Congratulations to the Panther Wrestling Team
Community, Sports, TeamFYNSports, Union County Panthers November 28, 2022
Congratulations to the Panther Wrestling team for an outstanding showing in the North Hall Invitational. Anderson Clouse, Zander Rotko, Payton Legatt, and Brooke Kennedy finished 1st place (varsity) Jackson Arthur and Thomas Gary were also JV champions! David Heredia, Shelby Agacenski finished in 2nd. Asa Smith-Foot and Strauss Miller finished in 3rd place.
Union County 4-H- State Pumpkin Contest
Announcements, Community November 5, 2022
A little Fall pumpkin news to brighten your day! The state contest results are in and Union County 4-H had top 3 biggest pumpkins in Georgia 4-H and 10 of the 11 top pumpkins! We are proud of our 4-Hers and thankful for the partners that we get to work with on this project every year.
Union County- Teachers of The Year from All Five Schools
Board of Education, Community October 26, 2022
The Union County School System announced each of the five schools’ Teachers of the Year at the Regular Board Meeting tonight. Success for ALL isn’t just a motto; it is a mission, and these teachers live it daily!
Union County Middle School
Mr. Michael Smith-Foot
Union County Elementary School
Mrs. Rhonda Colwell
Woody Gap School
Mr. Robert Hill
Union County High School
Mr. Charles Cattanach
Union County Primary School
Mrs. Jin Seon Goddard
Union County Schools Announces 99.1 Percent Graduation Rate
Community, Union County Panthers October 19, 2022
Union County Schools proudly announces a 99.1 percent graduation rate overall for the 2021-2022 school year. This graduation rate is the 4th highest in the state, 3rd highest among public school systems, and the highest among the Pioneer RESA school districts! Congratulations to all our students, parents, teachers, and staff in this amazing accomplishment!!
UCS trying to find best way forward against COVID-19
News August 30, 2021
BLAIRSVILLE, Ga – Union County parents will have the choice of keeping their child at home for the next month as COVID-19 continues to spike in the community.
Last Friday, Union County Primary School was forced to close for the week because too many teachers were out due to COVID-19. The numbers in all schools continue to spike as the year progresses. Union County Schools (UCS) are navigating their way through a continually changing situation.
Parents can submit notes upon a child’s return to school and all absences between August 28 and September 24 will be excused. Students must complete assignments at home either through Google Classroom or teacher-approved methods.
It’s a stop-gap solution as the school system works to find a better option for teachers and students. Since school started on August 12, the number of cases has continued to quickly increase.
Superintendent John Hill stated they weren’t ready for “something being so fluid.” Last year, COVID-19 followed a more predictable model and students were largely unaffected. Additionally, virtual learning didn’t come naturally to every student. Some children didn’t participate or weren’t engaged like they would have been in a classroom.
Student online engagement’s an issue the entire country faced last year with some children not meeting reading and math standards as a result.
Hill hoped 2021-2022 would be a normal school year, but “it’s not going well right now.”
Around 70 percent of UCS quarantines who have gotten a COVID-19 test are coming back with positive results.
Since August 12, UCS has implemented eight changes to the COVID-19 mitigation protocol and cases continue to climb. On day one, the district positivity rate was .53 percent.
UCS COVID-19 positives and quarantines through August 27
As of the August 27 meeting, 5.85 percent of UCS students and staff were COVID-19 positive and 28.26 percent were in quarantine. Broken down by school:
- Primary School: 5.76 percent, 39 students, 10 staff, 145 quarantine
- Elementary School: 8.07 percent positive, 43 students, 14 staff, 144 quarantine
- Middle School: 5.87 percent positive, 40 students, 4 staff, 341 quarantine
- High School: 4.81 percent positive, 46 students, 4 staff, 344 quarantine
- Woody Gap: 0.00 percent positive, 12 students in quarantine
According to Assistant Superintendent Dr. David Murphy, UCS’s about a week behind the statewide data. The latest report from the Georgia Department of Public Health indicated cases among children are continuing to grow.
Statewide Positivity Rates
- 0-4: 9.9 percent
- 5-17: 16.7 percent
- 18-22: 15.1 percent
All these numbers are up from last week’s report between 1 and 3 percent.
