I read Newton County’s deplorable High School graduation statistics along with the lame excuses given by superintendent Samantha Fuhrey and her spin doctor (or Spinmeister), Sherri Davis-Viniard, who goes by the title Public Relations Director.

The definition of a spin doctor is: "A public relations person who tries to forestall or conceal negative publicity by publicizing a favorable interpretation regarding unfavorable words or actions of a company or government entity."

The use of the title, "Public Relations Director,’’ is very deceitful as it implies that the position is somewhat of an advocate and has the public interest at heart.

Nothing could be further from the truth. Their only interest and duty is to protect their employer from as much adverse publicity as possible. Sometimes I think there are more spin doctors than medical doctors in Newton County.

For years the State Dept. of Education and local school systems used a 12-year time span to compute the total drop-out rate, and it continued to hover around 50 percent. This put Georgia and Newton County on the bottom for the U.S. and the entire industrial world. They had to come up with more favorable statistics so they contrived a "high school drop-out rate" to shift public attention and divert it.

Anyone with an ounce of conceptual skills or mental capacity should realize that children start school at 6 to 7 years old. If they complete the first eight years on schedule, they are 14 or 15 years old. If they fail a year or two, they can legally drop-out of school before they enter high school. This drop-out number alone is enormous, and when added to those who leave for home school, private schools, etc., the true dropout rate would still be around 50 percent. A student who is attending a school and then ceases to show up is a "drop-out" regardless of circumstances.

Newton County’s population has grown by people moving into the county. Fuhrey and Davis-Viniard are trying to initiate a "spin’’ by saying the low graduation rate at Newton High is due to poor record-keeping and students moving to other areas. A statistical analysis and sound accounting principles, if applied to Fuhrey’s excuses, would prove them to be false and classify them as a hoax.

This would be after the change in the methods of calculation to make them look good. With this type of reasoning only God can save us. This type of diversion and distraction appears to have commenced after the retirement of Mr. Richard Schneider, and it creates an injustice to the children and taxpayers of Newton County.

Again, you reap what you sow.