Newspaper Page Text
THURSO AY
July 10, 2003
Volume 134, number 120
Board names interim superintendent
Veteran local educator, former coach takes charge immediately; Holloway to be adviser
By Luci Joullian
HHJ Staff Writer
PERRY - Danny Carpenter was
handed the reins of temporary superin
tendent by the Houston County Board
of Education Tuesday afternoon.
Carpenter, who currently serves in
the county’s central board office as
executive director of secondary opera
tions, will be paid a salary of $106,000.
“I’m a long-time resident of Houston
County and have worked here for over
30 years,” said Carpenter, a former
Northside High School coach. “My mis-
Who capes for
the caregiver?
Foster parents making gains
in public awareness, still in
need of community support
Coming into Care: Part 7
By Charlotte Perkins
HHJ Lifestyle Editor
When Houston County’s
Sonny Perdue was sworn in as
governor of Georgia, children in
state custody gained a champi
on and foster parents gained an
important friend.
The first lady, Mary Perdue,
who served as a foster mother
to eight infants through
Covenant Care before her hus
band became governor, is now
working to raise public aware
ness of the needs of children
who have been separated from
their birth families, and the role
that foster parents play.
An increased respect for fos
ter parents and their under
standing of the children in their
care also has led to a new law.
Gov. Perdue, who made the care
of children in state custody a
major plank in his campaign,
signed legislation in May that
will give foster parents a voice
when decisions are made about
the placement of children they
have cared for.
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sion is to bring every
one together so we
can have a good
working relation
ship.”
Current
Superintendent Dr.
Charles Holloway,
who recently asked to
be relieved from his
one-year contract,
was scheduled to
serve in the position until the end of
this month. But after suggestion from
The first lady points out that
the legislation will give foster
parents “the opportunity to pro
vide current, critical informa
tion about the needs and best
interests of the foster children
in their care.”
“Georgia’s children in state
custody hold a special place in
my heart,” the first lady says.
“Taking care of thes&xhikteen
requires a community effort
including foster families,
churches, civic groups, and
schools. As First Lady, 1 am urg
ing everyone to get involved.
Due to the increased number of
children in state custody,
Georgia needs more families to
volunteer, and I can say first
hand that this is a very reward
ing role.”
She points out that here are
other ways to help as well such
as “providing respite care for
foster parents so that they can
have some time off, having your
church or civic group sponsor a
child, or just getting to know a
foster child in your communi
ty.”
Foster care is love on a shoe
string, a crucial service being
offered on a volunteer basis.
There’s no pay and the reim
bursement is minimal, but
Houston County’s foster par
ents keep right on looking after
children who need them - and
they need the support and
appreciation of the community.
Civic clubs can learn about
the problems of child neglect
and abuse, and the role foster
parents play in the lives of chil
dren in crisis. The Houston
County Department of Family
and Children Services can pro
vide speakers to explain the
problems faced by the children
and the challenges foster par
ents face. Those who know fos
ter parents in the community
can also ask them to talk about
Foster care is love on a shoestring, a crucial
service being offered on a volunteer basis.
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Houston County's legal organ since 1870
several board members, the board
voted that Carpenter’s tenure should
be effective immediately and that
Holloway would act as an advisor until
he leaves on July 31.
As they did at their Monday work
session, the board members also dis
cussed hiring a search firm to carry out
the process of finding a permanent
superintendent to replace Holloway.
An outsourced search would relieve the
board of much of the preliminary inter
viewing and paperwork that is involved
in finding a superintendent. Indeed,
CARPENTER
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AJC Ben Gray
Georgia’s First Lady and former foster parent Mary Perdue loves babies, and it shows in this
photo of her playing with the 6-month-old foster child of Rachel Ewald of Roswell. The picture
was taken at the signing of new foster care legislation which gives a greater voice to foster par
ents. At left is Rachel Ewald, a foster parent and advocate for foster care. Photo courtesy of the
Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Ben Gray, staff.
their experiences.
Deborah Strange, director of
Houston County DFCS, has
some suggestions for ways to
help children make the difficult
transition that follows being
taken into protective custody.
