Young teacher leaves legacy
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28-year-old Michelle Wexler cancer victim ►►PAGE 22
Christmas, trains go together 50-year passion still burns for local man ►►PAGE 26
Triplets swim for Georgia Boys Athens-bound with Rio in mind ►►PAGE 29
December 19, 2013 | northfulton.com | 73,500 circulation Revue & News, Johns Creek Herald, Milton Herald & Forsyth Herald combined | 50¢ | Volume 13, No. 51
INVESTIGATION »
Bodker taking fight to court Asks judge to quash records subpoenas By HATCHER HURD hatcher@northfulton.com
Couple brings smiles to Nepal Johns Creek couple Bruce and Susan Keenan visit with Nepali orphans they adopted through their NGO, Himalayan Children’s Charities. The children are dressed for dancing in a Katmandu festival. Read the story on page 4
JOHNS CREEK, Ga. – Mayor Mike Bodker said he has tried to take “the high road” while four councilmembers and one ex-member have called into question his honesty and integrity as mayor, but with the resumption of the investigation, he wants to put an end to it. “I have felt this investigation has been improper from its start. There was always a proper method to pursue an ethical or a criminal com-
plaint,” Bodker said. “This [investigation] just wasn’t it. Given the latest issuance of the subpoenas and the appearance of the continued investigaBODKER tion, then absent this action, I don’t know what it is going to take to get the four councilmembers who have pursued this to stop.” Bodker’s attorney Michael
See BODKER, Page 8
Graduation rates increase across state, region Georgia still lags at bottom nationwide By CANDY WAYLOCK candy@northfulton.com ATLANTA – State officials are touting the rise in graduation rates for the class of 2013, while acknowledging there is still considerable work to do to lift Georgia from among the worst performing states in the nation. Locally, schools in the Fulton County School System also saw modest gains, with widespread differences among high schools across the system. Last week, officials with the Georgia Department of Education (GDOE) released results showing 71.5 percent of seniors in 2013 graduated
in four years. This reflects a 1.8 percent increase from 2012, but still places Georgia students among the few states with graduation rates hovering around the 70 percent mark. Those states include Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon and Alaska, as well as the District of Columbia. Georgia’s reported graduation rate dropped considerably three years ago with the switch to “cohort based” calculations. Prior to that, states calculated graduation rates based on numbers – not actual students. So if 100 students entered high school, and four years later the
See RATES, Page 6
School name
2013 grad rate
2012 grad rate +/-
All schools 71.5 69.7 North Fulton
1.8
Alpharetta 89.2 85.7 3.5 Cambridge 84.3 n/a Centennial 79.9 80.3 -0.4 Chattahoochee 93.8 93.5 0.3 Fulton Science Academy 87.8 88 -0.2 Independence 40.4 51.9 -11.5 Johns Creek 96.4 95.1 1.3 Milton 96.0 96.4 -0.4 Northview 94.2 96 -1.8 Roswell 86.5 81.2 5.3 Central/South Fulton Banneker 41.7 41.2 0.5 Creekside 50.1 43.2 6.9 Langston Hughes 73.6 62 11.6 McClarin 25.6 18.9 6.7 North Springs 71.9 67.3 4.6 Riverwood 67.8 70.7 -2.9 Tri-Cities 71.1 65.2 5.9 Westlake 76.0 63.5 12.5