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Parents soured on sweets in schools The reward for being good in several county elementary classrooms is sweet – as in candy. But, the proliferation of candy in the classrooms is striking a sour note with several parents. Jennifer Smith, a kindergarten parent at Holly Springs Elementary, has taught school, in Cherokee County and later in Fulton County, for 12 years. She has also taught early childhood education classes at Appalachian Tech. On Aug. 21, she addressed the Cherokee County school board, pointing out to them how much candy was being used throughout the system to encourage good behavior. Using the search engine on the school system Web site, Smith explained, one can generate pages of hits that direct the user to school supply lists requesting candy. Smith said she had no idea she would stumble across such a problem in her neighborhood school. Eager to be involved as her daughter started kindergarten this year, for the first time, Smith decided to take a year off and stay at home. She also has a younger child. Smith said her daughter loves school, and both she and her daughter are thrilled with her daughter’s teacher. She volunteered to be room mother. However, after about a week of school, Smith realized that there was one facet regarding her daughter’s new school experience that was unacceptable. “I got the first hint on my child’s supply list, where it said ‘a bag of candy,’” she said. “I figured it must be used for the Friday ‘treasure box.’” “The first day my daughter got off the bus, there was candy. The next day, there was more candy, and her specials teacher had given her a lollipop,” Smith said. “My daughter loves school, and is well behaved in that situation, so she’s going to be on green (on a traffic-light behavior system) every day.” Smith called the child’s teacher and asked if the children couldn’t be given stickers. The teacher, Smith said, was more than happy to give her daughter a sticker but said that candy would still be used as a part of the classroom reward process and that it was used school-wide. Smith said she’s not a fanatic and she loves to bake. “My children get desserts,” she said. “Before this, my child had candy three times a year – Valentine’s Day, Easter and Halloween.” Smith said in her classroom, she had a toothbrush and toothpaste on the supply list, so that students could brush after lunch. She said candy appeared in her classroom, but only rarely. “I don’t want her coming home every day with candy, but I don’t want her singled out, either. She’s 5. She likes candy,” Smith said. She pointed out to the school board that the nation is struggling with obese children and a marked increase in childhood diabetes. Smith also expressed her concerns about liability issues that might fall back on taxpayers. “The homeroom teachers know where there are peanut and milk allergies, or sensitivities to dyes, but often the specials teachers and the substitute teachers don’t,” she said. Before addressing the school board, Smith e-mailed Holly Springs Principal Jonathan Hall. “My child's former school, like many schools, does not allow candy at all,” she wrote. “Instead, they use praise/hugs and stress the value of intrinsic reward. If a school feels that they want to give a reward to students, why not extra computer time, extra recess, teacher helper, free choice, extra reading time, stand up and do a celebration dance, etc. …. At the very least, how about stickers or stamps? “Besides tooth decay, rewarding with candy can set up a life-long habit of rewarding oneself with something ‘bad for you’ after a job well-done, whether it is candy or something else,” she continued. “Also, a child will come to expect a reward for anything well-done at school or at home, and the reward of choice will probably be candy.” When contacted by the Ledger-News Aug. 27, Hall said candy is not used on a daily basis at Holly Springs but as a part of a rewards system for good behavior. “We use a wide variety of positive reinforcement,” Hall said. “That includes hugs, high-fives, stickers and stamps. “ Hall said a lot of positive reinforcement is used at the beginning of the school year, and teachers pull back to more intrinsic rewards as the year goes on. “We have to get the kids back into the routine,” he said. “A single Starburst has 15 calories, a gram or two of fat. I’ve looked at the nutritional value of Smarties. A piece of candy’s not what is making students obese.” However, many dentists disagree about the harmlessness of candy. “It’s going to make them have rampant cavities,” said Daren Becker, DMD, a dentist in Sandy Springs. “The repetitive intake of sugar in young kids leads to more cavities later on. The more cavities they have in their baby teeth, the more they’ll have in their adult teeth.” Becker said candy should be handled by parents, not given out at school. “If you start rewarding kids with candy, then they’ll only do things for a reward. Kids don’t brush well. The more prevention you do, the less expense there is.” Edurne Chopeitia, a psychologist, is another kindergarten mother at Holly Springs. “He’s been on green every day and brought home candy every day for the first week and a half,” she said, adding that she is trying to teach her son to choose an inedible treat, “but he feels weird about it.” “He giggled and asked me, ‘Why am I getting so much candy?’” Chopeitia said. “Now he is trying to bribe us for things. I am very disappointed. Food should never be associated with good or bad behavior.” Another Holly Springs parent, Yvette Steinkritz, said her daughter was getting candy even when she was not on green, and it’s coming home at least four times a week and can be gotten twice a day. “They