Barrow Journal

The Winder employee who bore most of the responsibility for failing to catch costly utility billing errors lost her job last week. City administrator Don Toms said he terminated Dawn Reidling, the utility billing director, on April 26. She plans to appeal to the full council this month, Toms said.
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The Barrow County Board of Education approved a preliminary FY2013 budget Tuesday night that would cut the school year to 160 days and use $4 million of its reserves to balance its budget. The proposal does not increase the millage rate. The board approved $88.9 million in expenses and a projected $84.9 million in revenues. That won’t be the final budget, however, since the board is slated to again discuss it later this month before taking action for final approval in June. The BOE vote was 7-1 in favor of the preliminary budget with Will Dunn voting against. In addition to voting on a preliminary budget, the board also voted 7-1 to move two principals into the central office to replace departing assistant superintendent Claire Miller. The two will have the title of executive director. Chris McMichael of County Line Elementary School will now be in charge of high school teaching and learning, tribunals, parent concerns and student services. [Full Story »] 

Barrow County’s failing emergency communications system has a new problem: heavy interference that since Saturday has made the fire and fire backup systems inoperable. And Tuesday night, the backup transmitter for law enforcement calls also went down. So firefighters — and most of the county’s law enforcement officers during two early-morning SWAT team incidents — both used the county’s EMS channel. [Full Story »] 

Barrow middle and high school students will start class earlier next year while elementary student will begin their day later. In a 7-1 vote Tuesday night, the Barrow County Board of Education approved the changes in school start times. Starting in August, middle and high school students will begin classes at 7:20 a.m. and end at 2:50 p.m. Elementary school students will start at 8:30 a.m. and end at 3:30 p.m. Currently, elementary students begin at 7:45 a.m. and middle and high school students begin at 8:20 a.m. [Full Story »] 

The cost of school lunches will increase by at least 25 cents next year in the Barrow County School System. The change is due to new school nutrition guidelines that school systems must meet by 2012-13 set forth by the Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act, which passed in 2010. Now, student meal prices must equal federal reimbursement funds for free meals. In Barrow County, 57 percent of students are approved for free and reduced meals. [Full Story »] 

With the son of Gov. Nathan Deal lined up as their keynote speaker, local court officials were anticipating a packed audience for the May 2 graduation of the first four people to complete the Barrow County Drug Court program. But the woman whose agency over the past two years has played the biggest role in trying to change the lives of the former addicts said she would not attend. After her agency’s contract was abruptly terminated in February, Fawn Alexander, executive director of The Light Homeless Shelter in Winder, was stunned to learn over the weekend that two of her former Drug Court colleagues last week called into question her agency’s services and her character during a court hearing.
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