Newspapers / The Chowan Herald (Edenton, … / June 10, 1998, edition 1 / Page 1
Part of The Chowan Herald (Edenton, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
n Published in the most beautiful little city on the North Carolina Coast Vol. LXV, No. 23 m Fourth graders post dismal scores on state tests Seventh, tenth graders continue to improve scores BY REBECCA BUNCH Editor While the Edenton-Chowan ^school system expressed pride in the scores of its seventh and tenth grade students on the North Carolina Writing Assess ment, officials admit the scores of fourth graders left them with little to smile about. § Combined fourth grade I scores from D.F. Walker and f’White Oak Elementary Schools 1 dropped from a 45.7% profi ciency rating in 1997 to 31.8% this year, something that Maxine Britt, director of in struction for the local schools, admitted was “a disappoint ment for us. They were down significantly from last year.” Britt added that while White Oak’s fourth grade scores dropped from a 43.8% profi ciency level in 1997 to a 41% rate this year, the biggest drop was by Walker students whose scores dipped from a 47% pro ficiency rating last year to only 27.8% proficiency this year. “There was a huge difference between how those two schools scored,” she said reluctantly. Britt said that those reading the scores need to remember that it is.difficult to compare student performances between the two years, because “you’re talking about two entirely dif ferent groups of students. l nere are a number of factors that enter into it.” She said that areas school offi cials will be looking at include learning styles. State test scores indicate that girls did better overall than boys on the tests, and that black students scored lower than whites on every grade level. “We will be looking hard at the ways in which students learn most effectively,” Britt said, “and we will be making plans to help teachers become more sensitive to tne ways in which students learn best.” The Edenton-Chowan Schools have already scheduled a lit eracy conference for this sum mer to look at literacy in grades K 12. Britt said that experts in the field would be coming to work with school personnel on ways they can better reach stu dents. Britt said that school officials are very pleased with the test scores of the seventh and 10th graders. .“Our tenth graders did great,” she said. There were oy./'vo ui me rjuemim Chowan tenth graders who achieved a proficiency rating on the tests. And seventh grade scores improved from last year, too, she noted, climbing from 40.3% last year to 42.6% this 'We will be looking at the ways in which students learn most effectively, and we will be making plans to help teachers become more sensitive to the ways in which students learn best.' Maxine Britt Director of Instruction time around. We re edging up,” she said. “We think that’s a very positive sign." The Edenton-Chowan Schools also exercised their option to test sixth grade students in the school system at their expense this year. She said that those students achieved a 55.3% pro ficiency rating, which officials thought was extremely good. The local figures were in con trast to state writing scores fry students, which showed an in crease in proficiency among students in grades four and seven, and a slight decline at the 10th grade level. Accord ing to information provided by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (DPI), the See SCORES On Page 9-A Argument leaves one wounded ■ BY SEAN JACKSON Staff Writer After a dispute over a girl friend turned violent, one Edenton man was left with a gunshot wound to his wrist, while another successfully eluded police. At approximately 1:30 a.m. Monday morning, Edenton Po lice heard gunshots and screeching tires in the vicinity >f East Hicks and North Oa kum streets. According to lEdenton Police Chief Greg Bonner, police responded to a t all reporting gunfire in that ' area, but were unable to spot any suspects. ' Approximately 20 minutes later, Edenton Police officers responded to a call from Chowan Hospital in reference to a gunshot victim,” Bonner said. Upon arriving to the hospi tal, police confirmed that Earl White had received a bullet to his left wrist. White claimed that an acquaintance, Troy Halsey, had shot him. “Earl stated that he and Troy * Halsey had gotten into an argu ment over Halsey’s girlfriend,” said Bonner. “When Troy con fronted Earl in relation to the girlfriend, Earl said that noth ing was going on between him See WOUNDED Page 3-A HATS OFF FOR THE NATIONAL ANTHEM Members of the Edenton Steamers baseball team line up along the third baseline as the Albemarle Sounds sing the National Anthem just prior to the start of last week's game. The Steamers, playing their first season in the Coastal Plain League, fell to the Florence RedWolves 9 4 in the home opener, butdrew1,280fansto Hicks Field forthefirst minor league-caliber game held in Edenton in more than 40 years. (Staff photo by Sean