“Things have to change. It’s a fluid situation,” Murphy added. “I would hope that we can continue to make decisions that keep our students and staff safe, provide a quality education, and as Mr. Hill will explain in a moment provide people with options that work best for them and their families.”
Moving Forward
Parents in attendance wanted the school to stay open because a structured environment is potentially safer than potentially being exposed outside elsewhere.
School board member and Union General Hospital (UGH) Chief Nursing Officer Julia Barnett agreed that keeping children in a controlled setting has proven beneficial in the past.
At UGH, they were treating 45 COVID patients between the ages of 23 and 80s. The average age is 58 years old, but the numbers change all the time. 93 percent of the patients at UGH are unvaccinated.
Barnett added that they are seeing more younger people get sick, but for the most part, they are bouncing back more quickly than older patients.
“We could consider not quarantining if they are fully vaccinated. You could consider not quarantining if they have a positive antibody test,” Barnett explained about potentially shrinking the number of quarantined students.
A negative test, however, could allow a potentially positive student or staff member to come back into the system too soon. The initial quarantine for close contacts is five days and depending on the date of the contact, the individual’s viral load might not be detectable by a test yet.
For instance, if the exposure occurred on Friday night and a person was tested on Saturday morning, it’s likely a COVID-19 test wouldn’t register the infection because the viral load is too little. Health officials recommend waiting between three and five days after the exposure to take a COVID-19 test. This way the viral load has a chance to build in one’s system. Symptoms usually develop within three to five as well.
UCS’s also highly recommending masks for its students, but they are not required at this time.
“I don’t think this is going to over real quickly. I hope this spike is,” Hill said. “We’re going to have to be reasonable like Julia said.”
The school’s actively working to determine the best course of action forward. There’s still a chance that at some point every school in Union County could close.
UCS has 165 additional students this year, bringing the total to 3,365. 168 students are COVID-19 positive.
Virtual Learning
A lot of parents have requested an online option for the school year, but as Principal Hussion told the room, “It can’t be what it was before.” Some children didn’t participate at all, and Union County teachers were instructing in person and online students. Not all teachers will be able to pull double duty without a virtual learning day for everyone.
Last year, Union County teachers had a Friday to develop materials for their online learners, but this year students and in-person five days a week.
“What you’ve talked about doing just to make it clear is to have an afterschool, kinda an afternoon option that will not be a burden on the teachers, unless they want to do that,” Barnett stated.
Hill confirmed that is what has been discussed, but nothing’s been finalized.
COVID-19 cases among children in Union County
News August 23, 2021
BLAIRSVILLE, Ga – As the Delta Variant spreads in Union County and Georgia, confirmed cases in children continue to outpace previous COVID-19 strains.
On August 12, Union County reported a total of 245 confirmed cases in the 0 to 22 age group. One week later, the Department of Public Health recorded 21 new cases for the age range. For comparison, the case change from the August 6 report to August 13 was nine.
Union County from July 31 to August 13 documented 59 new cases total and has recorded 2,361 cases since last year.
The Delta Variant is highly contagious. Health professionals have compared its transmission rate to chickenpox spread. The number of COVID-19 cases in children jumped over 1,100 percent when Delta hit Georgia.
“In a completely unmitigated environment—where no one is vaccinated or wearing masks—it’s estimated that the average person infected with the original coronavirus strain will infect 2.5 other people,” Dr. F. Perry Wilson, a Yale Medicine epidemiologist, says. “In the same environment, Delta would spread from one person to maybe 3.5 or 4 other people.”
Several schools started back at the beginning of August, and the virus spread is evident. Union County Primary had to close its building for this week because too many teachers were out sick. UCS 2021-2022 school year started on August 12. The previous week Towns County Elementary closed for the same reason too many ill staff.
The Department of Public Health (DPH) keeps track of COVID-19 in children and release school-age data each week. A breakdown of Union County’s 14-day case rate for children indicated significant increases in the school-age group.
8/12 Union County Case Report
- 0-4 – 1 case
- 5-17 – 9 cases
- 18-22 – 3 cases
- 23+ – 73 cases
8/20 Union County Case Report
- 0-4 – 5 cases (+4)
- 5-17 – 17 cases (+8)
- 18-22 – 8 cases (+5)
- 23+ – 115 cases (+42)
While DPH doesn’t provide a county-by-county breakdown of hospitalizations, it includes statewide data on the topics. These reports come out every week and cover two weeks of data.