can get it from specials teachers as well,” she said. “It’s causing fights in the car because her little brother doesn’t have any.” Steinkritz said her daughter set up a stoplight system at home the other day, asking to be paid money. Fourth-grade Holly Springs parent Fricia Oksana said it.s her job to teach her son to make choices. “My son was always taught that candy makes him hyper and it is not good for him,”she said. “When he was going to the treasure box, he would pick up a pencil or sticker – it does not matter what other kids pick – make your own good choice. I am pretty sure maybe sometimes he picked up a candy. It is all about the choices in life. And we live in a free country. We have a choice.” On the day after the school board meeting, School Superintendent Dr. Frank Petruzielo said he immediately corresponded with principals asking them to take non-nutritive items off the school supply list. “We were unaware candy had slipped onto the supply list,’ Petruzielo said. “There will always be little incentives used, but I don’t know that we have a daily candy situation.” Petruzielo said dictating what kind of rewards are used might be micromanaging the classroom. “Obesity and diabetes can’t be laid at the steps of the public school system,” he said. Petruzielo said the school district already had done a lot for nutrition in its breakfast and lunch program. The district has no policy on candy. The district wellness policy states, “It is the intent of the Board that the district shall teach, encourage and support healthy eating by students. Schools shall provide nutrition education consistent with federal and state requirements and engage in nutrition promotion aimed at attainment of goals as described in guidelines established for these purposes ....” Communications Director Whitney Wright with the nutrition division of the state Department of Education, said using candy rewards would conflict with the nutrition education materials the state supplies local school systems, but it is not the state’s policy to comment on a local issue. Nancy Rice, the state DOE nutritionist for Northwest Georgia, said, “We supply nutrition education materials to the media centers. We would be happy to serve as a resource for the school system if they would like to call us.” School board members Janet Read and Debi Radcliff said that until Smith spoke they had no idea candy was on district supply lists. Board member Janet Flint said, “I’m opposed to the use of candy as a motivator or reward in the classroom; simple recognition should be enough. There’s plenty of ways to motivate without using candy.” Flint said she hoped taking candy off the supply list would be enough to send a message. “Certainly principals are speaking with teachers and talking about other ways to reward – we’ll have to see what happens,” Flint added. On the school Web site, many of the candy searches showed that several elementary schools asked for candy on their supply lists.
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Local GOP grills school board Republican Party members and the Cherokee County Board of Education attempted to reopen strained lines of communication and negotiate policy differences at a county Republican Party meeting held Aug. 25 at the Holly Springs Train Depot. All the school board members were elected on the Republican ticket. The face-off between members of the board and the county Republican Party occurred at the invitation of the party. Board of Education Chairwoman Janet Read and board members Rick Steiner, Debi Radcliff and Dr. Gary Puckett attended. Read said board member Mike Chapman had planned to attend but had a medical emergency. Issues that boiled to the top as the board answered questions included methods of school financing, the possible implementation of voucher systems, the political stances of School Board Superintendent Dr. Frank Petruzielo, and what school board members say was limited communication with the board from county elected officials on proposed local legislation. Party members also seemed concerned about the board’s efforts to promote family values in the schools. Board members told party members the district is now in the process of cutting its budget by almost $9 million over the next two years, in order to adjust for the state’s $1.6 billion budget shortfall this year. State Sen. Chip Rogers, R-Woodstock, who was at the meeting, didn’t exactly have reassuring words for school funding. “By the time the Legislature convenes in January, it could be a $2.6 billion shortfall,” Rogers said. “Or, we could grow.” Rogers said he foresees a battle in the Legislature as Gov. Sonny Perdue tries to withhold state Homestead Tax Relief Grant (HTRG) money to counties, cities and school systems and legislators try to keep the money in the budget. (Right: Members of the Cherokee County School Steiner noted that cuts would be eyed in the transportation area and that positions that were vacated may not be filled immediately. Radcliff told the meeting that one school already has been cut out of construction plans because of lowered Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) collections during the last SPLOST period, and she predicted that if current SPLOST collections, used for building new schools, continue to decline, more new schools on the drawing board may be put on the back burner. One party member asked if board members are aware of the bid process and financials during the design and construction of new schools. “We watch the bids closely,” Radcliff said. “We turned down two projects last year, because we thought the bids were excessive. It delayed the projects. We rebid a few months later and saved money. We’re watching the budget – trust me.” Radcliff