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August 2007
Should worries rise when SAT scores fall?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It’s no fun reading that the average SAT score at your child’s school plummeted 70 points over the last year.
I imagine that this news about South Gwinnett High School sent some parents seeking “For Sale” signs or calling private schools.
South’s average SAT score was 1454 this year, compared to 1524 last year. That not only reflects a marked decrease, but it places South’s score below county, state and national averages.
South scored higher than five high schools in Gwinnett’s system: Central Gwinnett (1451) , Shiloh (1444), Berkmar (1401), Phoenix (1389) and Meadowcreek (1347). It scored lower than the 10 other Gwinnett public high schools and also fell below Buford High School of the Buford city school system.
Context provides a wee bit of consolation. National, state and county averages went down, too, this year. Some speculate that the low scores may reflect difficulty with the new, revised SAT exam now in its second year.
But South Gwinnett’s drop was the largest in the county. Next in line was a 61-point drop at Meadowcreek High School. And not all schools saw a decline. Buford and five Gwinnett high schools increased their scores during this time.
South Gwinnett Principal Berry Simmons said the lower scores surprised and disappointed school officials. They were surprised because the school has improved on other exams, such as the Gateway and the High School Graduation Test. He said performance on the ACT — another college entrance exam — stayed about the same. And scholarships for the class of 2007 were higher than for previous classes.
“We’re hoping this was just a one-year blip,” Simmons said. “It is not characteristic of where this school usually is.”
Simmons said more South Gwinnett students took the SAT last year than the year before. And, he said, some of the top students of South’s class of 2007 took the SAT as juniors, but not again as seniors. Those factors may have affected the average score, he said.
While administrators and faculty hope the drop in scores was an aberration, they are not going to sit back and assume that, Simmons said. They will continue to work on SAT vocabulary and make sure students register for online SAT help.
The school recently went to a seven-period day, and officials are considering how that extra period can be used to better prepare students for the exam.
“We’re looking at pro-active measures,” Simmons said. “We aren’t looking at staying where we are.”
What do you think of Gwinnett schools’ 2007 SAT scores?
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Ministry’s closed doors reflect on us all
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Suan Gast/AJC
Mike Clotfelter, a member of Snellville United Methodist Church working on the ramp and deck construction, as the project drawings lay in front. The man to the left with his back to the camera (blue T-shirt with fish on it) is Don Powell, also a volunteer from Snellville UMC.
Irony can be amusing. But not in the tale of the Southeast Gwinnett Cooperative Ministry.
It’s ironic that a non-profit organization annually providing food, clothes, rent and utility assistance to 9,000 folks has been homeless itself for more than a year.
And it’s ironic that in a county where new houses and stores sprout — seemingly overnight — two modular buildings to be used by the co-op remain unauthorized for business more than 12 months after being put in place.
No, in the case of the co-op, the ironies are frustrating to everyone involved. That list is long. It includes:
Beth Moffat, director of the co-op, who has overseen the organization at two previous locations and through the search for her third.
The Rev. Matt Henning, pastor of Community of Grace church, whose Lutheran congregation is providing the site and much of the volunteer work for the co-op’s new home at 1200 U.S. 78 in Grayson.
Schools that collect canned goods for the co-op and turn to it when students’ families need help.
Volunteers, weary of waiting, who have moved on.
Snellville area churches who supported the co-op and referred people for its services, but have begun questioning the delays as they try to help those who show up on church doorsteps seeking assistance.
And the families and individuals in need, who have had to brave those doorsteps or head to other food banks in the county.
The co-op’s past year and a half has been riddled with misunderstandings, miscommunication, starts, stops, backtracking and red tape. There have been problems involving county permits and inspections. There have been problems with the installation of footings for the modular buildings. Building plans have been lost more than once. A few churches have withdrawn financial support.
The blame has been batted about, with few left untouched.
One person, acting anonymously, sent a letter to area churches, raising questions about the ethics, financial stewardship and decision-making of the co-op’s management.