DPH COVID-19 in Children graph
Emergency room visits related to COVID-19 in children are spiking along with respiratory-related visits. However, hospitalizations appear to have taken a turn downward in most age groups.
Statewide the 5-17 age range is facing the most significant spike in the school-age report. When broken down, 5-10 and 14-17 are experiencing a laboratory higher case rate than 11-13. It’s unclear why from the information provided by the DPH.
Union County Schools COVID-19 Procedures
Union County Schools have procedures regarding positive cases, close contact, quarantine, isolation, and seating charts to try and keep its students safe.
A close contact student, who’s within three feet of a positive case, must quarantine for five days.
Positive students must quarantine for ten days and may return to school after symptoms end or 24 hours without a fever or fever-reducing medicine.
None of these students can participate in extracurricular, after-hours, or athletic activities.
Potentially exposed employees can still work under the essential worker status. If they exhibit any COVID-19 related symptoms, they must inform their supervisor, and essential worker status will be revoked. These individuals must quarantine for ten days from the onset of symptoms.
For the time being, the parents can decide on the necessity of a mask. On Friday, August 20, Assistant Superintendent Dr. David Murphy told FYN that a mask mandate is a “diametrically opposed issue. Families have determined what they feel is best for them. We believe that wearing a mask is the parent/student’s right to choose.”
Additionally, Murphy explained the elementary, middle, high, and Woody Gap Schools aren’t experiencing the same staff absenteeism as the primary school.
COVID-19 K-12 breakdown from DPH
The Primary had nearly four times the percentage of teachers absent than its closest school by comparison. They simply didn’t have enough staff to operate the building effectively.
Pfizer vaccine was fully approved for individuals who are 16 and older on Monday, August 23. Children 12 and older can also receive a vaccine under emergency use authorization.
Children younger than 12 haven’t been cleared to take the vaccine yet. It’s currently undergoing testing.
Donaldson and Womack selected as new UCS principals
Community, News, Panther's Corner March 23, 2021
BLAIRSVILLE, Ga – Union County Middle School and Primary School officially have new principals, Pat Donaldson and Shane Womack.
“We are blessed to have amazing talent in the Union County School District. Therefore, we chose to open the two principal positions to internal applicants only. As a result, four individuals who met the posting requirements applied for the positions. We conducted team interviews with four district-level interviewers and one external interviewer,” Assistant Superintendent David Murphy stated.
Womack and Donaldson were both internal hires by the school system.
Pat Donaldson is replacing a retiring Gwen Stafford at the middle school.
New middle school principal Pat Donaldson and outgoing principal Gwen Stafford
Donaldson’s highly qualified for the position spending 21 years in education and 8 in administration. Her most recent role was assistant principal at Union County High School. Previously she was the alternative school administrator and a math teacher at the middle and high school.
She graduated from University of North Georgia with a bachelor’s in mathematics, then earned her master’s degree in school counseling from the University of West Alabama and her specialist degree in leadership from Kennesaw State University.
Shane Womack is taking over for a retiring Millie Owenby at the primary school.
Womack was previously the middle school assistant principal and has 18 years of experience in education and 9 in administration. Before then, he worked as a high school science teacher, eighth grade history teacher, and part-time administration. Womack also spent 8 years as a fleet marine force corpsman.
Albany State University conferred Womack with educational leadership and administration specialist degree and a master’s of education in educational leadership and administration.
Outgoing primary principal Millie Owenby and incoming principal Shane Womack
Dr. Murphy spoke about the hiring process and those involved, “Prior to the interviews, Dr. Davenport and I held Zoom meetings with each School Governance Team for the Primary and Middle Schools. We asked the SGTs in both meetings for input into the characteristics and qualities they felt were important within their respective schools. Although it would be near impossible for any candidate to meet every aspect presented by each school’s SGT, each candidate aligned with numerous aspects of those conversations. We then used both the SGTs’ input and the interview process to determine what we felt was the best fit for each principal position. I will be the first to admit these were tough decisions as each candidate was extremely qualified.”
Mask or no mask debate erupts during Union board of education meeting
News February 17, 2021
BLAIRSVILLE, Ga – Union County Schools (UCS) instituted a mask mandate at the beginning of the year to slow the spread of COVID-19. Now some are wondering if it’s time to remove the measure.
