Representatives of Floyd County Schools, Coosa Valley Technical College and the Greater Rome Chamber of Commerce officially signed the Memorandum of Agreement to begin construction of the new School of Manufacturing wing of the new Floyd County College and Career Academy this afternoon.  Dr. Lynn Plunkett, interim superintendent of Floyd County Schools; Frank Pinson, CEO of Floyd County Schools College and Career Academy, Dr. Craig McDaniel, president of Coosa Valley Technical College, and Randy Quick, chairman of the board of directors of the Greater Rome Chamber of Commerce signed the agreement at 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday, February 13, 2008 at the Floyd County Board of Education office on Riverside Parkway.

The agreement will complete the formal process for using the 3.2 million grant awarded to the partnership by the state.  Floyd County Schools will use the grant money, coupled with other in-kind donations and contributions, to build a 16,000 square foot building on the campus of the current Floyd County Technical High School.  The new addition will house the automated manufacturing and industrial systems robotics labs and classrooms for the new charter school. Floyd County Technical High will become known as the Floyd County Schools College and Career Academy when it opens to students in the fall of 2008.  The new wing housing the School of Manufacturing will be completed for the 2009-2010 school year. 

The local Floyd County partnership is developing a program that will help provide students with a seamless transition between high school and college.  Involvement from the school system, Coosa Valley Technical College and local business and industry is making this plan a reality.  The Floyd County Schools College and Career Academy, through an online needs assessment, is identifying the needs of employers in the community and will match the course work being offered at the school to areas of need identified by businesses in the assessment.   Businesses have found that partnering with the career academies in this way provides a uniquely relevant and prepared workforce.   Participation by technical colleges with career academies ensures that students can make a seamless transition from high school to college programs.  As a result of this community partnership, high school students will be exposed to the requirements of college coursework and the expectations of business and industry.

There were 19 applicants vying for the $16 million in grant funds available to create career academies in the state of Georgia.   The Effingham, Floyd, Fulton and Glynn county school systems received grants of $3.2 million each, while Thomas County Schools received $2.7 million and Walton County received $500,000 to expand an existing academy.  Floyd County’s partnership was the first group to complete a Memorandum of Agreement to begin using the grant funds.  “We continue to be out front of the state in the charter process,” said Dr. Lynn Plunkett, interim superintendent of Floyd County Schools.  “Our community partnership will be a model for other systems in the state to follow.”