Jackson) _ Sheriff hoping early morning arrests will stem flow of drugs BY SEAN JACKSON Staff Writer An early morning raid car ried out yesterday by local, state and federal authorities has resulted in the arrest of four Chowan County residents and hopefully will slow down the sale of drugs locally, Sher iff Fred Spruill said. At 5:30 a.m. Tuesday, mem bers of the Chowan County Sheriff's Department, SBI, FBI and U.S. Attorney's Office " (Eastern District), awoke three of four adults living at 352 Cofield Road. All four were subsequently taken into cus tody, and two guns confiscated. Arrested were Arthur Will iam "Big Bud" Privott, 50; his wife, Janice I^e Privott; and two daughters, Jennifer Ann Privott, 25, and Katina Marqui Privott, 19. Only Mr. Privott was awake when officers arrived at the home, the sheriff said. According to Sheriff Spruill, each suspect was arrested bn federal charges of conspiracy to distribute and possess co caine and cocaine base, distri bution of cocaine base, aiding and abetting, and criminal for feiture. "Each individual was arrested on several counts of each charge," Spruill said Tuesday afternoon. Paperwork on the arrests was incomplete at presstime. The sheriff said the arrests were made on the basis of fed eral grand jury indictments handed down against the four on May 26. He added that there were no drugs found in the house during the Tuesday morning raid. The Privotts are all sched uled to appear in federal court in Elizabeth City Thursday for a bond hearing. They are cur rently being held in Wake County. Sheriff Spruill said that de spite the absence of drugs in the house when the arrests were made, he felt the evidence against the four was solid. He said that numerous undercover drug buys had been made by authorities during the past year from those arrested Tuesday", As a result of those undercover purchases, he said, the grand jury had sufficient evidence to indict each of those arrested. "This (arrests) is the result of a year-long, joint investigation between the Chowan County Sheriff's Department, FBI, SBI, and U.S. Attorney's Of fice," Spruill said. "It was a job well done by all involved. We hope these arrests will help stem the flow of drugs into Chowan County." 'Click It or Ticket' has resulted in arrests and citations for motorists Saturday evening, Edenton Police set up a standard road side traffic inspection on East Church Street Extended, hop ing to boost seat belt use for local motorists. For 17 individuals, that rou tine stop proved to be more than a simple inconvenience. On behalf of a statewide Click It or Ticket campaign, police issued 17 tickets and 10 warn ings to motorists Saturday. Across the state, law enforce ment officer have issued more than 6,000 seat belt and 500 child safety seat violations. “It was successful here at our check point,” said Edenton Po lice Chief Greg Bonner. Viola tions ranged from drug of fenses to possession of a fire arm by a convicted felon, Bonner said. One individual, 20-year-old See TICKET On Page 3-A Copeland says he'll limit role on local oversight committee When news of county man ager Cliff Copeland’s dual board memberships for both Pitt County Memorial Hospital and Chowan Hospital’s over sight committee surfaced last month, Copeland received few complaints. Still, recognizing the possi bility his twin positions could cause complications during the county’s ongoing negotiations to lease/sell Chowan Hospital, 4 Copeland has withdrawn from his role as an active member of the oversight committee in what he describes as a precau tionary measure. “I’ll still be a member of the oversight committee, but just as ah observer,” Copeland said Monday. “I won’t offer any ad vice or suggestions to the over sight committee.” See ROLE On Page 3-A Citizens' concerns prompt borrowing of equipment for a study of traffic patterns BY SEAN JACKSON Staff Writer Has Big Brother been watch ing you? You may have gotten that feeling when travelling in your automobile down North Broad and Granville streets in the past week. But it was your safety that the Edenton Police Depart ment had in mind when it ob tained a speed-monitoring de vice from the Kitty Hawk Po lice Department. Installed on North Broad Street near the Gale Street intersection from Tuesday through Saturday night, police are using the speed monitor to evaluate average speeds and traffic volume in response to citizen complaints. In the past year, several traffic accidents involving pedestrians have occurred along North Broad Street, and residents wrote to town, police and state Depart ment of Transportation offi cials in an effort to draw at tention to what they felt was a dangerous situation along See TRAFFIC On Page 9-A This speed-monitoring device borrowed from Kitty Hawk has caught motorists' attention in Edenton ) 4
The Chowan Herald (Edenton, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
June 10, 1998, edition 1
1
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75