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 What encourages me
a message from Superintendent Dr. Curtis Jones
Earlier this week Governor Nathan Deal delivered his second state of the state address to Georgians. I'm encouraged by his words because at the very heart of his address was education.
Gov. Deal has linked students' graduation from high school to going to post-secondary and joining the work force to what his administration is going to support this year. Of course the devil is in the details and we'll see how the funding for public education moves forward this year but at this point it appears things are starting to brighten up for us.
I'm encouraged by other signs as well.
- The governor has said he would like to restore 10 days of the pre-kindergarten program.
- When we look at the nation's unemployment situation it appears that now we've had almost 22 months of increased job creation.
- The state's revenues are consistently up comparing this time of year to last year when looking at month-to-month comparisons.
I think its best to say things are usually darkest right before the dawn, and I think this coming year we'll see that we're starting to come out of it. But, we have to get to that point. So, I continue to ask for your support as we move through this time of hard decision making.
Again, if you have ideas about what we're doing or if you have ideas on how we can improve, please share them with me. The only bad idea is the one that is not shared.
On a different note, I'd like to congratulate Mr. Chris Ware, a Spalding High School senior, not only for being elected governor at Boys State, but also for his recent trip to the capitol where he met his counterpart Georgia Governor Nathan Deal. Chris shared part of this experience and his thoughts with us at this week's board of education meeting, and we should all be proud of what Chris has accomplished. It is an indication of what we all can achieve when we work with parents and the community. Good job, Chris!
Have a great weekend, everybody! | |
Curtis |
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 GSCS garners top school system award in Georgia
(First released on Thursday, January 12, 2012.)
Griffin-Employees of the Griffin-Spalding County School System learned today that their school district had earned the Georgia Title I Distinguished School District Award for systems with 10,000 + students.
Along with being the only school system of its size to win will come $50,000 from federal funds.
Superintendent Dr. Curtis Jones said, "Great job, everyone! This award is for doing the best job across the state of closing the achievement gap between subgroups of students (white, black, students with disabilities, and economically disadvantaged) in school systems our size and larger.
"It shows the commitment of all stakeholders - students, parents, staff, board of education, and community members - to be a leader in the state in student achievement. It shows how hard we have worked. As board of education member, Zach Holmes said in June at a SACS Standards committee meeting, 'We are better than we think we are.'"
The results of the reading, English language arts, and math Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests (CRCT) and the Georgia High School Graduation Tests (GHSGT) are used to determine achievement.
The other winners in smaller size school districts were: Medium: Carrollton City; Small: Ben Hill County; and very small: Chickamauga City.
Griffin-Spalding joins the ranks of past winners in the largest system category: Hall County, Henry County, and Clarke County.
State School Superintendent Dr. John Barge said, "These schools are showing that high expectations, coupled with effective educators in the building, produce outstanding student achievement. I'm very pleased to recognize the educators, students and parents in these schools and school districts."
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Click here to read the Georgia Department of Education's news release. |
| Board Briefs
At its regular meetings on January 10, and its called meeting on January 12, the board of education. . . .
- Elected James Westbury chair, and James "Pete" Graham vice-chair. Superintendent Dr. Curtis Jones is automatically board secretary per Board Policy BBA - Board Officers.
- Approved the 2012 Board of Education meeting dates.
- Named Laura Youmans School Nutrition Director effective July 2012. Laura has held a number of positions for the school system: teacher, principal, director of CTAE (career, technical, agricultural education), and Director of the Opportunity Academy. She has been High School Curriculum Director for 10 years. The Teaching and Learning Department will immediately begin its reorganization to meet the SACS-CASI "required action" which the system was challenged to meet when the district was awarded re-accreditation in November 2011. See story below.
Heard presentations on:
Received points of information on:
- Schedule, Evaluations, and Contracts. Click here to see the complete timeline.
- April 4, 2012 - Assistant Principal contracts issued.
- May 2, 2012 - Teacher contracts issued.
- The Employee Benefit Package. GSCS convened an insurance committee representing classified, certified and administrators to consider benefits options offered to employees. The result will be an offering of equal or better benefits options with an overall reduction in employee paid premiums for FY13.
