Fraker to be GCS’s superintendent
After being nominated, Kim Fraker was officially approved to lead county schools starting in July.
Kim Fraker was approved by the Gordon County Board of Education to be their new superintendent during their June meeting. The budget for the next academic year was also approved by board members, as well as bids for a new freezer and technology upgrades.
On May 23, Fraker was announced as the board’s nomination for the position of superintendent. In accordance with state law, Fraker remained the finalist for the position for 14 days before being approved to fill current Superintendent Susan Remillard’s shoes. Remillard will be retiring in July, leaving time for her to help Fraker transition into the position.
Fraker has previously served Bartow County Schools as chief of leadership and learning. Fraker is married to Cpt. Jim Fraker of the Sandy Springs Police Department, and the couple has three children.
FRAKER,
Upon relocating to Gordon County, Fraker said she hopes to get involved in many organizations and get plugged in to the local community.
Fraker was at Monday’s board meeting with her husband, and after the meeting concluded she greeted district staff, board members and local citizens, expressing her excitement of being the new superintendent.
Also at the board meeting, the budget for the next year was approved, thought not without a comment from the public. During the meeting, the board offered the chance for the public to provide input on the proposed budget that was discussed during their May meeting.
Justin Owen, the president and owner of Calhoun-based Owen Security, expressed “professional and personal” concerns regarding the budget and what he interpreted as a lack of security monitoring for the district.
“The 2020 budget does not include security monitoring, meaning an intruder can walk into the school in the middle of the night and do as they please,” Owen said. “There will be no panic button system, no emergency system, no monitoring whatsoever.”
Owen was interrupted by the district’s attorney Elinor Portivent, who said the public comments must address actual terms of the proposed budget, not what’s not in it.
“It does relate to the budget,” Owen said. “We would be the first jurisdiction in the state and country to reduce security since Columbine, in this day and age with all the school shootings.”
Without responding to Owen’s concerns, the board approved the proposed budget. Board member Eddie Hall did express concerns that there was only one meeting to discuss the budget, with “no opportunity to offer up changes.”
Though Hall did vote in favor of the budget, realizing the board needed to move on, he did want to have more time to look at the budget and consider some of the major expenses.
“I want to make it a priority looking forward when we have work sessions that the board will have more input (on the budget),” Hall said. “That’s really one of our biggest jobs.”
According to Director of Finance Mendy Goble, the main updates for next year’s budget include raises for both certified and classified employees. Following teachers’ raises approved by Gov. Brian Kemp and district-appointed raises, each certified teacher and administrator in Gordon County Schools will be receiving a raise of $3,210 this year.
Classified staff – including bus drivers, secretaries, custodians, paraprofessionals, cafeteria staff and uncertified instructors – will receive a 3 percent raise. The state required the district to increase their input into the Teachers Retirement System from 20.9 percent of each employee’s salary to 21.14 percent.
Goble also said in May that there have been a few requests to increase security at school entrances, new furniture items and basic maintenance objects. Security at the schools will be aided by $30,000 that Kemp allocated to each public school specifically for that issue, which will total $330,000 for Gordon County Schools.
In other news, the board approved a bid for a new walk-in cooler and freezer for Gordon Central High School, which will cost a total of $77,474.61, and also a technology upgrade project, which will cost a total of $1,968,176.20.
The price of lunches for the next academic year will increase by 10 cents, with elementary lunches raising to $2.15, and middle and high school lunches raising to cost $2.40. Betsy Martin, the director of school nutrition for Gordon County Schools, said the district hadn’t raised the cost of lunches for at least a year and reported that 60-70 percent of students buy lunches at school.
Remillard was also provided with a resolution of appreciation for her time working for the district as the superintendent. The board thanked her for 12 years of dedication and service.
“It was a privilege and an honor to serve,” Remillard said.