Question:
Good morning! As a mom of an upcoming preschooler, I was wondering why there isn't any more communication regarding the preschool classes next year? There are a lot of confused moms out here and the only reason I knew about Nathan Deal's decision to have preschool is from a friend who is a pre-k teacher. RNT didn't cover it (if they did, I couldn't find it) ... I did find it on AJC website. But I am "hearing" that it will be full time but with only 160 days. Again, though, I am hearing this from pre-k teachers. Can BOE post these updates so parents can keep up to date on all this? I don't even know when we will find out the calendar for the preschool students. Thank you so much for your help!!! :)

Dr. Plunkett's Answer:
Sorry for the delay in response to your question. AT&T had problems with our connection for a couple of days and we were without a connection to the outside world via Internet and email. I understand you concern for Pre-K and your wish to receive more information. We are unfortunately handicapped by a lack of information or specific details that we can share with our parents. We did not anticipate the proposed changes being considered regarding Pre-K and only became aware of the initial proposal from the Governor a couple of weeks ago. Pre-K is a Lottery funded program and is connected to Hope Scholarship legislation. Legislation will not provide us with needed details about Pre-K because the issues being discussed are not a part of Hope or Lottery legislation. Hope legislation will give us an idea of the funds Pre-K will have to work with but the details of the program are determined by administrative rules at the state level. First, let me assure you of my commitment to the Pre-K program in our schools. This is a valuable program for our youngest students in the community that has shown to be effective in improving the academic success of children. When we learned of the initial proposed changes, I began immediately to work with our RESA, system Pre-K teachers and other superintendents to contact our legislators about the proposed changes. At that time, it was just a proposal and the legislature had not considered the changes. Fortunately, Governor Deal listened to the many voices concerned about the affect the proposed changes would have on Pre-K and revised his proposal. Initially, the proposal was to make Pre-K a half-day rather than a full-day program. This would have created many concerns for parents, teachers and superintendents. I am happy to say that it looks like the new proposal will continue Pre-K as a full-day program. On the downside, Pre-K is proposed to be cut from a 180 day school year to 160 days. At this point we do not know exactly what the calendar for Pre-K will look like. Our Pre-K people are watching diligently for information from the state about the structure and funding of the program to make our plans for next year. We have not been able to communicate a great deal about what affect all of the changes will have on our program because we have not been provided with those details at this time. We will use every avenue of communication available to us to get information to Pre-K parents and the community just as soon as we are provided with information that will allow the school system to finalize our plans. I apologize for the confusion and the lack of information about our program for next year. We had been moving forward with plans for next year with program details and plans we had used for many years in the past, until just recently. Again, this was not something that we anticipated and we are anxiously awaiting final word on the structure of the program. We will get the information out to parents and the community as soon as we are able to finalize our plans. I hope your question allows more parents to understand the situation we are in regarding information about next years Pre-K program. We look forward to welcoming your child into the wonderful world of Pre-K this fall!

Question:
Dr. Plunkett, Has a decision been made as to when the snow days will be made up? Thank you

Dr. Plunkett's Answer:
We have not talked about making up school days missed due to snow at this time. We will wait to see how many days are missed and weigh our options before making that decision. We have a plan in place for employees to make-up days missed due to snow but we will discuss student days after we see how many days we miss this week. Thank you for your question. Be safe and warm.

Question:
I have come up to the school on several occasions (after hours and on the weekends) and the air conditioners in the classrooms were running. I was just wondering if they are set to not allow the rooms get above a certain temperature. I know that during the day we have very limited control of the thermostat. But the units running with no one in the building seems like it would be a waste of resources. Could they possibly be cut off on the weekends to save money? Thanks.

