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Friday, Jan. 28, 2005
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School system looking at lofty goalsBy JOHN THOMPSON The Coweta County Board of Education is determined to make the school system one of the best in the state. That was the overriding consensus reached during the boards two-day retreat at the Centre for the Performing and Visual Arts in Newnan last weekend. Superintendent of Education Blake Bass said the school system was updating its strategic plan and working on setting specific goals. A few years ago, we set the goal of having every school score above 1000 on the SAT. Id like to see that score be 1025 in five years, he said. The board members agreed that scores should rise, but emphasized that should not be the only indicator of the success of the school system. We need to stay in touch with the public. Test scores are important, but they may be overrated. We need to have well-rounded students, said board member Frank Farmer. Board member Steve Bedrosian was in favor of extremely lofty goals. Id love to see a 0 percent dropout rate and a 100 percent graduation rate, he said. Board chairman Mitch Powell agreed and said the countys increasing diversity represents a challenge to the school system. We really have to make sure we have many avenues for children to succeed in our system, he said. Powell commented on the Francois Gilot exhibit at the Centre and said the school system should be able to offer opportunities for kids who want to explore their interests in French art. While the school system remains focused on improving opportunities for students, board members also made it known that the employees of the school system were extremely important assets. We have 10-11 percent of our employees that leave us every year. i want to make sure we are doing everything we can to keep the good employees here, Bass said. The board members pledged to work together in the coming year to provide the best opportunities for the systems nearly 20,000 students. |
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2004-Fayette Publishing, Inc.
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