The McDonough-Henry County Advisory Board has been gearing up for the opening of the McDonough-Henry County Boys and Girls Club and held its bi-monthly meeting on October 27 to discuss next steps for the club. 

The McDonough-Henry Boys and Girls Club named its inaugural Advisory Board with Henry County District II Commissioner Dee Clemmons serving as Board Chair. Clemmons was the driving force in bringing The Boys and Girls Club of America to Henry County. Board members also include Connie Baptiste, Henry County Solicitor General Pam Bettis, Attorney Andrea Boyd, State Court Judge David Brown, President/CEO of Boys and Girls Club of Central Georgia Phillip Bryant, Kyana Cannon, Dr. Earlene Crump, Dr. Gloria Dodson, Henry County District Attorney Investigator and Pretrial Diversion Coordinator Latisha Flint, Wayne Jeffries, Samantha Jones, April Madden, State Court Judge Pandora Palmer, Erica Antoinette-Slaton, Cletonya Stidom and Eldridge Walker.

Clemmons said the mission of the McDonough-Henry Boys and Girls Club “is to enable all young people, especially those who need us most, to reach their full potential as productive, caring and responsible citizens.”

Due to the ongoing pandemic the opening date of the club is still yet to be determined. However, the advisory board will continue to meet every two months and is seeking corporate sponsors and partnerships with local volunteer organizations. 2 For more information on the McDonough-Henry Boys and Girls Club, contact Michele Weaver at mweaver@co.henry.ga.us.

Parents can fill out membership applications by visiting https://e6ba0421-5e3f-4623-878ab46702534455.filesusr.com/ugd/f08f02_5de8382dbf0f479fbdbaddfa4e52dde6.pdf

McDonough - Leaders said they are a step closer to improving disciplinary practices in Henry County Schools. The local board of education accepted a recommendation during its meeting Monday to appoint Earlene Crump, principal at Eagle’s Landing Middle, as the district’s first director of discipline and safety. “I’m excited that she will be with us,” said board Chairwoman Pam Nutt. Crump’s appointment was part of actions taken on 11 proposed job descriptions, including an intervention and prevention specialist post within the discipline and safety department.

The newly created department will operate within the district’s administrative services division, headed by Assistant Superintendent Virgil Cole. He led a student disciplinary review committee in 2014 to address concerns, lodged by state Sen. Emanuel Jones (D-Decatur) and many of his constituents, of unfair treatment toward students in the matter of disciplinary policies and practices. Crump was part of that committee. “I think that Dr. Crump is going to be a perfect fit with heading up that department,” said Cole, pointing to her leadership roles at an alternative school, in the military and within the district. He said the discipline and safety director will have several responsibilities such as acting as a liaison and primary contact for the Sheriff’s School Resource Officer Program.

The department will be tasked with gathering and analyzing data, conducting surveys and cultivating positive community relations regarding discipline and safety. 2 “I want that department to reach out to the schools, the community and the students,” said Cole. “I think that’s going to be one of their biggest task.” He expects the department will be “focused like a laser on discipline” but will be equally attentive to school safety and “really being proactive in a way that we haven’t been in the past.” The district’s approved student handbooks may be subject to amendments up until June, with additional recommendations on disciplinary policies. The school board also made appointments Monday to replace two veteran, distinguished administrators retiring this year from their respective schools — Debbie Collins, principal at Hampton Elementary Charter, and Christi Peterman, principal at Locust Grove Elementary. Brian Keefer of the Savannah-Chatham County Public School System will replace Collins. Attenya Scott of Tussahaw Elementary will assume Peterman’s duties.

Board members unanimously approved placing a proposal to rescind Policy JBC School Admissions on the table 30 days for public review and comment. Officials said the policy is effectively a duplicate of Policy JBCA Resident Students as both have evolved over the years to come to their redundant state. The policies describe the board’s proof of residence requirements for enrollment into the district. Members accepted the recommended Workers’ Compensation Panel of Physicians for 2015-16, which remains unchanged from this year’s panel. The board also approved price hikes for paid school lunches. 3 School Nutrition Director Judith Hogg proposed the body approve increasing paid-lunch prices to $2.20 for students in grades K-5 and to $2.30 for those in grades 6-12. The proffer asked that adults pay $3 and visitors $3.25 per meal in 2015-16. The increases are 10-cents for primary and secondary-level students and 25-cents for adults and visitors, in line with recommendations from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National School Lunch Program. The USDA directives to public school lunch programs are designed, in accordance with a provision in the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, to equalize the amounts paid by individuals to the amount of the federal government reimburses programs for free and reducedprice lunches. For for more on the board’s actions and details about its new job descriptions, click the eBoard link at www.henry.k12.ga.us

McDonough — Officials are finding ways to improve student behavior and discipline in Henry County Schools by incorporating a Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports framework with multicultural education. Discipline and Safety Director Earlene Crump said the district’s second cohort of five schools this school year is well underway, including Excel Academy, Eagle’s Landing High, Stockbridge Middle, Oakland Elementary and Locust Grove Elementary schools. Crump said the training is customized based upon the profession and tailored through the school system’s department of discipline and safety. 