Dr. Plunkett's Answer:
Thank you for your email and for inquiring about the air conditioning settings. We need all of our people looking for ways to save on energy consumption so I really appreciate you taking the time to email me. The air conditioning and heat are all set at more cost effective temperature settings after hours. This keeps the units from running as much but it does not shut them down entirely. This works much like a digital thermostat may work in your home. Many people use the tools in their homes now to save on energy costs. To shut the units down entirely at night would cause the equipment to work extra hard to get the buildings back to an acceptable temperature to have classes. It keeps the equipment from having to work extended periods that it would take to get the temperature back to an acceptable range thus saving on equipment maintenance and it reduces the problems with mold and mildew that could arise with drastic changes in room climate. Our maintenance and energy experts have looked at the cost comparisons, strain on the equipment and the amount of time it takes to return the rooms to acceptable levels to come up with temperature settings that are the most cost effective for the system. We do save a tremendous amount of money by controlling the hours of operation and the temperature settings of thermostats. Thank you for your question. I appreciate your interest in saving our limited resources.

Question:
Recently I read an article in the newspaper about Floyd County Schools becoming a Charter School System. We have a student in Midway Primary and would like to know what this means to us and if we could do anything to help. Thank you Macrena Reader

Dr. Plunkett's Answer:
Thank you for your question and for your interest in our becoming a Charter System. There are many pieces to the Charter puzzle and a great deal of information is available on our Web site. To put it in simple terms, Charter means we will have freedom from many state rules and regulations that will allow us to structure our schools in a manner that best fits our community instead of conforming to a one-size-fits-all formula. By focusing on our strengths and needs instead of a state norm we will be able to take our system to new heights in academic performance. Another key element of Charter is the commitment to involving the community in school governance and the quest for academic improvement. That is where you and your family come into the Charter picture. We will have Local School Governance Teams (LSGT) in each school to provide more control and decision making capability at the school level. The LSGT will consist of teachers, parents, community leaders and the school principal. You can certainly consider becoming a candidate for office on the Local School Governance Team or talk with your friends and neighbors about serving in this important capacity. The LSGT will meet on a regular basis and make decisions to influence the education received by your child and those of others in the community. The LSGT will also be working with parents and the community to ensure that the schools are involving those with interest in education in the decision making process. If you have an interest in running for an LSGT position, please contact your school principal. We look forward to the challenges and opportunities under charter status.

Question:
Now that we have fully received the charter system status, what kind of changes will take place? What will happen to the number of hours students attend school? How will teachers be affected? Will there be more job positions available in the county system? Will there be a more rigorous curriculum in which the students will be able to demonstrate their knowledge? How will the charter system especially affect the class of 2011? And to what degree will the charter status affect the community?

Dr. Plunkett's Answer:
Thank you for your email regarding our charter system status. We are excited about the possibilities available to our school system under this new flexibility option called Charter System. It is important to note that change will be a process and will not take place immediately upon the school system becoming a charter system on July 1. One of the aspects of charter that was attractive to our citizens committee, which proposed we seek charter system status, was that it involved participation from schools, teachers, parents and the community in decisions impacting children and our schools. Our first task is to get the new governance structure in place that will allow these stakeholders to help us set the path for change in our educational program. Each school will have a Local School Governance Team that will consist of the principal, two staff members, four community leaders - including two parents. These groups will help us to make decisions that will best serve the children of Floyd County. The answers to your questions will begin to reshape opportunities for our students in the next few years. The impact on the class of 2011 will certainly not be as great as it may be for the class of 2016. We look forward to working with our Local School Governance Teams to develop: " Student and staff focused leadership academies. " A student focused leadership track with a focus on community " Transition academies at critical grade levels " Flexibility in scheduling based on the differing needs of students " An alternative high school diploma targeted to at-risk middle and high school students to include web-based and face-to-face instruction " Align career pathways with emerging career opportunities in the Rome " Strengthen partnerships with local colleges to provide dual enrollment opportunities and enhance career opportunities " Develop exchange programs with local service agencies, business and industries These and more opportunities will be available as we make decisions regarding what is best for our children and community. We look forward to realizing the potential charter system brings to our school system.