After Christmas, UCS experienced a dangerous spike in cases that almost resulted in the school closing, and after starting the mask mandate, numbers came down. Previously, the school just recommended face coverings for students.
Every time UCS went on break, they saw a spike in COVID-19 cases upon returning. At the meeting in January, board member Julia Barnett discussed how schools are a controlled environment, and it’s easier to contract trace when children are in school. The contained environment limits exposure to unknown elements and potential virus carriers.
However, some parents want to end the mandate, even starting a Facebook group on the issue. Superintendent John Hill referred to those criticizing him on social media as his “fan club.” He made it clear he’s there to take care of the students and staff at UCS.
Superintendent John Hill
The majority of UCS leadership supported continuing the mandate because no one can predict the future. The school must consider its immunocompromised faculty and students.
“It’s obvious what we’ve done is working,” High School Principal C.T. Hussion stated. “I know people don’t like to wear them. I don’t…but it works.”
Elementary School Principal Jerry Bavero spoke about watching his staff become sick with the virus.
“One I was really, really concerned about and ended up in the hospital down in Atlanta and thankfully came back still hasn’t made it back full time,” Bavero explained. “If what we all have to deal with for the next 60 odd days is [wearing a mask], I think we’ll all be better for it.”
Woody Gap Principal Carol Knight voiced the immunocompromised faculty’s feelings who feel more comfortable working with a face covering requirement in place. A mask mandate affords those with preexisting conditions increased protection against COVID-19.
According to the data, UCS possessed a relatively flat curve compared to Pioneer RESA and state data; it’s faring better than other school districts. Assistant Superintendent Dr. David Murphy thought Union County was the only school system in Pioneer RESA with a mandate.
Union County’s the yellow line, and it’s significantly lower than the state and Pioneer RESA lines.
“Us compared to other school districts, we’ve made it further than anyone had expected and to see how successful we have been at this point, with no more information that’s out there. I wouldn’t want to change anything now,” Board member Keith Potts commented.
Board member Jana Akins wanted to know how many kids were out of school because of the face covering requirement. Hill explained that they didn’t know. In January, they allowed students to participate in online and in person learning without having to choose. A child could be in person one day and online the next, depending on preference.
Now that the COVID-19 cases are under control, UCS’s returning to an in person or online only policy at the beginning of the next nine weeks. Parents must decide by Friday, February 19 at 7 p.m. They can find the form on the school’s website.
A Different Perspective
One board member played “devil’s advocate” concerning the mandate, Chair Tony Hunter, who views the science as incomplete, and they’re “stumbling through as best [they can].”
He was adamant that immunocompromised teachers have his full support in asking students and others to wear masks in their presence.
Hunter’s hesitant to recommend a mandate with so many unknowns.
“I don’t like being told what I can or can’t do in the land of the free and home of the brave,” Hunter commented.
When discussing why he chooses to wear a mask in public, he explained, “I would hate to know I have a hand in the demise of anyone.”
Board Chair Tony Hunter
Hunter presented the idea of allowing teachers to decide if they wanted students to wear a mask during classes or not. He added that giving children a choice provides UCS with a chance to teach them compassion.
A bus driver stated the mask issue appeared to come from the parents, not the children. In his experience, the students didn’t complain about wearing a mask and cared about protecting others. He once explained to a little girl why she needed to wear one, and now she wears it every day.
Barnett spoke out, “I wish what Tony [Hunter] was saying could work, but I think it’s very confusing for students.”
Assistant Superintendent Paula Davenport offered that the face covering mandate helps to prepare students for the workplace. Most businesses require employees to wear a mask, and if the school doesn’t, it presents a possible “double standard.”
Everyone agreed upon the difficulty of the issue. Hunter stated, “let’s keep things as is,” but “to mandate things takes freedom away from an American citizen.”
He also asked everyone to call their state representative and inquire about moving teachers and faculty to the frontline worker list. Currently, teachers don’t qualify for Phase 1A+ vaccine distribution. A facility in Elberton lost its vaccine eligibility for providing a teacher with a vaccine. Teachers will be included in the next phase.
At the primary school, the students have mask breaks. School leadership and the board are considering how to incorporate mask-free time at all schools.
