Newspaper Page Text
Board of Ed Goes for
Neighborhood Schools
Many parents weren't excited about the .
new attendance-zone policy for elementary
and middle schools approved Dec. 11 by the
Clarke County Board of Education, but it
marked the end of an era of busing to support
(and, earlier, to help stave off) racial integra
tion. Higher bus costs are driving the switch
to require children to go to nearby "neigh
borhood" schools (at present, parents can
apply for any school in their quadrant of the
county); per-student bus costs are over $700 a
year, nearly twice the state's average. Parents
who spoke at the board meeting seemed to
recognize the inevitability of the change
(which passed unanimously and goes into
effect in August), but asked for a go-slower
approach. "I kind of see this choice as being
'rip the Band-Aid off
quickly,' or 'peel it off
slowly,"' Judy Johnson
said.
Board member Ovita
Thornton said she
knows how "traumatic"
school shifts can be for parents, because
she'd been through it with her son. "I was
emotionally drained," she said, "but you know
what? My son didn't know what was going
on." Middle-school students living in the
Homewood Hills, Kathwood Drive, Oglethorpe
Avenue and High Ridge areas will switch to
new schools under the policy; elementary
school students in all parts of the county may
move schools. But accommodation will be
made for rising fifth-graders, seventh-graders
and eighth-graders (and for their siblings, too,
for one year), who will be allowed to stay at
their accustomed schools. The school district
will also try to accommodate parents who wish
to drive their own children to schools outside
neighborhood boundaries.
Vernon Payne, the school board's longest-
serving member, reflected on the history of
school busing in Athens. At one time, he
said, African-American students were bussed
past two or three all-white schools in order
to attend all-black ones. "It was unfair to
African-American families," he said. "And
it was wrong," he said. "It was wrong. It
was wrong." Payne congratulated Interim
Superintendent James Simms for putting
the new plan forward despite controversy.
"This is a good plan. This is a start," Payne
said. Longtime busing opponent Sidney Anne
Waters said children can get a good educa
tion in Clarke County, but that people have
been reluctant to move here because they
couldn't predict which school their children
would attend. "I think
as time goes by you
will see Clarke County
grow. You will see
houses start to sell
again," she said.
And despite threat
ening resignation six months ago, Simms will
apply for the permanent superintendent's job,
he told Flagpole. But Simms is not guaranteed
the job, and the search for a permanent super
intendent is ongoing. Dr. Denise Mewborn, the
board member who chairs the search commit
tee, said last week that over 30 people have
applied, including at least 10 the committee
is "very pleased about."
And Simms reported "no good news" after
meeting with state legislators about school
funds. State cuts could mean $1.3 million less
for Clarke County schools, he said: roughly the
same amount the new school busing plan is
expected to save.
John Huie jphuie@athens.nel
“I kind of see this choice as
being ‘rip the Band-Aid off
quickly,’ or ‘peel it off slowly.”’
Legalize It? Commish
Receives Pot Petition
Athens-Clarke County should decriminalize
marijuana, John Hill told ACC Commissioners
at their December voting meeting, and he
presented 1,024 signatures of citizens "who
feel that endless prohibition needs to end."
A member of UGA's chapter of NORML (the
National Organization for the Reform of
Marijuana Laws), Hill said local police should
"deprioritize" cannabis offenses, and concen
trate instead "on the crimes and drugs that
are the true destroyers of our society—such as
thefts, assault, methamphetamines and crack
cocaine."
NORML proposes a ballot initiative in
Athens to legalize owning up to a quarter-
ounce of pot.
"On the idea of implementing an ordinance
contradictory to state law, we look to Denver,
CO," Hill said. In 2005, Denver voters passed
an initiative intending to legalize posses
sion of an ounce of pot under city law. But,
reported the Rocky Mountain News, "Denver
law enforcement officials... continue to ticket
small-time pot-possession violators under
state law. They always have prosecuted the
vast majority of possession cases, saying that
state law is unaffected by local statutes."
Calling themselves Safer Alternative For
Enjoyable Recreation, Denver legalization
advocates then mobilized to change state law,
saying the war on drugs was diverting scarce
funding for police away from serious crimes.
"Now SAFER is drawing support for the state
initiative from a 4,500-member organization
of current and former narcotics agents, police
chiefs, prosecutors, prison wardens, judges
and federal agents," the News reported.
