The Pickens County Board of Education held its monthly meeting Thursday night and recognized persons integral to the success of the school system in several areas, from students to teachers. Outlines of individual school improvement plans, part of the system’s long-term strategy, were presented as well as a narrative by a concerned parent who would like to see communication avenues changed between the schools and the parents.

Superintendent Dr. Lula Perry’s first order of business was to present the Superintendent’s Award, an award presented to a student of Perry’s choosing for one who stands out in the district. This prize was given to Harmony Elementary’s Leslie Barnett, a pre-k student whose achievements were reported by Assistant Principal Beth Simonds. Barnett has been involved in the early learning program for two years. Simonds said,

“Leslie is resilient. She has a desire to live life to the fullest for every minute of every day.”

She was described as a good friend to all, bright, optimistic, enthusiastic, a wonderful sense of humor and is quick to help others. She often enjoys the role of sitting in the teacher’s chair and leading her group.

“This is my first Superintendent’s Award in Pickens County and it’s such an honor to give it to Leslie,”

Perry said. She was greeted by the board and Perry, received a special medallion, certificate and cupcakes.

The next award segment was recognizing students who received perfect scores on the spring CRCT (Criteria Referenced Competency Test) in reading and math. Attendance Officer Shelley Cantrell presented the awards to the reading students first which included Sydney Arnold, Cameron Fowler, Colby James, Joshua King and Carter Lindsey. The math students followed and included Lauren Childers and Zoe Kirk.

District-wide, students were recently encouraged to participate in a poster contest which was themed “At My Stop, You Stop.” Those students’ artwork was poured over and winners in four divisions were chosen. Those divisions were Division 1 – kindergarten through second grade; Division 2 – third through fifth grades; Division 3 – sixth through eighth grades and Division 4 – exceptional students.

The announcement of winners was given by Transportation Director Bruce Godfrey who further explained the reason for the theme was the problem at stops of drivers disregarding stop arms. The district is combatting the problem by installing stop arm cameras to catch violators. Prizes included certificates, cupcakes and for the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place overall winners, monetary awards.

Division 1 winners were 1st place Eric Le of Harmony Elementary, 2nd Megan Stobaugh of Tate Elementary and 3rd Samantha Lyman, Tate Elementary. Division 2 consisted of 1st place Anthony Jones of Harmony Elementary, 2nd Lauren Morgan of Tate Elementary and 3rd Bryson Smith also from Tate. Division 3 included Luis Solorio from Pickens County Middle in 1st, 2nd Madison Whitley of Jasper Middle, 3rd Colby Edmonson from Pickens County Middle. Overall winners in Division 4 were 1st place Faith Patterson, Pickens County Middle; Aaron Sutton came in second, Pickens County Middle, and finally rounding out the top winners was Riley Lathery also of Pickens County Middle in third place.

Not to be forgotten were those teachers who inspire and encourage students to excel to their potential. In that vein, the teachers of the year from each respective school in the county were honored. From that group, an overall teacher of the year will be chosen at a banquet November 4. The program is sponsored by the Georgia Department of Education.

Those teachers who were chosen as outstanding from their schools were: Jesse Scott, Jasper Middle School; Rosemary Nelson, Pickens County Middle School; Todd Geren, Pickens High School; Robyn Pitkins, Jasper Elementary School; Kristine Elrod, Harmony Elementary School; Deana Edwards, Hill City Elementary School; and Mallory Childers, Tate Elementary School.

In the area of long-term district wide improvement, Principal Lynda Wallace of Harmony Elementary and Principal Joeta Youngblood of Hill City Elementary presented their schools test data and school plans. Those plans, along with the Vision for Public Education, a program explained by Dr. Sandy Greene, are all part of the District Strategic Plan. For more information on the comprehensive improvement measures, please see:

Strategic Plan

Nancy Burdge asked for an opportunity to speak to the board about her concerns. She started a Facebook page called Pickens County Schools Forum and Information Group that currently has 356 members. She was allotted a space on the agenda and the policy-driven guidelines of five minutes time were explained to her by Madam Chair Wendy Lowe. Burdge expressed displeasure with the time limits and requested extra time should she require it but Lowe was firm as procedures are explicit.

