School Board Seeks
$1 .25 Million More
From Commissioners
BY SUSAN USHER
It's jus! not enough
That 's the budget message Bruns
wick County Board of Education
members hope they can get across to
Brunswick County Commissioners
in the next few days and avoid a le
gal confrontation like the two boards
experienced a year ago
Tuesday evening, with District 1
member Thurman Cause absent, the
school board voted unanimously to
seek a joint meeting with the com
missioners io uisCuaa inc sCuCuis'
$9.26 million allocation for 1994
95. Finance Officer Rudi Connor
said the appropriation isn't enough
to maintain existing programs at
current levels and meet expenses
over which the schools have no con
trol.
How Far Apart?
Just how far apart are the two
boards? At first glance. $4.5 million,
the difference between the schools'
allocation and the Si 3.78 million
initially requested.
However the schools say they can
squeak by with another $1.25 mil
lion, though that will leave many
school needs for personnel and
equipment unmet.
If the school board isn't satisfied
with its county funding, state law
(xuviucs thai a joint meeting ot the
two hoards "shall" be called within
seven days of the county adopting
its budget. However, if the two
boards are agreeable, the dates are
flexible.
Board attorney Glen Peterson set
the joint meeting process in motion
immediately after Tuesday's meet
ing with a call to county attorney
Michael Ramos.
The meeting would be the first
step in a formal appeal process that
could result in a court-mediated set
tlement like that negotiated between
the commissioners and school board
last August, and a continued chilling
of relationships between the two
boards.
That's not what school board
members want. They want to dis
cuss their needs with the acting
county manager and commissioners,
and not through a mediator if that
can be avoided.
4 We Can't Stop Now'
During the budget preparation pe
riod county officials were simply
too busy to sit down and discuss
THREE ASSISTANT PRINCIPALS SHIFTED
Turner's Job Eliminated One
Week Before Contract Expired
BY SUSAN USHER
William Turner lost his job as as
sistant superintendent for auxiliary
services last week when the Bruns
wick County Board of Education
voted 3-2 to create a new posiiiuu in
its place.
TUrner had been employed with
the Brunswick County Schools for
21 years and had been working un
der a one-year contract that ended
today (June 30).
He could not be reached for com
ment at his office or his home in
Wilmington.
"All I can say is I thought it was
in the best interest of the school sys
tem," said Superintendent of
Schools Ralph Johnston, who rec
ommended creation of the new
school facilities and maintenance di
rector post as part of an overall re
structuring of the central office staff.
The position requires a high school
diploma with additional technical
training preferred, knowledge of
construction, building supplies,
management of custodial services
and purchasing of custodial sup
plies.
As assistant superintendent for
auxiliary services Turner oversaw
the areas of child nutrition, trans
portation, facilities (maintenance,
construction and planning), ware
housing and distribution, and report
ed to Johnston.
Under 'he new arrangement
Johnston said the directors ot trans
portation and facilities will report
directly to him, with the child nutri
tion director reporting io the finance
office.
Board members Polly Russ and
Thurman Cause, who opposed the
change, accused supporters of the
action of making Turner the fall guy
for mistakes made by employees un
der his supervision.
Gause said Thursday he's afraid
the schools' construction program
will suffer and fall behind schedule,
since no one but Turner was familiar
with the projects, additions at West
Brunswick and North Brunswick
high schools, construction of a new
elementary school in Lei and and re
pair of Supply Elementary School's
wastewater treatment system.
"I feel like he was treated wrong,"
said Gause, questioning why Turner
"lost his whole job" when others in
volved in a recent controversy re
ceived only short-term suspensions.
According to Gause, Johnston fol
lowed personnel recommendations
stemming from an investigation
conducted by Brian Shaw of
Richard Schwartz & Associates into
the sale last summer of South port
Elementary School cafeteria equip
ment to a local restaurant owner,
who in turn sold many of the items
to a nephew's food service equip
ment company.
After hearing Shaw's recommen
dations, the school board had asked
Johnston to come back with his
own, based upon his observations
and knowledge of the system. He re
turned to the board with the same
recommendations.
In that report investigator Shaw
found no evidence of intentional
wrongdoing on the part any employ
ee or of school property having been
disposed of improperly in the past.
Earlier last week, also on Shaw's
recommendation, Johnston suspend
ed Rebecca Brandon, director of
child nutrition, for 30 days and
William "Bunny" Babson, a mainte
nance supervisor, for 15 days.