- The Voluntary Retirement Incentive. Six administrators took advantage of the Voluntary Retirement Incentive agreement offered by the Board which results in a savings of $727,693.93 for the 2012-2013 school year. The cost of the incentive, $107,013.43, will be paid from the FY12 budget. Additional savings have been realized by not filling these currently vacant central office positions: Middle Grades Curriculum Director, Director of Teacher Quality, and Assistant Director of Finance, and these currently vacant school positions: AZKA Principal and GHS Assistant Principal. Click here to read more and see the story below.
- An update on the FY13 Cost Reduction Schedule.
- Race to the Top (RT3)
- Construction and Renovation
- Facilities and Maintenance
- Possible construction adjacent to the Cowan Road Middle School property.
- December 2011 Most Valuable Parents
In other business the board recognized. . .
- The Griffin-Spalding County School System system-level Literacy Days winners.
- Alpha Kappa Alpha, Xi Beta Omega Chapter for donating $3,000 to Atkinson Elementary School. The money is designated to assist the families of Atkinson Elementary students during times of family emergencies.
- Spalding High School Senior Chris Ware for being elected Governor at Georgia Boys State.
- Griffin High School Culinary Arts students for competing and winning awards and recognitions at the Family, Career and Community Leaders of America, Inc. National Cluster Meeting, in Atlanta, Georgia.
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Reorganization of Teaching and Learning
By Denise Burrell, Deputy Superintendent
At the board of education's called meeting on Thursday, January 12, the board approved the transfer of Laura Youmans from High School Curriculum Director to Director of Nutrition beginning July 1. Mary Ramsaier, the current Nutrition Director, is retiring at the end of June. The vacancy created in the Division of Teaching and Learning gives us the opportunity to begin addressing one of the required actions from the SACS-CASI re-accreditation visit in November
We must address the SACS "required action" to align and connect curriculum and assessment systems from pre-K through high school. This must begin with the redefining of positions. The position of Director of System/School Improvement will replace the current High School Curriculum Director position, a job that will no longer exist when Laura leaves at the end of June.
The position of Director of System/School Improvement is open to Griffin-Spalding applicants with three years of successful administrative experience. Principal experience is preferred. The position will support the continual improvement of student achievement, professional learning, teacher support and district accreditation. An internal announcement was released to administrators this morning.
Ashley Crawford will transition from her current K-5 Curriculum Director position to Director of Pre-K-12 Curriculum and Instruction. Shelia Mincey will retain her special education duties as well as becoming Director of K-12 Assessment and Data.
I look forward to job applications from Griffin-Spalding administrators who have had successful experiences in their schools and desire to lead in a pre-k through high school position.
The application deadline is January 19, after which our normal process for selection of personnel will begin: group interviews, ranking of applicants following the interviews and a recommendation from the superintendent to the board of education. | |
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Revised benefits package to offer better premiums
A message from Stephanie Dobbins, Director of Human Resources
The school system will offer equal or better benefits options to employees (who work 20 or more hours per week) with an overall reduction in employee paid premiums for FY13. This is the result of our insurance committee (with classified, certified and administrative school system representatives) which considered benefits options offered to employees. (Health insurance is not part of the package, because it is provided a state benefit and follows a different schedule for enrollment.)
Last summer the insurance committee recommended to the superintendent that we select an insurance broker in hopes of offering improved customer service and increased education to employees regarding their benefit options. We selected Alexander and Company which serves over 70 Georgia school systems.
In September, we held a benefits design class to review the components that make up our current benefits and give input on changes and additions that were needed. Alexander and Company used this information to generate a Request for Proposals (RFP).
Last month, the committee reviewed the RFP responses and voted on the plans to offer to employees. All companies selected are "A" rated companies.
Click here to see the chart.
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GSCS named Griffin-Spalding Chamber of Commerce Good Corporate Citizen of the Year
On the same day it received a top state award, the Griffin-Spalding County School System received the Griffin-Spalding Chamber of Commerce Good Corporate Citizen of the Year award.
Evaluated on a number of factors including community involvement, charity, and leadership, the school system received the award at the Chamber's Annual Dinner.
"We are honored that our community and Chamber of Commerce have awarded the school system with this honor," said Dr. Curtis Jones, Superintendent of the Griffin-Spalding County School System.
"It took the participation from every employee of the school system to make this a reality. Our employees gave and participated in United Way, Relay for Life, the Education Foundation/Partners in Education, and more. This is no small feat. I'm proud of our employees!"
