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Wednesday, Deceit
Pottery studio to be open :
this weekend — 4A
White Oak garners $25K in online contest
■ U.S. Cellular rewards effort of ‘truly >
amazing’ community
BY REBECCA BUNCH
Staff Writer
White Oak Elementaiy School was the
recipient of some very good news Tuesday
morning when U.S. Cellular revealed the
names of the 20 winners in its 2013 Calling
All Communities Campaign. The school
was among them, coming in at number 12
onthelist
White Oak Principal Michelle White ex
pressed appreciation on behalf of the staff
and faculty for the community’s solid sup
port
“We want to thank U.S. Cellular for of
fering this opportunity to our children,”
White said. “We are extremely thankful to
our community, and to the other schools
of Chowan County, for supporting White
Oak. We have a small community with big
hearts, and winning this contest demon
Public
hearing
slated for
Monday
■ Meeting on local
redistricting proposal
BY REGGIE PONDER
Editor
The Chowan County
Board of Commission
ers and Edenton-Chowan
Board of Education will
hold a joint public hearing
next week on a redistricting
proposal for both boards.
The meeting will be Mon
day at 5:30 p.ra in the train
ing room on the second
floor of the county’s Public
Safety Center.
Currently, school board
members and county com
missioners are elected from
identical districts - and
the proposed new districts
maintain that tradition.
The plan calls for moving
1,105 residents from the 2nd
District to the 3rd District
The proposed redistrict
ing map is available for
public review at the county
manager’s office on the
second floor of the Public
Safety Building, at the Eden
ton-Chowan Board of Edu
cation Office, and online at
www.chowancounty-nc.gov
or www.ecps.schoolfusioa
us.
The county has three dis
tricts, each of which elects
two members, and also has
one at-large member.
The 1st District is the
northern portion of the
county, the 2nd District is
in the southern and central
areas of the county around
. Edenton, and the 3rd Dis
trict includes most of the
town.
The proposed new dis
trict map was developed by
county staff in consultation
with a small group of county
commissioners and school
board members.
The change is required
because of population shifts
as indicated by the 2010
census.
See HEARING, 3A
©2009 The Chowan Herald
All Rights Reserved
states what a truly amazing place Chowan
County is.”
Superintendent Allan Smith agreed.
“The fact that such a small community
as Chowan County was able to generate
the level of participation for White Oak to
marshal enough votes to be one of the top
20 schools from across the nation is a testa
ment to the support of the community and
the tenacity of the parents and staff. I share
in the excitement of the day and wish to ex
press my gratitude to all who made today
a reality.”
The winners were determined by online
voting that began Nov. 4 and ended Nov. 25.
White Oak was one of four North Carolina
schools that made the cut-off. Two of the re
maining three schools are located in Wilm
ington and one in Havelock. The school re
ceiving the most overall votes wias Brickey
McCloud Elementary School in Knoxville,
Tenn.
A total of37,000 online votes were cast in
See CONTEST, 3A
Tree Illumination
icgiaasviwi
.
PHOTO COURTEST WAYNE WOODBURY
Mayor Roland Vaughan — backed by a group of D.F. Walker students and surrounded by a crowd of local
residents — offers an exuberant shout to light the town Christmas tree.
School board member furious about tenure proposal
BY REGGIE PONDER
Editor i
Local school board
member Gil Burroughs
said recently the new
state requirement to of
fer four-year contracts
to a fourth — and only
a fourth — of the school
district’s experienced
teachers based on rec
ommendations to the
tr
IN A RELATED
at
■i ■«
STORY
?ii
■ School board not yet ready
with new tenure policy -6A ■
je.»v s-v*^
ii
school board by the su
perintendent of schools
makes him furious.
“I’m bothered by the
i?ui
*>, : ~:-’x -V
MM
■S. Cellular
What will
HnlUlJ^ ELEMENTARY
SCH
iMmWt
..j I
whole idea,” said Bur
roughs, a retired teacher
with 27 years experience.
“The more I think about
it, the angrier I get. It’s
just absurd.”
Burroughs said that
the whole effect of the
new legislation would
be to drive a wedge be
tween classroom teach
ers rather than encour
age collaboration as they
compete for the best
contracts.
The Ederitan-Chowan
Board of Education re
cently heard a presenta
tion explaining that dur
ing the 2013-2014 school
year, school districts will
be required to identify
twenty-five percent of all
teachers with three con
secutive years of service,
based on performance
STAFF PHOTO BY
REGGIE PONDER . <■ '„
White Oak Principal
Michelle White
celebrates the
school's winning -
$25,000 from
U.S. Cellular in an!
online contest held
during November.:
“Today is our time*
White told students
and staff at an
assembly where
the news was
announced.
Local
teens
now face
charges
■ Chief: Teens told police
they had been kidnapped
From staff reports
Two teens who went miss
ing from Edenton recently
and turned up in Texas have
been charged with giving
false information to police.
Robert Lee Bunch, 19, of
East Queen Street, Eden
ton, and Nicholas Stephen
Beaman, 16, of Bella Vista
Drive, Edenton, both were
charged with making a false
report to police, according
to Edenton Police Chief Jay
Fortenbery.
In addition, Bunch has
been charged with contrib
uting to the delinquency
of a juvenile, according to
Fortenbery.
All the charges are misde
meanors.
Bunch was released on
$1,500 unsecured bond and
Beaman was released on
$500 unsecured bond, po
lice reported.
Bunch and Beaman axe
scheduled to appear iii
Chowan District Court on
Jan. 7.
The teens were first re
ported missing on Nov. 23.
They were located in San
Antonio, Tex., on Nov. 25. . •
Fortenbery said the false
report charges stemmed
from the teens’ initial claim
that they had been kid
napped. Investigation by the;
police in San Antonio found
the kidnapping had not oc
curred, Fortenbery said.
It appears that Beaman
and Bunch took the trip to
Texas in order to visit a girl,
Fortenbery said.
evaluations, who would
be offered four-year con
tracts.
The four-year con
tracts are to be awarded
based on recommenda
tions to the school board
by the superintendent of
schools.
Rep. Bob Steinburg,
R-Chowan, said he
See PROPOSAL, 3A