Board member Patrick White wanted teachers to check on children with glasses and make sure they can accomplish their work.
At the end of the discussion, Superintendent Hill asked the principals to go back to their teachers and discuss face coverings before making a decision.
Healthcare science wing dedicated to Avis Shaw
Board of Education, Community January 26, 2021
BLAIRSVILLE, Ga – Union County Schools dedicated the healthcare science wing to former nurse and school staple Avis Shaw.
“In years gone by there were not as many opportunities to go to doctors and specialists and Mrs. Shaw was the first line,” Dr. Paula Davenport stated. “There are a lot of people who care about other people, but it takes a special person to care not only about that person, but their wellbeing.”
New board member Julia Barnett called Shaw one of her “heroes” and commented how the retired nurse could relate to everyone. A non-judgmental, caring, and smart individual who wanted to teach children how to care for themselves.
L to R: Sandra Hatfield, Avis Shaw, Julia Barnett. Photo courtesy of UCS
Shaw worked for the health department for 30 years until retiring, but then went on to work for the nursing home for 11 years. Union County Nursing Home staff refer to Shaw as “Florence Nightingale.”
“I am humbled,” Shaw said. “Nursing has been my life. I’ve loved every minute of it. I think I’ve worked 51 years. I could have worked longer, but I probably wasn’t able to walk.”
She went on to pay tribute to teachers and the impact they’ve had on her life including her principal. He pointed her on the path to achieving her nursing dream. He helped her into Georgia Baptist College of Nursing at Mercer University where students could work their way through the program.
“Out of all the teachers I had, I only had one that was bad. All the rest of them made up for that,” Shaw recalled. “It’s been a wonderful life, and I have enjoyed it. It has been a blessing.”
Shaw and her family moved to Blairsville after eliminating Alaska as their other option. She worked at the hospital for $400 a month for 11 years and learned a lot while she was there.
The maintenance, technology, and special education department received special recognition for all of their efforts.
Maintenance handles a range of projects every day and often, no one has any idea about their responsibilities or accomplishments from food delivery to fixing a roof.
Image of the Avis Shaw Healthcare Science wing courtesy of UCS.
The special education department is a model district for the state with several families choosing Union County because of the department.
The technology department made online learning for Union County possible by thinking ahead and planning for the pandemic. They had every child a Chromebook within 24 hours and prepared wi-fi hotspots.
“These folks are very much the unsung heroes of why we’re successful,” Superintendent John Hill added.
Tony Hunter will continue being the board chair for 2021, and Patrick White will continue as the vice-chair for another year.
UCS issues temporary mask mandate, suspends games for one week
News, Panther's Corner January 5, 2021
BLAIRSVILLE, Ga – Given the sharp increase in COVID-19 cases, Union County Board of Education moved to heighten virus precautions in the classroom with a mask mandate.
Students returned to class today, January 5, from winter break. Previously, the school encouraged masks but didn’t require face coverings for students. Now all students and teachers must wear a mask except for eating or drinking. Children with medical excuses will receive appropriate accommodations, such as a face shield.
Students exposed to COVID-19 must quarantine for 14 days, and those not following the COVID-19 protocols will be sent home. The school enhanced social distancing and meal mitigations when possible.
Additionally, the nine-week requirement for online learning was suspended until case numbers go back down. If a parent or guardian doesn’t feel comfortable sending their child to school, they can participate in online learning until a parent deems it safe. Parents and guardians against the mask policy were asked to keep their child at home until the old policies are reinstated.
The data following the black vertical line depicts the recent rise in quarantines and confirmed COVID-19 cases in the school. The orange dotted line = student quarantines. The red line = student positives. The black dotted line = staff quarantine. The black line = staff positives.
The board decided to cancel athletic events for the week of January 4 to 9. Practices will still take place. Each week the athletic department will decide the game schedule and cancellations. Once games resume, attendance will be limited with a mask requirement in place for fans. The school’s looking into livestreaming events.
Board members agreed that face-to-face instruction must continue until it’s no longer feasible for the system. The current UCS update placed 30 staff in quarantine or positive for COVID-19. If the situation doesn’t improve, the district could move to online-only learning.
Newest board member and Union General Hospital Chief Nursing Officer Julia Barnett stated that she views schools as a controlled environment. By keeping children in schools, it’s easier to manage their environments and contact trace.