said booster clubs may have to pick up some of the financial obligations of extracurricular activities for awhile. “You’re won’t see us compromising educational programs,” she said. “We’ve come too far and we don’t want to lose academically.” Puckett noted that only about 20 percent of the budget has the possibility of being trimmed. “We don’t have a lot of fat,” he said. Meeting attendee Dick Hall reminded board members that a straw poll question on the Republican primary ballot asked Cherokee voters whether the school superintendent should be elected or appointed, and noted that voters chose election by a large majority. He said that although he voted for an appointed superintendent, he wondered if Petruzielo should de-politicize some of his commentary. Danny Dukes, a candidate for school board who was defeated in the primary election by Chapman, asked if school board members’ lack of rhetoric on legislative issues means they “endorse Petruzielo’s attack on the Legislature.” Read said that when the school district found the Legislature was to be presented with a possible plan by Rep. Sean Jerguson, R- Holly Springs, on whether to put a vote to freeze property tax assessments for residential property on the ballot with regard to school board taxes, the school board was not consulted for its opinion first. “We were in a reactive, rather than proactive, stance,” she said. “But, you can’t deny Petruzielo’s done an excellent job as superintendent.” At the time the situation came up, Read did write a letter to the governor, and the school board unanimously passed a resolution that the residential freeze legislation not be introduced. Radcliff agreed, saying the school board should have been more vocal in its opposition to Jerguson’s proposal. Puckett said the school board hired Petruzielo to be a representative for the board. “ “He’s a leader,” he said. “He should not be censored, because he represents us.” Read told those at the meeting that an appointed superintendent was preferable to an elected one, because, when hiring someone as a superintendent, the board had the ability to search nationwide for an educator with credentials, and that was preferable to a locally elected superintendent with a political agenda. “An elected superintendent would spend half his time trying to get re-elected,” Puckett said. “Also, the board, which is elected, couldn’t rein in a superintendent if he was elected, because he could bypass the board and say, this is what the people want.” Radcliff noted that, up until a dozen years ago, the county did elect a superintendent. “Ten years ago, we were on probation,” she said, noting that it was a former board member’s actions that put the district in that position. “As a board member, I can honestly say I need to step up (as far as speaking out),” she said. “But, remember, we have a very smart superintendent. Look how far we’ve come.” Read wondered if the straw poll ballot question was included in reference to Petruzielo, but past county Republican Chairman Sheila Auffrey said, no, it was included because state legislation to that effect has been introduced without success for a few years. Puckett said a good superintendent should have the backbone to say what he thinks and that he is a representative of the board. “Most of the good things that have been done in the past 10 years have been based on the vision of this superintendent.” Ari Durham asked what the school board was doing to partner with parents. Read said partnership agreements with the PTAs are important key components in getting parents into the schools. “You’re right, it does start at home,” Radcliff said. “But public education is the world. You want to keep your child as close as you can in a little bubble. But they are going to get out there, and you’ve got to be involved and know what’s going on.” When asked about keeping Christian influences in local schools, the board said they were advocates for family values but had to be careful because of federal money and Supreme Court decisions. “If we handed out Gideon Bibles, we might be forced to hand out satanic literature as well,” Puckett said. George Drennen, of Great Sky, asked, “This district is 80 percent Christian. When are you going to say, ‘Go to hell?’” Read replied that “most of us look for a way to avoid a lawsuit.” Drennen replied, “That’s what this community’s come to.” When the board was asked how it felt about school vouchers, Puckett said he felt the program might pull the best and the brightest from public schools. Radcliff said she felt vouchers would result in an elitist system where private schools would admit desirable children and not admit ones with problems or disabilities. “Also, there would be no public accountability for state and federal money,” Radcliff said. Steiner thanked Rogers for attending, noting that he has been an advocate in securing funding for the school system. When asked how he thought the meeting between the school board and the party went, Rogers said he thought there was positive dialogue. “I think the meeting went very well, “ he said. “I will do all I can to continue this open communication. It seems that we all share the common goal of maximizing educational returns while protecting the taxpayers of Cherokee County." Read said she thinks the meeting opened the door with the local delegation of legislators. “The board needs to be a little bit more visible,” she said. “We are all elected Republicans. We need for them to know they can call us and ask us directly when they have questions.” Radcliff said she hopes the meeting has improved relations. “The purpose was to open dialog and bring people up to speed. I wish there had been more people there and more elected officials,” she said.
