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By Jeff Moore

Contributing writer

 

The Cordele-Crisp Chapter of the NAACP wants the Crisp County Board of Education Chairman Joe Joe Wright removed from the position.

During the public comment period of the Monday, March 10 meeting, local NAACP chairman the Rev. Issac Owens made the request based on comments he said Wright made publicly.

“We feel they send a sad note to our children and some parents, and they are very disturbed. We are very disturbed by these actions,” Owens said. “Of course, we make no light of the fact that things happen. But also, we know that in our roles, we have to be careful and be thoughtful of what we say and how we say. Words have power. Words convey power.”

Owens said this applies whether the words are spoken directly or written.

Because of those views expressed, he said at this moment they believe it would be best for Wright to either step down or you the board remove him and select a new chair.

“I think any of you other board members will be very capable at this time of doing that because of the message that is conveyed,” Owens told the board.

With graduation coming up in a couple of months, he said there will be a countless number of young men walking across the stage and to receive their diploma from this school.

“And to know that that’s the part that it’s being that comes from the chairman of the board of education is not a good light,” Owen said, adding that each of they are the face of the school board.

“That’s why tonight we come before you asking you to do this in a light to we can’t take back the words,” he said. “We can’t take back the expressions, but I think that it will show favor to the community that these things will not happen because when we think of our children in school or where they might be.”

The Cordele-Crisp Chapter of the NAACP believes this is just a clear way of making sure that this would not be tolerated in our in the county’s school system, Owen explained, whether it be here at the top or anywhere throughout.

He went on to say that he understands that a school employee was recently relieved from duty based on something posted on TikTok and other social media forums.

“I really hope that each of you will hear this and understand why this makes us very uncomfortable, knowing that this is taking place in our community and within our school system,” Owen told the board. “There there comes a time with each of us being a certain age, and we know that our words can hurt.”

Whether the words directly hurt the individual, he said it’s the fact that they all had a chance to experience the impact with those words.

Owen thanked the board for hearing the local NAACP chapter’s concerns.

The comments Owen indicated were not mentioned.

There was no reaction to the request from Wright or other board members and the board proceeded with the other items on the agenda.

Wifi, data switch upgrades

The board of education approved funding to complete the school division’s data switch upgrade that began last year as part of upgrading Wifi at all of the schools.

Part of the project is funded through the E-Rate program, which provides schools and libraries with discounts of between 20% and 90% to those eligible for their telecommunications, Internet access and related services. The program is administered by the Universal Service Administrative Co, under the oversight of the Federal Communications Commission.

For projects eligible for E-Rate, the total project cost is $441,004 to replace date switches at the primary and elementary schools, along with Wifi at all four county schools — high, middle, elementary and primary.

E-Rate will cover $374,853 of the cost, while $66,150 will be provided by the school system.

For the non-E-Rate eligible parts of the work, the total to upgrade data switch and Wifi for pre-kindergarten, the learning center, central office, maintenance and transportation to run more powerful wireless access points totals $95,324, which will be fully funded by the school division.

The board of education approved the $161,474 in local funds for the project on a unanimous vote, 5-0.

School board appreciation

Superintendent Cindy Hughes recognized the five members of the board of education as part of Georgia School Board Appreciation Week, March 10-14.

“We know you have the ability to make a lasting impact on the on Crisp County and certainly on the children of Crisp County, so we thank you for all that you do,” Hughes said.

She added that each board member had something recognizing their service in front of them.

GSBA delegates

In preparation for the annual Georgia School Board Association conference in June, Hughes said the board needed to select a delegate and alternate to represent Crisp County.

The District 4 member Chris Anderson as the delegate and District 2 member Michelle Paul as the alternate.