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Board of Education agrees to allow company to offer Drivers' Ed to high school students The Wilkes County Board of Education, at its regular February meeting Tuesday night, agreed to furnish the space for a contractor to teach Drivers' Education at Washington- Wilkes Comprehensive High School on Saturdays. W-WCHS Principal Steve Echols had requested in November that the board consider a proposal from CSRA Transportation, LLC, which is now providing the service in Lincoln County. A new Georgia law requires 16-year-olds to take the course before getting their licenses, and local teens now have to drive to Athens or Augusta for the course. The board agreed to furnish classroom space in an outside classroom, and furnish the use of the school's rear parking area for driving practice. The course will run fiveSaturdays, and the cost to students is $325 for 30 hours class time and six hours supervised driving time behind the wheel, plus $55 for the test. The six hours of driving time is available for $210, according to the proposal. Once students have completed the coursework, driving time, and passed the test, they will receive a Drivers' Ed certificate,an ADAP Certificate,and a behind-the-wheel log certificate,the proposal states. Superintendent Joyce Williams stressed that the school system was not sponsoring the driver training, it was only providing the space for it to be taught. The meeting's Focus on Curriculum was on the Pre-K program at Washington-Wilkes Elementary School. Director Wanda Jenkins, Resource Coordinator Patricia Wilder, and grade chair Jillian Andrews gave a presentation to board members. They described the history of Pre-K in Georgia, the content standards and how they relate to kindergarten standards. They introduced the program's faculty, including Jillian Andrews and Shirley Mills, Mary Elizabeth Burdette and Shirley Gladmon, Janet Clayton and Angela Wooten, Rebekah Montgomery and Barbara Stephens, and Susan Poss and Charlene McAvoy. They also took board members through a Pre-K classroom, a typical day, learning areas and centers, and quality assessment. Resource Coordinator Wilder told board members about her duties in coordinating events that bring Pre-K parents into school as frequently as possible, including family literacy events, family-style meals and celebrations, and health-related services. The board approved an out-ofstate trip to Chicago for Director of Curriculum Marie Echols and Assistant Principal Deleki Lee for a Math-Science Partnership regional meeting. In her construction report, Superintendent Williams updated the board on several items of ongoing concern. The sewer lift station is ready to be bid out, she said, and the City of Washington would do that in March. School leaders are doing a feasibility study for adding an electronic sign to go in front of the school. There is no such sign in the school's budget, so alternative funding would have to be raised. The board approved an expenditure of $24,000 for engineering fees on the sewer lift station. It did not, however, agree to pay a disputed $8,016 bill to engineering firmSouthern A&E for a second edition of plans to be distributed to subcontractors. Three board members felt they did not have enough information on the distribution of the plans to pay. A group from the Georgia Board of Education will be coming to the school system March 12, Williams said, to inspect and visit classes for a five-year facility study. She also reported that W-WCHS Principal Echols had received notificationthat the school was one of only 80 schools in the state to be recognized for achieving levels of African-American participation in Advanced Placement testing and classes. The school has three AP classes with some 55 students. In old business, the board gave final approval to the proposed 2008-2009 school calendar. In new business, the board discussed the system's contract for copier services. The leases are up in June, Williams reported, but they needed to look carefully at how they timed any contract with the scheduled move to the new school in 2009. Board Chairman Ricky Callaway suggested Williams research the possibility of an extension on the present contract. In the financial report, Director of Finance Elaine Wheatley reported that revenues were up significantlyand expenditures were temporarily down.
In an Executive Session for personnel, the board considered personnel recommendations for certified personnel, including principals, teachers, and coordinators; and recommendations for substitute teachers. Back in open session, the board voted to approve those recommendations.
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