School bus drivers were given introductory training on how to handle and prevent bullying in addition to how to deal with discipline and implement PBIS. She said that bus drivers, as extensions of the classroom, serve equally vital roles as teachers in ensuring safe and secure school environments. Crump’s department is seeking to expand its training to as many professionals who interact with students as possible. She said those professionals may soon include school resource officers, who are sheriff’s deputies assigned to schools in the district. The overarching objective, she said, is to improve school culture and decrease its number of discipline referrals. For students, that means lessons on appropriate behavior, how to treat their classmates and authority figures, and how to intervene against bullying. PBIS coordinator Yolanda Reid said educators are receiving training on how to offer students positive behavioral reinforcements and preventative interventions as alternatives to punitive actions.

Henry County is also using data points to determine priority needs to correct or improve behavior in schools throughout the day. Educators would be able to review data showing when, where and at what frequency issues arise at school and devise a plan to make changes to address the cause of the issues, according to Crump. Those discipline meetings, she added, are a productive use of educators’ time “It’s actually going to save time,” said Crump. “It’s taking a look at the data and reorganizing the schedule for your instructional day.” Reid said the district’s goal is to foster a cross-pollination of understanding from school to home and from home to school so that families and schools are on the same page and are consistent with addressing behavior. “We have presentations that are going up to our school councils for all of our cohort schools,” said Reid. “It will show and detail to them what to look for and what the expectations should be.”

McDONOUGH — It is not every day that your work draws the attention of someone in the United States government but 14 students from Eagle’s Landing Middle can claim just that after their projects on tobacco use and its dangers drew the interest of the nation’s top-ranking doctor. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy was impressed enough with the projects of the middle school students to invite them to meet with him on a recent trip to Atlanta. The group of sixth, seventh and eighth graders heard a brief presentation by Murthy before getting the chance to ask him several questions. Ranging from his term in office to more detailed medical questions, Murthy answered each to the excitement and satisfaction of those in attendance.

Teacher Yolanda Reid has worked with the students by way of introducing them to project-based service learning. A focus of the group has been 21st century skills involving the subjects of science, research, medicine and healthy living. The trip and chance to meet someone of such stature as Murthy provided an outstanding connection to the work completed and an inspiration to continue moving along their own chosen career paths. Murthy thought their work was interesting, and that should be encouragement enough. “Our students being able to share with U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy what they have learned throughout this year and the application of their real-world learning to their lives is insurmountable,” said Reid.

“Our students are truly on the path of career readiness and continue to develop into leaders who are ready to take on the world.” Principal Earlene Crump said she is proud of all that her students, ranging from age 11 to 14, were able to accomplish, culminating with a visit with Murthy. “Our students have shown great strength, knowledge and promise as they’ve explored the impact of healthy living on their lives and the lives of others,” said Crump. “With pride, dignity and professionalism, our students have experienced an opportunity of a lifetime.” Concluding the meet and greet, the students were able to present the guest of honor with a plaque and gift basket of Georgia favorites to mark Murthy’s trip to the region. Payton Gilliam, a seventh-grade student, summed up his experience with the project he and his classmates worked on together and the resulting experience by saying, “Project based service learning should be used anywhere, anytime."

McDonough — Kimberly Elmore was just 2 years old on that tragic day that claimed thousands of victims but revealed as many heroes.  “They are the people that hold us together,” said Elmore of the first responders and other citizens who responded to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Elmore, a cadet lieutenant colonel in Ola High’s Air Force JROTC, joined her fellow cadets Friday helping serve refreshments to dozens of local first responders as part of the sixth annual commemorative 9/11 luncheon. “This is our way to show respect,” she said. The luncheon, hosted by Henry County Schools and its various community and business sponsors, was held inside Shiloh Baptist Church’s new Family Life Center in McDonough. It featured words from local dignitaries and reflections from various sponsors and school officials. The district’s discipline and safety director, Earlene Crump, once again gave a ceremonial welcome. Crump started the luncheon six years ago at Eagle’s Landing Middle School, where she served as principal. She invited local first responders to have a free lunch and visit with students who, like Elmore, would have been no more than infants at the time of the attacks 15 years ago. The objective then was to expose students to that history and give them an up-close perspective and appreciation of what first responders do on a daily basis. Locust Grove Police Chief Jesse Patton and a few members of his police force took part in Friday’s commemorative luncheon. He said the lessons of 9/11 continue even 15 years after the attacks. “We can all learn from it and salute to those who gave the ultimate sacrifice,” said Patton.

McDonough — Results from a statewide study on student disciplinary practices are expected by December. The state senate study committee charged with doing the research and gathering input from experts is set to have a final meeting Nov. 18 in Henry County.

State Sen. Emanuel Jones (D-Decatur), who chairs the committee, said the public is invited to attend the 6 p.m. session at the Henry County Board of Education, 33 N. Zack Hinton Parkway. Jones’s committee was formed through Senate Bill 1200, a resolution based on the premise there are student discipline disparities statewide on discriminatory bases. The raw numbers, he said, validate the premise in some school systems. “I know that these steps are bold but we’ve got to do this,” he said. “For too long, our students have been punished unfairly in these school systems. The punishment is way too subjective.” Jones said the bill, endorsed by Gov. Nathan Deal, sought a study to evaluate disciplinary practices throughout the state from which recommendations for best practices could be made. He said the legislation was inspired by perceived unfair practices in Henry County Schools.