Several schools districts in the Pioneer RESA opted to go online only for the foreseeable future, including Rabun, Banks, Gainesville, Hall Hart, Lumpkin, Madison, and White. Pickens County announced its decision to close for another week yesterday.
Union County discussed canceling games with schools that were online only but allowing athletic activities, citing that if the district is too sick to attend in-person classes, then should they be traveling to play sports.
UCS online learning day on December 1
Community, Panther's Corner November 30, 2020
The higher elevations in Murray, Gilmer, and Fannin can expect up to two inches of snow. Everywhere else might see a half an inch.
Drivers should use caution slippery road conditions are expected with potentially hazardous conditions this evening and tomorrow morning.
UCS moves to online learning ahead of Hurricane Zeta
News October 28, 2020
BLAIRSVILLE, Ga – Union County Schools will move to online learning on Thursday, October 29 in anticipation of Hurricane Zeta.
In a statement from the school, it read as follows:
The National Weather Service (NWS) out of Peachtree City has issued a flash flood watch which will be in effect until 9 p.m. on Thursday. A tropical storm warning was issued on Wednesday, October 28 at 11:04 a.m. Winds could reach anywhere between 25 to 35 mph with gusts to 50 mph.
From the NWS:
– “POTENTIAL IMPACTS: Limited – Damage to porches, awnings, carports, sheds, and unanchored mobile homes. Unsecured lightweight objects blown about. – Many large tree limbs broken off. A few trees snapped or uprooted, but with greater numbers in places where trees are shallow rooted. Some fences and roadway signs blown over. – A few roads impassable from debris, particularly within urban or heavily wooded places. Hazardous driving conditions on bridges and other elevated roadways. – Scattered power and communications outages.”
North Georgia Technical College is also closed on October 29.
2 positive students and 4 staff COVID-19 cases at UCS
Community, News, Panther's Corner August 14, 2020BLAIRSVILLE, Ga – Union County Schools (UCS) released coronavirus, COVID-19 numbers on Friday, August 14. Currently, two students and four staff members have positive cases.
27 students and 17 staff members are currently under quarantine for possible exposure.
Students and faculty return to in-person instruction on August 17, and the students and faculty under quarantine or with positive cases won’t be in attendance. According to school policy, only those who test negative for COVID-19 can attend in-person class.
According to the school’s policy, anyone who tests positive can’t return for “at least 10 days following the onset of COVID-19 symptoms or receiving a positive test result AND be fever-free for at least 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medication AND have an improvement in respiratory symptoms.”
Quarantined individuals must stay home for at least 14 days even if symptom-free. If they develop symptoms, the quarantine may be extended from symptoms onset. Also, students with a confirmed diagnosis in the home will be quarantined an additional 14-days from when the family’s quarantine time ends.
If hospitalized or severely immunocompromised from the virus, students must stay home “at least 20 days since symptoms first appeared AND be fever-free for at least 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medications AND have an improvement in respiratory symptoms.”
While quarantining from home, students can participate in the online learning program.
UCS will be providing a weekly COVID-19 update concerning positive cases and possible exposures. These updates aren’t meant to alarm but provide public information.
Face masks are highly recommended for all students and will be available to students and faculty on campus. Students will be required to wear face masks during class changes, school nurse visits, and safety drills.
Each week the school buildings will be deep-cleaned over a three day period.
To review UCS’s reopening plan, follow the link, here.
As for closure, UCS is following Georgia’s Department of Education (GaDOE) District Decision Tree.
L4GA grant brings literacy to all local children
Board of Education, Community, Panther's Corner July 29, 2020
BLAIRSVILLE, Ga – The Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE) awarded Union County School System (UCS) $3.2 million over five years to advance literacy efforts.
Assistant Superintendent Dr. Paula Davenport was instrumental in UCS receiving the L4GA grant.
As a recipient of the Literacy for Learning, Living, and Leading in Georgia (L4GA) grant, UCS will focus on creating plans for children from birth to 12th grade. Additionally, the school will partner with the community to effectively reach all local children.
UCS was at the top of the list to receive the grant, according to Assistant Superintendent Dr. Paula Davenport.
