Lipreading was at a premium for Monday night’s meeting of the Walker County School Board, as a sound challenged audience was left to wonder about the specifics of the short list of topics discussed, much in part to the non-functional microphones in the board’s meeting room.
Prior to the meeting, Walker Schools held a graduation ceremony for 3 summer graduates; LaFayette High’s Kaiyla Chambers, Ridgeland Achilles Gelnet and Heather Sexton all turning their tassels with applause from friends and family wielding camera phones to record the event.
Also recognized was LaFayette High School Georgia Scholar Sydney Kruger, who Superintendent Raines says is only the second Walker School student so honored with the designation.
Unfortunate for the audience who remained to hear the scheduled meeting, the ensuing graduation celebration did little in overcoming an obviously functional HVAC compared to the room’s silent public address system.
Walker Schools Superintendent Damon Raines had a quick synopsis in his report, citing 40% growth rates in grades 3 through 8 in the fourth year of reportable data.
A good bit of discussion centered on a school meal survey and whether or not it was required to be completed. Members say the survey is currently available on the MySchool app and will likely be promoted on the department of education’s web page.
School officials are striving to satisfy system wide requirements for free or reduced meals for low-income students, and say despite Fairyland Elementary statistics, they’re confident they’ll attain the needed participation margins for eligibility.
Meanwhile, the school board is now looking for an interim for Post 3 with last week’s resignation of longtime member Mike Carruth.
Tuesday, the school system announced a press release on the vacancy created by Carruth’s departure July 9th.
Superintendent Damon Raines spoke to the board Monday night on the upcoming interview process for the panel selected candidate to serve until the November 5th election.
Carruth and another board member were targets of a lawsuit last year alleging nepotism within the school system.
Both were later cleared by a Superior Court Judge’s decision.
Carruth was first elected to the Chattanooga Valley post in 2004 and re-elected as recently as 2022.
No reason was given for his resignation.
Those interested in the board vacancy can submit their name and contact information by Monday,
On topic of a possible rollback of the county’s millage rate for property owners, Board Member Karen Stoker asked to investigate whether residents could make monthly tax payments to lessen the load of an annual lump sum tax payment.