Some think the city of Snellville and local churches should have done more to help the co-op during its search for a new home. Some point to mistakes and delays by professionals and companies. Others say the county government has been unclear, and at times unreasonable, about what was required to get the new site in order. The county says it has tried to work with those involved in the project, but standards must be met.
The list goes on.
A moment of personal disclosure here: My family occasionally volunteered at the co-op, sorting canned goods and such. I met the former director, Don Ashworth, and I knew Moffat through church activities before she joined the organization.
When I first visited the co-op, it was in a building owned by and located behind Snellville First Baptist. From there, it moved to a small shopping center on U.S. 78, in front of Snellville City Hall. That location, owned by Snellville United Methodist Church, was transferred to city ownership as part of a property swap, and the shopping center was marked to be torn down. The co-op was required to move out last summer. When other options fell through, Community of Grace offered a location, and the co-op arranged for the placement and rental of modular units on the site. That’s when the permtting difficulties began.
Snellville Mayor Jerry Oberholtzer said city officials felt bad that they couldn’t find another location for the co-op. But the city cannot provide free space to an organization, and other suitable sites have been hard to come by, he said.
I stopped by the new co-op site more than once this past week and found volunteers sweating in the brutal heat to build a required deck and handicapped ramp and fill in with dirt under the buildings.
I talked to Moffat and the Rev. Henning. I’ve also talked to the provider of the modular buildings, to the engineering firm, to county officials, churches and individuals.
Everyone acknowledged that mistakes have been made. A few owned up to making one or two of them themselves.
Most said they support the mission of the co-op.
Yet the doors are still closed.
I understand the need for strict standards for buildings used by the public. But I can also imagine the difficulty of navigating building and development procedures when you are not familiar with the process — or even if you are. If there are also personality or political or contract difficulties, well … .
Moffat and the Rev. Henning say they just want to get the co-op open and start serving people again.
“We built this whole [Community of Grace] campus in eight months from groundbreaking to move-in.” the Rev. Henning said, “I’ve opened other churches. But what we’ve been through in this process has been beyond comprehension.”
There have been “saints” who have worked passionately along the way, they said. But there have also been critics.
“I can’t tell you I’ve done everything right,” Moffat said. “I’m sure I’ve made mistakes. But I’ve done everything they asked me to do.”
The criticism, particularly the anonymous letter, has been “hurtful,” she said.
“I don’t disagree with people asking questions,” she said. “But to say I didn’t look hard enough for a new home, or to assume we’ve done nothing or are pocketing resources or are not good stewards — that was hard.”
Snellville City Councilman Warren Auld said he supports the co-op “unequivocally, as an individual and as a council member. “I wish it were still inside the city.” As a private attorney, Auld has recently provided free legal guidance to the organization.
“They are doing what the Gospel says you are supposed to do — feed the poor,” he said.
“We’ve got cold weather coming up, kids are back in school.” Auld said. “I don’t know how this story will unravel. My real concern is that the co-op can open back up and serve those in need.”
This week, work was continuing and county officials were visiting the site to provide inspections and guidance on what is still required. Leaders are hoping the doors can reopen in a matter of weeks, but they are scared to promise. They’ve been wrong before.
They also are hoping that once the co-op reopens, relationships with churches and others can be rebuilt.
I can’t sit in judgment of what has happened. But — excepting those who have been toiling to make it right — we all are to blame.
This reflects poorly on our community. It reflects poorly on the governments, the churches, the businesses and the citizens.
A non-profit organization whose sole purpose is to help those in need has been allowed to shut its doors and wallow in homelessness and red tape for more than a year.
Regardless of the reasons, that’s wrong.
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Worried about those pesky mosquitoes?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Snellville Parks and Recreation Director Cyndee Bonacci said she’s fielded hundreds of calls and emails since a report last week that mosquitoes infected with the West Nile virus were found in the city’s Briscoe Park.
