Great to be a CC Eagle

 What a great day, no month, to be a Crawford County Eagle!!!!

I am actually typing this on Sunday Evening after my household has gone to bed so if I miss something that has happened, please understand that it is in no way intentional. 

The month of October 2021 has been awesome in Eagle Country.  I don’t really know where to start so I am going to list as many accolades as I can:

Our Middle School Football team has won their first play-off game and will host the MS championship on October 27th at 5:00 vs Greenville. 

Our High School Football team has won their last two football games and a win on November 5th gives them a Play-off berth.

Over the past two weekends our band has competed in two separate competitions and at the first competition, the band won 1st place Drum Major, Percussion, Front Ensemble, Color Guard, and Overall Band for class 1A. Allie Hodges won Judge’s Choice Best Soloist. Then at the second competition, the band won Superior Wind Music, Percussion Music, and Drum Major,  as well as Excellent Wind/Percussion Visual and Visual Ensembles. Emma Hodges won Best In Class A Drum Major and Best Overall Drum Major.

And lastly, but certainly not least, Our Lady Eagles have made it to the Elite 8 tournament in Columbus by handily beating Marion County in round 1 and Portal in round 2 of the GHSA play-offs.  The Lady Eagles are scheduled to play Lanier County on October 28th at 9:00.

#CCEaglesSOAR

Letter to Parents and Guardians

Parents and Guardians of Crawford County Students,

                At 3:45 today, April 1, 2020, I found out that Governor Brian Kemp was going to require schools be closed to in person instruction for the remainder of this school year.   I want to first say to you, please know your kids are going to be OK.  All students in Crawford County Schools will be OK.  We are currently planning on how to get new resources to your children, both electronically and manually, as well as how we are going to start next year with intense remediation, to ensure skills and knowledge that your students may have missed during this disruption.  We will find a way to progress monitor each student early in the school year next year and we will come up with a plan to catch up everyone who needs catching up. We will continue to provide online lessons from teachers and programs, teachers will continue to find ways to reach your children and share those methods with everyone, and we will find a way to get paper packets safely to all children.  Right now there are more questions than answers, but we will work closely with the GA Department of Education, The Governor’s Office of Student Achievement, and other agencies to work through this unprecedented time.  We are in the same boat as every school in the state.  We are better off than some and not as well off as others, but we are ALL (ALL public schools) in the same boat so we will get through it together.

             2020 Seniors, I literally hurt for how your special year has been upturned.  We will be discussing and asking for guidance on how to respectfully close your K-12 education experience. I don’t have the words to tell you how much I hate this is happening, but you will be alright too.  This will be a life lesson in perseverance.  I am certain your teachers and staff will do everything in their power to assist you to make certain you have the credentials to graduate and move forward in your college or career path.  We will be asking you as well as all students to complete assignments and interact with teachers.  This should allow you multiple one on one interactions.

Thanks,

Brent Lowe

Superintendent Crawford County Schools

COVID - 19

On December 8, 1941, President Franklin Roosevelt gave his “Infamy Speech” detailing the events of Pearl Harbor and asking Congress to declare war on the Empire of Japan.  In that speech is a line that has always resonated with me.  That line is: “No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory.”  This speech and the attack on Pearl Harbor marks one of the most noted times in American History.  I lead this blog with that little history lesson to say the following:

No matter what side of the fence you are on about the Corona Virus (COVID-19), the way America or Georgia is reacting to it, the school closures, or the economic impact of all of the above, one thing is for certain, this will be marked as one of the most noted times in history.  History books will tell the story of COVID-19 and I am proud of one thing when this story is told, a group of people will be considered heroes.  This group is the Teachers, School Staffs, Nutrition Staffs, Bus Drivers, and Administrators of the many school systems across our state and our nation.  This group has provided meals to students, disinfected schools, provided daily on line resources to students, sent review guides to students, and provided other resources critical to students even though it’s schools are shut down.  And they will continue throughout the shutdown.  I am so proud of the teachers, staff and administrators in MY school district, Crawford County School District; because of the compassion that each has shown in this uncertainty.  I hold my chest out when I see kids being reached by teachers through a plethora of online and paper resources.  I do not know how long we are going to be at “war” with COVID -19, but no matter how long it may take us to overcome this virus, the students of America, Georgia, and Crawford County will be OK because the teachers, staff and administrators and their righteous calling will not have it any other way.

Keep fighting and, by all means, keep being an awesome staff!

Thank you so much Crawford County!      

         

Brent Lowe

Superintendent

Happy Fall Y’all!

Greetings on this first day of fall from downtown Roberta GA!

