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Alpharetta-Roswell
REVUE NEWS
November 5, 2015 | revueandnews.com | 75,000 circulation Revue & News, Johns Creek Herald, Milton Herald & Forsyth Herald combined | 50¢ | Volume 33, No. 44
State of Fulton Schools shows progress Focus on Strategic Plan showing results By CANDY WAYLOCK candy@appenmediagroup.com
Children hold up signs in support of Roswell’s Police Department.
JONATHAN COPSEY/STAFF
Community thanks Roswell police Promotes good policing By JONATHAN COPSEY jonathan@appenmediagroup.com ROSWELL, Ga. – With so much negative media attention placed on police officers and members of the public rallying against police brutality, some Roswell residents gathered Oct. 31 to say the opposite – thank you. Local churches and residents turned out at the Roswell Police Department to stand with their officers and encourage good policing and behavior. About 70 people joined 18 police officers at the event.
“As a community, we need to share our deep concern for the rapid growing antilaw enforcement sentiment around the country,” said the Rev. Neville Billy, an organizer of the event. “While a few incidents involving police brutality are horrific and need to be addressed, punished and corrected, an incident here and there is not the precedent everywhere.” Rather, he said, there are “untold hundreds of thousands” of incidents in which police officers have saved lives. The result of the negativity has police officers around the country secondguessing themselves, which can put both themselves and the public at risk, Billy said. Nationwide, Billy said, 104
police officers have been killed this year. Thirty-four of those deaths were because they were police. “All lives are valuable,” said Billy. Roswell Police Chief Rusty Grant said his department only accepts 4 percent of applicants. “We only hire the best of the best,” Grant said. “During the best of times, being a police officer can be difficult. Our officers are up to the challenge.” “Chief Grant and Roswell’s men and women come out each day and put their lives on the line,” said Sen. John Albers. “We need to pray for them today, tomorrow and every day going forward and say ‘thank you.’”
FULTON COUNTY, Ga. – Four years into the five-year Strategic Plan, the Fulton School System is seeing the benefits of new programs and processes to raise achievement and prepare students for life beyond high school. But challenges remain, say school leaders, in a system with increasing poverty and persistent academic concerns in some areas despite overall progress. During its State of Our Schools event on Oct. 22, interim Superintendent Ken Zeff provided an overview of the system, focusing much attention on the Strategic Plan progress. “[We are] all focused on a mission, and on a set of values and goals,” said Zeff, who took office in June. “This is who we are … this is our North Star.” He pointed to the three pillars of the plan: 90 percent graduation rate, 85 percent of graduates being college ready, and 100 percent of graduates
career ready. Ambitious goals, said Zeff, but he noted the system is on track to hit those marks. He pointed to Fulton’s ZEFF graduation rate last year of nearly 79 percent, which is the highest rate among metro area school systems. “The good news is that you are seeing [increasing graduation rates] in every student population, including economically disadvantaged, [ethnic], and English-language learners,” said Zeff. Rising scores on the Advanced Placement and college prep exams (SAT and ACT) also show the goal of 85 percent of graduates being college ready is attainable. The goal of 100 percent of students being career ready is harder to quantify, but the system is investing heavily in
See PROGRESS, Page 45
Roswell election results online Due to the publishing deadlines for the Revue & News, Roswell City Council election results will be published online Nov. 3 at: northfulton.com.