Category Archives: Activism

What will happen to programs and SPLOST? —Sam Allen @ LCBOE 4 October 2011

Sam Allen offered his head as a crystal ball. Dr. Smith replied it wasn’t clear enough. Everybody laughed at that as this video started, in which Allen, president of Friends of Valdosta City Schools (FVCS), and former superintendent of Valdosta City Schools, asked several questions, most of which Dr. Smith would have had to have had a crystal ball to answer. The questions included what will happen to certain programs, and what will happen to Valdosta School SPLOST funds.

Lowndes County School System Attorney Warren Turner did clarify a bit of what would happen if consolidation passes:

If consolidation occurs, there is no such thing as the Valdosta City School System, from the date the Georgia Secretary of State approves it.

Once they certify the election, there is no central office of the Valdosta City School System. There is a property located on William Street that is part of the Lowndes County School System….

The real question is where would the funds desginated for those facilities go, and can you even spend it? Tax Commissioner doesn’t know; Attorney General doesn’t know; and we don’t know.

Sam Allen joked:
CUEE, they probably know.
Everybody thought that was pretty funny.

Here’s the video:


What will happen to programs and SPLOST? —Sam Allen @ LCBOE 4 October 2011
Why we oppose consolidation,
Community Forum, Lowndes County Board of Education (LCBOE),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 4 October 2011.
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.

-jsq

Is consolidation inevitable? —David Mullis @ LCBOE 4 Oct 2011

David Mullis, author of the most basic and comprehensive resource on school consolidation, the Grassroots Handbook Against School Consolidation, noted that the Chamber and CUEE had tried to paint Valdosta School Supt. Dr. Cason and Lowndes School Supt. Dr. Smith as saying school consolidation was inevitable.

Dr. Smith replied:

I use the word “may”. It may occur. I’m not like CUEE; I don’t have a crystal ball to predict the future.
David Mullis asked for further clarification based on the data we have today.

Supt. Smith’s answer:

Now is the worst possible time to even consider consolidation or any other education innovation that’s going to cost more money that has possibly little or no return.

Here’s the video: Continue reading →

What effect will this have on teachers’ jobs and salary? @ LCBOE 4 Oct 2011

Someone (didn’t get her name; sorry) wanted to know how CUEE could say, on their glossy flyer they mailed out, that no teachers would lose their jobs. Supt. Smith responded that there would be winners and losers, and unfortunately more winners than losers. Yes, teachers have contracts. However, due to the economy, Lowndes County Schools already have a Reduction in Force (RIF) policy, through which they have offered retirement and about 80 teachers have already taken advantage of it.

Here’s the video:


What effect will this have on teachers’ jobs and salary? @ LCBOE 4 Oct 2011
Why we oppose consolidation,
Community Forum, Lowndes County Board of Education (LCBOE),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 4 October 2011.
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.

-jsq

Has CUEE compared parental involvement between school systems? —a parent @ LCBOE 4 October 2011

A parent (didn’t get her name; sorry) who said her children were in Lowndes County schools and she had gone to Valdosta City schools wanted to know if CUEE had collected any data to compare parental involvement between the two school systems.
Parental involvement is not as high as it should be… and the first step will be to start in everyone’s home….
[applause]
(Oh, and I can hear Continue reading →

Who will be deciding where our little girls go to school? –Sam Worthington @ LCBOE 4 October 2011

A local dentist asked the Lowndes County School Board and staff:
Two little girls, one is ten and in the county, another is three and will be going to the county. When me and my wife moved into this area, we spent a lot of time deciding where we wanted to live mainly based upon based on schools, and the schools’ records; where we wanted our girls to go.

If consolidation goes through, who will be deciding where our little girls go to school?

Supt. Smith said the Lowndes County Board of Education would make the initial decision, but it would have to be approved by the Department of Justice,
and we all know what that might be. I’d rather control it locally.
[applause]
We know because Continue reading →

Open record requests and jail deaths —George Boston Rhynes

George Rhynes complimented Ashley Paulk for having provided information about people in jail when Paulk was Sheriff, and noted that unfortunately that had not been the case since. He asked if someone could point him to where he could get such information. Chairman Paulk reminded him that the Sheriff is a constitutional officer, and the Commission did not direct him. George Rhynes responded:
Everywhere I go, I hear that. I go to Brooks County, and they inform me of the same thing.
Chairman Paulk noted:
… by state law.
They agreed on that, and George said he thought nonetheless:
Seems like somebody in the state of Georgia would know how to get that information, if it is open.

