LCMS Science Olympiad Team Competes in the Chattahoochee Invitational
Indians Corner, Lumpkin County Middle December 7, 2021
8th grader in custody after pulling a knife on another student in class
News December 9, 2020
LUMPKIN COUNTY, Ga. — A 13-year-old female student at Lumpkin County Middle School is in custody today after she allegedly pulled a knife on another student in an 8th grade classroom.
The incident took place between 10:30 and 11 a.m. The classroom was evacuated and no one was injured.
The teacher was able to get the knife from the student and the School Resource Officer took possession of it.
Lumpkin County Sheriff Stacy Jarrard said, “The teacher did a great job of deescalating the situation, along with the School Resource Officer. Both sets of parents have been notified and the situation has returned to normal.”
Lumpkin County prepares for first day of school
Community, Education July 29, 2019
LUMPKIN CO., GA
Lumpkin County Students prepare to head back to school, while school faculty and staff have already begun preparations. The pre-planning period for teachers begins on Thursday, (August 1) and will go through Monday, (August 5). The first day of school the 2019-20 school year will begin on Tuesday, August 6th. Open house for all Lumpkin County Elementary Schools is scheduled for Friday, August 2, from 3p.m. until 5p.m.
Lumpkin County Middle School will hold open house for all 6th graders and new students only, on Thursday, August 1, from 3p.m. until 5p.m., and open house for all other LCMS students will be held on Tuesday, August 13, from 3:30p.m. until 5:30p.m.
Lumpkin County High School will hold their open house for freshman, called Freshman Focus, on Thursday, August 1, from 1p.m. until 3p.m, and open house for all other LCHS students will be on Thursday, August 1, from 3p.m. until 5p.m.
School hours for students are as follows:
All elementary schools: 7:50a.m. until 2:50p.m.
LCMS: 7:50a.m. until 2:50p.m.
LCHS: 7:45a.m. until 2:30p.m.
May 22 is the last day of the school year, and students will enjoy early release at 11:30a.m.
LCSS Superintendent, Rob Brown, has taken extra precautions to ensure student safety for elementary school parents who wish to escort their child(ren) to their classrooms the morning of their first day of school. In a press release, Dr. Brown explained, “The safety of our students and staff will always remain our top priority! As a precaution, we will have district level staff on hand to help monitor the comings and going of our visitors during this time.”
A charter school system is a local school district that operates under the terms of a charter contract between the State Board of Education and the local Board of Education. The system receives broad flexibility in the form of waivers of certain state laws, rules, and guidelines in exchange for greater accountability for increased student performance and an emphasis on school-based leadership and decision-making.
Fetch Your News is a hyper local news outlet that covers Dawson, Lumpkin, White, Fannin, Gilmer, Pickens, Union, Towns and Murray counties as well as Cherokee County in N.C. FYN attracts 300,000+ page views per month, 3.5 million impressions per month and approximately 15,000 viewers per week on FYNTV.com and up to 60,000 Facebook page reach. If you would like to follow up-to-date local events in any of those counties, please visit us at FetchYourNews.com
Lumpkin County Board of Education holds called meeting
Business, News August 25, 2018
LUMPKIN COUNTY, Ga.– The Lumpkin County Board of Education held a called meeting on Friday August 24. According to Superintendent Dr. Rob Brown, the purpose of the meeting was to discuss the press release that was posted earlier this week on the Lumpkin County School System Facebook page. He also stated during opening comments that, “We’re here tonight to ensure our community understands that our elected school board members do desire their feedback and are available to them.”
Brown opened the floor to anyone who had concerns regarding school system finances. Dahlonega resident, Seth Alhadeff, addressed his concerns with the board, “The first talking point I’d like to mention is the elephant in the room; the senior tax exemption.” Alhadeff suggested that the board should allow the community to share their opinions on the tax exemption, in order to find a solution, “If you guys [LCBOE] would team up with the county and possibly host a public opinion focus group, to get everyone’s opinion on the senior tax exemption…maybe opinions have changed in the past 10 years.”