Another maintenance supervisor.
Ode II Benton, was earlier fired, then
reinstated. Since he had already
gone 23 days without pay, he was
suspended for seven days, for the
equivalent of a 30-day suspension.
Typically contracts for assistant
superintendents are scheduled to end
X the sa ir.c ti nx ss the superinter
dent's contract, allowing a new edu
cational leader to create his or her
own administrative team.
However, Brunswick County
school boards have bought off the
contracts of three of the last four
county school superintendents The
fourth, Johnston's predecessor, PR.
Hankins, retired after the start of the
1991-92 school term, throwing con
tracts out of synchronization.
When Tui.iet 's contract came up
for renewal last spring after he and
Johnston had worked together for
only six months, it was extended for
one year only, at the recommenda
tion of the superintendent.
The cafeteria equipment sale was
not the only controversy or situation
in recent months involving the areas
of Turner's responsibility.
TWo years ago. Turner, a series of
state and private consultants and
school system employees worked
for more than a year in an effort to
correct air quality and cleanliness
problems at Lincoln Primary School
that parents and teachers claimed
was exacerbating allergies and other
respiratory problems.
Gause says he is convinced the
Schwartz investigation, which cost
about $13,000, was simply a vehicle
for removing Turner. The decision
to have an outside agency conduct
an investigation came after Johnston
and the school board attorney had
already conducted an in-housc in
vestigation and acted on the find
ings.
"The investigation was supposed
to be over when Benton was re
turned to his job," said Gause.
Earlier tms year five other senior
posts were eliminated and replaced
with new job descriptions. One per
son resigned, three have been hired
in new positions created within the
system, and a place is expected to be
found for the fifth, according to
Assistant Superintendent Jan
Calhoun, eliminating the need to put
into effect the school system's re
duction-in-force policy.
In other personnel actions last
Wednesday, (he school hoard named
former middle grades supervisor
Robert Rhvne of Long Beach as
principal of a planned alternative
school that would serve students
whose needs cannot be met in a "tra
ditional" school.
Rhyne had served as principal of
South Brunswick Middle School im
mediately prior to joining the central
office staff.
Plans for the Brunswick County
Learning Center are indefinite, with
its location, size and scope depend
ing in part on available funds from
the county and state, including
grants, according to Assistant
Superintendent Oscar Blanks.
Three assistant principals were re
assigned effective July 1. Wanda
Frazier moves from Bolivia Ele
mentary to Southport Elementary,
where Phillip Tate has retired. Harry
Martin, assistant at Union Elemen
tary, is going to South Brunswick
High School, while former South as
sistant Gene Bowden moves into
Frazier 's former slot at Bolivia.
Assistant principalships at Union
Elementary, Martin's current assign
ment, and Shallotte Middle, where
William Detrie is presently the assis
tant, will be advertised as vacancies.
Detne'x assignment for the 1994-95
school year has not been announced.
Administrative assignments at
Waccamaw and Supply elementary
schools and West Brunswick High
are unchanged. Rumors of the possi
ble reassignment of Waccamaw
Assistant Principal Terry Chestnutt
sparked protests from the Ash com
munity last week.
Waccamaw School is the only one
of the county's 12 schools where the
assistant and assistant principal are
of the same race, an s*rrangement
that has been criticized in past years
by some black community leaders.
School Boord Fills Slots
Brunswick County school board
members filled seven jobs and ac
cepted two retirements at the board's
June 22 meeting in Southport.
Leamon Clemmons of Supply and
Judy Robinson of Wilmington were
hired as middle grade teachers at
Shallotte Middle, and James Cox Jr.
of Long Beach, Bonnie Smith of
Lawrenceville, Ga., Kristin Crook of
Hamptonville and Carolyn Dosher
of Southport were hired as middle
grade teachers at South Brunswick
Middle.
TWo Chapter I teachers an
nounced their retirement. Bemeatha
Holmes, at Lei and Middle, retired
effective June 30, and Doris Wilson,
at Union Elementary, as of July 1.
The board also hired Patricia
Mims, formerly a secretary at the
central office, as administrative as
sistant at Bolivia Elementary
School.
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school system needs with school
board members, said school board
Chairman Donna Baxter.