Question:
Although I have not met you, I appreciate the time, energy and hard work that goes into enhancing the education of children in Floyd County. I noticed that the calendar for the next school year has been recently set. At a time when we are trying to squeeze the most out of our tax dollars and put as many dollars as possible to work in our classrooms, I was wondering if the school board had ever considered changing the start date until later in the year and ending a bit later. With the average temperatures being significantly higher in August, it seems like we could save money with each single day of lower temperatures. Thanks for your time. Lowery May

Dr. Plunkett's Answer:
Thank you for your question regarding the school calendar. We spend a great deal of time looking at calendar options in our school system. Each year, we try to step back and look at what we are doing and how we are using our time to make sure we are best serving children. The need to save money certainly does play into the discussion, and that is especially true in these times, but our top priority is still what is best for the academic growth of the children. We traditionally set our calendar in November each year. About eight years ago, we spent two years studying how we use the time we are given each school year and looked at ways we could better utilize the school days allotted for instruction. The study involved a cross section of representative from the community including parents, business leaders, teachers and school administrators representing all of our attendance areas. The group recommended a calendar very similar to the one we use today. The element the group liked most in the structure of this calendar was the inclusion of extra instruction days for students needing help in their academics. We call these Intersessions and traditionally have held these in the fall, winter and spring. Our students performance on standardized testing has shown that the calendar structure is working well. We were named an Outperformer by Standard and Poors in 2006. This award is given to systems that perform better than expected based on the poverty level of the community. Over the last few years, our free and reduced lunch participation rate has grown to over 50% of our students. Virtually all studies show, as a school systems poverty level goes up, test scores go down. Our systems performance has been just the opposite. As our free/reduced lunch numbers have grown, our test scores have continued to climb. That certainly must be attribute to several factors but the calendar is one of the elements helping us to bring brighter futures to the children we serve. We have looked at temperatures and energy consumption in the calendar question. Trading a later start in the beginning of the school year would result in extending the end of the school year. In essence, you would be trading days in August for additional days in June. Average temperatures over time in our community show there to be very little difference between the months of June (average temp. 73.6) and August (average temp. 76.5). Both are two of the three hottest months of the year. With that in mind, we look at other affects related to such a change. One factor is that the later start date would not allow us to complete the first semester for high school students until after the Christmas break. Our high schools have found it to be much better for student achievement for the semester to end at the Christmas break so that students do not have to deal with a two week break in instruction during the semester. It also allows us to hold one of our Intersessions between first and second semester. The biggest issue related to a later start date is the impact on student performance on standardized testing. The state has set testing dates for taking the standardized tests mandated for schools and those can not be changed by the school system. Changing to a later start would take instruction days away before the test and add them after the tests. That would mean that teachers would have two, three or four weeks less time to prepare students to take the tests. These tests impact how our system is judged by the public and the promotion of our students to the next grade level. If we reduce the time given to teachers and students to cover the necessary material on the assessments, we would be putting our school system and our students at a major disadvantage when taking these important tests. There are many elements we consider when looking at our school calendar each year. We understand that we will not be able to craft a calendar that everyone will be completely happy with when it is adopted. Every individual has personal preferences for certain start times, break times, ending times and holidays provided in calendars. I hope that it helps to understand that we look at many different factors from energy consumption to surrounding systems calendars during the development process but in the end we focus most on what will provide the best environment and opportunity for effective teaching and learning in our classrooms. We continue to work on the process of calendar development and in fact just started work on the 2011-2012 calendar with a Teacher Advisory Group. This will be the first step in our process to review the school calendar for the next adoption cycle. If you have ideas or suggestions, I am always open to new ways of doing things, as long as the ultimate goal is academic improvement for children. Thank you again for taking the time to send me your question.

Question:
Dr. Plunkett what are thye requirements for an administrator to be present for athletic events?

