PHS court to be named after Coach Cowart

Board of Education, PHS Basketball
Coach Cowart with BOE

PICKENS, Ga, — The Pickens BOE had a packed agenda for their Nov. 11, 2021 meeting. After hearing several recognitions, the board then heard food service and construction updates, approved renaming a PHS court after Coach Cowart, and approved the new school calendar, among other items.

Coach Cowart Court

The Pickens County Board of Education unanimously approved the renaming of the PHS court to Coach Cowart Court. Superintendent Young told the board that the PHS court will soon be completely refinished, “As a part of this refinish, I believe it’s a perfect opportunity to recognize the accomplishments of an individual that has done so much for high school basketball in Pickens County.” Young also invited the community to come to the court for a renaming ceremony at a date to be determined. Young then briefly spoke about Coach Cowart’s accomplishments: “32 years as the head coach of the Dragonettes basketball team, spanning from 1969 to 2001; a record of 692 wins and 211 losses; 15 state play-off births; 9 region championships; 1 state championship in 1974; 9 time Region Coach of the Year.” The board gave their own appreciation to Coach Cowart. BOE Vice Chair Tommy Gartrell even noted that he attended PHS during Cowart’s time coaching and teaching.

Pickens County Schools Nutrition Services

School Nutrition Director Beth Thompson also spoke to the board during the meeting. She discussed the food service at Pickens County Schools, “I wanted to share and really update and inform our community and our students, our parents on the current situation that our food service operation is trying to manage and trying to work through at this time.” She first mentioned that the food service at the county’s schools are not immune to  global shortages which might last until 2022. However, Thompson says “the good news is that food services has been able to work with our vendors to find comparable products when there’s been outs and substitutes, and so far we’ve been able to follow our menus with limited substitutions.”She then spoke to the school system’s stakeholders, asking people to be understanding of the issue, which is international in scope, “Simply, we may not always be able to follow the published menus as planned … We might have to cut back on a number of choices, or a variety of items offered. We may even run out of a particular item on a given day at your school, but we will always, always have something to feed the children.”

The board also approved the Pickens County School District calendar for the 2022-2023 school year, approved a middle school field trip, and received an update on the new Ag. Facility.

School calendar, 4-H, and laying blame to 2020

Board of Education, News
Pickens County 4-H

School calendar

A vote on the 2021-2022 school calendar was put on hold to allow the public to give more input. The proposed school calendar and survey can be found at the  Pickens County Schools website.

“We got some community input on the calendar, but we can wait,” said Dr. Rick Townsend about the school calendar. The survey will remain up through noon on November 30.

The decision to wait came after some expressed concern over the lack of community input. Tucker Greene, chairman of the Board of Education, said they sought public opinion last year because of “drastic” changes.

This year, they considered having on-line learning days rather than adding inclement weather days to the calendar, but the recent storms that left many without power gave the team a chance to reconsider.

School calendar

The Pickens County BOE is hoping to hear from the community about the school calendar before it is adopted.

“We had concerns that if school was being cancelled due to weather, they may not have power, so we left inclement weather days in,” said Townsend.

Winter break is slated for February 21-22 with inclement weather make-up days being February 23-25.

Townsend also said that the staggered start days were very popular with parents and teachers and have been put into next year’s calendar.

Other key points on the proposed calendar are:

  • The proposed calendar provides 180 total days of instruction for students.
  • The first day of school will be August 2, 2021.
  • A 2-day staggered start for 2021-2022. Details will be provided in the spring.
  • The last day of school will be May 27, 2022.
  • Graduation will be May 27, 2022.
  •  Labor Day and Martin Luther King, Jr. Day holidays will remain.
  • One designated digital learning day each semester for students (one on Friday, September 3 (Jeep Fest), and the second one on Monday, March 14 (Mid-Semester).

Blame it on 2020

Stacy Gilleland, chief operations officer, said several minor issues befell his department, including a vehicle wreck and a fire.

No one was injured, he said, but the vehicle was rear-ended and totaled.

“Someone hit him and pushed him into the next car, and the next car, and the next car,” said Gilleland. The driver went to the hospital as a precaution.

“The truck is a total loss, but everyone is okay,” he said.

Gilleland went on to add that there was a small fire in one of their wood shops, located at the old Jasper Middle School site. Damage was mostly cosmetic, although a few hand tools were destroyed and the electrical will need to be repaired from where the fire fighters extinguished the flames.

He said rags used to stain wood on Friday combusted and started the fire.

“It’s not a big expense, but it is some,” said Gilleland. “It’s 2020, right?”

BUDGET HEARINGS IN PICKENS COUNTY

4-H recognition

Pickens County 4-H club showed their appreciation to the school board by presenting flowers, arranged by their floral arranging team, to the members. They also  presented a video

“The county has been without an extension agent for a long time, so they are relying on volunteers,” Destini Shope, communications liaison, told the board.

“We believe in this program and what it can do for kids,” said Traci Buckingham, one of the volunteers. She and Melvina Carlan have kept the 4-H program going in the absence of an extension agent.

 

 

 

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