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Forest Park’s School Bash Now Carries Two Public Names

Victoria Williams and Hector Gutierrez made Forest Park’s Back in School Bash a four-year Jonesboro Road fixture as she runs unopposed.

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2 years ago

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Clayton County Public Schools billed a fourth Back in School Bash for August 29, 2026, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 4609 Jonesboro Road in Forest Park. The hosts on the flyer were District 4 board member Victoria Williams, the City of Forest Park, and Ward 3 Councilman Hector Gutierrez.

That street number is the same one the district used in 2024 and 2025. Gutierrez’s day job is inside CCPS. Williams is on the November 3, 2026, ballot with no opponent.

The Bash Settled at 4609 Jonesboro Road

On August 21, 2024, the district posted the 2nd Annual Back In School Bash for Saturday, September 7, 2024, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 4609 Jonesboro Road. Williams and the City of Forest Park were the named hosts. The notice promised family activities and resources and asked vendors to sign up through Kim Blackwood, liaison to the Clayton County Board of Education.

The flyers never give the site a school name, park name, or hall name. They give a commercial street number on Jonesboro Road, which is the corridor Gutierrez represents.

That Saturday is the one date on the public record with pictures from the ground. U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams, who is not related to the board member, posted four photos from Forest Park that evening.

Saturdays in Forest Park! Enjoying the Forest Park Back to School Bash sponsored by Forest Park School Board member Victoria Williams. Our students are the future and we must give them the tools to achieve excellence.

Nikema Williams, U.S. representative, on X

By August 7, 2025, the district was promoting a “3rd Back in School Bash” for Saturday, August 16, 2025, at the same address and hours. Gutierrez’s name joined Williams’s on that notice, and vendors were sought again.

On July 17, 2026, the district’s official account posted the fourth-year flyer for Saturday, August 29, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., still at 4609 Jonesboro Road. The 2026 pitch added live entertainment, free resources, and food. Vendors were invited to scan a QR code.

The board’s Instagram also carried a Spanish-language notice for the 2026 date. No official recap with a head count was posted after August 29.

THREE DATES AT 4609 JONESBORO ROAD

Year on the flyer Saturday Named hosts What the notice promised
2nd Annual, 2024 September 7, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Victoria Williams and the City of Forest Park Family activities, resources, vendors wanted
3rd Bash, 2025 August 16, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Williams and Hector Gutierrez Vendors wanted
4th Annual, 2026 August 29, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Williams, the city, and Gutierrez (Ward 3) Live entertainment, free resources, food, vendors wanted

The constant is the address, the four-hour Saturday window, the board member’s name, and the vendor call. A backpack quota never appears on those notices.

Forest Park school bash two public names Victoria Williams
Clayton County Back to School Bash two hosts 2026

Victoria Williams Put Her Name on the Flyer

Williams represents District 4 on the Clayton County Board of Education. Her board page lists a District Four term through December 2026, running from January 1, 2022, to December 31, 2026.

The county board appointed her on May 29, 2018, to finish an unexpired term. She took office on June 25, 2018, then won election that fall. She is a former PTO president and vice president and served on a local school council. She has lived in Georgia since 2005, holds an associate’s degree in computer information from 2002, and has three sons in the household the biography describes.

The current board roster puts these campuses in her seat, including the Forest Park high school and middle school that sit closest to the Jonesboro Road date:

DISTRICT 4 CAMPUSES ON THE CURRENT BOARD ROSTER

  • High schools: Forest Park High and North Clayton High.
  • Middle schools: Forest Park Middle and North Clayton Middle.
  • Elementary schools: Edmonds, Huie, Northcutt, and Fountain.

Every Jonesboro Road flyer leads with her name. Blackwood’s email is the vendor contact, but the public billing is the District 4 member plus the city, and later plus Gutierrez.

Two Paychecks Meet on Jonesboro Road

Gutierrez has represented Forest Park’s Ward 3 since January 2020, after winning his first race by seven votes. Jonesboro Road runs through that ward. The city’s council page says he chairs the Forest Park Development Authority and has backed food distributions, a youth committee, and the city’s first Hispanic Heritage Festival and Day of the Dead events.

He also works for the school system. The same city page names him Community Schools Coordinating Supervisor for Clayton County Public Schools, a job that connects students and families with academic, health, and social-service partners. An immigrant from Uruguay and a first-generation graduate, he has lived in Forest Park since 2014, served six years in the Georgia Army National Guard, and deployed to Afghanistan.

Before the council seat, he taught at Unidos Dual Language School, which he has described as a county standout.

As a teacher, I see firsthand what our families in our community need.

Hector Gutierrez, Forest Park Ward 3 councilmember, on his site

That overlap is the part the original 2024 notices did not spell out. The Saturday on Jonesboro Road is hosted by a board member and a councilman whose weekday work is already the district’s family-resource pipeline. The city gets a school crowd on a commercial strip. The district gets a city partner who already has the contact list.

