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The Mews Record
SERVING THE PEOPLE OF MADISON COUNTY
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... turn to Page 2
79th Year No. 32
PUBLISHED WEEKLY IN THE COUNTY SEAT AT MARSHALL. N C.
THURSDAY, August 7, 1980
15' Per Copy
Board Denies 62 Pupil T ransf er s
After listening to the
testimony of some 40 parents
at a hearing for requests for
re-assignment of students, the
Madison County Board of
Education granted the re
assignment of five Madison
County students to the Bun
combe County system Monday
in their regular session in
Marshall.
This action was contrary to
statements made in a called
meeting at the board on July
21, when Supt. R.L Edwards
stated for the board, "This
board will begin a vigorous en
forcement of the attendance
law in Madison County.
"To allow children residing
in Madison to attend schools
outside the county works a
hardship upon the entire
school population of the coun
ty as it leads to Buncombe
gaining teachers at the ex
pense of Madison.
"This practice will be stop
ped."
A motion was made and
passed at the July 21 meeting
to deny request of transfer of
students from Marshall
Elementary School and
Madison High School to Red
Oak School, Leicester
Elementary, Erwin Middle
School, Enka High and North
Buncombe High, all located in
Buncombe County.
In Monday's meeting, the
board listened to statements
made by attorneys Jack W.
Westall, Jr. and Ron Payne of
Asheville, representing the
families living in the southern
section of the county. The
board then called on the
parents to list the names and
grades of the children involv
ed in the transfer requests,
and to state their cir
cumstances and reasons for
wanting their children to at
tend Buncombe County
schools. After retiring to ex
ecutive session, the school
board returned to the meeting
and denied transfers to all but
Ave students.
The majority of those
granted transfers will be in
the eighth grade this year, and
one student will be a senior in
high school. One request was
kept' open by the board until
further information can be
gathered.
"I'm pleased that some of
the requests were approved,''
said Ed Gore of Leicester,
"but I'm not pleased with the
overall process that went on
here." Gore went on to say
that now there will be three
"split families" in
southwestern Madison as a
result of the school board's
decisions. Some of the
children in those families will
attend Madison schools and
some in the same families will
go to schools in Buncombe
Generally, the parents who
live in the Doggett Mt. and
Sandy mush areas stated to the
board that their "geographic
and professional ties are with
Leicester and Buncombe
County." They said their
children all go to doctors and
dentists in Buncombe, and
when schools are closed in
Madison because of weather
conditions, they are not as af
fee ted by it as are most
Madison residents. The
parents also pointed out the
"hardship on the children who
would have to ride a bus one
and a half to two hours to get
to Madison schools when most
of them are only 20 minutes
away from Buncombe schools
Larry Leake, school board
attorney, stated after the final
decision of the board, "The
school board has defined the
school district boundaries in
order to protect and make this
system the best that it can be.
The law provides that the
board will assign the children
according to the best interests
of the children. "
In other action, the board:
? accepted and approved
letters of resignation from
Barbara M. Rowder. excep
tional children teacher, and
Mrs. Wiener, school
psychologist.
? passed a motion to accept
sealed bids for items listed as
junk at the school bus garage
"by the lot or the piece."
? heard a report from
Charles Tolley on the energy
conservation program at
Madison High School in which
the county has saved
$47,860.80 this year as com
pared to last
THE COURTROOM in Marshall was almost
crowded as 46 parents requested student
assignments to Buncombe County from the
Madison Board of Education.
Students 'Rock On' At High School
By NICHOLAS HANCOCK
Some people are "solid as a
rock." Some are caught
"between a rock and a hard
place . " Some like to "rock n
roll" and some just "sink like
a rock -
There are lots of ways to use
rock and one of the more sen
sible ways is being
demonstrated by 13 young
men behind the Madison High
School where they are
finishing up construction of a
rock wall that will help con
tain soil erosion and add to the
looks of the school building
and the football stadium.
It's all part of a summer
employment program at the
school in conjunction with the
regular vocational classes
taught at Madison. Wayne
Robinson, bricklaying instruc
tor and Bilberry Wyatt are
directing the work program
with the help of an Employ
ment Work Experience grant
The 13 students working on the
wall are either returning voca
tional students or new ones
that will be signing up far
masonry this fall. They get
paid for their labor, plus, they
get one how of academic
credit for their work.
The thrust of the program is
to develop good work habits,
according to Robinson. "In
this job, we are teaching the
gays to be on time, the value of
teamwork and generally
preparing them for the real
world of work," he said.
