The Clarke County School District Board of Education members stand with the CCSD Employee of the month, Samantha Yvellez, a teacher at Foweler Drive Elementary school, at the Dec. 12 BOE meeting. At the Dec. 12 meeting the decision to terminate the contract with the Georgia College Advising Corp was reversed. “I’m relieved, I think is a good way to describe it. We knew that the outcomes of it not being renewed would be detrimental to the county and the students and the parents, so I’m glad that they were able to come to a consensus that people are in favor (of),” Yuhouse said. Photo courtesy of Scott Thompson
The Nov. 14 vote to terminate the contract with UGA’s Georgia College Advising Corp was reversed in a unanimous decision at the Dec. 12 CCSD Board of Education meeting.
In a rare reversal, the Clarke County School District Board of Education voted at the Dec. 12 BOE meeting to re-establish the University of Georgia’s Georgia College Advising Corp contract after it was terminated in a vote at the previous meeting on Nov 14.
The original motion to approve the contract for the GCAC failed in a 3-3 decision at the Nov. 14 BOE meeting, held at the CCSD Administrative Offices at 595 Prince Avenue. Prior to the vote, Board members cited a lack of substantial improvements in key performance indicators like post-secondary college enrollment.
“I don’t see (the GCAC’s) impact. Our pre-GCAC (college) enrollment rate was 47% and went between 48% and 51%. I don’t see that they’re doing anything exceptional,” District four BOE representative Dr. Patricia Yager said at the Nov. 14 meeting.
Two BOE members were absent from the meeting and thus did not have a vote. The decision meant the College Adviser positions at Clarke Central High School, filled by A.J. Zayas, and Cedar Shoals High School, filled by Andrea Rodriguez Lopez, would no longer exist as of Jan. 1, 2025.
In response to the Nov. 14 decision, past and present CCSD students, staff and parents spoke in support of the College Advising position at the Dec. 12 meeting. Additionally, GCAC Director Alyssa Yuhouse gave a 10-minute presentation explaining the program and its benefits to students.
A presentation detailing the University of Georgia College Advising Corp, which was presented at the Dec. 12 meeting, is shown. As a part of the Dec. 12 decision, some board members put a contingent on further communication about GCAC. “We’ll try to improve on our systems and communications for next year to make sure that we can keep the program in this county because we are a UGA program and we have to serve the community in our backyard,” Director of GCAC Alyssa Yuhouse said. PDF courtesy of the CCSD
“I’m relieved, I think is a good way to describe it. We knew that the outcomes of it not being renewed would be detrimental to the county and the students and the parents, so I’m glad that they were able to come to a consensus that people are in favor (of),” Yuhouse said.
Cat Mills, a CCHS English department teacher, spoke at the meeting and was a part of the substantial show of community concern about the issue. The meeting was the most attended in the 2024-25 school year with a large number of CCHS faculty and students in attendance, including counselor Heidi Nibbleink and senior Kevin Capcha.
“The college counselors or the college advisers provide not only an incredibly reasonable price for what they do, but they provide a really necessary resource for families and for our community. They support our counselors in ways that I don’t think people realize,” Mills said.
“(Zayas and I) would spend hours filling out the SAT, ACT, and registration forms. Make sure I have my wording right, make sure I’m formatting everything right, make sure I’m turning in everything into the right websites applying to colleges,”
— Krya Wade,
CCHS senior
Yager, who voted to terminate the contract at the Nov. 14 meeting, felt the college advising program in CCSD wasn’t beneficial enough to the students.
“I never thought we shouldn’t have college advising, and I never thought that we shouldn’t address the very large first-generation and severe student needs. I absolutely support that and I’m totally on board,”Yager said.“When I saw the paperwork last month and I saw what our college readiness program looked like, I wanted to say, no we need more than this. Nothing against the particular program, it’s just not enough.” .
CCHS senior Kyra Wade worked with Zayas on multiple occasions during her college application process.
“We would spend hours filling out the SAT, ACT, and registration forms. Make sure I have my wording right, make sure I’m formatting everything right, make sure I’m turning in everything into the right websites applying to colleges,” Wade said.
This experience was not unique to Wade, during Capcha’s college application process, he turned to Zayas for support and questions.
“As a first-generation Peruvian American, I faced countless uncertainties navigating the college admissions process,” Capcha stated in his remarks. “From finding obscure sections on the Common App to understanding the concept of “safety” schools, Zayas was there. When I hit a roadblock, filling out a financial aid document, which would ultimately lead to me getting a full ride scholarship to Stanford University, Zayas was there. At one of the most stressful times in a student’s life, Zayas was there.”