The district has been the source of many complaints about the fairness in disciplinary actions based on race and ethnicity in recent years. The state senator met with his committee Thursday in Columbus, Ga. He said members were able to glean insight from educators as well as outside experts who spoke on the causes and effects of student discipline practices.

Members of the Henry County Board of Education heard Wednesday from Dr. Earlene Crump, the principal at Eagle’s Landing Middle and a member of the school system’s own student disciplinary review committee formed to investigate the matter. Crump updated the board on the local committee’s Oct. 16 meeting, where members were informed about “positive behavioral interventions and supports,” also known as PBIS. She said the PBIS method is one of interacting with students positively instead of negatively to de-escalate situations that potentially could be deemed behavioral infractions. The committee is expected to complete its study by February, while the Senate Study Committee on School Discipline is expected to have its findings by Dec. 1.

McDONOUGH — The Henry County Board of Education is reviewing several policy changes this month regarding student discipline and employee conduct. Members met Tuesday to discuss proposed amendments to board policy in addition to a handful of house-keeping matters. They convened first for a morning study session and for the regular meeting that evening. Discipline and Safety Director Earlene Crump presented one such amendment for Policy JD on student discipline which reorders how students with disabilities are entered into the process.

The current policy states that members of the subgroup may be charged with a violation of rules and subjected to a disciplinary hearing. If they are found guilty of an infraction, their circumstances would be presented to the team of professionals working in his or her Individual Education Program. The IEP team then decides whether the misconduct is a manifestation of the student’s disability. If the misbehavior is determined to have been the result of the disability, team members are expected to conduct a “behavioral assessment” and devise an intervention plan for the student. Otherwise, the misconduct is treated as it would be for a student without a disability. However, the revised policy would allow that IEP team to be the first to hear the case in order to determine whether the disability is a cause of the rule violation. If the team decides the misbehavior was not a manifestation of a disability, the student could be referred to a hearing officer.

The suggested policy change is one of about a dozen related to student discipline, and the next in several steps the district is making to address allegations of unfair treatment of minority students in discipline matters. The proposals reflect those the board made this past spring to its handbook codes of conduct, which included edits to clarify offenses and provide more fair remedies to students who violate school rules, inadvertently or otherwise. At Tuesday’s study session, board members launched questions about how the changes would be implemented practically. Annette Edwards asked whether the district’s disciplinary hearing officers would be trained to hear the juvenile cases. Crump said that, until hearing officers receive training, officers would not be allowed to hear a case. Members of the board were also attentive to policies on bullying, medication and student alcohol and drug use.

Administrative Services Director April Brown presented recommendations for revisions to Policy JGCD on medications. Her proffer includes a rule stating medications cannot be transported by bus to school. It also includes a statement reiterating the district’s responsibilities in maintaining a supply of epi-pens or levalbuterol sulfate. Brown said the district, by law, may keep but is not required to keep the medications stocked. “We are not stockpiling those medications,” she said. The board is expected to place the proposed policies out 30 days for public review and comment. Residents can view drafts of the recommendations on eboard through the Henry County Schools website. Tuesday's regular meeting commenced after press time. Visit henryherald.com for updates.

McDonough — Though the process has stalled at the state level, local officials are a step closer to addressing the pervasive and contentious issue of student discipline practices. The Henry County Board of Education heard this week from a student disciplinary review committee formed last summer to review the district’s policies. The result was several recommendations to increase employee training, revise policies and expand behavioral awareness. “Now, that’s huge,” Earlene Crump said as she presented to the board Wednesday. Crump, principal at Eagle’s Landing Middle, was one of 15 committee members and other contributors who met monthly to review student disciplinary policies and practices. The state-level equivalent of the group was formed last spring in response to increasing complaints about unfair treatment to those accused of student code violations.

Many of those complaints originated in Henry County Schools, said Sen. Emanuel Jones (D-Decatur), who led the statewide Senate Study Committee on Student Discipline in addition to serving on the local committee with Crump. The bipartisan Senate committee — charged with researching and gathering input — conducted several public hearings around the state and was expected to deliver its suggestions by Dec. 1, but reportedly members have been unable to reach a consensus on what potential changes could be made to state code or frameworks on disciplinary practices. Officials said the district, on the other hand, could have recommended changes to its policies in place by this summer. Administrative Services Assistant Superintendent Virgil Cole led the local group, consisting of school administrators, teachers, legal counsel, parents and community leaders. He said proposed revisions to student disciplinary processes may be included in the district’s handbooks as soon as next school year if approved over the coming months.

Potential changes include moving away from zero-tolerance practices and policies, Crump said. She said the group made recommendations to increase comprehensive professional learning districtwide to develop a positive classroom climate and management practices among teachers. She pointed to “positive behavioral interventions and supports” as a framework for engaging students in various circumstances to de-escalate situations where discipline is a concern. Other districts in the state have been using similar tactics to improve interactions among students, teachers and administrators. Positive interactions, interventions Clayton County Public Schools has an inter-agency governance agreement with the county’s juvenile court on how the two agencies handle school offenses. The district’s resource officers and juvenile court staff receive training on how to handle student discipline matters. Clayton County Juvenile Court Chief Judge Steve Teske has long advocated for the shift from “zero tolerance” school policing to a positive student engagement model that emphasizes positive interventions with students that minimize detentions in what have been mostly minor offenses.