Dr. Plunkett's Answer:
Thanks for your question regarding requirements for an administrator to be in attendance at athletic events. At school athletic events, the school is required to have someone on staff in charge at the event. The person in charge could be the principal, assistant principal or a staff member designated by the principal. As a system, we encourage our principals to be involved in all aspects of the school operation and to support the school and students in athletic events and other extra-curricular activities. We also understand that there are a lot of after school activities and athletic events, especially at the high school level, and it would be very difficult for a principal to attend all extra-curricular activities. Often, administrators at the school rotate the responsibility between the principal and the assistant principals on staff. If you have a specific concern regarding an athletic event, please contact me so that we can discuss those concerns. Thank you for taking the time to submit your question.

Question:
Dr. Plunkett I am concerned about why 3 schools in this district have yet to receive their flu shots for the students. I do not understand why if the parents have paid in advance and were given an approximate date of the shot, why this happens. Last year Pepperell High School was the last school to receive flu shots and we waited for them for our son and he got sick with the flu not once but twice while waiting for this vaccination. I paid early in the school year for a vacinnation shot and did not take him to the clinic because I thought we would have his shots way before now. Now I am thinking seriously about taking him to the clinic and getting a shot anyway. I should not have to do this. Thank you for your concern with this question. Sincerely Billy W Morgan

Dr. Plunkett's Answer:
Thank you for your email regarding the flu shots. I am also concerned that several of our schools have not received the vaccine to provide regular flu shots for students. There are three schools outside of the Pepperell area also waiting to get the vaccinations. The vaccination program is coordinated by the Floyd County Health Department. I have worked with the Health Department to allow the vaccinations at school to make it easier for many of our students to get the shots but the school system does not control the schedule or supply. Even though the shots are administered in the schools, the Health Department schedules and administers the program to provide the vaccinations for our students. I understand the Health Department expected enough vaccine to arrive in Floyd County to provide the vaccine for the students in our schools. The last shipment did not arrive as scheduled and this has delayed vaccinations at six of our schools and the Central Office. I discussed this situation with Dr. Charlotte Roberts, assistant superintendent of Floyd County Schools, this afternoon to get the latest update on when the Health Department expects to complete the vaccinations in our schools. Dr. Roberts was informed by Judy Fellers of the Health Department that the shipment of vaccine would arrive after the Thanksgiving break. The remaining schools would then be rescheduled as soon as possible. Again, the schedule is controlled by the Floyd County Health Department and not Floyd County Schools. It is our hope that the remaining schools will receive the vaccine within the first two weeks of December. I would completely understand any parent taking their child to another location where the vaccine is available to get a flu shot. If you decide to get the shot elsewhere, I have been told that the Health Department will refund the money paid in advance for the shot at school. I am very sorry for this inconvenience but the situation has been completely out of my control. My intent was to make this process easier for our school families and to keep our students healthy. We will continue to monitor the situation and work with the Health Department to provide the vaccine for our students as soon as possible.

Question:
If Floyd Country School System is approved as a Charter System, would the system consider going back to a traditional high school math curriculum or would they continue to use the new math program (Math I, Math II, etc)?

Dr. Plunkett's Answer:
Thank you for your question regarding charter system and the math curriculum. Floyd County Schools will have flexibility regarding some curriculum issues under charter system status but we will also have some limitations due to federal requirements and the content of state standardized testing. One area that the system will not have flexibility under charter system status is with anything related to federal No Child Left Behind requirements. In Georgia, math is an indicator that determines AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress) for a school or school system as a part of No Child Left Behind requirements. I am sure you have heard of the term making or not making AYP. For the last two years, all of our schools in the system have made AYP. Scores from state testing are used to make that determination. Since all of Georgias math testing will be based on the state sequence of Math I, Math II, etc. it would not be possible for our students to be on a totally different math curriculum and be successful on the state testing that will determine our AYP status. While we may have the flexibility to alter the curriculum, it may not be good to do so and have our students tested on different material than they are studying in the classroom. To do so would result in our students not testing well on state math tests and could certainly keep our schools from making AYP.