He also stated the he felt like the focus of the board has primarily been on extra-curricular activities, rather than academics, “It seems like over the past couple of years, since Dr. Brown has been the Superintendent, there’s been a focus and emphasis, and a considerable amount of funding towards extra curricular activities; specifically the brand new tennis courts, wrestling, and weight room, and of course now the ROTC center.”
Alhadeff added that he was a fan of sports and understood their significance, but was still concerned, “I know the gifted program has shifted, and I understand the changes that were made…with two young children in the school, I feel like it’s a disservice that the gifted program has now changed, for whatever reason.” Brown asserted that, “The senior tax exemption is a challenging proposition for everyone who pays taxes in Lumpkin County…that is not, in my opinion, for the school system to host a forum and to fight that battle. It’s the community. We have zero control over that”
The other points presented to the board included the elementary school that no longer has a teacher to lead the Science Club since the former teacher moved to Lumpkin County Middle School, and also the possible discontinuation of the Odyssey of the Mind program
Brown addressed Alhadeff‘s concern relative to an increased focus on extracurricular activities by stating, “I’ll make no apologies, because that is what was addressed in our SPLOST.” Brown also mentioned that the previous ESPLOST included academic improvements such as, technology, technological devices, and increased internet speeds.
In regards to JROTC/Science building, Brown explained that the project has not been approved as of yet, “We are in the planning stages. The Nugget inappropriately posted that it had been an approved project. We are still in the very preliminary stages of that facility, and we discussed last week what it was going to look like.” He further explained that the project will create new science classrooms and laboratories for the students to use. The space used for JROTC, Brown stated, would be determined based on what the state says they need, and also by what the program needs.
Concern over the absence of the board during their most recent public hearing in regards to the millage rate vote was not discussed.
Fetch Your News is a hyper local news outlet that covers Dawson, Lumpkin, White, Fannin, Gilmer, Pickens, Union, Towns and Murray counties as well as Cherokee County in N.C. FYN attracts 300,000+ page views per month, 3.5 million impressions per month and approximately 15,000 viewers per week on FYNTV.com and up to 60,000 Facebook page reach. If you would like to follow up-to-date local events in any of those counties, please visit us at FetchYourNews.com
Teacher says Blackwell “was a troubled kid and serious threat”
News August 15, 2018
DAHLONEGA, Ga. – Teachers and students at Lumpkin County Middle School were afraid of 17-year-old Kaylor Blackwell. One math teacher refused to be in the same classroom with the volatile teen and another refused to be in the same class unless Pat Garner, a math teacher and former criminal investigator with the Lumpkin County Sheriff’s Office was in a co-taught class with her.
“He was a troubled kid and a serious threat,” Garner testified Tuesday in Lumpkin County Superior Court. “He’s explosive. He strikes fear in people. It’s just the way he is and he knows that and likes doing it.”
Garner is a defense witness in the trial of his brother, Tim Garner, who is charged with child cruelty and simple battery in connection with a 2017 incident at the Lumpkin County alternative school in which he is caught on a surveillance camera grabbing Blackwell by the throat and dragging him along a cafeteria table.
Tim Garner said he acted in self defense. “I was in fear of a head butt or something like that or carrying something,” he told WSB-TV.
Pat Garner spent nearly two hours on the witness stand relating how he had essentially been assigned to teaching and protecting students and teachers at the middle school from Blackwell for two years.
He said he first became aware of Blackwell in 2012 when the teen was a seventh grader and he was called to a meeting in 2012 where one math teacher refused to be in the same class with Blackwell and another would be in the class but only if it was a co-taught class and Garner was in the class with her. “They wouldn’t do it without me being in the room,” he said.
