BOE members sworn in on recognition night

A boardroom full of parents, students and staff gathered to hear numerous recognitions and welcome the Barrow County Board of Education’s newest member, Will Dunn, as he and four reelected board members were sworn in at the Jan. 18 meeting. The board was slated to convene on Jan. 11, but that meeting was cancelled due to snow.

Barrow Probate Judge Tammy Brown swore in Dunn, Randall Holland, Dan Cromer, Mark Still and Connie Wehunt, who were all elected in November. The board then re-elected Still, a near sevenyear veteran, to a second term as chairman. Mitch Churchill, a six-year board veteran, was re-elected for a second term as vice-chairman; both terms are one year long.

Superintendent Wanda Creel took a “moment of personal privilege,” to thank the board for its service and say “what an honor it is to work with each and every of you.”

STATE RECOGNITIONS

The school system was recognized by the Georgia Department of Education for “Excellence in the Education of Students with Disabilities.” The DOE also announced that Barrow schools have met the state target for reducing the number of students who drop out of school. Local schools also met the state target for students who meet or exceed state achievement standards for Reading/English Language Arts on the CRCT (Criterion-Referred Competency Tests.)

MIDDLE SCHOOL AWARDS

The board congratulated the students, faculty and staff at Russell and Winder-Barrow Middle Schools for being honored by the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement. Both schools demonstrated significant improvement in student achievement for the 2009-2010 school year and received awards in the “greatest gain” category for improved standardized test scores as identified by the Single Statewide Accountability Program (SSAP.) Russell Middle won a silver award for being in the 97th percentile in the state in improvement of CRCT scores, with at least 25 percent of students exceeding state-wide standards.