GaDOE considers “the poverty level of a community, the percentage of students reading below grade level, the recent rate of growth in the number of students reading above grade level, and whether a school is identified for support from the Department of Education’s School Improvement team.”
From a GaDOE release on the program:
“Introduced in 2016, L4GA is a unique approach to improving literacy that pairs community-driven action with research-proven instruction. In its first round, funded by a federal Striving Readers grant of $61.5 million, 38 school districts partnered with early learning and care providers as well as community organizations to implement community efforts and improve classroom instruction. By working together, schools, early learning providers and caretakers, and community leaders are moving the needle on literacy – in 2019, third-grade students showed significant gains in English Language Arts and grade-level reading.”
UCS has developed a slogan for the program “literacy is for everyone” or “LIFE” for short. Assistant Superintendent Dr. Davenport explained the school will develop tailored programs to meet each child’s interest from digital books to picture books and graphic novels.
“Whatever it takes to get a child to read,” she added.
Davenport also spoke about how literacy is more than just reading; it’s drawing, listening, and writing. Each area of focus will help children gain a holistic understanding and appreciation of literacy.
The public library, daycare programs, families, and businesses will play an essential role in granting greater access to materials. For instance, parents will be encouraged to read bedtime stories to their children.
With the first planning meeting this week, the initial implementation of the L4GA program will probably be adaptable due to COVID-19. The first year might become more digital to protect the health of everyone involved.
UCS students have scored highly in literacy in the past, but low in writing. Davenport hopes the holistic approach of the L4GA program will lead to an improvement in writing scores as well. Typically, the school uses Milestone test scores to judge students’ abilities, but currently, the most recent data is from 2018-2019. Georgia canceled the Milestone tests for 2019-2020 and could do the same in 2020-2021 because of COVID-19.
L4GA brings together the entire community to support the whole child.
Teams from the Georgia Institute of Technology and Georgia State University will be collecting data from L4GA districts to document positive practices and gauge the overall impact of the L4GA Project.
A total of 23 schools received the grant for 2019. The award total was $22,101,554.
L4GA 2019 Grantees: Burke County Schools, Butts County Schools, Charlton County Schools, Clayton County Schools, Cook County Schools, Elbert County Schools, GaDOE State Schools, Glascock County Schools, Grady County Schools, Haralson County Schools, Lanier County Schools, Liberty County Schools, Newton County Schools, Paulding County Schools, Pike County Schools, Pulaski County Schools, Rockdale County Schools, Terrell County Schools, Toombs County Schools, Treutlen County Schools, Troup County Schools, Union County Schools, Vidalia City Schools.
“School districts selected for the first round of L4GA funding made great strides in student literacy learning,” State School Superintendent Richard Woods said. “I’m eager to see the progress made by our new grant recipients in the coming years. Making sure students are reading on grade-level remains mission-critical, top-priority work for the Georgia Department of Education, and we continue to seek all possible opportunities to support that work at the school and district level.”
Union County Schools gearing up for students’ return
Board of Education, News, Panther's Corner June 17, 2020
BLAIRSVILLE, Ga – Union County School System’s (UCS) exploring options for the 2020-2021 school year, so students and faculty can safely return to class – either in the building or online.
A more developed plan will be presented to the board of education in July pertaining to the school calendar and remote classroom possibilities for UCS students.
“We want to propose some calendar changes to you. However, we don’t want to lose any student days, and we don’t want to lose any teacher days. They’re just calendar changes,” Assistant Superintendent David Murphy explained.
For instance, the days leading up to Thanksgiving Break could become online learning days. The extra time at home would provide the custodial staff with additional time to sanitize the schools.
A socially distanced Pledge of Allegiance.
Murphy expanded on anticipated calendar changes, “Pretty much every month we have a long weekend built in different things. If we do an online learning day before or teacher workday and having that be done at home, that allows us a long weekend to re-sanitize the buildings. This allows us to deep clean the buildings once a month.”
On these long student weekends, the teachers could work from home as well. Since COVID-19, teachers proved that they could complete their job requirements outside of the school.
Board member Cynthia Odom asked how many days the custodial staff would need to “deep clean” the school. Two to three days would be ideal with hopefully only one day needed for off-site learning or workdays.
