
5, incumbent Republican Derek Doster will face Democratic
challenger Henrietta “Nell” Browne.
Voters will also choose between State Senate District 47
Republican incumbent Frank Ginn and Democrat Conolus
Scott — who both live in Madison County.
In Colbert, voters will pick either Gregory Magrum or Tim
Wyatt as their new mayor, with Michelle Cole and Chris Peck
facing off for the Post 4 seat.
And county residents have a choice to make about local
alcohol sales. Should restaurants in the county be allowed to
serve liquor by the drink? A liquor-by-the-drink referendum
is on the county ballot.
See ‘Elections’ on 2A
INDUSTRIAL AUTHORITY
Chandler resigns
as IDA chairman
By Zach Mitcham
zach @ mainstreetnews.com
Josh Chandler has resigned as chairman of the Madison
County Industrial Development and Building Authority.
He is the longest serving member of the authority, hav
ing served for nearly six years after joining the group in
January 2017. Chandler has offered to work through the
end of the year on the authority if the board of commis-
See ‘Chandler’ on 2A
GOVERNANCE
IDA, county clerk discuss
potential committee on
economic development
By Zach Mitcham
zach @ mainstreetnews. com
Madison County commissioners are planning to create a
committee to study the best way to handle economic devel
opment in the county.
That committee has yet to be established, and the board is
expected to discuss the matter again at its Nov. 7 meeting.
But early plans include establishing a 10-person commit
tee, with two members each from the county commission
ers, industrial authority, board of education, chamber of
commerce, as well as two citizens.
County clerk Christina Baxter attended the IDA’s Oct. 26
meeting and outlined the directives she’s received from the
commissioners on establishing the committee.
Baxter said the BOC wants to review a host of issues
related to economic development, including the organiza
tional responsibilities for each department and official, to
better facilitate commercial growth in county. This could
even include a review of Madison County’s form of gov
ernment.
She listed a number of questions the committee would
consider, including what communications and organiza
tional structure should be in place between the BOC, IDA,
BOE and chamber? Do the current roles of the IDA and
BOC need to be changed? What are each key player’s roles
and responsibilities? Is the county water department most
efficient under the IDA or should it be moved under the
BOC? What would a new structure look like? Should the
IDA be the leading agency for attracting new business and
industry? What should be the communication structure for
See ‘IDA’ on 5A
