Plans for Peach State go forward

♦ The Rome school board discusses readiness for potential neighborhood annexations.

The Peach State Marching Festival will go forward on Oct. 24, Rome City Schools Superintendent Lou Byars told board members.

“We’re going to do everything we can to have a marching band festival,” Byars said in the Tuesday pre-meeting caucus at Main Elementary School. “We want our bands to have something.”

The event often brings marching bands from schools across the state each year.

Byars said they’ve worked out social distancing plans for the festival at Barron Stadium and feels they can continue with the program safely.

The superintendent also touched briefly during the caucus on the school system’s readiness if the city moves forward with annexation talks.

Rome city commissioners recently expressed interest in annexing neighborhoods that are in the county, but are surrounded by the city — such as the Celanese/riverside neighborhood or the Honeysuckle Ridge neighborhood.

“There are five areas I’m aware of that are islands within the city limits,” Byars said.

Rather than weighing in on whether the city should annex any or all of the neighborhoods, Byars assured board members that the system “is prepared for whatever decision the city makes.”

He said the school system has built new buildings with the idea that they may need increased capacity and is in a good position to absorb all of the students they would need to.

“We’re prepared in the short term or long term if the talks continue,” he said. “They may not do anything.”