I wanted to send out a brief blog today to let everyone know of the exciting things Crawford County has going on in the world of Sports.  This is a very busy week for our Fall Athletic Teams but we have several noteworthy games.

CCMS

CCMS Softball:  The CCMS Lady Eagles play cross river rival Taylor County, for the first round of the middle school play-offs, on Wednesday September 25^th at 4:30.  The Game will be played at the Crawford County Middle School field. Come out and make some noise!

CCMS Football:  The Middle School Eagles travel to Manchester for the final game of the regular season.  A victory will put them in the Play-offs.  Game is at 5:00 in Manchester.

CCHS

CCHS Softball:  The Lady Eagles Varsity Softball Team has two non-region games to start the week, at Mary Persons on Monday the 23^rd and at Peach on Tuesday the 24^th, both games starting at 5:00.  The BIG game for the week is on Thursday September 26^th verses Marion County.  Its Senior night but a victory against Marion has the possibility of moving our Lady Eagles into one of the Top 8 play-off spots which will give us home field advantage.  The game starts at 4:30 on Thursday and we need to pack the stands and the grass hill behind the field.  We want every student in our school there cheering our girls to victory.

CCHS Football:  The home opener and homecoming game will be played Friday September 27^th versus Hawkinsville.  This is an important region game and a packed house will show our boys we believe they will SOAR.  There will be Homecoming Festivities at Half Time and a parade on Thursday the 26^th, so after pulling the Lady Eagles through, please join us for the parade.

CCHS Band:  You don’t want to miss the debut of the new band uniforms.  There is a possibility they will be worn for the homecoming parade on Thursday, but they will definitely be worn during pregame and halftime performances on Friday Night!

I look forward to seeing you at all of our activities!

Good morning Crawford County faithful!  I would like to take a few minutes to update everyone on some things that have being going on this summer and even as far back as last spring in the Crawford County education world.

First of all, let’s talk about strategic planning.  We enlisted GSBA and GLISI to assist in updating our Strategic Plan.  We had a community engagement meeting in February, a planning team meeting in March, and an action team meeting in May to draft a revised Mission, Vision and Belief Statement(s) and to create a strategy map.  After the May meeting, each of the Strategic Goal Area teams met to create an Action Plan for year one with projected Goals out to year five.  At the July 23^rd Board meeting, the Board approved the following:

Mission:

The mission of the Crawford County School System is to provide our students with the opportunity to achieve their maximum potential to be successful members of their community.

Vision:

Crawford County Schools will unite with the community to be EXCELLENT in all we do.

Beliefs: 

We believe…

1.      Every child should have the opportunity to do what he or she wants to do when he/she graduates high school.

2.      Our teachers and staff genuinely care about student success.

3.      Public education can break the cycle of poverty.

4.      Teachers and staff should have the opportunity for professional growth.

5.       Our leaders have a responsibility to foster an environment for learning and growth for students and staff.

6.      Students and staff must feel safe in order for learning to take place.

7.      The relationship between the teacher/student (families) is as important as the lessons being taught.

8.       Partnering with our stakeholders will enhance our educational and economic opportunities.

We also approved a strategy map with the following five Strategic Goal areas:

•        Student Achievement and Success
•       Stakeholder Engagement and Communication
•       Organizational and Operational Excellence
•       Quality Workforce
•      Positive School Culture and Climate

These five goal areas will be the driving force that allows Crawford County Schools to SOAR to EXCELLENCE!

Secondly, I would like to give an update on our building project.  On June 25^th we approved Parrish Construction as the construction manager on our middle/high replacement project.  We had a meeting with Southern A&E, Parrish, and me to start looking at the special requirements for the new building.  We have a rough layout of the design of the school and in the next few weeks I will share this design on both the district website and on this blog.  We have a couple of spaces that have to be adjusted after our meeting.  We are looking at a Fall 2022 grand opening of the building, with a class of 2023 as the first graduating class!  We may also be able to start moving dirt as early as April of 2020.  There is a LOT of planning that still has to be done and we are corresponding daily with the architect and construction manager.  Our Goal is to provide an economical school that the students of Crawford County can be proud to call home.

Parents please, please, please talk with your children about the dangers around vaping. 

We had an incident at our High School on Wednesday where kids took a hit off a Juul, which is a type of vape that is easily hidden from parents and school officials, where two kids had to receive medical care and be transported in an ambulance.  As of Thursday, both students were fine and back at school, but the incident is having to be investigated by the school and by law enforcement.