All Chamber of Commerce 2012 recipients are:
- Lon Touchstone Small Business of the Year: Liberty Technology
- Ambassador of the Year: L.V. Skipper
- Citizen of the Year: Carol Jones
- Organization of the Year: A Higher Calling, Inc.
- Good Corporate Citizen: Griffin/Spalding County School System
- Member of the Year: Jim King
- 2012 General Griffin: Dave Lamb
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Board of Education member Barbara Jo Cook and GSCS Director of School & Community Services Director Anna Burns received the award for the school system.
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Personnel action by board of education realizes over $700,000 in cost reductions for 2012-13 school year
With the Griffin-Spalding County School System still forced into cutting over $3 million for the 2012-13 school year, the board of education took steps to bring us closer to the goal on Tuesday night at its board meeting. After first approving a retirement incentive offering to administrators before Christmas, the board of education approved Superintendent Dr. Curtis Jones' recommendations on the retirement of six administrators who took advantage of the incentive. The Voluntary Retirement Incentive agreement offered by the Board will result in a savings of $727,693.93 for the next school year. The cost of the incentive, $107,013.43, will be paid from the FY12 budget. Six individuals chose to accept the offer of a one-time payment of twenty percent of their base salaries, choosing to retire at the end of this school year. They are Marsha Clark, Assistant Principal, Orrs Elementary; Jeff Hyland, Assistant Principal, Spalding High School; Ray Nash, Assistant Principal, Rehoboth Road Middle; Richard Spear, Assistant Principal, Cowan Road Middle; Martha Taylor, Principal, Moore Elementary School; and Mary Ramsaier, Director of School Nutrition, Central Office. In addition to reducing the budget by these six administrative positions, savings have already been realized this year and next with these administrative positions not being filled: Three Central Office positions of Middle Grades Curriculum Director; Director of Teacher Quality; and Assistant Director of Finance; along with Principal, A. Z. Kelsey Academy; and Assistant Principal, Griffin High School. Stephanie Dobbins, Human Resources Director, said, "Positions that must be filled will be filled by transfer of existing administrators wherever possible. The retirements of these six administrators along with the five positions not filled this year result in a net reduction of 11 administrative positions for the 2012-13 school year." She said the next step in making personnel decisions include the re-organization and re-allocation of some positions. Additional personnel decisions depend upon the recommendations that will be forthcoming from the cost-containment committees which have been working since mid-November. The timeline for the cost containment committees' work that remains: - January 20 - Recommendations from committees due to Jim Smith, Assistant Superintendent
- January 26 - Committee chairs present recommendations to Superintendent and Cabinet
- February 1 - Administrative meeting held to discuss recommendations with principals and other administrators
- February 7 - Presentation made to Board of Education
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Laura Youmans named Director of Nutrition for 2012-13
At a called meeting of the board of education prior to a tribunal hearing on Thursday night, the board of education approved the transfer of Laura Youmans, High School Curriculum Director, to the position of Director of Nutrition for the 2012-13 school year, effective July 1, 2012. Mary Ramsaier, the current Director of Nutrition, elected to retire at the end of this year.
Laura Youmans has held a number of positions for the Griffin-Spalding County School System: teacher, principal, director of CTAE (career, technical, agricultural education), and Director of the Opportunity Academy. She has been High School Curriculum Director for 10 years.
She said, "I am excited about this new opportunity. The 10 years I have worked in curriculum have been some of the most rewarding of my career. I am looking forward to this new challenge."
Reorganization of Teaching and Learning Department
The transfer of Youmans results in another vacancy in the Teaching and Learning Department.
Denise Burrell, Deputy Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction, said the department will immediately begin its reorganization to meet the SACS-CASI "required action" which the system was challenged to meet when the district was awarded re-accreditation in November 2011.
This requirement to align and connect curriculum and assessment systems from pre-K through high school will begin with the redefining of positions. A Director of System/School Improvement will replace the current high school curriculum director and will be for internal applicants only.
Ms. Burrell said, "This position is open to Griffin-Spalding principals and assistant principals. It is to support the continual improvement of student achievement. The position is also responsible for professional learning, since the loss of federal dollars cost us the position of Director of Teacher Quality.
"I look forward to job applications from Griffin-Spalding administrators who have had successful experiences in their schools and desire to lead in a pre-k through high school position.