That’s not surprising. Snellville’s finding was the first this season in Gwinnett County and among the first in the state.
It’s normal to wonder if you should put away your picnic basket and resort to the malls for your daily walks.
Bonacci says the calls are a good thing. They let her get the facts out about the virus, which mostly infects birds and mosquitoes but can be transmitted to humans.
So, how concerned should we be?
For most of us, health and city officials say: not overly.
The West Nile virus is a danger mostly to very young children, the elderly and those whose health or immune system isn’t what it should be. For the rest of us, we may never know if we have been bitten by an infected mosquito. And if we do, it usually feels like a mild flu for which we don’t need treatment. Fewer than 1 percent of those infected become seriously ill.
If you are worried, however, the advice is what you have heard before - eliminate standing water around your home, stay inside at dusk and dawn, wear effective insect repellent and/or cover up with clothing. In other words, try not to be bitten.
As for avoiding the park, well, there may be as many infected mosquitoes in my back yard — or yours — as there are in Briscoe Park.
Snellville volunteered Briscoe to be a testing site. Unlike most back yards and private property, the park has been treated this season to kill mosquito larvae. The presence of mosquitoes there is more an indicator that they are in the Snellville area than a warning about the park itself.
Tests have found the West Nile virus in Snellville in 2003, 2004, 2005 and this year, according to officials in city government and the county health department.
But Snellville is not alone. There are areas near Lawrenceville and in the northern part of the county that have tested positive more frequently than the Snellville site, officials said. It just hasn’t happened this season yet.
A few years ago, Snellville sent out trucks to spray insecticide along streets. Residents received notes in advance, telling us to bring pets inside before the spraying.
Such action may be taken when the mosquito population is extremely high or if West Nile continues to show up at test sites, said Bonacci and Vernon Goins of the Gwinnett Heath Department.
But spraying only works when the mist actually touches the adult mosquitoes, Bonacci said.
“It is considered a last resort,” Goins said. It is more effective to eliminate standing water or to treat areas to kill the larvae, he said.
Since Snellville’s positive report, the park has been treated again and additional tests have been made there, as well as elsewhere in Gwinnett, Those results have not come back yet, Goins said Wednesday, but he expects them soon. Because he hasn’t received early notice, he is optimistic they will be negative.
Is West Nile something you are concerned about? How do you respond to news about this and other health issues? Does the public overreact?
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There’s a cop! Slow down!
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Imagine being a police officer in a marked car. You are trying to get somewhere. Not an “emergency” somewhere, with your blue lights flashing and siren sounding, A “regular” somewhere - say, to headquarters, to lunch, to take a report.
But everywhere you go, people hit the brakes and slow to a crawl.
I’m guiilty of it. On Ronald Reagan Boulevard recently, I glanced in my rearview mirror and experienced that momentary panic that most authority-fearing individuals feel when they see the top-mounted lights directly behind.
Was I going too fast? Is he going to stop me? Immediately I slowed down. So did everyone around me. Luckily I was able to move to the right-hand lane, and he passed, allowing me to breathe again.
But I noticed that he soon landed behind another car, which slowed down, along with all the cars around him. Immediately, a two-lane rolling caravan was formed — no one wanting to speed up, no one able to move over. The police car was stuck - for miles.
A few days later, I was heading down a Snellville two-lane, when I looked back and saw a police car. The speed limit was 25, though I rarely see anyone driving under 30 there. There was very little traffic. I wondered if I should take pity and speed up to a daring 29. But, no, the law was 25, and the lawman was behind me.
Police have got to hate that, I thought!
This would probably not be an issue if all roads had speed limits that seemed reasonable to responsible drivers. Some do. But on certain roads, the posted limits feel unnaturally slow.
I’m not advocating speeding. Neither do police.
The official line is that everyone should always follow the posted speed limit. But police know that most people drive above the prescribed rate. And if it is just a few miles over and there is no other violation, police don’t usually stop you, said Cpl. Illana Spellman of Gwinnett Police.
