Friday, June 8,
2001
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Busy summer leads to smooth fall By Stephen
Dolinger
In just a few weeks, thousands of Fulton students begin the long, lazy days of summer. But for Fulton County School System employees, summer is anything but lazy. While students anxiously await the end of school, employees are gearing up for tight deadlines and frenetic activity, all in preparation for a new school year. The most visible work takes place at construction sites. Five new schools open with the 2001-2002 school year, and the rush is on to make sure the buildings are completed, equipped, staffed and ready for occupancy. Less obvious, but equally important, are the projects taking place inside existing schools. Summer provides the time to upgrade cafeterias, replace carpets and floor coverings, and perform general maintenance. It also is a time to perform needs assessments, anticipate future capital projects, and discuss funding options. Most of the projects now underway are funded through the special purpose local option sales tax, which expires next year. The school system must begin now to prepare for what happens after the current SPLOST. While providing learning-conducive classrooms and facilities is the goal of the Capital Programs Department, the Personnel Services Department must make sure those classrooms are staffed with outstanding teachers. Due to growth, reduced class sizes and normal attrition, the school system expects to hire 1,000 new teachers this year. A national teacher shortage results in fierce competition among school systems and has led to changes in recruitment and marketing efforts, a renewed focus on teacher retention, emphasis on alternative certification paths, and a host of other creative strategies. The Board of Education recognizes this ongoing challenge and named teacher recruitment and retention as one of four budget imperatives for the 2002 fiscal year. Also this summer, Continuing Education oversees a summer school program that has grown to more than 9,000 students; Transportation develops new routes to accommodate the new schools, and still transports the thousands of students participating in summer school; and Instructional Services updates curriculum guides, offers training, and revises learning objectives. An Aug. 13 start date means this must all be accomplished in just eight short weeks. The Fulton County School System takes its responsibility for student learning seriously. We are equally concerned about our social and civic responsibility. We were the first school system to participate in the Partnership for a Smog Free Georgia and for the past two years we have received a Gold Award from that group for our efforts. This summer we will continue to do our part to improve air quality in the metropolitan area by encouraging flexible schedules, telecommuting and ride shares, when feasible. Other measures include cutting grass and refueling transportation fleet vehicles at off-peak times. While we have much work to be done, we realize we have a responsibility to be as environmentally friendly as possible. You can keep up with the school system's summer activities through our recently redesigned Web site, www.fulton.k12.ga.us, or by calling our Community Relations Department at 404-763-6830.
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