"The application deadline is January 19, after which our normal process for selection of personnel will begin: group interviews, ranking of applicants following the interviews and a recommendation from the superintendent to the board of education." | |
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 Georgia's Ranks 7th in the Nation in New Education Report
January 12, 2012 - Georgia ranks 7th in the nation for overall education quality, according to an Education Week report released today. The annual "Quality Counts" report is an investigation of key education outcomes that provides ranks and grades for each state based on their commitment to improve educational policies and practices. This year's report gave Georgia a grade of B-. Last year, Georgia ranked 8th among all states.
"We are very pleased with the overall marks that Education Week gave Georgia for its commitment to education," said State School Superintendent Dr. John Barge. "While there is still plenty of work to do to improve education in Georgia, it's good to see others recognizing some of the improvements that are happening in our state through the extraordinary work of our students, teachers, and leaders."
The rest of the story...
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 A note about testing
a message from Ashley McLemore, Director of Federal Programs
Test Administration
In support of student success, the Griffin-Spalding County School System shall implement the assessment program specified by the State Board of Education and the superintendent, including both norm-referenced and criterion-referenced tests. The tests shall be administered in accordance with the requirements of the governing agency for the assessment and with a high level of security to ensure an appropriate testing environment, the integrity of the assessment and the accuracy of the data produced by the assessment. The test administration shall be conducted in such a way that prevents, mitigates and reports any irregularities arising at any time before, during or after testing.
Consequences
Employees shall comply with all Griffin-Spalding County School policies and procedures, State Board of Education rules, and Georgia Professional Standards Commission rules with regard to testing ethics. Employees who violate these provisions shall be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including termination.
Test & Assessment Procedures
The Griffin-Spalding County School System adheres to all written regulations and procedures relating to testing and test administration, including the distribution and collection of test materials, test security, use of test results and official testing dates established in the Student Assessment Handbook, test administration manuals including the System Coordinator's Manual, School Test Coordinator's Manual, and Examiner's Manual, and assessment supplements and correspondence.
Training, Monitoring & Reporting
Prior to the main administration of state-mandated assessments, the system will provide training for school testing coordinators who will then train school level staff. Copies of agendas and attendance logs will be kept for all trainings. Training will be based on Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE) guidance provided by the Georgia Student Assessment Program System and school level administration will monitor assessment administration. Any irregularities will be reported to the system test coordinator for review in accordance with DOE guidelines.
Security
The school system shall follow written procedures relating to testing, test administration (distribution and collection of test materials), test security, use of test results, testing dates, assessment supplements and correspondence from the Georgia Student Assessment Handbook and other guidance from the GaDOE.
Each school will annually provide a written plan for test administration and security procedures. This plan should be submitted to the Division of Teaching and Learning for approval.
Georgia Professional Standards Commission Consequences for Educators
(Excerpt from Georgia Professional Standards Commission Code of Ethics for Educators)
An educator shall administer state-mandated assessments fairly and ethically. Unethical conduct includes but is not limited to:
- committing any act that breaches Test Security; and
- compromising the integrity of the assessment.
The Professional Standards Commission is authorized to suspend, revoke, or deny certificates, to issue a reprimand or warning, or to monitor the educator's conduct and performance after an investigation is held and notice and opportunity for a hearing are provided to the certificate holder.
Additional Information
-Georgia Department of Education
-Georgia Professional Standards Commission
-Griffin-Spalding County School System Test Coordinator
Denise Burrell, 770-229-3700
denise.burrell@gscs.org
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Employees of the Month
Middle Schools
Carver Road Middle Our Custodial Team-Richard Whitfield Tabatha Taylor James Leaks Glen Beavers They are passionate about the building's appearance and take pride in their work. They work tirelessly to ensure that our building continues to look like new.
Cowan Road Middle
Jenny Gwinn
for serving as an outstanding media specialist. Ms. Qwinn possesses up-to-date knowledge and skills on a wide range of educational topics to include teaching, learning, and information literacy.
Kennedy Road Middle
Aubrey Ybarra
a phenomenal paraprofessional who extends herself far beyond the expectations that Kennedy Road could have for any of its staff members. She always seems to know exactly when and where extra help will be needed and is there eager to help. Ms. Ybarra is a true asset.
Rehoboth Road Middle
Claudia Harris
Secretary for 37 years
for her dedication to the children and school system of Griffin. She will never be replaced in our hearts.... We love her dearly. Congratulations on your retirement!
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Employee of the Month nominations come from each school's principal. |
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