Teacher Layoffs a 'Last Resort,' GCPS Says

Protecting 'instructional time' also is stressed as an $89 million fund shortfall looms for FY 2013.

The Gwinnett County school system warned Thursday that "programs and services" are at risk in the next budget year, as it expects an estimated $89 million revenue shortfall. The state's largest school system (162,000 students) said Thursday in a website posting that the system is committed to, among other things, "continuing to avoid layoffs to the extent possible." "The district has reached the point where it can no longer do more with less funding without affecting programs and services," the GCPS said. "The cost-saving measures implemented in the past will not be enough to balance future budgets. Additional cost-saving measures will have to be implemented in the FY 2013 budget ... measures that may be more painful to implement as they …

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Your Tax Dollars at Work

County offers new tool to track how your property tax dollars are being spent.

The county has launched an interactive web page to allow property owners to see what county services are being funded through their tax payments. To access the page, visit www.gwinnettcounty.com, click on the “Your Money” tab and then select “Where Your Property Taxes Go.” Residents may access the information by searching for a specific property or by entering a fair market value. For instance, a resident owning property with a fair market value of $150,000 would pay an estimated $2,043 in taxes. Of that amount, $795 goes to the county with 43.1 percent allocated for public safety, 23.3 percent for Sheriff and judicial, 10.2 percent for general government and 7.5 percent for recreation (see image). The property tax calculator also …

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GCPS Phasing In All-Digital Classrooms

eCLASS to begin pilot program in the fall in the state's largest system.

Next on the technology hit list: school textbooks. Just ask the Gwinnett County school system. It's "pretty much the goal" for textbooks to become a thing of the past, according to GCPS Chief Information Officer Scott Futrell, who briefed school board members on the eCLASS initiative at a recent work session. Not only does the system want to keep student instruction from falling behind, but the technology initiative would be cost-effective, board members were told. The current textbook model "is not working," school system Chief Financial Officer Rick Cost said. He noted that the system has not funded textbook adoption in the past three years for budget reasons; it normally would run $25-30 million annually. "Technology is not inexpensive…

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Dacula Middle School Chosen by District to Accept Transfer Students

Four Gwinnett County Schools did not meet AYP requirements, and students from these schools may choose to transfer to Dacula Middle.

Dacula Middle School has been designated as a school that will accept choice transfer students for the 2011-2012 school year. According to a press release, these students will come from other Gwinnett County middle schools that did not meet the AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress) for two or more years. This program, under the provision of the federal No Child Left Behind Act, allows parents to transfer their children from a school that has not made AYP for two years in a row to another school in the district.   During the 2010-2011 school year, 25 Gwinnett County schools did not met the AYP. Four of these schools failed to meet the AYP in 2009-2010 as well, and students from these schools are now eligible to transfer. These four schools are …

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GCPS New Teacher Orientation Set For Monday

Peachtree Ridge HS is the site for new GCPS hires for the 2011-12 schoolyear.

The Gwinnett County school system is cranking up for the coming school year by having a new teacher orientation at Peachtree Ridge High on Monday, July 25. GCPS officials said Thursday at a board work session that 350 teachers are expected at the event in Suwanee, which begins at 8:30 a.m. The state's largest school system says it will have 541 new teachers for the new school year, which begins Aug. 8. Some teachers are exempt from orientation because they previously have worked in the system. Gwinnett schools expect 162,459 students this year, an increase of about 1,700, according to Dr. Steve Flynt. There will be three new schools in the system: Moore Middle (Central Gwinnett Cluster), the Gwinnett Online Campus and Ivy Preparatory …

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GCPS Board Delays Vote on Land-Deal Policy

System also offers deal to Ivy Prep, but charter school's leaders object.

The Gwinnett County Public Schools board Thursday in Suwanee delayed for a second time a vote on a revised land-acquisition policy. This also was delayed from the May meeting. The system is considering a revised policy because of controversy created by a series of articles in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that said that some developers made large, quick profits on some land sales to the GCPS. Board Chairman Robert McClure of Lilburn asked that the board delay a vote to allow the system's internal audit of land purchases to be completed. McClure said that Joe Whitley, who is conducting the third-party audit for the GCPS, "might come up with more information we need to include" in the policy. The internal audit is expected to be completed…

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Hamilton Mill Road Widening on County’s TSPLOST Wish List

Project one of 73 potential transportation projects submitted by Gwinnett County.

A $50.7 million project to widen Hamilton Mill Road from two to four lanes from Buford Highway to Braselton Highway is one of 73 transportation projects Gwinnett County officials have submitted to the state transportation planning director and the Atlanta Regional Commission for inclusion in the metro Atlanta region’s project list for the Transportation Investment Act of 2010. Gwinnett, along with the nine other counties in the metro Atlanta region, was asked to submit potential transportation projects to be funded by a 1 percent transportation special purpose local option sales tax (TSPLOST) that voters will be asked to approve next year. Officials estimate the TSPLOST could generate as much as $7 billion over the 10-year duration of the …

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Tim Sullivan

12:25 pm on Monday, June 20, 2011

I'd like to see the 4 laning of Hamilkton Mill fall off the list forever. It's sole intension is to improve the rout to the Distribution center in Buford. I'd guess 99% of this project is outside of the Buford City Limits and will benefit the local residents about 1% once it gets full of semi trucks that currently use GA 20 & buford hwy to get to their destination. Granted the road needs …   more ›

Three of Four Dacula Planning Cases Tabled

Daycare and retail development zoning requests rescheduled for April.

Only one of the Dacula area cases on Tuesday night’s planning commission agenda moved forward after commissioners tabled three other local cases. The Gwinnett County Planning Commission met Jan. 18 to consider several special use permit applications and rezoning requests related to Dacula area properties. Planning commission chairman and district 3 appointee Chuck Warbington moved to table a special use permit request by the Dacula Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses. The church has requested permission to construct a 5,000-square-foot brick sanctuary building with 90 parking spaces on a 9.67-acre tract of land in the 1500 block of Ace McMillan Road. The planning department recommended denial of the request due to the fact that a nearly …

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The Way I See It

Gwinnett County Needs CEO

Current government is like a ship without a captain.

Gwinnett County government reminds me of a ship without a captain on the bridge. We need a captain at the helm of our county government.  My position on proposed changes in Gwinnett County government would be hire a CEO with impeccable professional public administrative credentials - a professional with the expertise to manage a $1 billion dollar corporation given the assets, budget and number of employees in county government.  His or her salary would be comparable to that of a CEO in the private sector. Said CEO would be hired via a five-year evergreen contract with the usual ineptitude clauses in the contract. What the evergreen contract would do is keep politics out of the management of county government government. How? As long as the…

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