BoE honors Young Ga. Authors; hears new school building plans
By KIP BURKE news editor

The Wilkes County Board of Education honored young Georgia authors at its regular April meeting Monday night, and heard Superintendent Joyce Williams propose a timeline to once again consider constructing the long-planned new high-school/middle-school complex.

Celebrating the accomplishments of Wilkes Co. young writers from each grade level, Board Chairman Ricky Callaway awarded certificates of achievements and $50 savings bonds to each of 13 winners.

Two winners from last year, Lauren Roberts and Brittany Guin, went on to win district honors, and were presented with framed certifi- cates and a $100 bond for their accomplishments.

Grade level winners included: Roderick Brown, Nailah Jones, John David Bailey, Megan Hunter, Kasey Gowen, Katie Trimm, Brandon Freeman, Michael Ardister, Hayley Colvard, Rhonda Turner, Hunter Jackson, Patrick Burns, and Wright Gunter.

Superintendent Williams gave the board an update on the revived school complex construction project. She said that bids had been opened on March 28 and that a construction meeting is planned for April 25. A public forum is planned for Tuesday, May 15, at the high school to get input from the community. "We are going to have an open house starting at 6:30 in the cafeteria so people can see the plans," she said.

Callaway said that the gap between the expected cost of the complex and the funding already allocated worried him. "We are going to need to see a comprehensive finance plan before we make any kind of decision," he said. "We've got to make sure we've got all our funding in place."

Board member Kelly Powell asked if there were any cost estimates on re-roofing and making repairs to the old building. "Taxpayers need to be aware of all the options," she said. Board members discussed the needs of the 50-year-old school complex at some length. Callaway said that he had just toured the old school complex, and saw that roofing and plumbing repairs were needed. "We've got to do a lot on the old building, no matter what," he said.

In other business W-WCHS sophomore Christina Albertson addressed the board on the need for arts education in the schools. "Art is an important part of life," she said, "but no art or music courses are offered in our schools. Our student body is becoming artistically illiterate."

Her impassioned plea was met with a standing ovation from the packed house.

An unusually large group of citizens attended the meeting to protest a perceived lack of black teachers and administrators.

M.V. Booker, saying she spoke for the black citizens - including Washington Mayor Willie Burns and members of the Washington city council - attending the meeting, said, "We don't feel our requests and concerns should be taken lightly, because they are critical to the education of our children. If you didn't know what we wanted before, we're here to tell you tonight."

Booker said that the number of black teachers and administrators in the system has gone down. "Next year at the high school there will be no African-American male teachers at all."

She said that at one time, three out of four principals in the school system were black, but that now there was only one black assistant principal. She also said that there were no blacks in the board offices, apparently overlooking the superintendent, who was one of the black principals until her promotion to the system's top job.

"Having African-American teach- ers is more important than many things that this board has done," Booker said. "We expect you to actively recruit African-American teachers from outside, and to train and promote African-American parapros to teaching positions."

Saying that what she said represented the interests of the black community in Wilkes County, Booker said that they were willing to work with the school board to make the changes that they demanded, but that action was expected. "We are no longer content to sit and wait."

In other business, the board voted to approve a revision to the school system calendar to make up for the February 1 inclement weather day.

The board also approved getting prices on a lawn mower so that the system could do grounds upkeep inhouse, rather than by a contractor as has been the practice.

Board members also discussed the need to set budget workshops, with the first being set for April 30.

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