He also testified there were “numerous occasions” when he had to step in between Blackwell and a teacher or another student. “It was kind of an ongoing thing. On a couple of occasions, it became quite severe,” he said.
One incident took place near the end of the teen’s seventh grade year when Garner said Blackwell threatened to stab a special education student in the eye with a pencil. In another incident, Garner said, “He, “blew up at a teacher and came toward her. I got in between them and he was calling her a Fing B word in a real threatening tone. I got him outside and they sent him home.”
Garner said, Blackwell’s mother signed paperwork agreeing to send him to alternative school the following year, but when the new school year started, he was allowed to return for the eighth grade without going to alternative school.
Near the end of his eighth grade year, another serious incident took place.
Garner said there was a geometry project where students had to draw a house to scale. When he turned his project in, the teacher asked him about several rectangles he drew in the bottom corner.
“He told her that was N….. town. I told him to get out of the room. There were two African American females in the room at the time and one of them started crying.”
Garner added that one of the boys in the class called him a racist as he was walking out. “He replied very loud that’s where all the Fing N word live.” Following that incident, Blackwell was finally sent to alternative school.
On cross examination, Assistant District Attorney Faizah Shabazz got Garner to say despite all the incidents of explosive outbursts, he never witnessed Blackwell physically strike anyone.
Chief Superior Court Judge Stanley Gunter said the trial would resume Sept. 4 at 9 a.m.
Fetch Your News is a hyper local news outlet that covers Dawson, Lumpkin, White, Fannin, Gilmer, Pickens, Union, Towns and Murray counties as well as Cherokee County in N.C. FYN attracts 300,000+ page views per month, 3.5 million impressions per month and approximately 15,000 viewers per week on FYNTV.com and up to 60,000 Facebook page reach. If you would like to follow up-to-date local events in any of those counties, please visit us at FetchYourNews.com
Students in Dawson, White and Lumpkin counties stage walkout to honor those killed in Parkland, Fl.
News March 16, 2018
Dr. Rob Brown
DAHLONEGA, Ga. – Students all across the nation staged a 17-minute walkout Wednesday organized by Empower, a youth branch of the Women’s March. National organizers say the walkout was staged to “demand Congress pass legislation to keep us safe from gun violence.”
However, in heavily Republican counties like Dawson, Lumpkin and White, the walkouts were more about a respectful memorial to the 17 students and faculty killed at a Parkland, Florida, high school last month and less about making a political statement.
Lumpkin County Schools
Lumpkin County School Superintendent Dr. Rob Brown said about 125 students at Lumpkin County High School and 25 at Lumpkin County Middle School participated.
“It was all about showing respect for the students and faculty involved in the Parkland tragedy,” Brown said.
While some Georgia school systems threatened to punish students who walked out of classes, that was not the case in Lumpkin, White or Dawson counties. “We believe First Amendment rights are just as important in schools as they are in the rest of society,” Brown said.
Students at both schools stood around the American flag in observance of the 17 minutes. “The principal encouraged the kids to work on their social skills by talking to students they don’t know and getting to know them,” Brown said.
White County Schools
Dr. Jeff Wilson
Students in White County schools were also welcome to join in the walkout. School Superintendent Dr. Jeff Wilson said 200 White County Middle School students participated along with about 50 at the high school and 15 at the Ninth Grade Academy.
“We respect their right to express themselves as long as it’s respectful and doesn’t disrupt the other students,” Wilson said.
The walkout had a very unique significance at WCMS thanks to a teacher, Melanie Lawhorn, and her students, who developed the “Warriors for Kindness” project. The project, which is posted on the school’s website states, “In order to honor the lives of the 17 individuals lost in Parkland, Florida, White County Middle School students are performing 17 random acts of kindness during the one-month anniversary week.” The acts of kindness are being logged and will be mailed to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School as a sign of support and love for the community.
Dawson County Schools
Dr. Damon Gibbs
School Superintendent Dr. Damon Gibbs said the event in Dawson County was respectful and non-disruptive.