Officials in the neighboring district heralded the approach this week pointing out that schools using the model have been able to significantly reduce disciplinary referrals, suspensions and expulsions. Teske spoke to the approach in a previous article in the Clayton News, sister paper to the Henry Herald. “Kids are wired to do stupid things and we need very special training to deal with them,” he said. “We want them in positive places, which are schools. Detention centers are not positive places.” District Police Chief Clarence Cox said empathy goes a long way. “There’s always a back story,” Cox said, pointing to incidents his officers have investigated in schools. He described one such occurrence of a student stealing lunches. Cox said students receive free lunch districtwide as part of a federal program to aid families in low-income areas. But one student was compelled to take more than his share. He said a few questions from the responding officer revealed the student stole food to take home with him because he was not sure he would have anything to eat after school or on the weekends. Cox said his department regularly deals with disruptive students, but they are a small core group. He added that parents and the community at-large also play active roles in determining school environments. He said the issue of behavior starts at the elementary school level and within individual households and permeates throughout the community outside of school. “Parents aren’t doing enough,” Cox said. “Everything that happens in the community comes back to the school.” Charlton Bivins, retired law enforcement and a former member of the Clayton County Board of Education, echoed Cox’s sentiments. He said he has seen students go through the disciplinary process as an elected official and as deputy in the court system. “You have knuckleheads out here,” Bivins said. “But they are the minority.” He said that, too often, students are treated too harshly, too soon. “That’s the tragedy of it all,” he said. “We have a quasi-legal process where students are suspended immediately and then there is an investigation.

There needs to be a level of higher thinking.” Training, process redesign Crump said the group in Henry County is proposing more training for employees to increase their understanding of the disciplinary and legal process. She suggested having the district’s legal department speak regularly to administrators about issues that may arise throughout the school year. The committee also recommends bolstering student support services, principally offered by counselors and social workers, and dedicating personnel resources that focus solely on handling discipline and safety issues proactively.

“We don’t want to wait for something to happen in order for us to do something positive,” Crump said. She said the group determined not everyone is on the same page when it comes to student behavior and discipline — students, parents, teachers or administrators. “What’s positive to me may not be positive to you,” she said. “With that being said, we have to train teachers and students on what respect looks like.” That difference in perspective, which prompted officials to organize the review committee, persists still in Henry County.

Parent Leland Olinger said he left a disciplinary hearing earlier this week feeling dejected and afraid his 13-year-old son could miss the rest of the school year after being accused of inappropriate conduct at his school. Olinger said he plans to appeal to the school board what he alleges was a biased verdict from a partial hearing officer. He said his son was accused of inappropriately touching a student during lunch in the school cafeteria. The boy was playing a popular game with friends, each claiming objects around the table by being the first to say “mine” as they tapped the objects. Olinger said it was a game they learned watching an animated children’s film. He claimed his son touched his new girlfriend on the front of her shoulder when his turn came around. He alleged another student reported it to a teacher and his son was subsequently suspended from school accused of groping the girl.

This was Jan. 29, he said, and his son has not seen a classroom since. Olinger attended his son’s disciplinary hearing Feb. 4, and has a few days to appeal the decision. “I’ve got to figure out what I can do, everything I can do to get this expulsion overturned,” he said. “It wasn’t right.” As a matter of policy, school officials do not comment on disciplinary matters concerning individual students. The student’s innocence or guilt, notwithstanding, the father said he is perplexed by the penalty. “Had he been guilty, I still think the crime doesn’t fit the punishment,” Olinger said. “Even if he was suspended for a few days, I would have appealed it, but I would have known he would have been going back to school.” The review committee is suggesting redesigning the disciplinary hearing process to enhance impartiality and rights, while developing a system of alternative discipline.

“This is something that we currently don’t have,” Crump said, pointing to programs that offer alternative punishments and more moderate penalties for first-time offenders. Recommendations included a revision of the board’s Code on Conduct to better define offenses in more understandable terms. The committee also suggested conducting parent workshops and implementing outreach programs to foster better understanding of acceptable behaviors, disciplinary rules, procedures and best practices that prevent student misconduct. “We do realize that we need our parents more than anything else,” Crump said. “If we partner with our parents, we can certainly help our students.” The recommendations are available through the district’s website at www.henry.k12.ga.us. Click the eboard link and find the attachments under the Feb. 4 study session agenda

McDONOUGH — The Henry County Board of Education is reviewing potential amendments to its student code of conduct, changes that address the board’s controversial pupil discipline policies. One story after another continues to spring up from parents and students in dissent to suspensions, expulsions or reassignments to the alternative school program in Henry County Schools. As teachers and administrators manage a daily flow of misbehavior and are called upon to decide which incidents warrant escalation in punishment, district-level officials are tasked with cleaning up a disciplinary process that has been heavily criticized in recent years.

The district has been accused of discriminatory disciplinary practices, particularly in the treatment of minority students. The race disparities have resulted in civil rights complaints to the U.S. Department of Justice as lodged by the Georgia Legal Services Program. State Sen. Emmanuel Jones, who represents portions of Henry County, has led the charge for change in disciplinary practices the past few years. He headed up a statewide study committee on the matter in 2014, and he successfully introduced legislation to cap the amount of time a child who has not committed a serious offense spends in alternative school. Senate Bill 328, which passed the state Senate 43-5 on Feb. 29, also created an avenue down which students could get back into their regular schools. In effect, the legislation would allow students to return to their home school after a semester as long as they “exhibit acceptable behavior” while in an alternative education program. Jones said he spoke earlier this year with Henry County Schools Superintendent Rodney Bowler about advancing faculty training in student discipline at the elementary school level as well as developing programs to help correct behavior in troubled students.

