Page 2-C
Letter To The Editor: Bond Issue, Consolidation Draws Comments From Reader
In less than 40 days, the
citizens of Chowan County
will be asked to approve a
Bond issue for a con
solidated high school. At
issue is 1) a $3.5-million
facility which may cost $8
million plus to pay off and 2)
a quality education with
more diversification and
challenge to all county
students.
First, consolidation of the
two high schools is long
overdue. It is not sufficient
to {each our youth to read,
write and do basic math.
Indeed our goal must be to
teach our students to read,
write and do math com
petitively and agressively.
This goal cannot be
achieved without
eliminating “social
promotion” and without a
more demanding range of
subject matter.
To put this same point
personally, I spent much of
my freshman year at
Carolina taking subjects at
a level that I should have
had behind me in high
school. That was in 1959. I
suspect the same is true
today. And the con
sequences of wasted time
Appointments Revealed
Gov. James B. Hunt, Jr.
made three new ap
pointments and four re
appointments to the N.C.
Coastal Resources Com
mission
Dr. Parker Chesson, Jr.,
president of College of The
Albemarle in Elizabeth
City, was re-appointed
chairman. He has been
chairman since September,
1977, when David Stick
resigned.
New appointees were Mrs.
Mayme W. Davenport of
Creswell; Jim Sykes of
Morehead City; and
Williams Gibbs of Oriental.
Mrs. Davenport, a
Washington County Com
missioner, fills the local
government appointment on
the Commission. Sykes,
with the National Marine
Fisheries Service in
Beaufort, fills the com
mercial and sports fisheries
appointment. Gibbs,
businessman and member
of the Pamlico County
Planning Board, fills the at
large appointment.
Members re-appointed in
addition to Dr. Chesson
were: DeWitt Darden of
New Bern; Frank Furlough,
Jr., of Columbia; and Dr.
Gene Huntsman of
Beaufort.
The 15-member Coastal
Resources Commission
provides guidelines and
W 1 h PORTRAITS IN H
■ 14 LIVING COLOR^B
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| EDENTON |fajM
and talent are increasingly
expensive in every sense of
the word.
Whether or not con
solidation necessitates the
construction of a new high
school facility, that is a
different question. It is also
a difficult question.
The School Board asserts
the power to consolidate
schools. It would prefer to
consolidate in a new facility.
If that is not possible, they
will consolidate in existing
facilities putting grades 7-8
countywide at Chowan and
grades 9-12 countywide at
Holmes. And they will spend
$1.5-million for the
necessary alternations to
make consolidation com
fortable.
Building costs are rising
approximately 10 per cent a
year. But school population
is declining locally and
statewide. Do you therefore
spend $1.5-million for ad
ditions and retain an
“older” facility or do you
spend much more for a new
facility? Or, do you con
solidate first and look at the
issue again a few years
later?
The current proposal
policies for the orderly
development and protection
of important coastal natural
resources under the 1974
Coastal Area Management
Act.
Primer Limits
Paint Problems
Using an oil based primer
can help minimize the
problem of paint “bleeding”
on certain types of wood.
Redwood and cedar, for
example, hold paint well but
sometimes present the
problem of bleeding. This
causes the paint of discolor,
explain North Carolina State
University agricultural
extension specialists.
The discoloration occurs
when the water soluble
extractives of redwood or
cedar bleed to the surface of
the painted wood. The
problem is worse on wood
that has been coated with a
light colored paint.
Apply the oil based primer
before painting to reduce
the risk of discoloration
from bleeding.
In a year's time 30 tons
of barnacles can attach
themselves to the bottom
of an ocean-going ship.
suffers with respect to A)
demonstration of need, B)
method of financing, and C)
proposed location.
Agreeing that con
solidation is wise does not
mean that a new facility is
necessarily required.
Average attendance is
expected to fall from 902 in
’7B-’79 for grades 9 thru 12 to
777 in ’Bl-’B2.
If this decrease cannot be
handled constructively as
the board prefers, let the 9th
grade be housed with grades
7-8 countywide at one
location and grades 10 thru
12 countywide at another
location.
If the School Board had a
track record of 3 or 4 years
of consolidation experience
to show the taxpayers and
if that record was
markedly lacking in
educational achievements
which could be remedied by
a new facility, then the
board would have a strong
case. But at present the
board has not demonstrated
persuasively that the merits
of consolidation mandate a
new facility.
Secondly, the bond
proposal suffers with regard
to the method of financing.
To endorse a proposal that
means paying more than
double the initial cost is just
a bit much. Hie bond issue
would increase taxes SBS per
$50,000 evaluation per year
for possibly 40 years.
Many ssume that passage
of the bond issue won’t in
crease their levy much
because they don’t possess
total taxable property worth
$50,000.
Hie point here is not that
inflation will increase all
property values.
Rather, the point is that
those who invest in farm
land, equipment,
businesses and industry will
bear a very heavy portion of
this burden even though
their sons and daughters
make up only a small
percentage of the school
population.
Many of the growing
demands on the schools are
coming from those who have
not invested in ways subject
to property-taxes. Another
source of revenue must be
found to shoulder the burden
of public schools.
The financing of this
proposal would be more
equitable if the next General
Assembly would enact
legislation to increase the
local option sales tax by a
penny. Such revenue
generated statewide for
school and other bonds
would broaden the base for
early repayment. In 1977
local option sales tax
THE CHOWAN HERALD
brought Chowan County
$235,541.32 and the Town of
Edenton $75,216.20 or a total
of $300,757.52. An additional
$300,000 plus per year
coming into the county
would eliminate the
ridiculous arrangment of
paying more than two 'for
one for a new school. And it
would generate large sums
of money at home for other
future needs and op
portunities which we shall
surely have.