ACC Commissioners did not discuss Hill's
proposal, but he said he would bring them
1,000 additional signatures each month.
John Huie jphuie@athens.net
Downtown Businesses Look
Nervously to New Year
With national headlines on the economy
looking worse all the time, downtown Athens
retailers and restaurant and bar owners are
finishing out the year with a nervous eye
toward January. All seem to look back at the
year that's passed—and especially the fall
season—with mixed emotions, but some with
a more negative view than others. Damon
Krebs, an owner of bars Allgood, Walker's
Coffee and Pub, and the Pub at Gameday, says
bar business downtown has "slowed down
about 20 percent across the board" for this
fall as compared to the last few years.
"It sounds like a lot of people are hurting,"
Krebs says, and he predicts that a handful of
bars may not seek to renew their city liquor
licenses in January. Krebs admits, though,
that with the ups and downs that come with a
UGA football season's home and away games,
it's difficult to discern patterns in the fall sea
son's revenue stream. He thinks the new year
will bring clarity, but he's not optimistic: "It's
going to be an interesting
six months," Krebs says.
At Tasty World, owner
Murphy Wolford says that
September was a great
month, with so many football games then.
"October and November were down," he says.
"I would say it's about 20 percent."
A broader look across downtown's vari
ous business sectors, though, shows how
volatile the season has been. "It's been really
strange," says Gyro Wrap owner David Carter.
"October was good, and then November was
really slow." The first week or so of December
was good, Carter says. "Ihe end of this year
has been really hard to predict," he says, but
he adds: "Cumulatively, we're still seeing a
little decrease over last year, but not a huge
one." Customer traffic at Gyro Wrap has been
fine, Carter says, but people tend to forego a
soft drink or french fries to keep their tickets
smaller. "They're still coming out and eating,
they're just not spending as much per person,"
he says.
At East-West Bistro, says co-owner Renee
Middleton, "December has been tremendous
for us." But October and November were both
tough, leading to a recent full-staff meet
ing and a decision to cut back staff hours
"about 20 percent across the board." She says
an accompanying reduction in inventory—
especially of expensive, little-used items—has
helped, along with the addition to the lunch
menu of a "recession special" five-dollar lunch
item on weekdays. Still, with food costs up by
about 40 percent this calendar year, Middleton
says she's more worried than ever and not
optimistic about January, which is typically a
slow period.
Downtown retailers seem to be doing
somewhat better. Eric Vaughn of Toula's says
a big boost on Thanksgiving weekend was a
help. "Our business, actually, has been good,"
he says. Vaughn adds, "Our traffic is down,
but we're still doing well dollar-wise." At
Jackson Street Books, Tony Arnold says sales
are down, but not too severely; he "guesti-
mates" a 10-15 percent drop over norms for
this time of year. "Everything's slowed down
a little bit... but it's nowhere close to what
I see elsewhere" in the country, Arnold says.
"You hear a lot about places where people are
planning on shutting the doors—we're cer
tainly nowhere close to that."
Wayne Dean of George Dean's says the day
after Thanksgiving was "tremendous," term
ing it "one of the biggest
days we've had for a Friday
in years," though he is see
ing "some slow-downs."
Longtime downtown retailer
Rusty Heery says, "It's not been the best sea
son, but not disastrous." He says retailers are
generally cushioned by being able to prepare
for a lot of problems—presidential election
years, for example, which are typically down
periods simply because people are feeling
uncertain. "We were prepared for that," Heery
says, "but not for the rest of it."
"Basically, 'unpredictable' is kind of the key
word," says Georgia Theatre owner Wil Greene,
whose year has "seemed way more tumultu
ous" despite ending up "right on average."
(He adds, "October for me was great—one
of the very best months ever.") Downtown
Development Authority director Kathryn
Lookofsky concurs; she's seeing "weird" pat
terns when she looks across downtown, which
are hard to figure out. "Overall," she says, "I
think people are nervous and are starting to
feel the pinch."
Outside of downtown, the list pf large-scale
area job cuts this fall includes either cutbacks
or closures at Louisiana-Pacific in Jackson
County, Weyerhaeuser in Madison County,
Southwire in Watkinsville, the Athens Kia
dealership and local Circuit City outlets, along
with that chain's closing.
Ben Emanuel ben@flagpole.com
“It sounds like a lot
of people are hurting.”
6 FLAGPOLE.COM • DECEMBER 17, 2008