I am only telling you about our situation to let you know this is not an isolated Crawford County School problem, this is a society problem, and our kids are at danger.  I know for a fact of two additional school districts with specific incidents where the “vape juice” was laced with illegal drugs including synthetic marijuana, phenetole, and LSD.  These drugs are hitting the body and almost instantly causing effects.  Additionally, in all three cases, including ours, they were bought at a vape store by someone 18 years old as a legal transaction.  The point of that last statement is that you need to know that there is no way to know what chemicals are in the vapes that your child is using and this could be a very dangerous game of roulette.

As a school, we are going to continue to crack down on vapes and vape juice, this includes any devise that can be used, including but not limited to a Juul and Juul pods.  I truly hate that this is another distraction from the mission of the schools system, but we will continue to do everything in our power to ensure a safe and secure learning environment for our students.

I received an email from Deborah White, Executive Director of Georgia Association of Curriculum and Instructional Supervisors (GACIS), that outlined most of the educational bills working their way through the Georgia General Assembly.  I have listed them below:

HB 1 renames the special needs scholarship  to Senator Eric Johnson Scholarship Act.  Senator Johnson first got the scholarship passed.  Passed full Education Committee.

HB 12 requires all public schools to post the toll free number to report child abuse. 24 hours per day, seven days a week. Passed full Education Committee

HB 59 by Rep. Dave Belton would allow a student whose parent or guardian is on active duty and has received military orders to transfer into or within Georgia to be eligible to enroll in the local school district before actually establishing residency. Passed the House in the Senate

HB 68 prohibits accreditation association from being eligible to be a student scholarship organization. Passed by the House goes to the Senate

HB 69 waives the prior school year requirement in a public school for students who previously qualified for the Georgia Special Needs Scholarship Program or for student's whose parent is in the military and stationed in Georgia within the previous year.  Passed Education Committee and moved to Rules.

HB 86 allows tenured teachers to file a complaint and appeals on an unsatisfactory performance evaluation.  Passed Academic Achievement Subcommittee

HB 109 makes significant changes in the current Teacher Retirement System for individuals who become TRS members on or after July 1, 2019.  The Bill has undergone several changes. In the current version the mandatory contributions rate would be 6-8.5% and the "Rule of 85" which means the educator's age and years of experience must equal 85 to receive full benefits.  Passed the Retirement Committee 3-2

HB 130- authorizes the Georgia Foundation for Public Education to establish a nonprofit corporation  501c(3) to qualify as a public foundation and receive donations.  Passed House in Senate

HB 301 would establish the Education Savings Account (ESA) to create a private school voucher program. Heard in Ways and Means Committee. 

HB 444 makes changes to the Dual Enrollment Program.  It would cap the number of course credit hours to 30.  Passed Academic Achievement Subcommittee

SB 15  "Keeping Georgia's Schools Safe Act" would address recommendations of the Senate School Safety Study Committee.  Passed the Senate   

SB 48 requiring dyslexia screening for all kindergarten student was heard by the full Senate Education and Youth Committee on Wednesday.  Several students who struggle with dyslexia and parents of students with dyslexia spoke in support of the Bill.  The screening  would include testing expressive and receptive language and providing the results to parents or guardians.  GaDOE shall make available a dyslexia information handbook with guidance, technical assistance and training for implementation of evidence-based practices for teaching identified students.  The information handbook shall include information to address students in kindergarten through third grade who have been identified through RTI as displaying characteristics of dyslexia.  Passed the Senate (last week)

SB 60 to provide guidelines and materials to inform students participating in interscholastic athletic activities their parents or guardians,  and coaches about the nature and warning signs of sudden cardiac arrest and  to establish return to play policies. Passed Senate Education and Youth Committee

SB 64 would make terroristic threats a Class B designated felon under the Juvenile Code. Heard in Senate Judiciary Subcommittee

SB 83 public schools may offer an elective course in 9-12 on the history and literature of the Old Testament. Passed Senate Education and Youth Committee

SB 68 strengthen provisions related to financial management requirements for school districts identified as "high risk." Passed Senate

SB 108 beginning in 2021-2022 school year each school district shall provide at least one high in its system that offers a course in computer science and that all middle schools offer exploratory computer science.  By 2022-2023, at least 50% of high schools must offer a course in computer science.  To be heard at next committee meeting

SB 173  Senate education private school voucher bill.  Passed Senate Finance Committee The House passed the FY20 Budget.  The Budget includes a $2775. salary increase for all certificated educators, including school counselors, media specialists, special education specialist, school social workers, and school psychologists.  These positions were originally to receive only 2%; this will keep all certificated educators on the same salary schedule.