The time frame in which
any indebtedness would be
met is a critical point. The
County Commissioners have
shown themselves aware of
the need to pay debts in less
than 40 years. However,
they cannot bind future
commissioners to pay-back
rate they deem prudent
today. And now that the
FHA has said that Chowan
County’s credit rating is too
good for their 5 per cent
loans, it is impossible for
anyone to know how much
money he is being asked to
obligate himself and his
heirs to repay. This un
certainty would still be
present to a degree even
with the FHA loan; with
other loans, the degree of
uncertainty is even greater.
Clarity on this point
should have beat available
long before the school bonds
were ever put on the ballot.
Thirdly, the current
proposal suffers with regard
to location.
In recent years the
citizenry has taken a
renewed interest in the work
and life of the local schools.
People come for more than
athletic events. They attend
for drama presentations, for
class plays, for music
concerts, and for time with
teachers. Increasingly civic
functions are welcomed in
school facilities. This
openness is welcome and
long overdue.
Better than 40 per cent of
Chowan County lives in
Edenton.
To put a school at the
proposed location simply so
that one can say that it is
equal distance from the
Gates County line in the
north and from the far
therest reaches of Yeopim
in the south is false
economy. A location much
closer to Edenton would
mean many more would
provide their own trans
portation at savings to the
school budget over the years
which would be most
significant.
The proposed location is a
false solution because
schools do not exist well in
isolation. They flourish
when they are in the midst
of people caring for them.
These facilities should be
within bicycling distance of
the student population
most likely to use them after
hours or during the sum
mers. Just because a school
cannot be within bicycling
distance of every student is
no reason to locate it such
that it is practically within
bicycling distance of no
student!
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Jottings
R.~W. DAVIS
Certain sapphires
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A flourishing school is a
community center, not a
monastery. It should be
mudi closer to the county
center of population.
Indeed the School Board
seems to recognize and
appreciate this point about
context when it states on its
own “Fact Sheet” that
without the bond issue,
consolidation would be at
Holmes. Why should it
change its mind if the bond
issue passes?
Conversations with friends
from Bertie County are
interesting on this point.
Their new high school is
built away from any center
of population. Windsor
doesn’t identify with the
school; Colerain doesn’t
identify with it; Lewiston
doesn’t identify with it.
Or, take Northampton
County. A new school there
was built in a non-populated
location. How easy is it to
get teachers back to school
after hours? How easy is it
for the supporting com
munities to give the extras
that make the difference
between a school which gets
by and a school which ex
cells? How easy is it to at
tract quality teachers to
such a location? How
shandy does student par
ticipation in extra
curriculars Decline when
there is more concern to
catch the bus than to stay
and develop one’s self after
hours?
Let no one misun
derstand this point on
location. My sole contention
is that as a county-wide
resource a new school
should be placed in the very
best position to do the most
good for the total com
munity of Chowan County.
The proposed location does
not encourage this
possibility. Indeed it would
be better to put a new
Chowan County High School
at Tyner, for example, than
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at the proposed site because
at Tyner it would still be part
of a larger communtiy.
To be specific I would
suggest that the better
location would be within
eyesight of the 17 by-pass.
Such a location would be
more accessible to a larger
number of youth. It would be
more economical to the
county as a whole with less
expensive tie-ins for sewage
and water being possible. It
would benefit from city fire
and police protection. It
would be distant enough
from Edenton to minimize
traffic congestions. Yet it
would be dose enough for
large numbers of students to
provide their own tran
portation at some savings to
the county bus system
(averaging 5 or 6 miles per
gallon). It would be an
advantageous location with
respect to future teacher
recruiting. It would be a
splendid advertisement that
this county cares for its
youth. And it would be more
easily accessible to visiting
teams and communities
coming here for com
petitions.
The School Board has not
seen fit to tell us why it
chose the property it now
recommends. We do not
know what other properties
were considered. And we do
not know the criteria used
other than a minimum of 50
acres.
But if price was the dif
ference, if a more desirable
property could be secured,
perhaps a blue-ribbon
committee should be
selected to try to raise the
difference through private
and public solicitations.
Direct these funds
through a non-profit cor
poration so that contributors
can enjoy tax advantages.
Pay the owner a fair price.
A person should not be
asked to give property away
just because it is for a
school.
But since a new Chowan
County High School is a
considerable resource for
years to come, the board
should not settle for less
than the most desirable
location.
We are seeking a
maximum benefit from a
considerable expenditure
for well-being of the entire
county. Let us not settle for
the minimum benefits which
come from the proposed
site. Neither let jus agree to
financing over too long a
period of time. We will need
that money for other in
vestments in our future.
Finally, let us be sure that
need for a new facility has
been proven, not simply
asserted.
In summary, one man’s
opinion is in favor of con
solidation. But he has
definite reservations with
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Monday-Friday
8:00 A. M. - 5:00 P. M.
Thursday, August 24, 1978
regard to demonstration of
need, method of financing
and proposed location.
John A. Mitchener, Ilj7
Centralized
Lunch Menus
Centralized menus for
breakfast and lunch in
Edenton-Chowan Schools
for the next week include:
Tuesday— Orange juice,
cinnamon bun and milk.
Hamburger with bun,
ketchup and mustard,
french fries, tossed salad,
peaches and milk.
Wednesday Apple
sauce, sausage biscuit and
milk. Fish sandwich, tartar
sauce, cole slaw, green
beans, apple pie with cheese
and milk.
Thursday Peaches,
cheese toast and milk.
Pizza, carrot strips, but
tered corn, peanut cluster
and milk.