“We need more ‘wrap-around services’ to deal with what some of the young people are encountering today,” said Jones. “If we don’t, it’s going to get worse by the time they get to high school. “We’re trying to get these children to be productive in society rather than being a drain on society,” he continued. “The earlier you can intervene in a child’s life, the better your chances are in resolving these issues and turning around bad behavior. And our communities will be better off, our businesses will be better off — the economy as a whole will be better off.” Jones acknowledged the school district has made progress toward those ends. Last year, officials revamped Henry County Schools’ student handbooks to include positive intervention methods of dealing with student discipline. They also established a new discipline and safety department to deal more directly with practices and training.

Discipline and Safety Director Earlene Crump announced this spring plans to pursue grant funding up to $5 million through the National Institute of Justice’s Comprehensive School Safety Initiative to improve climate and safety at local schools. She said one of her department’s goals is to develop ways to better evaluate school-level educational practices in addressing perceived misbehavior. Jones said there is still more left to do. He said training and intervention programs have yet to be fully developed, and race disparities persist in the metro Atlanta school district. Mike Tafelski is one of the attorneys with Georgia Legal Services who handles student disciplinary appeals cases in Henry County. His was a less optimistic view about the changes put in place. “In my opinion, nothing has changed,” said Tafelski. “In fact, things seem to be getting worse. I think there is just a general failure to comply with or even read their code of conduct.” The attorney characterized the district’s existing policy in student discipline as faulty.

Last summer, the district revamped its student and parent handbooks for the 2015-16 school year. Its new secondary handbook outlines five sections of offenses that range in level of significance or egregiousness, from name-calling in Section 1 to felony conviction in Section 5. In an effort to incorporate positive behavioral interventions into the district’s day-today disciplinary procedures, school officials added the use of the Super Stop Program as an alternative pathway for students punished for mid-tier Section 3 offenses, which include such violations as theft, drug-use and sexual misconduct. The Super Stop Program is an early intervention program to help counsel and educate families on violence, conflict, drug abuse and decision-making. The handbook states that, for parents and students who attend and successfully complete the program, the prescribed 45-day out-of-school suspension for the Section 3 offense may be waived. Therein lies the problem for Tafelski. He pointed to a Luella High School senior who was adjudicated during a disciplinary hearing of a Section 2 disruption of school offense for pushing a classmate in the process of breaking up a fight.

Tafelski said the student was subsequently suspended from school and given the option of finishing his senior year at the district’s alternative school. Students found guilty of Section 2 offenses may be subject to short-term, in-school suspension if they are considered first-time offenders during the current school year, according to the district’s revamped 2015-16 secondary student handbook. Tafelski said the Luella student, a first-time offender, was sent to the district’s alternative school and told he was not eligible for the district’s Super Stop Program. In other words, a student convicted by a hearing officer of a lesser Section 2 offense for the first time may be subject to more severe punishment than a student who committed a first-time Section 3 offense.

School board Vice Chairman Mike Griffin, too, called attention to the discrepancy during a board meeting earlier this spring. He asked for a remedy in the 2016-17 handbook. JohnnyJackson Administrative Services Assistant Superintendent Virgil Cole said there are plans to address the dilemma. “We are looking at that to see if we can’t fix that (situation) that’s come before us this year,” said Cole. J.D. Hardin, the school district’s communications and community relations coordinator, confirmed officials are considering making specific modifications to next year’s handbook. “To address the second Section 2 offense coding, we’re considering modifying the second Section 2 offense as a Section 3 offense, similar to how we code a seventh Section 1 offense as a Section 3:10,” said Hardin. “Lastly, if the first Section 2 offense is so egregious in nature it may require a more severe consequence.”

Proposed changes to the student and parent handbooks are available at henry.k12.ga.us for public review and comment. The school board is expected to vote on a final draft of the handbooks and student code of conduct this summer. The board meets next for its June 8 study session at central offices, 33 N. Zack Hinton Parkway in McDonough. The session starts at 4 p.m

STOCKBRIDGE — Officials pitched their efforts to improve discipline practices in local schools this week during town hall meetings hosted by State Sen. Emanuel Jones. Jones hosted the first meeting Monday at Eagle’s Landing Middle and the second Wednesday at Stockbridge Middle, where he expressed his motivations.

The state senator said he has been impassioned about the fairness of student discipline practices in Georgia with a particular focus on Henry County Schools. The district has experienced heightened levels of criticism in recent years for how it disciplines its students. Discipline and Safety Director Earlene Crump presented to those attending Wednesday’s meeting an outline of the district’s efforts to improve its discipline policies and procedures. Crump said that teachers and administrators are receiving training on how to offer students positive behavioral reinforcements and preventative interventions as alternatives to punitive actions. The district is in the process of incorporating the Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports framework into its school operations in an effort to improve school culture and decrease its number of discipline referrals. So far, the district has rolled out PBIS training to teams at nearly a dozen schools and will incorporate several others this school year.