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Woodstock tables millage rate hike Woodstock residents have yet to see their taxes increase by 11 percent. The Woodstock City Council was set to approve a millage rate increase Aug. 25, but they unanimously tabled the issue instead to try to look at making further budget cuts. Mayor Donnie Henriques and Ward 6 Councilman Steve Faris were not present at the meeting. “That’s the main reason tonight (Aug. 25) we want to put this off two more weeks, because everybody, including the mayor and Mr. Faris, who are not here tonight, is going to go back once again and see if we can find new things that we can cut,” said Ward 5 Councilman Bud Leonard, adding for the last 10 years, the city has been lowering the millage rate. “It’s catching up with us this year.” Residents have questioned whether the tax increase was needed and suggested the council make more cuts, such as personnel to prevent a tax increase. One resident spoke at the millage rate public hearing before the council tabled the issue and asked council members why they were considering the increase, especially when other government entities were lowering their millage rates. “Is it a good time to do it? No, it’s not, but it maintains the city’s services, and we have cut everything else out of the budget we can cut at this point,” said Ward 1 Councilman Randy Brewer. “When you do lower the millage rate year after year, and, I said this two years ago up here, I said we cannot keep doing this year after year,” Brewer said. “We’re going to get caught when the economy turns, but I went along with it … because I felt like it was the right thing to do …. Now, guess what? The economy’s turned.” Henry Bucci, chief financial officer for the city, said if the rate were not increased, the city would have to layoff about 40 employees. “The fact is, there’s a downturn in the economy,” he said. “What we ended up with is that, right now, we have to raise rates if we were to maintain the services that we’ve provided.” The millage rate is 5.880 mills, and the 2008-2009 budget is based on a millage rate of 6.53 mills, which is an increase of .65 mills. One mill is equal to $1 of tax per $1,000 of assessed value, after exemptions. According to data compiled by city officials, the one mill rate increase for a homeowner with a $200,000 home is an added $49 in taxes, bringing the total up to $490. A homeowner with a $100,000 home would pay $23 more in taxes, bringing it up to $229, documents show. In June, the Woodstock City Council unanimously approved the second reading of its 2008-2009 budget, which included several more cuts to lessen the effects of the possible increase in property taxes. Cuts included cutting half of $100,000 for concerts, $103,909 from $189,289 for pension catch-up, $1,276 from $4,276 for a Woodstock Community Center renovation and gazebo, and $65,000 from $373,000 for property and liability insurance savings. After the city’s general fund budget was short about $2 million and the water and sewer fund was short $2 million earlier this year, city officials made cuts and found ways to balance the budget. |
Employees rob Bells Ferry KFC
According to the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office, the assistant manager, Siedah Chavon Detectives with the Cherokee Sheriff’s Office Violent Crime Division began an investigation into the robbery, and within a few hours had determined that the story was a fabrication.
“When the detectives were talking with the alleged victim and listening to her explain how the robbery unfolded, it would have been physically impossible for it to have occurred the way she The stolen money was recovered from the trunk of Chaney’s vehicle. Both women were arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit theft by taking, false report of a crime and theft by taking and are being held in the Cherokee Adult Detention Center on a $23,910 bond.
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Canton opens new park After a day of hard work, Burge Park in Canton was transformed into something new. “On July 24 at seven o’clock in the morning, 125 volunteers, including kids from the ages of 4 to 12, came out and put forth energy through five o’clock in the afternoon in 90-degree temperatures to build this park,” said Nancy Serrand, code enforcement officer/ Playful City USA committee chairperson for the city. “If it weren’t for those kids, this park never would have been finished,” Serrand said. Serrand said the rebuilding of the park was made possible through $5,000 in Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax funds and donations. The park now includes new swings, “This community is amazing. They gave everything,” she said. “They came through with flying colors in an amazing way.” Mayor Gene Hobgood said the city has purchased an older, burnt house that adjoins the property and that land could be used to expand the park in the future. “I anticipate that this park will get lots of use,” he said. “It’s been a long time coming getting this improved, and I think it is really just the beginning.” Councilwoman Pat Tanner said there still are some additions she would like to see made to the park, such as more equipment for toddlers. “It’s a well-used park. It will be well-used,” she said. “I’m very pleased with what I’m seeing and all the hard work and all the volunteers that came to help.” Serrand, who said she eventually would like to see a slide in the park, said she thinks the end result is beautiful. “Because I know how it started and because I know all of the heart that went into it, it means so much more,” she said.
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Mayor’s challenge is rewarded  Woodstock Mayor Donnie Henriques was honored at a recent city council meeting for his Woodstock Mayor’s Challenge that took place from March through May this year and encouraged residents to lose weight. Henriques was presented with a plaque from Pat Snipes, founder of the Vibrant Health Association, and a certificate of appreciation from Melissa Johnson, executive director of the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports. The Mayor’s Challenge was sponsored by Northside Hospital-Cherokee. Pictured are Henriques, Snipes and Snipes’ son, James. |
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103 East Main Street |
Read discussed possible budget trimming measures and said class size waivers are being sought from the state so that classes across the district can average the required student/teacher ratio rather than every single class having to meet it exactly. Read noted the school district has added more than 1,000 students this year, with a 2.5 percent growth rate and a total student population of more than 37,000. Read said fuel prices are a major uncertainty.
The manager and assistant manager of the KFC on Ga. 92 at Bells Ferry Road were arrested and charged with stealing the proceeds from the fast-food restaurant.
The investigation by Detective Pete Turcotte and investigators Daryl Clark, Will Ballard and Patti Garcia revealed that Chaney and store manager Tracie Nillita Chambers (Right), 37, of Austell, made up the story and kept the money for themselves. 
(Right: Canton Mayor Gene Hobgood and City Councilwoman Pat Tanner get into the swing of