Question:
If we do garner charter school status, how will that directly affect teachers? Will our pay grade change? Will we work fewer/more school days? Will we still be required to acquire PLUs? Will it change the curriculum or standards in any way? For something that may go into effect as early as next year, I feel like I know absolutely no specifics about it. This concerns me as a teacher and a parent.

Dr. Plunkett's Answer:
Thank you for your questions regarding charter status. You have some very good questions regarding changes that may come with charter system status. One aspect of the change is that the system will be given flexibility to make more decisions regarding the type programs and services we provide to the children of our community here at the local level. Another is that we will develop a process to involve the schools, teachers and community in those decisions. Therefore, how charter system affects teachers and students will be determined by our teachers and parents coming together to make the best decisions possible for our children. The members of the Flexibility Committee made up of teachers, school administrators, parents and business leaders that recommended the school system pursue charter status were excited about the possibility of us making more decisions locally instead of being told how to educate our children from the state level. The common misconception with charter is that we go into the process knowing all the answers. This is a journey we are just beginning. Charter system status just provides us with a new landscape on which to paint the direction we will take for the future. We have not written our charter to include any reference to changing pay grades, working fewer or more school days, or a change in PLU requirements. With charter system status, any change along those lines could only be considered with input from each schools governance team  again involving teachers, administrators, parents and community leaders. Everything considered has to be targeted to the ultimate goal of improving student achievement. The first year under charter system status will involve setting-up and training our local school governance teams as a top priority. Once the governance plan developed by our Flexibility Committee is in place and the people have been selected by teachers and parents to help make those decisions, we can then begin to address how we make changes to the way we structure our education setting to be most beneficial for children in our schools. I hope you see that we have just begun the process to put our community more in charge of developing the answers to the questions you pose. You, the teachers at your school and the parents of the students you teach will all be a part of writing the answers. I am confident that we can provide much better educational opportunities for our children than could be handed down from those creating legislation or policy at the state level. Thank you for your questions and for sharing your concerns.

Question:
Will the Charter system change the hours our kids attend school? I have seen where other Charter schools go to 5 and 6pm?

Dr. Plunkett's Answer:
Thank you for your question about charter schools. We have no plans to change the hours kids attend school at this time. Operating our school system under charter system status would certainly give us the option to alter our hours but that is something that would be looked at with a tremendous amount of community involvement. Changing hours would impact students, parents, teachers and our entire community. One of the key aspects of charter system that appealed to the community group that recommended we pursue the direction for the future was the addition of local governance at each school and involving the community in school decisions. We call these Local Governance Teams in our application to be a charter system. These teams will be made-up of parents, teachers and community leaders. The application was delivered to the state on Monday for their consideration. If the state approves our application, we would begin operation as a charter school system next school year. We would look at any and all options that would improve our school system for the children we serve. If our charter system application is approved, we will include the Local School Governance Teams in the decision making process. If parents, teachers and the community determine that extending our hours would be academically beneficial for students, we certainly would consider the option. We look forward to working together with our parents, teachers and community under charter system status to provide the best possible education to the children of our community.

Question:
I would like to know who sets the admission fees to sporting events at all levels (Middle, JV, and High School games) I understand that it is important for those programs to raise money. However, I think with this economy the cost to get in such events is a little much, especially the student cost. I feel like there would be more support to the Middle and JV games if the admission charge wasn't as high, especially when you are paying for multiple members of your family to get in. I also understand that employees are admitted free to all events. I am asking on behalf of several sports fans. Thank you for your time.

