Bond Coalition host roundtable with board
Bytevin stinson
rHE chronicle
The Community
School Bond Coalition
(CSBC) recently sat down
with school Superintendent
Beverly Emory and mem
bers of the Board of
Education to discuss the
2016 school bond proposal.
Made up of four com
munity organizations, (Big
Four Alumni Association,
Winston-Salem Branch of
the NAACP-Education
Committee, New South
Community Coalition,
North Winston
Neighborhood
Association.) the CSBS is
an advocate for the best
possible bond proposal for
students, teachers and citi
zens.
During the roundtable
discussion held at
Ambassador Cathedral,
1500 Harriet Tubman
Drive, Emory praised the
organization for putting the
svent together.
"I just want to applaud
the very professional way
the organization went
about putting this togeth
2T." she said. "It's always a
plus to sit down and talk to
people who ask for infor
mation and do their home
work. In every step of the
way, this just felt like a
really good opportunity to
have this conversation."
According to a press
release, the CSBC has been
studying the bond proposal
since August, which led to
the creation of 10 recom
mendations.
The recommendations
are geared toward improv
ing inner city schools, such
as moving Ashley
Elementary to a new loca
tion in the same neighbor
hood in East Winston. The
coalition believes the cur
rent location of the school
doesn't allow students to
reach their full potential.
Emory agrees.
"Moving Ashley to a
new location is where our
mind is too," she said. "It's
nice to be validated by the
neighborhood and commu
nity."
Another point of inter
est for the coalition is
building of a middle school
in East Winston. Currently
Winston-Salem
Preparatory Academy is the
only middle school in the
East Winston area.
The coalition argues
that because the school also
houses grades 9 through
12, the neighborhood does
n't have an actual middle
school.
President of the Big
Four Alumni Association
Eric Martin said that when
the board talks about build
ing more neighborhood
schools, the inner city is
often overlooked.
"When the school sys
tem says they have neigh
borhood schools, what
neighborhoods are you
talking about?" he com
mented.'"For certain kids
they have neighborhood
schools, but for other kids
they don't. The town of
Kernersville has just as
many schools as the city,
but don't have nearly as
many people living there
and that just isn't right."
Other suggestions by
the coalition included
merging the high school
program at Winston-Salem
Prep with Carver High
School to create a magnet
program, the rebuilding of
Easton Elementary, and
putting an elementary or
middle school on Indiana
Avenue.
Following the round
table discussion, Martin
said that although the coali
tion probably will not get
everything they asked for,
if the board was genuine in
their responses, the round
table was a step in the right
direction.
"In years passed the
school board would not
have even sat down with
us" he continued. "With
this board we feel they are
really interested in hearing
what the community has to
say, which definitely is a
step in the right direction."
Earlier this week
Emory and the school
board held a briefing ses
sion to rank the projects
listed on the proposed
bond.
A number of projects
brought up during the
roundtable discussion
scored very high in the
rankings, including the
replacement of Ashley
Elementary and renova
tions to Easton Elementary.
The Ashley Elementary
project gained a 90 percent
approval rate while the
Easton project ranked in
the 80 to 89 percent range.
The board also voted to
remove a number of items
from the proposal as well.
Those items included
replacing Sherwood Forest
Elementary, renovations to
Deaton-Thompson
Stadium, and building a
new middle school in
Walkertown, as well as
new elementary schools in
Zone 8 and the Innovation
Corridor.
The projects removed
from the bond proposal
scored less than 60 percent
in the rankings.
Today, Thursday, Nov.
5, the board is scheduled to
have a meeting with
Forsyth County
Commissioners to discuss
the bond proposal and the
progress they have made.
The board is expected pres
ent the rankings of the proj
ects previous described.
Photo by Tevin Stinson
Members of the Community School Bond Coalition sat down with
Superintendent Emory Beverly and members of the Board of Education to dis
cuss the 2016 school bond proposal.
City of Winston Salem offering business-training
By mayeesa mitchell
fdr the chronicle
The city of Winston-Salem
Community and Business Development
department will be offering a free business
training course at the Carl H. Russell Sr.
Recreation Center located at 3421 Carver
School Road every Tuesday from 6 p.m. to
8 p.m. until Dec. 8.
The classes, which are open to anyone
interested in starting a small business or
who recently started one, began on Oct.
20. Although the classes are meant to be an
eight-week course, classes can be attended
separately.
I
"We had 60 people pre-register for the
class and an attendance of 52 at the first
session," said Ken Millett, Business
Development Senior Project Supervisor
for the city of Winston-Salem.
Many who registered for and attended
the class are residents of Section 3, where
the Russell Recreation Center is located,
and fall into the category of MWBE
(minority and women business enterpris
es). However, the classes are not exclu
sively for MWBEs or Section 3 residents.
"The program is designed as a series to
help those interested in starting their own
business learn about the many aspects of
entrepreneurship and the hard work
involved," said Millett.
A different topic is covered each week
and is taught by a city staff member or
business resource in the community who
volunteer their time.
"For example, the 'Financing and
Finding Funding' section is taught by
Community and Business Development
staff and a representative of the
MicroEnterprise Loan Program. The ses
sion dealing with legal issues is taught by
a local attorney," said Millett.
The weekly topics will also include
market research, social media, marketing,
bookkeeping and taxes, and business
insurance.
The city has been offering this course
for many years as part of Winston-Salem's
effort to encourage entrepreneurship, busi
ness growth and job creation in the com
munity.
"The entire Winston-Salem communi
ty benefits from more homegrown busi
nesses and jobs," said Millett.
For more -information about the busi
ness-training course, visit
www.cityoJws.org/cbd or call 336-747
7474.
1
We're powering future rock stars.
And those "I'm-really-proud-of-her, but-that's-really-loud" moments.
That's why we're investing in new, innovative technologies to keep our systems
smarter, cleaner and always improving for today, and tomorrow. Because we
know what we're delivering is more than just electricity. It's power - for your life.
/As DUKE
V ENERGY. Power for your life.
Quick fact:
We recently completed a decade-long, $9 billion
program to modernize our power plants and retire
almost 4,500 megawatts of older coal-fired units.
DQSDi
Message paid for by Quke Energy shareholders.