Still, most of us slow down when we see an officer.
“It can be frustrating at times,” acknowledged Spellman who said most travel by officers is non-emergency rather than “running code” with lights and sirens. “But you kind of accept it.
“People get on their best behavior when they see a marked police officer.”
I’m curious, though. What things do we do that drive police nuts? Would police prefer motorists to continue with a more “normal” rate of speed, even if that is above the posted limit? What do you do when you see police?
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Why is funding of public transit seen differently?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Transit officials are rolling out the big buses on the Snellville-to-Atlanta express line.
Riders on Wednesday morning hopped aboard 57-passenger coaches provided through GRTA (Georgia Regional Transit Authority) rather than the 39-seat Gwinnett Transit vehicles they had been riding. The switch is hoped to eliminate overcrowding that has caused passengers on some trips to stand up during the ride downtown.
Not all of the express runs received the bigger buses Wednesday morning but were expecting them by today, said Phil Boyd, acting director for Gwinnett County Transit. The large coaches will not necessarily cost more to operate because the main expense is labor, he said. In fact, bigger buses can be more efficient because they can take in more fares per trip, he said.
An average of 206 daily boardings were recorded on the Snellville-to-Atlanta routes - and their return trips — in June, said William Mecke of GRTA. Since the route began in April, it has grown “as fast or faster than anything else we’ve had,” Mecke said.
The bigger buses were a welcome sight to commuters Faye Rosenbaum and Mary Crenshaw, both of Snellville, who separately boarded the 7:30 a.m. bus Wednesday at Snellville First Baptist Church. Each of the women had tried riding earlier routes but switched to avoid the crowds and lack of seats.
Rosenbaum, who attended a town hall meeting with Gwinnett County Commissioner Mike Beaudreau earlier this year, wondered aloud if the popularity of the express service had affected Beaudreau’s opposition to the routes. She recalled the commissioner telling her that he was against the service and that she should consider changing jobs or moving to Atlanta if she didn’t like the commute from Gwinnett to downtown.
“I remember thinking, ‘is he telling me to leave Gwinnett and take my tax dollars and disposable income somewhere else?‘” Rosenbaum said.
As ridership grew, however, Rosenbaum thought Beaudreau may have changed his mind.
Beaudreau said Tuesday he is still reviewing the numbers and costs of the service, Though he has come to no conclusions on the Snellville line in particular, in general the commissioner still opposes such types of public transit because they are heavily subsidized by taxpayers and used by a relatively small number of riders.
The growth in ridership is “no surprise because you are subsidizing people to go to work,” Beaudreau said. “It doesn’t surprise me at all that people would want to ride.”
Beaudreau said he favors keeping jobs in Gwinnett rather than spending tax money to carry residents to work outside the county. Public transit is not one of the “core competencies” of county governments, he said, and there are other, private options available for commuting. And, the bus service is sometimes used by people who don’t live in Gwinnett, he said.
The commissioner also said personal choice plays a part in long commutes and government should be careful of spending money on needs brought on by personal choice,
“I used to live in Cobb County and work in Gwinnett,” he said. “I did the commute for a while, but then decided to move closer to where I work.”
I’ve given Beaudreau’s reasons some thought. But, so far, I haven’t been able to follow the logic.
Why is public transit — which offers the added benefits of taking cars off congested roads — so different from other government services? The costs can be high, but the philosophy of funding public transit seems similar to the philosophy of building roads or parks.
Public projects rarely serve everyone. There are areas of Gwinnett I never visit, yet the county builds and maintains parks and roads for the people who do.
Non-residents use our roads and parks. And personal choices — such as where people live — spur development of roads, parks and other infrastructure.
Similar arguments can be made about schools.
Though I don’t use all public services, I don’t begrudge my tax dollars going toward them. I feel the same toward public transit.
What do you think? Is government funding of public transit philosophically different from funding other government projects?
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