Public schools settle down after stressful start

After a stressful first nine weeks, Oconee public schools have settled into a smooth pattern, according to the man at the top.  Technological changes in the way teachers recorded grades and a switch to staggered school start times were at the forefront of the changes that had to be weathered.  Dr. Michael Thorsland, superintendent, and other district officials spoke today to reporters about the 2017-18 academic year, including predictions that on going constructions projects will deliver to gymnasiums to a pair of schools:  Walhalla Elementary and West-Oak High School.  There are also a couple of meetings at which members of the public can contribute to the cause of better public education.  One is tomorrow’s noon hour parent advisory group meeting at West-Oak High School, to which all parents and interest members of the public are invited.  If you’d like to take part in tomorrow’s meeting, you are asked to first contact the district office at 886-4400.  A second meeting early next year at T-L Hanna High School is open to any member of the public who may have an interest in training to be a teacher.  The teacher shortage continues to be a problem that the Oconee districts and others must deal with to keep the classrooms full of teachers for the next generation.  You can learn about teaching possibilities by attending a meeting February 10 at Anderson’s T-L Hanna High School.