“We allowed our students to gather in remembrance of those killed in Parkland, Florida, as well as to express their desire to see an end to school violence of any kind,” Gibbs stated.
Staff was assigned to hold discussions with students and answer any questions that they had.
“We respect the right of our students to express their opinions in a respectful and non-disruptive way,” Gibbs said. “We are also seeking their opinions about how we can make our schools safer in the future.”
Fetch Your News is a hyper local news outlet that covers Dawson, Lumpkin, White, Fannin, Gilmer, Pickens, Union, Towns and Murray counties as well as Cherokee County in N.C. If you would like to follow up-to-date local events in any of those counties, please visit us at FetchYourNews.com
Lumpkin Board of Education Honors Faculty of the Month
Blackburn Elementary, Education, Lumpkin County Elementary, Lumpkin County High School, Lumpkin County Middle October 11, 2016
DAHLONEGA, Ga. — The Lumpkin County Board of Education honored area educators with Faculty of the Month Awards at Monday’s meeting.
Those cited include Laura Fitts Blackburn Elementary, Laura Stanton Longbranch Elementary, Jennifer Wade Lumpkin County Elementary, Kyle Truelove Lumpkin County Middle and Major Jeff Moran Lumpkin County High School.
Other awards presented include Tabitha Lee for transportation, Denny Tolbert for maintenance, Virginia Bryan for parapro, Dott Kerr for school nutrition and Marilyn Bartills for administrative support.
Board members noted that the spotlight school of the month, Blackburn Elementary School, where their theme for this year is ‘Be Awesome Today’. In which the mission of Blackburn Elementary School is to prepare their students to meet life’s challenges and opportunities by providing a solid foundation on which to build educational and personal success.
It was also announced that all county schools have been accredited with quality according to the Advanced Education Accreditation process and the Georgia Accreditation Committee.
The owner of Picnic Café, Sam Norton, was recognized for his outstanding service, in receiving October Business Partner. In which he humbly stated ‘everyone should contribute to the best of their abilities’. Mr. Norton has continuously been an active member in our community providing lunches and especially cookies to students!
October, is Bus Safety Month. The designated safety week is Oct. 17th through the 21st and Oct. 17th has been designated Bus Driver Appreciation Day.
School Year Begins in Lumpkin Co. This Week
News July 31, 2016
LUMPKIN COUNTY, Ga. — Summer is over and it’a back to school this week for nearly 4,000 students in the Lumpkin County Charter School System. Opening Day is Friday, August 5. But first, all area schools will be holding Open House to help acclimate students and parents.
Lumpkin County Elementary School will hold its Open House Tuesday, August 2 from 4 to 6 p.m. At Lumpkin County Middle School Open House is Wednesday Aug. 3 from 3-5 p.m. Lumpkin County High School Open House is Aug. 3 from 4-6 p.m.
To enroll students in the Lumpkin County School System parents, or guardians, must provide a birth certificate, social security card, proof of residency, eye and ear dental screening and Georgia immunization record. Questions regarding school zones should be directed to the Transportation Department at 706.864.2416.
Parents who do not have these items can request a 30-day waiver from the school’s principal. If the immunization record is from another state, the record should be taken to the Lumpkin County Health Department to have the information transferred to a Georgia form.
There is a new man at the helm of the school system this year. Dr. Bob Brown was hired as school superintendent over the summer. Brown earned his B.S. in Physical Education and Health from Carson Newman, his Masers of Education Degree from Jacksonville State and his Doctorate in Educational Leadership from the University of Alabama in 2011.
Brown comes to Lumpkin County from the Jeff Davis County School System where he led a number of cost saving initiatives that improved the district’s financial position.
There is also a new head football coach at the high school. Shane Williamson was hired in June. He comes to Lumpkin County from Forsyth Central where he led the team to its first winning season in 13 years in 2014.