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  • Some of the bathrooms at Southeast Whitfield High School are “really bad,” a student said. A men’s bathroom in the science wing is pictured. (Matt Hamilton/The Daily Citizen)

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  • The run-down concession stand at Southeast Whitfield High School is among the school’s facilities that need upgrades, according to a group of students, faculty and parents. (Matt Hamilton/The Daily Citizen)

    Southeast work 2 mlh.jpg

  • The track at Southeast Whitfield High School is worn through in places. (Matt Hamilton/The Daily Citizen)

    Southeast work 3 mlh.jpg

Discussion

September 27, 2012

Southeast looks for facility upgrades

By Christopher Smith christophersmith@daltoncitizen.com

Members of the Southeast Whitfield High School community are tired of being in the background —  literally and figuratively.

“You can’t even see the school from the bypass,” said Ron Johnson, a member of the Southeast school council. “My first time visiting, I couldn’t find it. You need to make it more visible. Cut down some of these trees and get better signs.”

A group of students, faculty and parents spoke about the school’s needs at the Whitfield County Board of Education’s work session Monday. Principal Karey Williams gathered the group at the request of Board Chairman Louis Fordham.

“We’re looking at ways to elevate the community’s perception of the school to a high level of excellence,” said Williams. “We are proud of Southeast and we are no longer complacent with staying in the background.”

Williams asked Southeast seniors April Dominguez and Logan Fowler to present funding and repair needs to the board. The school has about 1,300 students.

Dominguez said Southeast’s costs are small when you compare it to the $113 million it took to build Coahulla Creek High School, Eastbrook Middle School and Cedar Ridge Elementary School.

“We have a lot of traditions we want to keep,” Dominguez said. “We need renovations to keep the school going and to better the community.”

Dominguez said the girl’s soccer team uses bathrooms to change and lacks a fieldhouse that other sport teams have. The outside lane of the track is “nearly unusable,” she said. Also, the fence around school grounds is rusting and the concession stand needs to be repaired because it gives visitors a “bad impression,” she added.

Dominguez said she is also concerned with the inside of the school.

“The bathrooms here are really bad,” Dominguez said. “Some of the stalls don’t have doors. Some of our hallways have chipping paint.”

Fowler said another concern of students is “limited seating” in the school’s courtyard, auditorium and cafeteria.

“More seating is a big complaint I hear,” Fowler said. “In the cafeteria, a long line of people means less time to eat. Sometimes there’s only 15 minutes for lunch. We need more seats and bigger areas.”

Architects from Buckley and Associates made a “priority list” on the needs of each school that will be funded through the Education Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (ESPLOST) that begins on Jan. 1, 2013, according the Whitfield County Schools Fiscal Year 2013 Budget Book. The list included upgrading Southeast’s lightning and electricity but did not mention repairs, school officials said.

Fowler said the school also has educational needs because it does not offer Advanced Placement classes to freshmen and sophomores as other county schools do.

“If we get AP courses done sooner they’ll help us in the long run,” said Fowler. “Other schools are looking ahead.”

Fordham said the Department of Education limits ESPLOST to “funding facilities, technology and transportation,” but the board will “talk at length about the school’s needs.”

“There are some things a board can do and some things it can’t do,” said Fordham. “We have asked for comprehensive plans from the schools and they are responding. It will give us a holistic picture of what students need. (Southeast) gave us exactly what we were looking for.”

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