Thomasina Bennett ,Charger Staff
This year when talking to Dr. Martin, the Director of Putnam County schools,
one of the first questions that came to mind was the new extended calendar.
Dr. Martin is just as new to the calendar as everyone else in Putnam County
. He says that the proof of the effectiveness of the new calendar will come
after the Gateway Examinations in December. 
He thinks it will be hard on the students and staff at first since school got
out so late last year and started so early this year. However, he thinks that
after the first two-week break in October, much of the negative commentary will
turn to a more positive note.
Dr. Martin knows that the new calendar idea has a few problems. One problem
is the sports programs continuing through the long two-week breaks.
Dr. Martin’s reply was, “The sports teams showed their spirit last
year when they continued even though the school system started so late. The
Cookeville High School football team had already had some games by the time
that school started in September, so school teams will continue whether or not
school is in session.”
Another problem is the question of child care. With the old calendar, during
the summer, daycare would take on more help to deal with the excess of wards,
but now they can’t possibly hire extra help for only two weeks every school
break. Dr. Martin has a solution for that, too. He and the board have extended
the before and after school programs of the county to help deal with the problem.
Many may wonder about the reasoning behind the new calendar and the early start
of school. Dr. Martin says that the decision came about because the fall students
in the Putnam County school system did not get the necessary ninety days of
class time needed to prepare for the Gateway Examinations.
The Putnam County School Board came up with the extended calendar to give the
students the time needed.
Another interesting question one might ask Dr. Martin is how many teachers in
the school system were let go last year and how many were hired. He said that
one hundred and twenty-eight were given their pink notices, and one hundred
and twenty six were hired. One reason so many were hired is because Cookeville
High School has applied to be an International Baccalaureate school. To get
the application process started, the board has to send six to ten staff members
for training in Massachusetts.
Another exciting development taking place this year is that the Cookeville
High School JROTC program has been formally approved by the Department of Defense.
A last major question is the budget. This was the reason that Putnam County
schools started a week late last year and so many programs were cut. Dr. Martin
says his response to the budget this year is positive. The reason for this is
that for the first time in many years there is no argument between the board
and county commission. This cooperation is the consequences of last years problems.
However, Dr. Martin predicts that even though the county doesn’t have any
problems this year, the fixes aren’t permanent, and he thinks the problems
will resurface in two years.
Talking with Dr. Martin is always a informative venture and this time a lot of valuable information was revealed.
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Article prepared for web by Steven Linger 6-Sept-2002