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Living in the wake of devastation
a message from Superintendent Dr. Curtis Jones  As you know, a tornado touched down in the northern Spalding County on Thursday, April 28, 2011, during the early hours. As I reflect on this event a day later, I come to realize that no other event in the two years that I've been superintendent more clearly shows the values and culture of the Griffin Spalding County School System. COLDR Competency
Open Communication
Loyalty
Defined Autonomy
Respect
Let me share why I believe Thursday's events helped demonstrate who we really are.
It begins with teamwork, which is the ability to come together toward a common vision and to direct individual accomplishments for organizational objectives. It allows people to attain uncommon results. And that's what you did.
The decision was made to close schools on Thursday because of downed power lines and our concern of families affected by the storm trying to get students to school. We believed that it was important for students and their families to stay off the roads, especially in the northwestern part of the county as emergency personnel conducted rescue operations, repaired downed power lines, and helped families.
At 1pm on Thursday, the district's expanded leadership team met to talk about what had happened and the lasting effects. Each principal and administrator identified individuals in our school system directly affected by the tornado. Then Dr. Martha Taylor, the principal of Moore Elementary, led us in prayer.
We then turned to the work of the day: determining what needs to happen now.
Deputy Superintendent Denise Burrell explained that because we have already exceeded the allowed number of emergency school closure days, instructional time would have to be recovered. HR Director Stephanie Dobbins detailed the impact on the employee work schedule. We also heard from Lamar Smith about the current road conditions and the efforts to clear them.
Assistant Superintendent Jim Smith shared with the group how the decision to close school was made. Thursday started very early at about 2:30am for Bruce Ballard, our director of facilities. (And I will tell you that it started early for Jim Smith as well.) Both Bruce and Jim began checking on different schools to see if there was any damage. Lamar Smith, our director of transportation, was then called in to look at road conditions. He worked in coordination with the Spalding County Emergency Operations Center and the Sherriff's Department. Around 3:30am, Bruce met with the Red Cross at Cowan Road Middle School to help establish an emergency shelter in the gymnasium.
We then returned to the main topic of our meeting,
"How do we make up this one student day?"
We broke into teams and discussed the issue. After pulling the whole group back together, the consensus was that we have two options for moving forward.
- The first option is to recognize 15 minutes that we currently have built into our school day not in the category of instruction time. What this means is: Instruction will start 15 minutes earlier at elementary, middle, and high school. The vast majority of our students are already in school. We feel that after explaining this to parents, those students coming in cars will be able to adjust their schedules. So, increasing instructional time by 15 minutes within our currently established school day is a very strong option. We currently believe this is the best option for making up one student day.
- If we determine that option 1 is not possible, then our second option is to have students return for instruction for a half day on Friday, May 27. Employees would then have afternoon post-planning. While this isn't the best option, we do believe it's better than asking individuals to return the following week when we know that plans have already been established.
A decision on this will be made at the Tuesday, May 3rd, board of education meeting. We will let you know when a decision has been made. This said, we are in discussion with the Georgia Department of Education for an instructional-time waiver due to emergency hardship. We'll know something from the GDOE around May 12.
But it was after the meeting that you continued to show what we value, who we are, and the culture of the Griffin Spalding County School System. I visited Cowan Road Middle School to see the emergency operations and shelter. As I arrived on campus, I ran into several Cowan Road Middle School teachers who were returning from northern Spalding County where they had delivered water. They told me the resident's requested more water, ice, and band-aids.
Human nature came out as well when they told me about the residents' concern about leaving their possessions alone because others could steal from them - it had already occurred earlier that day. As I walked and saw the operation, Red Cross personnel thanked our school system for allowing the middle school to be used as a shelter. They commented on the staff's openness and sharing to provide water. They talked about how the community brought food from different businesses. I saw Kiwanis Club president Jim Grubbs leaving the shelter - he was on a mission to find blankets because victims didn't have any.
Later, we started talking about opening school on Friday because life does go on. That decision was being made in collaboration with emergency operations. We looked at road conditions and where families were in the process of recovery.
But, as in every situation like this, there are always subplots. I'll share two personal ones.
There was also a tornado in Lamar County. A place called the Hot Spot was severely damaged. The Hot Spot is only about a mile from where my mother lives, and throughout the morning I had not heard from her. It was only about 30 minutes before the administrative meeting that I finally made contact with her. She was fine and had done the right kinds of things. But what I understood, as I was trying to determine what was going on with my mother, others who were going through the same personal concerns.
Around 3:30pm I received a phone call from my 7 year-old granddaughter. She talked to me and asked about her grandmother. I realized she was just calling to talk. At one point I asked her mother, "Is there something I'm missing? What is this about?" She told me that my granddaughter had heard on the news about the severe weather in Spalding County, and she wanted to make sure that we were alright.
As I finished my conversation with my granddaughter, I realized why she was calling. We talked about the tornado and the devastation in Sunnyside (and she knows that area). She relayed to me just how much she knows, and just how much she cares. This is a reminder for all of us to treat others as they would like to be treated. I saw that in our employees as they dealt with families asking for assistance.
At the end of the day, around 9pm, I was preparing to go home. I stopped by the emergency shelter just one last time to see how things were going. I was told that the last family had just departed. The Red Cross was there, along with Cynthia Tidwell, from our county's health department, waiting for others to come. As I looked around the gymnasium, I saw Laura Jordan, the Assistant Principal of Cowan Road Middle, with her two young ones. She was there to make sure everything was operating smoothly. Then Teresa Lubin, the assistant principal of Kennedy Road Middle, entered. She too wanted to check to make sure things were fine. And, as I eventually made my way out, a car approached. It was Rachelle Holloway, the principal of Cowan Road Middle, coming back at 9:30pm, to make sure everything was going fine.
This event showed our values and culture.
- Competence displayed by everyone.
- Open Communication not only between the school system and other agencies, but also within the school system.
- Loyalty to each school and our employees and community.
- Defined autonomy: Employees worked and prepared for the next day. Different decisions were being made, but all toward the common goal of helping our community return to a sense of normalcy as soon as possible.
- And finally, respect. We saw individuals being treated as they would like to be treated.
I've been asked why do I share these stories from throughout our school system? Why do I try to have something in the Communicator each week? If we don't tell each other who we are, and what we're doing, then you won't have an opportunity to find out just how good you are.
I have never been more proud to be your superintendent than at this time, because on Thursday you continued to Dare to do Better! |
