Board of Education

Cuts remain, but attrition saves some Fayette teachers’ jobs

Despite large cuts in the number of teachers’ positions in the Fayette County School System for the coming school year, attrition has become the friend of those remaining.

A lot of people either decided not to seek another year of employment with the local schools or chose retirement. That means fewer remaining teachers face getting handed pink slips.

What began as the elimination of 144 job positions of certified staff such as teachers and counselors has been reduced to a total of 18 current certified staff without positions for next year. Read More»

Fayette BoE for 1st time in years to limit spending to income

After a painful readjustment to five years of falling revenues, the Fayette County School System will plan to spend next school year only as much as it actually takes in.

The adoption of the Fayette County School System’s FY 2014 budget is about a month away, and a look at the tentative budget shows a slight drop in revenues beginning in July.

But the difference in this year and last is that the school system with a proposed $162 million budget would have an $11.5 million fund balance built in to begin establishing a goal of retaining up to 10 percent of its budget in reserve. Read More»

Federal judge orders district voting in Fayette

Fayette County is about to get district voting for all five seats on both the Fayette County Commission and the Fayette County Board of Education.

County Commission Chairman Steve Brown, while expressing his astonishment that the federal judge brushed past a significant legal hurdle to find for the plaintiffs, said Tuesday afternoon that an appeal is not certain. Read More»

Fayette BoE to outsource schools’ janitorial services

The Fayette County Board of Education next week is expected to hire GCA Services Group to outsource the school system’s custodial services as one of the cost-cutting measures designed to help balance the 2013-2014 budget. The move will come with initial savings of $300,000 while providing staff transitioning to GCA the means to maintain their current rate of pay.

GCA provides janitorial and custodial services in a variety of industries and is currently serving school systems in Georgia, Florida, South Carolina and Virginia. Read More»

Bus driving champs crowned

Duane Lawson, Michael Dixon and Sherry Harris. Photo/Special.

Drivers Michael Dixon and Sherry Harris maneuvered their school buses with precise precision through 12 challenging obstacle courses to take top honors in the 2013 Fayette County School Bus Road-E-O.

Dixon and Harris, who finished first and second, respectively, will represent Fayette in the Georgia State School Bus Road-E-O June 5-6 in Warner Robins. Dixon is an experienced state competitor having placed in the top 10 in 2009. This will be Harris’ first state competition. Read More»

Fayette schools nearing job cuts target

Through attrition and resignations, the Fayette County School System has already trimmed 284 jobs from its target of 309 positions to be cut.

The Board of Education recently agreed with the recommendation of interim Superintendent Dan Colwell that 309 positions be eliminated as part of a $15 million budget cut needed to balance the 2013-2014 budget that begins in July.

Though the numbers are still changing, school system administrators Friday said positions for a number of the 309 employees have been found due to the resignation or retirement of 284 employees since August. Read More»

New sup’t. to survey public opinion

Fayette Superintendent Dr. Joseph C. Barrow, Jr. Photo/Ben Nelms.

Incoming Fayette County Superintendent Jody Barrow will not be on the job until July 1 but he is already wanting to hear from residents on a stakeholder input survey available on the school system’s website.

“I subscribe to the idea of seeking first to understand, then to be understood. I’ve used this (survey) approach before. So I wanted to reach out to the stakeholders,” Barrow said Monday. “I’ve researched the school system from the outside, now I want to research it from the inside out to get a better picture.” Read More»

Barrow hired to be Fayette’s new school superintendent

New Fayette County School Superintendent Dr. Joseph “Jody” C. Barrow, Jr. Photo/Ben Nelms.

Ware County School Superintendent Dr. Joseph “Jody” C. Barrow, Jr. received unanimous approval by the Fayette County Board of Education Monday night to serve as superintendent of Fayette County schools beginning July 1.

Barrow thus will take over the actual day-to-day operation of the county’s largest government, its largest expender of tax dollars and its largest employer.

Prior to the vote, board member Leonard Presberg said he was excited about Barrow’s hire, with board member Barry Marchman adding that Barrow is “the right man at the right time.” Read More»

Fayette schools alert parents of Infinite Campus scam

The Fayette County School System’s technology department on April 22 sent a notice to parents cautioning them to avoid providing information to anyone claiming to work for the Infinite Campus notification system.

“Some districts have reported that staff or parents have received emails from people purporting to work for Infinite Campus, requesting usernames, passwords and email accounts to confirm ownership of their Infinite Campus account,” the notice said. Read More»

Coweta BoE names new principals for Northgate and Newnan

Bill Harrison, left front, will succeed Dr. Therese Reddekopp, left rear, as the principal of Northgate High School, and Chase Puckett, right front, will succeed Dr. Doug Moore, right rear, as the principal of Newnan High School. Moore and Reddekopp are leaving their current posts at the end of the school year to begin administrative duties with the Coweta County School System and Harrison and Puckett will begin their new duties at that time. Photo/Special.

The Coweta County Board of Education recently named five individuals to replace principals who are retiring or taking new positions within the system at the end of the current school year.

Bill Harrison is currently an assistant principal and athletic director at Northgate High School and will succeed Dr. Therese Reddekopp as principal of Northgate High School. Reddekopp is leaving Northgate at the end of the current school year to become the Coweta County School System’s Director of Instructional Services. Read More»

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