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What will Benton Elementary’s future be? By LEANNE AKIN
lakin@clickthepaper.com
Jackson County School District facilities on the east side of the county have empty classrooms while the westside student population growth is pushing Jackson County Comprehensive High School as well as West Jackson Middle close to capacity. That is in spite of the fact that nearly 70 percent of the county’s geographic area is zoned for eastside school attendance. Facilities planning is facing the Jackson County Board of Education as strategic planning efforts are also under way. With so many considerations ahead including the possible re-purposing of Benton Elementary School, the school board agreed Monday to go back to the community for input, specifically from the Benton Elementary School community. Meetings have been set for 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 29, and 7:30 p.m. on Thurs-
Two meetings set to get comments on possible re-purposing of oldest elementary school day, Feb. 5. Both sessions will convene at East Jackson County Comprehensive High School. Interested parties will be invited to address the school board to share thoughts and each person is being asked to limit their comments to three minutes or less. On the system website, individuals are also invited to provide feedback through an on-line survey found at www.surveymonkey. com/s/5GG3ZWP On the westside, two smaller schools are being consolidated next year in an ongoing construction expansion project on a new named West Jackson Middle School campus with the remaining school to be renovated for a new middle school facility. The project at West
Jackson Intermediate School, which has just exited the “hard hat” time frame as painting and ceiling tiles are going in, will address two of the system’s “undersized” schools, leaving three schools below the state threshold of 450 students for the 2015-16 school year. How to address the student population and provide quality learning environments mean decisions are at hand for the Jackson County Board of Education as the school system’s five-year facilities plan update, required by the State Department of Education, must be formulated in early spring. The under-utilized classrooms on the east side is problematic for the school system which, based on existing enrollment, is pro-
jected to be waiting for state capital entitlement dollars until perhaps 2022-2026. According to Jackson County Superintendent of Schools Dr. April Howard, if there are extra classrooms, there are no state funds available and the system must then rely almost totally on local funds, primarily Education Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (ESPLOST), referendums which have previously received voter support. As a part of the facilities plan effort, discussions – which Howard called difficult conversations at the work session -- have begun about the possible fate of the system’s oldest school. Benton Elementary School is one of the five schools below the base size recommended by the state. With the consolidation of West Jackson Intermediate and West Jackson Primary coming next year, only Benton, Maysville
See BENTON, 3A
Farah Bohannon The Paper
Farah Bohannon The Paper
Braselton Police Chief Terry Esco presented the Lifesaving Award to Officer Jack Tiller at Monday’s meeting to recognize his role in helping a struggling diner at El Centinela.
Braselton Police Chief Terry Esco presented the Lifesaving Award to Capt. Michael Steffman at Monday’s meeting to recognize his role in helping a struggling diner at El Centinela.
Braselton celebrates PlanFirst designation, honors officers with Lifesaving recognitions By FARAH BOHANNON
fbohannon@clickthepaper.com
At the Braselton Town Council’s Jan. 12 meeting, three awards were distributed that left town officials proud of their achievements — relating specifically to town accomplishments and live-saving endeavors. Adrianne Wood from the Georgia Department of Community Affairs (DCA) awarded Braselton Mayor Bill Orr, Town Manager Jennifer Dees and the council members with a very special award. Braselton is one of the 10 inaugural PlanFirst communities in the state. “PlanFirst recognizes and re-
wards communities that not only pay attention to what they put into their comprehensive plan, but ones that actually utilize it and implement it well while having something to show for it. I congratulate you on being one of the designated communities to achieve PlanFirst, an organization that offers many incentives,” said Wood. PlanFirst is the DCA’s program to recognize and reward communities that clearly demonstrate an established pattern of successfully implementing their Local Comprehensive Plan, which Braselton has done. There are several incentive packages to communities who are involved with PlanFirst, which
include access to funding and permits from the Department of Community Affairs, Department of Natural Resources, Georgia Environmental Finance Authority (GEFA) and OneGeorgia Authority. Qualified local governments also get assistance from the DCA and the regional commission to develop a Local Comprehensive Plan. During the three-year designation period, PlanFirst Community Ddesignees will receive incentives such as statewide recognition for community achievement, use of the PlanFirst logo, recognition on the PlanFirst website, a special
See BRASELTON, 2A
Farah Bohannon The Paper
Braselton Mayor Bill Orr accepts the PlanFirst designation from Adrianne Wood of the Georgia Department of Community Affairs. The town is one of the first 10 recipients of the special award in the state.
Medical Plaza B open with more services on the way By JEFF GILL
Regional staff
The first wave of physician offices opened today at Medical Plaza B, but emergency, inpatient and other services in the adjoining Northeast Georgia Medical Center Braselton will be on hold until at least April. Ten specialty practices and services are slated to start business in the five-story, 113,000-square-foot medical office building off Ga. 347, one mile west of Ga. 211. Additional services are set to open Jan. 19, including The Heart Center of Northeast Georgia Medical Center and the hospital’s
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cardiac testing lab. And Northeast Georgia Health System auxiliary members including Frank and Kathy Tedeschi are already onsite offering directional and other assistance to patients and visitors. “This is so exciting so see the vision come to fruition,” said Kathy Tedeschi. She and her husband have been volunteering on the Gainesville campus for three years, but as residents of The Village at Deaton Creek, the close proximity of the new facility to their home is adding to the convenience of donating their time. “This is going to be a very special hospital,” she said, commenting
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that being able to put blessings and prayers in the time capsule for the groundbreaking ceremonies was memorable. Frank Tedeschi said time lapse cameras on the health system’s website have been exciting to look back on. Meanwhile, officials said the long-awaited 100-bed hospital may open past the announced April 1 target date. The originally opening date had been May but work progressed well prompting the previous announcement for the April 1 date. “All kinds of things have come into play, so (officials) are questioning that at the moment,” said Beth Downs, spokeswoman at the
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Braselton hospital. In the meantime, she added, “We’re trying very hard (so) that people don’t get confused and think the hospital is open.” Anthony Williamson, Northeast Georgia Medical Center Braselton president, said Medical Plaza B marks another milestone in Gainesville-based Northeast Georgia Health System’s efforts to provide health care closer to home for residents of Braselton and surrounding communities. “While the hospital will not open until later in the spring, as our staff trains and readies
See MEDICAL, 2A
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