The Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners approved several measures at its August 5 meeting aimed at supporting children in foster care, senior citizens, and first responders.
A grant of more than $235,000 from the Georgia Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) program will be used to support the local CASA team. The program trains and supervises volunteers who advocate for children in foster care. The funding will cover salaries for the program director and four supervisors. In the most recent grant cycle, 37 volunteers provided over 3,500 hours serving Gwinnett’s foster children. The grant does not require a local match.
In addition to this, a $2.5 million grant from the Atlanta Regional Commission was approved to fund senior programs in Gwinnett County through June of next year. These funds will reimburse eligible expenses and support case management, home-delivered and congregate meals, personal care, respite care, recreation for seniors, and transportation services. The required local match of $162,600 will come from the General Fund.
K9 Nitro, a Belgian Malinois with eight years of service in the Gwinnett Police Department’s Special Operations Division, has retired following a veterinary recommendation due to age-related health issues. During his career, Nitro responded to 353 calls and assisted with 64 apprehensions as well as numerous narcotics detections and evidence finds. He was recognized as Officer of the Month three times and honored by the District Attorney’s Office. Nitro will live with his handler after retirement while his replacement K9 Ace is currently in training.
The board also awarded a $1.3 million contract to Eastern Builders, Inc., for construction of a new modular fire training tower that will replace an aging structure built in 1983. The new facility is expected to meet National Fire Protection Association standards and provide improved safety for trainees.
Gwinnett County schools enrolled a total of 190,044 students during the 2022-23 school year according to state data (https://www.gadoe.org/). Enrollment increased by less than 0.1% compared to the previous year (https://www.gadoe.org/). White students made up about 18% of those enrolled during that period (https://www.gadoe.org/).