A July Giveaway Runs on a Different Calendar

CCPS already throws a separate back-to-school bash in July, before classes start, and it is built as a supply pickup. On July 26, 2025, the district invited families from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. to Charles Drew High in Riverdale, Forest Park High, Mt. Zion High in Jonesboro, and Eddie White Academy in Hampton. The pitch was free school supplies while they lasted, plus parent sessions, with families sent to the site tied to their student’s school.

On July 25, 2026, the district posted video from that year’s supply bash and said the first day of school was Monday, August 3. The Jonesboro Road date that year was 26 days later, on August 29, after students were already back in class.

TWO BASHES, TWO JOBS

Item District supply bash Jonesboro Road bash
2025 date July 26, 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. August 16, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
2026 date July 25 (district recap posted that day) August 29, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Where Assigned high-school sites across the county 4609 Jonesboro Road only
The draw on the flyer Free supplies, parent sessions Vendors, then entertainment, food, and resources
Whose name leads Clayton County Public Schools Williams, then Gutierrez and the city

Families who treat every “bash” as a backpack line can show up on the wrong Saturday. The July sites advertise supplies while they last. The Jonesboro Road notices advertise booths. One event is a warehouse-style giveaway. The other is a named street fair on a commercial block.

What Do Families Get on Jonesboro Road?

The 2026 flyer promised live entertainment, free resources, food, and vendor booths from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 4609 Jonesboro Road. It did not publish a backpack count, a registration cap, or a list of agencies that would table. The 2024 notice used the same soft language, “family fun activities, resources, and more,” and the 2025 notice was shorter still.

The harder benefits sit in the district’s year-round machinery, which is why a Saturday fair can look thin next to a nutrition office. In a June 24, 2026, letter, CCPS said it would keep the Community Eligibility Provision for 2026-27, so every enrolled student receives breakfast, lunch, and eligible snacks at no cost with no meal application. Audrey Hamilton, executive director of school nutrition, said access to those meals should never be a barrier to learning. The letter called 2026-27 the third year of the current four-year CEP cycle. The district has used CEP systemwide since 2012-13, recertified in 2024, and the cycle runs through June 30, 2028, unless the board or federal rules change it.

CCPS BY THE NUMBERS

  • Enrollment: The district listed 50,832 students in 67 schools in 2023-24.
  • Meals: Every student gets breakfast, lunch, and eligible snacks free under CEP through June 30, 2028.
  • Food boxes: Student Support Services and partners served more than 600 families on November 20, 2025, at Forest Park High, with the City of Forest Park among the named partners.
  • Clear bags: CCPS requires a clear book bag; cloth bags that are not clear or mesh are not allowed.

That is the floor under the fair. The Jonesboro Road Saturday can hand out information and a meal on site. The nutrition program feeds the whole enrollment on school days. The November 2025 distribution at Forest Park High is the closer cousin to a need that does not fit in a four-hour vendor window.

Nov. 3 Leaves Her With No Opponent

THE DATES AROUND THE FLYER

  1. May 29, 2018: The county board appoints Victoria Williams to a vacant District 4 seat.
  2. January 2020: Hector Gutierrez takes the Ward 3 council seat after a seven-vote win.
  3. September 7, 2024: The second Jonesboro Road bash draws a visit from Rep. Nikema Williams.
  4. August 16, 2025: The third bash lists Gutierrez as co-host.
  5. May 19, 2026: Williams takes 2,904 votes, 100 percent, in the Democratic primary.
  6. August 3, 2026: CCPS opens the school year.
  7. August 29, 2026: The fourth flyer points families back to 4609 Jonesboro Road.
  8. November 3, 2026: District 4 appears on the general election ballot.

Four of the nine Clayton County school board seats are on the November 3 ballot. District 4 is the seat with one name. Williams advanced unopposed in May and is listed unopposed in November, with the term on her board page running through December 31, 2026.

The Jonesboro Road bash does not need a contested race to keep its shape. It already has a board member’s name, a councilman who works for the schools, a city seal, a vendor QR code, and a street number that has now appeared on three straight flyers. The next date, if they print one, will tell whether the Saturday survives a new term or stays a District 4 habit on Gutierrez’s road.

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Harry is the editor of RIVERDALE STANDARD, an independent title he owns and runs. He has spent ten years in journalism, first as a reporter and then as an editor, and that time taught him that how a publication handles its mistakes says more than how it handles its scoops. The corrections policy here is public. When an error is found, the article is updated, a dated note at the top explains what changed and why, and nothing is quietly rewritten. Readers who spot a problem are credited if they want to be. The same care goes into getting things right the first time: stories are built from filings, statements, transcripts and datasets, quotes are checked against the recording, and every figure is confirmed against its source before publication. Harry writes for an international readership across ten sections, from news, business and technology through science and sports to entertainment, lifestyle, travel, auto and gaming. Reader mail is answered personally at support@riverdalestandard.com.

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