School Board celebrates with end-of-semester awards

As revealed by Director of Teaching & Learning C.T. Hussion, multiple educators and the courses they teach were congratulated for outstanding performance.

In particular, Union County Middle was commended for numerous grade placements in Distinguished Learner categories and boasting some of the highest mean scale scores in subjects such as English language arts and math.

Students, too, were rewarded for their hard work in the Dec. 17 meeting when the Union County High School Cross Country teams were brought to the front of the room to receive certificates for a fantastic season.

The girls and boys were both honored, with Union County Ladies earning Third Overall at State and Lola Hunter achieving Third Overall for individuals. Union County Men, meanwhile, took home Sixth Overall, with Oliver Hillman finishing at Seventh Overall for individuals.

With the last meeting of the year came some housekeeping issues, such as figuring out what the 2025-2026 School Calendar might look like and coming up with the FY2026 board meeting dates.

The board – and some teachers in the audience – expressed a desire to have a full week off for Thanksgiving, citing requests from both the community and staff.

And as far as regular board meeting dates go, there’s no big plan to change, though Superintendent John Hill stated there was some brief consideration to move to holding board meetings on Thursdays due to scheduling conflicts, though the final draft was not available at press time.

Board members received updates on the under-construction Elementary School building via a slideshow. Specific areas, like the cafeteria, gym, restrooms and some classrooms, are beginning to take shape and were featured as part of a video exploring the site.

The ribbon-cutting for the new school building was revealed to be sometime this April, with the opening date still slated for Fall 2025.

Despite initial concerns raised just before the November election, the board voted to opt in to House Bill 581, which establishes a “floating” homestead tax exemption defined by the Department of Revenue.

Hill admitted at the start of the discussion that there were pros and cons, and while the board agreed with that assessment, a unanimous vote ultimately followed suit after heavy discussion. This will come as welcome news to the majority of local voters, who supported the measure.

“Our property values have gone up higher than the rate of inflation; this bill addressed that,” said Board Member Jason McCarter. “For the counties that stay in, it will give homeowners protection from this constant influx of people coming in that have done nothing but just want to live in their house for the next 15 years or so.”

Board Member Janna Akins said that, ultimately, “there’s some loss of control over what we can do,” but she added, “This could also potentially be some sort of assistance or relief to … a single mom or a grandmother who’s raising their grandkids living on a fixed income.”

4-H student Lauren Pace signed up for public comment to voice her appreciation for the program and how it has helped her blossom into a better person. Pace admitted she initially hated public speaking but has found that she loves 4-H and has learned to embrace what it has to offer.

“Even though I still have my struggles with public speaking, I know without 4-H, I wouldn’t be where I am today – much less speaking in front of you all,” Pace said. “I am in a club that I love and stand for.”

The North Georgia News congratulates UCMS Seventh-Grader Sadie Cochran on being chosen as the featured artist on the School System’s 2024 holiday card. She painted a lovely mountain snow scene of a deer with a cardinal to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

School Board members will meet next on Thursday, Jan. 23, starting with a work session at 6 p.m. inside the Board Office at 124 Hughes Street in Blairsville.