Test of Old City Hall Siren to be Conducted Wednesday at Noon

August 24, 2020
By: Dwayne Page

This is a test!

The City of Smithville will be conducting a test Wednesday, August 26 at 12 noon to determine if the old manually operated siren on top of the city hall building still works. In years gone by the siren was sounded like clockwork at 12 noon on weekdays in what became a community tradition. It was also used for other purposes.

Plans are to upgrade and reactivate the siren to make it part of the city’s new outdoor tornado alert system which will be launched this fall.

When all is said and done, the city will have a total of three tornado alert sirens, two of which will be mounted on 50 foot poles at city owned property on West Broad Street near the water tower close to DeKalb County High School and near the water tower on Miller Road. The city hall siren will serve as the third location.

The Smithville aldermen recently awarded a bid to Capitol Electronics for a Federal Signal system. The cost is $71,497. One time state grant funds coming to city will cover the purchase. The city has ordered the equipment and it should arrive within the next 4-6 weeks. Installation will beqin soon after probably in October. Further tests of the system will be conducted once its installed.

August 24, 2020
By: Dwayne Page

Enrollment in the DeKalb County School System is down by 24 students compared to last year at about this time and 25% of the students district-wide are receiving remote learning due to COVID-19 concerns.

Comparing the numbers for the first week of school, total enrollment from pre-kindergarten to 12th grade district wide is 2,974 as of Monday, August 24, down from 2,998 last year. This year 761 students are receiving remote learning which makes up 25.6% of the total enrollment.

As of Monday, August 24 enrollment at each school is as follows compared to last year:

DCHS: 854 (up by 14 students) including 201 remote learners (23.5%)

DeKalb Middle School: 587 (down by 20 students) including 171 remote learners (29.1%)

Northside Elementary: 592 (down by 2 students) including 190 remote learners (32.1%)

Smithville Elementary: 552 (down by 8 students) including 119 remote learners (21.6%)

DeKalb West School: 389 (down by 8 students) including 80 remote learners (20.6%)

August 24, 2020
By: Dwayne Page

DeKalb County wants to make sure YOU are counted in the 2020 Census. Accurate Census counts are critical to our community’s future, determining federal representation and how state and federal funding are allocated.

U.S. Census Bureau Staff will be back in DeKalb County at Prichard’s Foods in Alexandria Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, August 24, 26, & 28 for mobile questionnaire assistance to help people respond online to the 2020 Census. Look for them from 9:30 a.m. until 5 p.m. on those days.

The current DeKalb County self response rate to the census is at 50.3% which is approximately 12% below the Tennessee average. Self response rates for the cities are as follows: Liberty-49.2%, Alexandria 55.2%, Smithville 57.4%, and Dowelltown 57. 4%. The final county wide response rate for 2010 was 62.3%.

The Mobile Questionnaire Assistance (MQA) program is part of the Census Bureau’s final push to encourage people to complete the 2020 Census before beginning door-to door efforts at non-responsive households. At MQA events census response representatives will help people complete the census on a provided tablet or on their own device and can assist with any questions.

Assistance will be provided while practicing state and local social distancing protocols. All census workers have been trained in social distancing protocols and issued personal protective equipment (PPE), including masks to be worn during MQA support. During all outreach efforts, staff are identified with an ID badge with their name, photograph, a U.S. Department of Commerce watermark seal, and an expiration date. They will have an official Census Bureau issued bag and tablet. MQA locations will have banners bearing the 2020 Census logo. Residents can continue to respond to the Census online or by phone via www.my2020census.gov or 1-844-330-2020. Likewise, anyone in need of assistance for completing the Census can visit one of the MQA sites in your community.