Former electoral opponents met Tuesday as FVCS held
its final meeting,
with Rusty Griffin, Vice-Chair of CUEE,
watching at the MLK Monument as
Sam Allen, President of Friends of
Valdosta Schools (FVCS) announced the dissolution of FVCS.
In addition to FVCS regulars such as JC Cunningham,
Chamber Chair Tom Gooding was there,
as were current Valdosta Mayor Sonny Vickers and
Mayor-Elect John Gayle, plus re-elected Valdosta City Council At-Large Ben Norton.
Valdosta School Superintendent Cason was there.
I didn’t see Lowndes Superintendent Smith,
although various members of
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After apologizing for setting off a flash earlier,
I recommended the county video their own meetings,
so they wouldn’t have to depend on amateurs.
Lowndes County Board of Education had an open forum about school consolidation.
and they had their own person videoing the whole thing,
and it
ended up on the web in a day or two,
which means that everyone in the county could see what was going on….
Chairman Paulk:
We get enough of that for free.
jsq:
I’ll send you a bill!
The Chairman nodded, so I’ll take that for approval of billing by LAKE.
This is what democracy looks like at the Chamber @ Occupy Valdosta 14 October 2011
We are the 99%,
Marching to Occupy Valdosta, Occupy Valdosta,
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 14 October 2011.
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
As my mother, who used to teach at Pine Grove Elementary School (not a High School at that time), used to say, it takes a big man to admit it when he’s wrong,
and
Fred Wetherington is a big man
because he thought it was a good idea.
He looked at the evidence; he looked at the research;
and determined it was not a good idea.
I look forward to the members of CUEE standing up and being big men and women
because the research, their own research, and the research that
we’ve heard tonight,
the research from Tennessee, and the research from Troup County:
consolidation is not a good idea.
And I’m still waiting for some CUEE big men or women….
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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]
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.
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.
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:
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and support of the two school systems,
financially and otherwise.