"Maybe this way they'll have
time," she said. "We hope by just
meeting with them and presenting a
lot of the information we've present
ed tonight we can show them where
we are, how we're moving forward
and that we can't stop now."
But if that doesn't work, she at
least is prepared to pursue the mon
ey she believes the schools need to
operate.
"I'm ready to help move us for
ward, to take the next step if that be
comes necessary. It could go to that,
but that's not what we're hoping will
happen."
School system administrators sat
down this week to determine what
items the county's 4 percent opera
tions increase would cover, and
what other items they consider ab
solutely necessary that still aren't
covered in the local budget or
through other sources such as state
and federal grants.
This year's school budget doesn't
include a repeat of the $1 million
one-tim-: county allocation for tech
nology, or the S 200,000 balance the
school bo?rd transferred from its
steadily diminishing reserves to bal
ance the 1993-94 budget.
Continuation Budget
The conclusion: Another
S954.408 to meet its S 10.55 million
continuation budget and maintain
programs at current levels, Connor
said, and S 297,500 in "expansion"
money to fund 3.5 teaching/technol
ogy positions ($135,000), to support
an alternative schools program
($150,000), and to continue the A+
arts program at Southport Ele
mentary and a clinical teaching pro
gram operated in conjunction with
UNC- Wilmington ($12,500). The
arts and clinical teaching programs
are multi-year contractual commit
ments that required increased Finan
cial support from the schools next
year.
It will take about S2 16,000 of the
county's 4 percent increase of
$337,203 in operating money to
give locally-paid school system em
ployees the 4 percent salary increase
their state-paid peers expect to re
ceive. Another $22,900 is needed
just to meet current teacher supple
ment costs, without increasing the
supplement as teachers have re
quested.
It costs $590,000 to pay the cur
rent supplement. Another $43,500
would cover a 3 percent increase in
the schools' electric bill, which this
year runs about $1.4 million.
Another $54,000 would be used to
provide local school employees with
a I percent bonus if state-paid teach
ers get one.
An employees' dental plan will
cost an additional $6,484 next year
in increased premiums. Connor said
Brunswick Schools could do what
most school systems do, offer the
plan but not pay the premium for all
of its 1.200 employees at a cost of
nearly $17 per person, for a savings
of about $200,000.
Counting adjustments made dur
ing workshops last week to provide
more money for equipment for the
county's 12 schools, the school sys
tem is slated to receive $9,264,550
for operations and capital needs.
Of that total $8.76 million is for
operations and $497,000 for capital
needs. Of the latter, commissioners
designated $360,000 for equipment
and furniture needs ($30,000 per
school) and $57,275 for computers.
No money has been set aside for site
improvements such as fencing, heat
ing and air system replacements and
major repairs such as new roofs.
The problem is when you add all
of it up, ?ve still can't balance the
budget," ssid Bill Fsiricy Tucsdsy
as school board members examined
their options.
Board Chairman Donna Baxter
said the school system has invested
$3.5 million in its computer/technol
ogy program, of which $1 million
came from a special county alloca
tion this year. Most of the balance
was from state half-cent sales tax
revenues.
Continuing funds are needed to
support that technology, or else the
initial investment will be lost.
Director of Technology Gene Zuck
suggested.
The revised expansion budget re
quest from the schools doesn't in
clude hiring a computer coordinator
at each school or a facilitator for
West Brunswick High School's N.C.
Information Highway interactive
learning site that is being developed
with REA grant funds.
Last year, to stretch available
funds, the three high schools each
used one of their two locally-paid
teaching position to hire computer
coordinators and another school
used half of an existing position.
Without additional funds they'll
have to make that choice between
computers and another program
again this year.
Zuck is optimistic that West
Brunswick will receive state funding
of one kind or another to pay its on
line telephone charges, roughly
$4,300 a month, at least the fust
year. He's obtained $83,000 in grant
money to help, but doesn't know
where any on-line money will come
from after the site's first year of op
eration.
The budget also doesn't include
10.5 other teaching positions, a pnn
ri?v?l tr\ olinninn fnr n Att I
w ?Vt M?V llVlf
Leland Elementary School, an 11th
month of work for some assistant
principals, a new salary schedule
sought by teacher assistants, in
creased salary supplements sought
by teachers and bus drivers, two
new custodial positions at Lincoln
School, or the $193,722 needed to
bring custodial salaries in line with
new state requirements before the
start of the 1995-% fiscal year.
TE
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