Something Wrong in Jasper
There’s something bad wrong here in Jasper County, a rural county 60 miles west of Atlanta, that yes, in some statistics is considered part of metro Atlanta.
The school board, in its infinite wisdom has taken the advice of its highly-paid superintendent and agreed to discontinue the agriculture program at the high school. The board did this in spite of the fact that some 109 students, out of about 500 at the high school, are enrolled in some aspect of the program.
Times are tough…we have to cut somewhere, they say, or allow their superintendent to say for them.
Times are tough, and difficult decisions have to be made. But, an entire program? A program that serves nearly one-fourth of the high school population?
I wonder if the board has considered other places to cut, or perhaps a creative approach to help with the problem.
No administrators have been cut. That in itself is interesting, as the state only pays for two administrators at a high school the size of Jasper County’s, but there are three there. We can afford, to pay entirely with local money, a third administrator at the high school, but we cannot afford an agriculture program?
Many parents will agree the best way to student success is to find something the student is interested in and have them get involved. Students who are involved in school in some way beyond academic studies, are more likely to succeed. They are more likely to stay in school.
What about those children who love FFA? What about those children who only sit through math and English so they can go to their ag class? They don’t care about them?
One of the other vocational areas students can choose is technology. Well, the technology teacher resigned. I wonder if instead of eliminating the ag program, if maybe the ag teacher could teach a section of technology.
Supt. Jay Brinson says she’s not certified. Lord knows, many a teacher has worked in our system, teaching on a provisional certificate until he or she became certified in a particular area.
In these tough economic times, maybe if the ag teacher, the principal, and both assistant principals taught a section daily, education would not have to suffer; no program would have to be eliminated.
It is just hard to believe that the only way to solve the school’s budget woes is to cut an entire program. Particularly a program that teaches students about the number one industry in the state—agriculture.
Board members, Gov. Sonny Perdue extended contract signing time until May 15 so systems could figure out how to fix their problems, and still sign teachers.
Maybe, the Jasper County School Board needs to take another look at the options available. Maybe, there is another solution…a positive one.