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Truby's Trojan Tidbits
By Dr. Bill Truby With the impending departure of district leaders, it’s time to restructure to better serve academic, student and personnel needs. Over the next few board of education meetings I’ll propose new ideas while keeping expenses in line with our budget. Career Pathways, new state graduation regulations, our alternative school, math support classes and providing students more course selections caused us to review policies and courses at the high school. No longer does attendance at school guarantee anything; one has to perform. No longer can one take a liberal arts education; one must specialize early. No longer are diplomas offered in varieties; one requires all standards be met. No longer do schools aim for graduation; we prepare students for a career and postsecondary education. Our high school guidance department publishes a scholarship newsletter monthly with information and opportunities. It’s on the web site www.lamar.k12.ga.us. There are help, information, school links, my weekly memos and past articles, our code of conduct, policies, and board minutes. We’re hosting the Chamber of Commerce web design class. Over 30 people are taking part. Griffin RESA will host College Goal Sunday Feb. 10, to help students and parents fill out state and federal financial aid applications. Contact jhoman@griffinresa.net for details. Investing in Educational Excellence was to come up with a new financing formula for schools. Instead it’s proposing school districts opt for one of five accountability programs. One is a status quo option whereby we keep what we have. The other extreme is a charter system. In between are three variations of accountability and flexibility. A small district doesn’t have many options for flexibility. Money is tight, numbers are set and accountability measures are a challenge. Until Georgia funds education at levels it said it was – back to 1985 – any formula or plan will come up short and put the burden of financing education on the community. This is what has happened the last several years. Communities absorbed increases 10 times the amount as Georgia. HR900 and other bills trying to reduce property taxes, especially for education, are well meaning but not well conceived. Every state that tried to move in this direction had problems. Taxes on services and memberships put a burden on people who need help. Have we thought about the impact of paying taxes on prescriptions, haircuts and doctors’ visits? A key point of HR900 is the need for Georgia to provide up front money for districts to start the school year. Where does it come from? Julia Steele, principal at our primary school, earned her doctorate in education. We have an exceptional group of Senior Superlatives this year. |