PBIS coordinator Yolanda Reid said the district’s transportation department will be among this year’s PBIS training cohort. The goal, in part, is to help bus drivers better manage behavior issues on the school bus. “We’re looking at behavior as a science,” said Reid. Reid said the district’s goal is not only to reduce out-of-school and in-school suspensions but to improve school cultures in order to promote positive relationships and behavior. She said the efforts will be further tested at schools like Stockbridge Middle, whose faculty was trained in PBIS. EXCEL Academy Principal Kimberly Anderson will help lead the rollout at her school, the district’s alternative program to which students are assigned as part of its disciplinary policy. Reid expects to have teams at all of the district’s schools trained in the PBIS framework within the next five years. “It is great to see this school system going somewhere with PBIS,” said Jones. Jones advocated for Senate Bill 367, which passed into law this spring, and he emphasized Part III, Section 3 of the amended legislation.

Changes to the school discipline section add student-focused language requiring local school boards, before initiating a complaint, to develop a system of progressive discipline that may be imposed on children accused of violating school discipline codes of conduct. School boards must also provide information showing their efforts to resolve issues of discipline through alternative approaches apart from hearings. “There has to be continued community involvement,” said State Rep. Andy Welch, an attorney with Smith, Welch, Webb and White LLC, the McDonough-based law firm that represents the district in students’ various court appeals to overturn school board discipline rulings. Welch spoke to town hall meeting attendees, noting an annual positivity campaign inspired by his late brother Hunter Welch. The campaign’s slogan, “Kindness Works! Pass It On,” is repeated one week in November across the state to remind residents of the positive impacts of kindness. “Sometimes we need positive reinforcement,” said Welch.

“What we hope to do is instill the affirmative. (And) it’s not just one week, it’s every day of your life.” DeKalb County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Reginald Scandrett gave concurring thoughts. He served on Wednesday’s eight-member town hall panel. “We are the largest jail east of the Mississippi with a capacity of about 4,000,” said Scandrett, noting many in DeKalb County’s jail population are ages 17 to 21. “I was one of those children but someone gave me a second and a third chance. That principal now stays next-door to me.” Crump said some schools have already incorporated mentoring programs. EXCEL Academy, for example, partners with nearby church groups whose members volunteer time to spend with and counsel students.

“Kids need something besides what we’re doing from 9-to-5,” said Crump. “You have to teach people how to treat people.” Georgia Legal Services Attorney Eugene Choi provided a perspective closer to that of the clients he defends in the district’s disciplinary hearings and appellate court processes. “Everything I’ve heard sounds absolutely fantastic,” said Choi, who followed with a more sobering account of students’ dealings with district authorities. Choi said he believes his clients too often appear in district disciplinary hearings for matters that could be handled at the school level and possibly prevented through some form intervention. “There is always a bully involved,” he said of his cases. He went on to suggest that those students who are tried for “minor offenses” do not necessarily come away from the process better off. “The school administrators and the Sheriff’s Office have a ton of discretion,” said Choi, warning that those students who experience criminalization in school are “starting on the wrong foot.”

Henry County Sheriff Keith McBrayer acknowledged that deputies, whose traditional roles are to enforce the law and execute criminal arrests, have evolved. He said school resources officers — who may undergo PBIS training in the future — are moving toward building better relationships with students who may need to confide in deputies so that they can, in turn, head off potential discipline issues. “These are our children,” said McBrayer, who added that many of his deputies and school resource officers have children in the district. The sheriff said SROs will speak to students the first week of school starting Aug. 1. He said his office has created age-appropriate reference guides to help students understand the role of officers in schools and assist them in matters of bullying and school safety.

“When a child comes to school, he should not be bothered, he should not be bullied, he should be able to learn,” said McBrayer. Robert Ford, Georgia chapter president of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives, lauded local efforts to bridge the perceived growing gap of understanding between communities and authorities such as school administrators. “The idea of the SRO was originally to keep our teachers and students safe from outside threats,” said Ford. “We haven’t done a very good job of humanizing each other. When we understand that we’re all in this together, we can start to build better relationships. JohnnyJackson “I’m glad to see Henry County Schools doing this,” he continued. “(But) we didn’t get here over night. So, we’re not going to get out of it overnight.

McDONOUGH — Officials with a nonprofit group, in coordination with Communities in Schools of Henry County, are attempting to make music real for local youngsters. For families struggling to afford to rent or buy instruments for their students, Henry for Music helps provide access to music education through its partnerships with local music shops and CIS of Henry County. The group’s founder, Jerry Hesselink, said the goal is to place an instrument in the hands of any student interested in learning music. He said he believes the long-term effects of the push will be increased student achievement and life-long music lovers. Henry for Music is seeking donors of instruments.