For individuals or organiza
tions wanting to help, she offers
this “wish list” of items to be
given to children in foster care.
• Medium to large size duffel
bags, small pieces of soft lug
gage that collapse, backpacks,
etc., for children coming into
care with nothing to put their
belongings in. Suitcases are too
bulky and would present a stor
age problem. It’s important to
Strange and others involved in
caring for children in crisis that
the children not have to carry
their possessions in garbage
bags.
• Personal care items for male
and female teen-agers -
hairdryers, electric shavers,
curling irons, hair care prod
ucts, lotions, deodorant, etc.
“Children in foster care and
their families regularly use our
visitation rooms,” Strange says,
“but we also use these rooms
when children come into care
and we are seeking a foster
placement for them. Children
waiting for us to find a place
ment may be infants to teens.
See FOSTER, page 5A
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HHJ Charlotte Perkin*
Angie Rhoton, foster parent caseworker for the Houston
County Department of Family and Children Services, selects
some clothing from the small closet where donated supplies for
the children are kept. New clothing is especially appreciated by
foster children who often have very little when they come into
care.
Vltanier Robins West
wins district title
Warner Robins’ American
West All-Stars defeated the
East All-Stars 7-2 Tuesday
evening at Bloomfield Park, to
win the District V Major cham
pionship. Tuesday’s victory will
carry them on to the state tour
nament.
Story and photos, page 1B
none of the current board members,
except for Skip Dawkins and Fred
Wilson, has ever participated in a
superintendent search. The board
decided Tuesday to solicit materials
from several search firms and then talk
about the information at its next meet
ing.
Board members also took the meet
ing as a chance to sound off on the
departure of Holloway, who has served
as superintendent since 1998.
“We will survive. We will go for
ward,” said board member Jim
Inside
COMICS 4B
CLASSIFIED 5B
CROSSWORD 4B
ENTERTAINMENT . . .7A
LEGALS 1C
LIFESTYLE 6A
OBITUARIES 3A
OPINION 4A
TV LISTINGS 4B
THREE SECTIONS • 22 PAGES
Boswell. “There has always been a dis
tinct lack of communication between
the board and the superintendent.”
Tom Walmer, a board member who
has several times come out in support
of Holloway, said, “We had a good sys
tem when Dr. Holloway arrived and
now we have a better one because of
his leadership. It’s time for us to move
forward, though.”
Several possible candidates, includ
ing high-ranking central office
See SCHOOL BOARD, page 2A
employees, may have been consid-
Residents
resist
rezoning
Chamber favors
Sunday alcohol
sales, council
remains mum
By Jon Suggs
HHJ Staff Writer
PERRY - Two rezoning hear
ings were held during Tuesday
night’s city council meeting,
but neither garnered as much
input as a rezoning request up
for approval later on the agen
da, one for which two hearings
had previously been held.
The request in question - by
Scott Free to rezone approxi
mately 36 acres from residen
tial to planned unit housing -
has drawn fire from residents
who live in the Wespark and
North Hamptons subdivisions,
which border the plot under
consideration.
Free proposes to divide the
land into 87 lots, 44 of which he
intends as a gated retirement
community.
When the request came up on
the agenda, Councilman Billy
Jerles and Mayor Pro Tern Joe
Kusar had a few questions.
At the last hearing, a ques
tion of traffic impact - the pro
posal includes only one opening
to Ga. 127 - had been brought
up. The councilmen wanted to
know if the plan had been
altered to include any new
openings.
Free said the plan was
unchanged in that regard, but
he cited several rental commu
nities of similar design along
highways with similar traffic
levels, arguing there will not be
a major impact.
Kusar then addressed anoth
er issue, one closer to the hearts
of many gathered at city hall
this night.
“My concern is not so much
the traffic, as the homeowners
who were told future develop
ment would be R-l,” Kusar
said.
His comment was answered
by cries from the crowd -
“Right.” “Amen.” “Yes.”
Free countered by saying the
new developments will be in the
same price range as existing
See PERRY, page 5A
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