Dr. Plunkett's Answer:
Thank you for your email regarding ticket prices for sporting events. The Floyd County Board of Education determines the admission prices to all Floyd County Athletic events. Each year the middle and high school principals meet to review the admission schedule prices in relation to the expenses of their total athletic programs. This review is made after determining the admission prices of surrounding school districts in our playing regions in order to be competitive and in line with other school systems. The principals then meet with central office personnel and submit a recommendation through the Superintendent to the Floyd County Board of Education for approval. We try to hold down the cost of admission tickets as much as possible. Changes in prices took place in 2003, 2005, and March of 2008. Therefore price increases have not taken place in over a year. We do understand the economy is affecting everyone. It is making a major impact on us as well. However, the cost of operating the athletic programs has not decreased in any of our sports programs. This is the reason that boosters clubs are so important to the school programs. We will continue to review prices very carefully and hold down the cost of admission tickets as much as possible. However, we also have to review the cost of operating programs and try to establish a fair balance between the two entities. Our employees do receive free admission to athletic events held at our schools. This was an employee benefit added a few years ago. We wanted to encourage more of our school personnel to attend the athletic events. Many attend now who would not have in the past and also bring family members who do not receive free admission. The athletic programs in our schools must be self supporting. One of the many sources for raising the funds needed to operate these programs is admission fees. Without admission, the booster clubs would have to raise even more money to be able to offer these valuable programs to students. With your admission price, you are helping the young people you watch to participate in the activities they love.

Question:
what are the teachers email addresses?

Dr. Plunkett's Answer:
We have several options available for securing teacher email addresses. You may check for your local school website, teacher web page or the system website. The one stop method to get email contacts for anyone in the school system would be on our system website. You will find a contact link under the 'Contact Us' option on the homepage. Once on the Contact Us page, look for 'Other Contacts' under my picture on that page. Click on the link 'email employee directory' to see a listing of employee emails. The emails are listed alphabetically with a selection option at the top of the page. I hope this helps. You can also click this link http://www.floydboe.net/address to access the page. Thank you for your question.

Question:
I've noticed that the Rome City School System has "Support Employee of the Year" Why doesnt the County have one as well? I have family members who are parapros and they work very hard to support thier schools. I know some schools have Support Person of the Year but not all do. Why not make this county wide to support the work of parapros?

Dr. Plunkett's Answer:
Thank you for your suggestion. We very much value all of our system employees and seek to honor all levels including those who support our classroom teachers. Everyone in our system family impacts the children we serve in our classrooms. We do have a special recognition called the Distinguished Service Award that selects an Employee of the Year in eight separate categories and an over-all Floyd County Schools Employee of the Year. Five of the eight categories are specifically for support personnel. We have been honoring our Distinguished Service Employees for the past 16 years. Of those years, 12 of our Floyd County Schools Employee of the Year Awards have gone to support personnel. This past year, Frankie Oyler, a support employee at Armuchee Elementary School, was selected as the Floyd County Schools Employee of the Year. Awards in each category of the Distinguished Service program are presented monthly at each Floyd County Board of Education Meeting. The monthly winners are then eligible for Employee of the Year honors. If you know of an employee deserving of a Distinguished Service Award, I hope that you will nominate that person for a monthly award. You will find the form on the system Web site at http://www.floydboe.net/information/Forms/distinguish_nom_Fill-InForm.doc. You can also find the past winners of our system Distinguished Service Awards and Employee of the Year Awards at http://www.floydboe.net/information/whoIs/Awards/awardWinners.cfm. It takes a lot of dedicated teachers and those who support the teachers to educate the children in our community. We seek to honor all who distinguish themselves in the service to children. Thank you for your interest in our school system.

Question:
The Floyd County parents and employees have been receiving a newsletter in the mail for the past 6 months to a year or so, and it has ads in the envelope with it. In reading inside the newsletter, I see that the company prints the letter free in exchange for being able to enclose their advertisements. My question is this...did the FCBOE sell our information to this company? Does this company now have the names and addresses of everyone who has a child in the school system? A lot of people are concerned over this.