There is an immediate need at area schools for an alto saxophone, flutes and clarinets, said Hesselink, who sent out a social media call for support this week. Citizens may donate music instruments they no longer use and the participating music shops help repair or refurbish the instruments at a discounted rate. And those instruments are paired with students in need at schools with needs. To learn more, email henryformusic@aol.com or call 770-342-9045. Locals earn collegiate honors •

Henry County was well-represented in summer commencement ceremonies at the University of North Georgia in Dahlonega. Local graduates include Donald Cameron Corsino of McDonough, Robert Dean Harlow of Stockbridge and Courtney Taylor Kilgore of Hampton. Kaitlen Marie Kelly of McDonough was named to North Georgia’s summer 2016 semester President’s Honor Roll. She was recognized for earning a 4.0 grade point average while enrolled in 12 or more credit hours. Fellow student Marissa Ramsey of Stockbridge made the university’s summer 2016 semester Dean’s Lists by achieving a 3.5 GPA, carrying 12 or more credit hours in one semester and having no grade lower than B. • Megan Kay of the Lake Spivey community recently joined Kappa Delta sorority at Troy University in Troy, Ala. Schools, community to honor first responders The Henry County Schools Department of Discipline and Safety will honor first responders from across Henry County with a luncheon and program to mark the 15th anniversary of 9/11. The luncheon was originally started six years ago by then-Eagle’s Landing Middle Principal Earlene Crump, now the district’s discipline and safety director.

The program has grown in size and will now be held Friday at the Family Center behind Shiloh Baptist Church in McDonough. It begins at 11:30 a.m. The community has rallied to support the event as evidenced by the numerous vendors contributing to assist with honoring the local heroes. Over 25 vendors are supplying food and approximately 20 vendors have contributed gifts to be given away as door prizes. Dignitaries from the state, county and city will also be on hand to honor the first responders. Student involvement has also been a hallmark of this event. In recent years there have been color guard presentations, video tributes, and handwritten notes to those first responders attending the event. Each event has afforded the community a chance to come together and recognize an important piece to the well-being of Henry County. The invitation to this year’s event has been extended to surrounding counties as well.

“We are so appreciative of what these brave men and women have done and continue to do for our community,” said Crump. “We thank them for their selfless efforts given each and every day to provide safety and security for the residents of Henry County.” More than 200 individuals participated during the luncheon in 2015, and event organizers are looking for more to show this year. One objective of the luncheon is to have a positive effect on students and their relationships with those serving our community. “One of our goals is to maintain a safe, orderly, and supportive environment for all students,” said Crump. JohnnyJackson “Building a safe school environment means involving the whole community in a collaborative effort to create a nurturing atmosphere, prepare for emergencies, provide activities before and after school, and increase community involvement in the school,” she continued.

“We believe events such as our Heroes Luncheon will continue to embrace the ideas of citizenship and prepare our students to become the future leaders of tomorrow.” Other upcoming events, meetings • Henry County Schools is planning to host a Parent Involvement Conference on Saturday. The conference, titled “Parents Investing in Their Children’s Education: ‘A Dream Team Conference,’” will be from 8 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. at the Academy for Advanced Studies, 401 East Tomlinson St. in McDonough. For more information, visit henry.k12.ga.us. • The Henry County Library System Board of Trustees plans to meet Monday, at 5:30 p.m. at the George C. Alexander Building, 1001 Florence McGarity Blvd. in McDonough. Foreign exchange programs accepting host families Host families are needed for foreign exchange students from all over the world. Participants will learn about another culture and make a friend for life in the process. Students attend local high school for one school year, 2016-17. All students are wellscreened, bring their own money and have great insurance. They will not drive or drink. For more information, call 770-477-1376 between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m

McDONOUGH — Officials with a nonprofit group, in coordination with Communities in Schools of Henry County, are attempting to make music real for local youngsters. For families struggling to afford to rent or buy instruments for their students, Henry for Music helps provide access to music education through its partnerships with local music shops and CIS of Henry County. The group’s founder, Jerry Hesselink, said the goal is to place an instrument in the hands of any student interested in learning music. He said he believes the long-term effects of the push will be increased student achievement and life-long music lovers. Henry for Music is seeking donors of instruments.

There is an immediate need at area schools for an alto saxophone, flutes and clarinets, said Hesselink, who sent out a social media call for support this week. Citizens may donate music instruments they no longer use and the participating music shops help repair or refurbish the instruments at a discounted rate. And those instruments are paired with students in need at schools with needs. To learn more, email henryformusic@aol.com or call 770-342-9045. Locals earn collegiate honors • Henry County was well-represented in summer commencement ceremonies at the University of North Georgia in Dahlonega. Local graduates include Donald Cameron Corsino of McDonough, Robert Dean Harlow of Stockbridge and Courtney Taylor Kilgore of Hampton. Kaitlen Marie Kelly of McDonough was named to North Georgia’s summer 2016 semester President’s Honor Roll. She was recognized for earning a 4.0 grade point average while enrolled in 12 or more credit hours. Fellow student Marissa Ramsey of Stockbridge made the university’s summer 2016 semester Dean’s Lists by achieving a 3.5 GPA, carrying 12 or more credit hours in one semester and having no grade lower than B. • Megan Kay of the Lake Spivey community recently joined Kappa Delta sorority at Troy University in Troy, Ala. Schools, community to honor first responders

The Henry County Schools Department of Discipline and Safety will honor first responders from across Henry County with a luncheon and program to mark the 15th anniversary of 9/11. The luncheon was originally started six years ago by then-Eagle’s Landing Middle Principal Earlene Crump, now the district’s discipline and safety director. The program has grown in size and will now be held Friday at the Family Center behind Shiloh Baptist Church in McDonough. It begins at 11:30 a.m. The community has rallied to support the event as evidenced by the numerous vendors contributing to assist with honoring the local heroes. Over 25 vendors are supplying food and approximately 20 vendors have contributed gifts to be given away as door prizes. Dignitaries from the state, county and city will also be on hand to honor the first responders. Student involvement has also been a hallmark of this event. In recent years there have been color guard presentations, video tributes, and handwritten notes to those first responders attending the event. Each event has afforded the community a chance to come together and recognize an important piece to the well-being of Henry County. The invitation to this year’s event has been extended to surrounding counties as well.

“We are so appreciative of what these brave men and women have done and continue to do for our community,” said Crump. “We thank them for their selfless efforts given each and every day to provide safety and security for the residents of Henry County.” More than 200 individuals participated during the luncheon in 2015, and event organizers are looking for more to show this year. One objective of the luncheon is to have a positive effect on students and their relationships with those serving our community.

“One of our goals is to maintain a safe, orderly, and supportive environment for all students,” said Crump. “Building a safe school environment means involving the whole community in a collaborative effort to create a nurturing atmosphere, prepare for emergencies, provide activities before and after school, and increase community involvement in the school,” she continued. “We believe events such as our Heroes Luncheon will continue to embrace the ideas of citizenship and prepare our students to become the future leaders of tomorrow.” Other upcoming events, meetings • Henry County Schools is planning to host a Parent Involvement Conference on Saturday. The conference, titled “Parents Investing in Their Children’s Education: ‘A Dream Team Conference,’” will be from 8 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. at the Academy for Advanced Studies, 401 East Tomlinson St. in McDonough. For more information, visit henry.k12.ga.us. 

The Henry County Library System Board of Trustees plans to meet Monday, at 5:30 p.m. at the George C. Alexander Building, 1001 Florence McGarity Blvd. in McDonough. Foreign exchange programs accepting host families Host families are needed for foreign exchange students from all over the world. Participants will learn about another culture and make a friend for life in the process. Students attend local high school for one school year, 2016-17. All students are wellscreened, bring their own money and have great insurance. They will not drive or drink. For more information, call 770-477-1376 between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m.

McDONOUGH - Barbara Fraziers voice broke as she spoke about the thousands of hours and emotions she poured into the scenes commemorating 9/11. Frazier described her feelings on the different works she has painted since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. She pointed to a piece called The Day America Cried as One. That particular one is a group of people across the river from New York City, said Frazier. They are lined up in various forms of grief and disbelief and they are just shocked. Frazier said she painted the scene about six years after the attacks. Her 24-by-36-inch acrylic and marker painting hangs now against a brick wall inside Bell, Book and Candle, a bookstore just off the McDonough Square.

She has created three dozen paintings on the 9/11 subject matter, 27 of which are on display in downtown McDonough. Her exhibit is sponsored by the Main Street McDonough Program and is featured at three different shops on the citys Square, said Linda Schenk, the programs director. The displays are at Chafin Furniture, 15 Griffin Street; at Clay Plaza, 2 Macon Street; and at Bell, Book and Candle, 45 John Frank Ward Blvd. I think its very important for people to remember 9/11, Schenk said. A lot of people gave their lives that day. Fraziers paintings have varied styles and compositions. She melds symbolism with realism and uses acrylic and marker in her works. There are also works in oil, water color and collage. One of her works, she said, grew from inspiration she did not expect. Im looking at it and all of a sudden Im looking at the smoke and I see that, wow, theres a face coming out of the smoke, said Frazier.

Her story board paintings are in Clay Plaza. One is called America Reacts and another is called Liberty Reacts. Frazier said she uses her talents to express the grief and pride she continues to feel from that day in 2001. What can you do about it now? All I could do to help others was to paint, she said. I want everybody that looks at the paintings to remember that day. Thats the reason I created all of the paintings. Fraziers paintings will be on display throughout September. She also plans to continue her compositions on the Sept. 11 attacks. Others in Henry County have found ways to recognize and pay tribute to the victims, survivors and heroes of 9/11. Glen Haven Baptist Church will hold special worship services Sunday at 8:15 a.m. and 11 a.m. The services will feature guest speaker and Twin Towers survivor Sujo John. The church is at 345 East Lake Road in McDonough. Eagles Landing Middle School in McDonough will honor local heroes at its annual Heroes Luncheon Tuesday.

Principal Earlene Crump, a former member of the United States Air Force, said the luncheon is designed to honor the heroes of 9/11 as well as the first responders who choose the profession in present-day Henry County. The Health Occupations Students of America organization at Woodland High School is planning a field trip to Fire Station No. 11 in Stockbridge. Gail Dutton, the schools healthcare science instructor, said this will mark the third year the student organization has visited the fire station which serves the school community. We take baked goods to the firefighters to thank them for their service to our community, said Dutton. The students receive a tour of the station and they learn about its fire engine, ambulance and equipment.

McDonough resident David Andrews and others are organizing a fourth annual 9/11 tribute. In particular its for the 353 public servants that lost their lives that day, said Andrews. The tribute is planned for Tuesday at the corner of Ga. 20/81 and Old Industrial Boulevard in McDonough at I-75 Exit 218. It will be attended by members of The Marine Corps League, The American Legion and the Henry County High Navy JROTC Program. Andrews said there will be four ceremonies within a two-hour span starting at 8:36 a.m. He said traffic will be stopped at the intersection during the same times as the four hijacked planes crashed Sept. 11, 2001