The mother of two Pickens County students began by stating there are problems with the schools and parents and lack of communication.

“We all have a common goal for doing the best for our children in the school system and if we partner on current and future policies, we all win,”

she said. She went on to state that the class listing in the local paper is inappropriate, citing the Family Educational Rights and Privacy (Act 20 U.S.C. § 1232g; 34 CFR Part 99), she continued that the parent or guardian must consent to the child’s information being published. Burdge stated that children are put in danger by having their names and classes published.

“There are numerous complaints and it is my understanding they seem to be either glossed over or dismissed,”

she said. The form provided by schools fails to delineate which forms of public dissemination are included. As is, the form is an all-or-nothing approach. She suggested changing the form to give permission for yearbooks, awards and media rather than a simple yes or no.

She also had problems with the school’s “Schools in, don’t be out” policy and the communication between the schools and the parents during absences. She suggested that a policy be instituted whereas if a child is to be absent, parents have the responsibility to contact the school. If the parent fails to make that contact, the school should contact the parent by 10 a.m. to find out where the child is. Currently, she stated, a robo-call goes out that evening and

“if, by chance, something has happened to that child prior to school starting precious time is lost.”

Moving to the next subject, Burdge was critical of the school’s handing of the recent alleged sexual assault at Pickens County Middle School. Five days from the date of the incident to notification was unacceptable in her view. The sporadic robo-calls were not made to all parents and did not specify which school so parents were unsure if their children’s schools were the site or not. The distribution of the letter sent home with children was mishandled and not sensitive to the situation or stating measures the district was taking to ensure safety.

“Lack of information, the lack of direct communication with parents and conflicting news reports increased the anxiety level of students and parents,”

she reported. Burdge stated the victim has an IEP (Individualized Education Plan) but was unsupervised, raising questions of how IEP’s are evaluated, executed and how they may be improved.

She gave a critical review of the public participation policy and how it plays a role in the “negative perception” the public has of the board. Suggestion was made of an interactive session rather than the current procedure.

“Some of the videos I’ve seen it seems that some of you guys are shuffling papers or simply watching the clock. It comes across as extremely disrespectful and that the board seems to have no interest in the opinions being offered.”

She once again encouraged the board to allow parents to actively participate in working towards goals.

At the five minute mark, Burdge wasn’t interrupted but allowed to continue for close to two additional minutes before law enforcement asked her to end her presentation. Burdge was adamant in her protestations but did step away from the podium and end her part of the meeting. Lowe took the opportunity to invite parents to call the board members to discuss their concerns. Burdge responded by stating that’s not the best method, that interactive sessions are better for the community.

At the conclusion of the board meeting, during board comments, the situation was addressed. Although Burdge had already left the meeting, Lowe stated it is frustrating when people don’t go through the chain of command to address complaints prior to board meetings.

“We don’t receive telephone calls, they don’t go to the principals they should go to. They should go to their teachers, they should go to their principals, they should get involved…there’s so many ways that people can be involved.”

She stated it’s difficult to be in the board’s position when this occurs because by policy they’re not allowed to respond.

“I’ve read a lot of stuff on Facebook that is criticism that has never been spoken to me. I don’t think people want to see things change I think they just want to complain. It’s really frustrating. I encourage people to give us a call,”

she stated. Byron Long said he’s been cognizant of the lack of communication from the public too.

Perry then took up the helm and referenced the GSBA (Georgia School Board’s Association) advisement that school boards listen to comments and take it into consideration before making rash reactions in the heat of the moment.

“Many times what the public brings, you haven’t had a chance to research it, you’re not sure about what they’re going to say and you need time to research it and to take time to take it into consideration,”

Perry offered.

For information on all other school business including the award of a new gas contract to True Gas and the date of the next board work session, please watch the meeting in its entirety: