AMERICUS — From Staff Reports



AMERICUS — Continuing the cooperative plans for school safety and partnership in school attendance, Coach Jimmy Green, attendance officer of Sumter County Schools, invited law enforcement representatives from the Americus Police Department and Sumter County Sheriff’s Office to meet new Sumter County Schools’ Superintendent Roy Brooks.

Following a short introduction of Brooks by Green, Brooks began with praise for the past efforts of law enforcement.

“Upon arrival to Americus, I met Coach Green. He told me about the great partnership with law enforcement and school attendance in our district. I am pleased to meet you today for the first of many meetings as we compare student safety and progress in our schools,” said Brooks.

Many of the officers shared progress comments with Brooks relative to past years.

“Our awareness to the changing needs and at-home risks of students mounts each week. The economy affects us all. We are mindful of these issues and try to discover solutions for them before they may become an issue at school. We have found that some disciplinary problems come to schools after weekend events. We will become even more pro-active in solving these conflicts,” said Col. Eric Bryant of the Sumter County Sheriff’s Dept.

Brooks shared some of his plans to meet all parents in Sumter County and listen to their problems and seek their ideas for solutions. “I plan to meet parents of all of our students, either individually or in small groups. I pride myself in being a listener and problem-solver. With expression of continued support of local law enforcement, we will be quick to partner to find solutions for issues in Americus and Sumter County,” said Brooks.

Brooks shared statistics of students population, bus disciplinary concerns and student-deliver procedures.

“I am eager to find solutions for student movement problems. I am sure I can locate existing computer programs that will help schedule and improve busing routine and possibly allow us to increase in-class time for student,” said Brooks.

As casual discussion began in the group, Coach Green was quick to share district attendance numbers with  Brooks.

“With the increasing support of all school administrators and these officers, we continue to report a monthly school attendance of over 96 percent. We all know that students cannot learn when absent from school,” said Green. Smiling, Green shared, “some officers traveled to different houses in the district to personally transport students on high-stake test dates.” Joining Coach Green, Stephen Woodson, truancy officer with the Judicial Court and the law enforcement team is Judge Judy Jones of the Municipal Court and Judge Shirley Duke of the Magistrate Court.

“Parents of these habitually absent students do not want to visit these courtrooms. They give some stern advice the first visit but some of these adults may be incarcerated for future offenses,” said Green.