SPHS Football Field To Be Named for Coach

residents won’t pay more in property taxes for the local school system.

The voted on Tuesday to set the school system’s millage rate for maintenance and operations at 18.909 mills, the same rate at which it has been set for the last five years. The school board set its millage rate for bonds at 0 mills, which it has done for the last two years since the education Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax has been used for bond payments.

The board also voted to name the football field at after current coach Tim Glanton. South Paulding High Vice Principal and Athletic Director Chris McAllister said school officials were approached by long-time supporter Jack Daniels with the idea of naming the field for Glanton.

Numerous community members, players and a former principal wrote letters mentioning praising Glanton’s attributes and, most notably, his good character, McAllister said.

“His good character is something I can attest to,” McAllister said. “He puts students up front. Everything he does is selfless.”

In a letter submitted to the school board, Joe Pritchard, pastor of , said that Glanton is truly interested in the lives of his students, which has been seen through visits from former players, and phone calls from students needing advice or encouragement.

“I have been with him when these young men were in need of food,” Pritchard wrote. “I have been with him when homes have been burned to assist families in relocating. I have been with him when he shed tears over young men who have had season-ending injuries and watched him encourage them after their playing days were through.”

What do you think about the school board's decision to name South Paulding's football field after Glanton? Tell us in the comments.

Principal Kimberly Fraker, who hired Glanton when she served as principal at South Paulding, said in her letter to the board that, while school facilities typically are named in honor of people who have died, she believes that Glanton is the kind of selfless person who should receive this kind of honor.

“He is a humble man that will certainly have few words for me when he finds out I wrote this letter because, you see, he seeks no recognition,” Fraker wrote. “He seeks no praise or honor. He just wants to work hard for the kids. He just wants to do what is right. Not what is right in the eyes of people of power but what is right morally and ethically and spiritually. That is a quality getting harder and harder to find.”

Glanton doesn’t just affect the lives of Paulding County students; he also touches those in other school systems. For example, one Cobb County athlete said a Georgia Tech coach looked at him after Glanton made a request on the student’s behalf.

“Coach Glanton is one of those people where it doesn’t matter where you go in the state, you’re going to run into people he’s touched,” Superintendent Cliff Cole said.

Glanton will be formally recognized at South Paulding’s first home game on Aug. 31.

“It’s so well-deserved, and he’s made an impact on kids, no doubt,” Board Member Kim Curl said. “I can’t say enough about him.”

In other business, the board:

• Awarded a $57,750 bid for food safety and sanitation to SFSPac;
• Approved the school system’s purchased food bid of $5.79 million from USFoodService as part of the Georgia Education Cooperative;
• Approved a revision to the board’s policy regarding policy revisions;
• And awarded a bid for copy paper to C.M. Tanner Grocery at a cost of $28.25 a case.