George also said: Continue reading →

And I feel like there’s somebody meddling in their affairs; I wish they wouldn’t have. —Ashley Paulk @ LCC 7 November 2011

As previously noted, Chairman Ashley Paulk last night told Matt Portwood he didn’t think the Lowndes County Commission should be meddling in school affairs. Here’s the part the VDT didn’t quote:
And I feel like there’s somebody meddling in their affairs; I wish they wouldn’t have.
That’s pretty interesting considering that Brittany D. McClure reported for the VDT 4 November 2011 that FVCS makes campaign contributions public:
Ashley Paulk, Lowndes County Commission chairman contributed $200
So it’s not like the public doesn’t already know Ashley Paulk’s opinion on this subject, and it seems he was reminding us of it: he contributed money to FVCS, a group actively lobbying to prevent the school consolidation promoted by CUEE.

Chairman Paulk also noted:

We do have county residents who live in the city.
Seems like he’s confusing two excuses for the Commissioners not speaking about school consolidation: Continue reading →

Bussing is a natural consequence of consolidation —Warren Turner to Roy Copeland @ LCBOE 4 Oct 2011

Two attorneys brought a point into the light that CUEE doesn’t like to talk about: bussing is a natural consequence of consolidation. That was stated by the attorney for the Lowndes County School System, Warren Turner, 4 October 2011.

Roy Copeland brought up some names from the past: Mrs. Copeland or Mrs. Adams, and the newscasters Huntley and Brinkley. He then asked about the consent decree on desegregation from back in that era:

Has anyone given any thoughts to the issues relative to the consentdecreee, desegregation, and the realignment of school districts relative to the Voting Rights Act 1965 preclearance, and all those other issues.
Lowndes County Schools Attorney Warren Turner answered the question, after Roy Copeland mentioned they were neighbors. The answer was basically that there would be a hearing before November 8th. Hm, I wonder what happened with that? As far as what happens if consolidation is approved by the Valdosta voters, he said, among other things:
So the concept of a neighborhood school, where everybody stays where they are, is not going to happen in my opinion, because the federal government is not going to allow that to happen.

Finally, Roy Copeland asked: Continue reading →

Are you gonna get the parents involved? —Roy Taylor @ LCBOE 4 October 2011

Roy Taylor said his grandson graduated from Lowndes County High. He must be a lot older than he seems, since LCHS closed about 1968 when it was combined with Hahira High School to create Lowndes High School.

He did have a good point, though (paraphrasing): 80% of prisoners are less than 30 years old.

  • $60,000 a year to keep a person in prison.
  • $30,000 a year to keep them in college.
His question:
Are you gonna get the parents involved?
Lowndes County Schools Supt. Smith responded that they are working diligently through Community Partners in Education to do that. He also talked about Valdosta and Lowndes schools already improving their graduation rates. And school, home, and community as three legs of a stool.
We’re striving to do better every day.

Here’s the video: Continue reading →

School Consolidation: Chairman Ashley Paulk responds to Matt Portwood

The VDT this morning left out all the best parts of last night’s exchange between Matt Portwood and Lowndes County Commission Chairman Ashley Paulk. We’ll have the video up shortly so you can see for yourself.

The question:

“Reading the news, I found that both school boards and the City Council have come out with either a statement or a resoultion with their stance on school consolidation. I’m just curious why there hasn’t been a statement or resolution from you,” said Portwood.

The VDT’s version of the answer:

“Look at your tax notes. It says county taxes and school taxes,” replied Paulk. We’re two totally different entities than the county school system. I don’t feel like we should be meddling in their affairs. I don’t think the County Commission should be weighing in on the city issue. Commissioners agreed that this was their stance on the matter.”
More in a bit.

-jsq