"I would say that 50 percent
of our effort here goes to
developing good work habits,"
he added. And, the boy* can be
fired if they should "mess up"
too bad on the Job.
See Photo Layout On Page 3
Robinson said he considers
this project as "work and
money going for a good
cause." It's "not one of these
give-away programs" in his
opinion. He said the school is
getting " $50,000 worth of
quality rock work done for
*24,000."
The young men began work
oo the wall on June 16 and the
projected completion date is
August 15. In that two-month
period, they will have used 270
tons of rock, 4,500 feet of steel
reinforcement, 70 yards of
sand and 80 yards of concrete
footing. All that adds up to at
least one million pounds of
materials in the completed
wall.
As if that isn't enough to
move around in two months,
most of these students will
begin work on a new press box -
for the stadium on August 11.
This structure will consist of
concrete block walls with a
rock veneer. Announcers and
scorers will occupy the upper
level of the building, and a
concession stand will be
located in the bottom. Robin
son said "hopefully we will
complete the press box by
September 10.
In addition to the 13
"rockers" working on the
wall, there are two girls work
ing in the same program in the
school office "Rockettes" you
might say.
GOP Candidates Stump In Mars Hill
getting our moneys worth in
public education in North
Carolina" under the
"We have children who
can't read or write, and they
don't know what the fiPee
enterprise system is," he said,
explaining that the state had
teaching the free
enterprise system in scheois,
"but it hasn t been done
Rufus Edmisten. Snyder, an
attorney in Asheville and a
former U.S. district attorney,
been a 71 per
in crime in
Ed
iaten" while Edmisten
in ?
to
Rec Park Construction
Will Get Go-Ahead
The Marshall Board of
Aldermen agreed Monday
night to draft a letter to the
contractor for constructing
the tennis and basketball
courts at the recreation park
showing intent of accepting
the bid of $43,378 for the work
involved The original con
tract bid for the work was
$63,968, but Harle Brown, of
Butler Engineering, said that
after making some deletions
from the project the contrac
ting firm would after a
"bottom line" of (43,378.
Some of the items deleted
after a re-evaluation of the
project were a colored surface
on the tennis courts, grading
and stone in the parking lot,
some concrete steps and an
entrance sign.
Mayor Lawrence Ponder in
dicated the need to "move
quickly" on this project.
"With inflation rising, we bet
ter not put it off," he said.
Alderman S.L. Nix
countered with "let's not
move too quick on this. You've
got this thing cut down until all
we're getting is a tennis court
and basketball court for that
amount of money."
Ponder pointed out that ac
cording to the census the
"town has lost population and
consequently revenue. We
can't afford to go backward
anymore. We've got to make
the area more attractive for
growth," he said.
In other business, the
aldermen listened to a presen
tation by Woody Landers of
Mountain Parks - Play Equip
ment of Asheville who asked
the board to consider install
ing equipment in the park
made by his firm.
Landers explained that
wooden structures designed
by Mountain Parks were con
sidered "child development
equipment" in that have been
proven to improve the motor
skill abilities of youngsters
and consequently "this boosts
their IQs by as much as 10
points" according to studies
that have been done
The board took the equip
ment under consideration for
future use in the children
playground section of the
park.
Marshall's Looking
For Entertainment
Marshall Merchants Association hopes to
book a carnival with rides of all kinds for a
weekend in town soon.
Scheduling the carnival is one of several ac
tivities the merchants are discussing in an effort
to boost entertainment opportunities in the Mar
shall area.
Association members attending a Thursday
afternoon session spent most of their time ex
ploring the possibility of sponsoring the rides.
They also reviewed work on the town's
regular Saturday flea market, a feature the Mer
chants Association plans to sponsor regularly.
Planning has already begun on two parades -
a parade to highlight Madison High's homecom
ing celebration during the fall and another to
herald the Christmas holiday season. Verbal
commitments have been received from two
bands, and others are being approached about
performing.
Wyatt's Prepared
To Greet Students
David Wyatt, principal of
Madison High School, says all
is ready for the new ninth
graders and returning upper
classmen when the school of
ficially opens its doors Mon
day, August 11. Only some
minor cleanup needs to be
done, he said.
Wyatt said the teaching
staff will be the same as last
year with the exception of one
new English teacher, a new
vocational instructor and a
new exceptional children
teacher.
Teachers will report to the
school on August 7 and 8 to
work on teaching assignments
(Continued on Page 10)
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