School System Offers Annual Report

Stephens County School Superintendent Sherrie Whiten presented the annual Stephens County School System report on Tuesday at the Gate Cottage on the campus of Toccoa Falls College.  Whiten said she wants people to be able to see from the report some of the positive things taking place in the school system, like the increasing graduation rate.  "Our graduation rate has increased significantly and if I can say any one things that is the best thing for our students, that is it, the graduation rate, because they have to have a high school diploma and a plan for the future," said Whiten.  "Hopefully, that is what we are getting across to our kids."  This year's report highlighted the school system's 87.33 percent graduation rate,  reviewed the CRCT and EOCT scores for each of the schools in the system, and covered the new College and Career Ready Performance Index.

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SCDA November Newsletter

The State of Stephens monthly newsletter is now posted on the SCDA website.  Click below to read the recent development activities in Stephens County, Georgia.
 November 2013 Newsletter

Stephens County BOE Approves Charter System Application

The Stephens County Board of Education unanimously approved for the Stephens County School System to send its charter system application to the state for consideration.  "We had a lot of input from a lot of different people and we are not proposing to anything drastically different from what we have done in the past," said Stephens County School Superintendent Sherrie Whiten.  "But we do realized as a community that we have to get our kids prepared for the workplace and for jobs and we want to be the ones to do that."  Whiten also said that economic development and preparing students for careers is a major focus of the charter system application Stephens County is submitting to the state.  "There are going to be opportunities for our kids, but a lot of time they do not have the skill level necessary to get those jobs and we want to make sure we give our kids the background and what they need to be able to take these jobs," said Whiten.  Read more...

SCDA Approves Revised Budget

Three months into the Fiscal Year, the Stephens County Development Authority unanimously approved a revised budget for the 2013-2014 Fiscal Year at their Tuesday board meeting.  The revision reduced the total budget amount by just over $52,000 from approximately $398,000 to just over $346,000.  A majority of the reductions were reduced in programmatic expenses such as marketing and communication, spending on attraction and recruitment, and money spend on existing industry.  SCDA Executive Director Tim Martin said that the Development Authority felt is was an appropriate time to re-examine the budget and make some changes.  "Every single day, we are to be as conscious as we can be with our finances," said Martin.  "We are going to continue to do that."


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PROJECT MANAGERS VISIT STEPHENS COUNTY

Tim Martin met with 21 statewide Project Managers on their annual Bus Tour through Northeast Georgia.  SCDA hosted them on stops at Hayestone Brady Business Park and North Georgia Technical College-Currahee Campus.  Click on the link below to view their trip.

http://www.georgiaresourcecenter.com/NortheastBlog/

Toccoa Commissioners, SCDA Talk Economic Incentives

Stephens County Development Authority Executive Director Tim Martin met with Toccoa City Commissioners during a work session last Monday to discuss economic incentives.  At a joint meeting last month of the Toccoa City Commission and the Stephens County Commission, Martin brought up the topic and said the purpose of this meeting was not to make decisions, but to see if a comfort level could be found.  “Sometimes we have lots of time to react to opportunities,” said Martin.  ”Sometimes we do not have any time at all.  Anything we can do in advance helps everything.”  Multiple commissioners point out every case is unique and Martin agreed but said he just needs to understand some general things commissioners might be comfortable with.  “Specifically, when it comes to the things or the services that are provided by the city, water, wastewater, natural gas, if I came to you with some jobs and an opportunity and I asked for waving of the tap fees, what kind of reaction would I get?” asked Martin.

Commissioners, including Mayor David Austin, said what the city would be willing to do would certainly depend on the industry looking at the area.  “If BMW decides to put a plant here and employ 1000 people, I am sure we would jump all over it and do everything we could,” said Austin.  City officials noted that they have negotiated in those areas with other businesses in the past.  Upon hearing the mayor’s comments, Martin said that provided him the guidance he needs moving forward.  He said it is also beneficial to have these talks every so often, especially as new commissioners enter the scene for both the city and the county.

SCDA August Newsletter

 

The State of Stephens monthly newsletter is now posted on the SCDA website.  Click below to read the recent development activities in Stephens County, Georgia.
August Newsletter