If you're an out-of-work educator, you may want to set your sights on Houston County.

The Houston County Board of Education on Tuesday approved a plan to add 26 new jobs -- 24 of them teachers.

The board voted 6-0 to add the jobs, at a cost of about $1.5 million. Board member Marianne Melnick was not present.

Budget director Stephen Thublin says the district is able to add jobs because Gov. Nathan Deal provided more money for local school districts than expected.

He said the new positions will help the system deal with higher enrollment. Houston expects 250 to 300 more students next year.

It will also help the system meet new, higher standards for science.

The money will pay for:

Veterans High School’s Coach David Bruce has been named Region 2-AAA Athletic Director of the Year. 

He will be honored Monday, Mar. 21, at the Georgia Athletic Directors Association’s state conference held in Savannah.

There are 10 schools in his region.  He was selected for the award by the region Athletic Director’s. 

Bruce holds degrees in health and physical education, having earned specialist and master’s degrees from Georgia College and a bachelor’s from West Georgia College.

Veteran’s High School is located at 340 Piney Grove Road in Kathleen.  Lionel Brown serves as principal. 

Bruce may be contacted at David.Bruce@hcbe.net or 478-218-7537, ext. 64568.

The city of Warner Robins plans to ask the Georgia and U.S. Departments of Transportation for help starting a mass transit system.

In Monday night's council meeting, council members voted to apply for grants through the two agencies.

If awarded, the money would pay for a transportation study of the Warner Robins area.

Council member Mike Daley, who read the resolution to apply for the grants, said he was excited to see the city moving forward with its plans to establish a mass transit system.

He says the project has been discussed for years, but the city's structure has posed a challenge.

"We don't have this metropolitan hub where everything moves to the hub and then moves back out," Daley says.

"We need to find out where people in our city are really needing to go."

Council also made several appointments for city organizations and agencies.