Facilities Director Patton confirmed that all the buildings are undergoing thorough summer cleaning, including deep stripping all the wax, shampooing the carpet, and sanitizing buses. All these efforts were done in-house too. UCS installed hand sanitizer dispensers in the buses for students to use.
Additionally, facilities held meetings about adding UV-lights to every classroom to detect and prevent COVID-19. Mobile UV lights spend eight minutes in a room to sanitize it. They’re also looking into placing iconic rods and UV lights in the air hangers to clean the air.
“We really need to have some clearer information as to what will be taking place,” added Murphy. “Governor’s orders keep changing, lightening the load. There’s a possibility of a resurgence. We don’t know but we would like to wait until July so that we have some more information under review.”
Online Classroom Option
Superintendent John Hill addressed the necessity of having an online classroom option for medically fragile students. UCS will send out a survey in the near future for parents, guardians, and students to fill out to gather interest and determine best practices.
“Normally, we would be real deep in scheduling at this point in time,” said Hill. “We’re kind of having to wait a little bit, our principles are, until we have hard numbers from our people that we serve here in the community. We need to hear from the people that we’re here to serve, what do you want? So, we’re committed to providing a solid option to those parents who want that option, and we’re hoping, praying, planning on a brick and mortar reopening. That is a huge asterisk disclaimer depending on the current situation.”
Superintendent John Hill stressed the importance of parental input for the next school year.
The survey will be released over email, social media, and the school’s website within the next 10 days.
“We’re here to serve the kids and will do what we have to, to serve our students,” Hill closed. “It’s really important we get participation in that survey, so we know how to allocate our services.”
Spending Resolution
The board also passed a spending resolution for July and August 2020 because UCS is waiting on the state to make its final decision concerning budget cuts. UCS hasn’t passed a new budget, and a resolution is necessary to pay the bills. Once passed, the school system can spend a twelfth of the expenditure budget for those months.
“I would like to tell the board that, of course, our goal during this time is to be as lean as possible and keep our expenditures as low as possible. With the uncertainty with the state budget cuts that our heading our way, one-twelfth is the max, but our goal is to come in as low as we can every month until we pass our budget,” Hill explained.
Decision yet to be made concerning 2020 UCHS and Woody Gap graduation
Board of Education, Community April 21, 2020
BLAIRSVILLE, Ga – During the April 2020 board of education meeting, Superintendent John Hill revealed that Union County High School and Woody Gap principals and graduation committees would prefer to wait until closer to May 22 before finalizing 2020 commencement ceremonies.
COVID-19 outbreak has resulted in school districts across the state thinking outside the box regarding graduation.
“No decision has been made at this time concerning graduation,” said Hill. “Mr. Hussion and Mrs. Knight, along with their graduation committees, have held multiple meetings to discuss all options available to our students – the graduates, the class of 2020.”
Hill affirmed his and the committees’ belief that the correct thing to do is to create several ceremony options, but not decide until closer to graduation.
Some North Georgia school districts have announced commencement plans already. Towns County has pushed the date out until July 31 while White County plans to host a drive-in ceremony on May 22.
“As we have seen over the past few weeks, our situation is very fluid, and it’s changing almost on a daily basis,” explained the superintendent.
The committees will have several graduation ceremony possibilities prepared and make a choice based on the state and federal guidelines in place in May.
“Be patient with us, know that we’re working on this diligently,” Hill stated. “We’re monitoring the situation, and folks are doing a lot of work in the background to prepare for whatever situation [that] we’re in come graduation time. One thing you can be sure of, it’ll be the best decision we can make for these kids to have a fantastic graduation.”
Hill also took the time to thank everyone in the Union County School system and how they came together during the COVID-19 pandemic to serve their students.
The board met via Zoom for the April 2020 meeting.
“You are serving as a board member, in my humble opinion, the premier school district in Georgia. I take this one to the bank. Our employees have led the way for our nation in how this should happen, and how folks should take care of each other and make sure all students are taken care of. It’s been a great success,” declared Hill.
UCS Nutrition Department has prepared meals for children in Union County since Gov. Kemp first closed schools, and the UCS police department, Transportation, and other faculty also aided in delivering meals to those in need. Currently, the school is delivering around 20,000 meals a week.
Teachers, paraprofessionals, special educators, speech-language pathologists, and more have all learned how to navigate virtual learning as well as making themselves available at any time of day to ensure “success for all students.”