Dr. Plunkett's Answer:
Thank you for your email and for sharing your concern with me. This is something that we checked-out very carefully before becoming a partner in this newsletter project. Let me assure you that the school system has not sold any information to the company printing our newsletter or any other company. Floyd County Schools controls the information related to our students and their home addresses. 1st Hour is a company that partners with us to provide valuable information to our parents, employees and community. The company prints the newsletter and secures advertisers to help pay for the printing and postage but they do not control the content of the newsletter or the data for delivery. Floyd County Schools controls the content of the information in the newsletters and the data related to where the newsletters are delivered. 1st Hour nor any other company has been given the rights to use any Floyd County data for any purpose other than to deliver the system newsletter to the homes of our students. The data is not the property of 1st Hour or any other company and can't be shared with any other company including any advertiser that may appear in the envelope with the newsletter. We have been a partner with 1st Hour for a little over a year and we have had no problems related to our work with the company. 1st Hour is very good to let us know the content of ads before every delivery and we have the option to request any ad we feel is inappropriate be removed from a delivery. To this point, we have had a very good working relationship with the company and have not had to pull a planned advertisement. Business partnerships with companies such as 1st Hour allow us to provide valuable information to our parents and community without having to expend precious tax dollars that we need to target to the classroom. With the budget cuts of recent years, we would be unable to provide needed communication to our parents and community without the cooperation of companies such as 1st Hour and the sponsors who advertise in the newsletter delivery envelope. The participation of 1st Hour allows us to get a high quality print product delivered directly to your home that provides you needed information related to what is happening in your child's school. We place a high priority on communication with our parents and community. That is why we have partnered with 1st Hour to provide this newsletter for our parents and why we provide this forum for you to ask questions and get answers to your concerns. Over the past year, I have had numerous positive comments about the mailed newsletter and I must say that this is the only concern that I have had expressed to me. I understand your concern with information being sold to other organizations. That is a valid concern in these days and times. Please be assured that Floyd County Schools has not sold any information to 1st Hour or any other company. Thanks for sharing your concern and for helping others to better understand our partnership in this important community communication to our parents, employees and concerned citizens.

Question:
Dr. Plunkett, Could you share what the status of our recycling program is? When I ask around, I get different answers, some say we aren't recycling anymore, others say we are. Is there a system wide policy or is it up to individual schools? If we are recycling, could I offer a suggestion? I think we all need to be periodically reminded of what we're doing and why it is important; it's human nature to get lax without reminders, at least it's my human nature! Thanks.

Dr. Plunkett's Answer:
Thanks for your question and for your suggestion. We are indeed still recycling as a system. There may be some confusion due to moving from separate containers for paper and aluminum several years ago to one container for all recycling. Some may have thought we stopped but we have only changed the method for collection. Waste Industries, the company collecting the recyclables, has the technology to separate the items after collection making it a much easier process for our schools. We have in fact been very busy with recycling in the last few years. According to reports from Waste Industries the recyclable materials, we are making an impact with our efforts. The average recycling rate for Floyd County Schools is 28 to 30% of the volume of waste generated. Comparing that to other programs, the City of Rome curbside program averages an 8% rate and Floyd County remote sites average 7%. Floyd County Schools has recycled 7,240,000 lbs of material in 10 years. According to Waste Industries, that equates to: 24,360,000 gallons of water saved, 13,920,000 kilowatts of electricity (enough to power 3,480 homes for 6 months), 1,611,240 gallons of oil (saved $2,000,000 at $52 per barrel price), 11,484 cubic yards of landfill space for a savings of over $367,000, 2,042,760 pounds of air pollution and 59,160 trees. We recycle office paper, mixed paper, cardboard, junk mail, old books, aluminum cans, steel cans and plastic bottles. Not only are we enjoying these savings and making our planet a better place to live but we are also setting an example for the children in our schools. Floyd County Schools recycling program was one of the first for school systems in Georgia and the first 'single stream' institutional program on the East Coast. 'Single-stream' means that all materials can be collected in one container. We have saved over 900 acres of forestland with our recycling efforts. We can certainly do more and your suggestion is appreciated. We will take the information I have provided you and begin a new section of our website for green initiatives. This will include our savings from recycling and our savings from our energy management program. I will also work with our principals to make sure our schools are promoting this important effort to use, reuse, recycle and turn it off when not being used.