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■I BY REGGIE PONDER
Editor
As county commission
ers began work Tuesday on
| the 2014-15 Chowan County
budget, they were facing
a significant decline in as
sessed value of real properly
as well as $263,000 more in
requests from county de
partments than was funded
in the current budget
County Manager Kevin
. Howard provided the coun
ty commissioners their first
look at departmental budget
requests at a meeting Tues
day afternoon.
“These are very, very pre
liminary numbers,” Howard
said this week
Howard pointed out the
assessed values of property
won’t be final until the ap
peals process is over later,
this spring.
So it’s only a guess right
now, Howard said, that a 10
cent increase in the county’s
property tax rate would be
required to generate the
same amount of property
tax revenue as in the budget
for the current fiscal year.
“We’re hoping our guess
is worst case scenario,”
Howard said,
As stands now, though,
the revenue picture shows
a “deficit” of $1.3 million in
property tax revenue based
on the declining property
valuation, and also a de
crease of $134,000 in vehicle
tax proceeds.
When the $263,000 in ad
ditional money requested
by departments is factored
in, the hypothetical “deficit”
stands at $1.76 millioa
The preliminary budget
“deficit” is really a theoreti
cal construct, since state
law requires counties to
adopt balanced budgets.
The deficit is a gap that must
be closed before the budget
is adopted for the fiscal year
that begins July 1.
The single largest budget
increase requested this year
is a $188,838 increase for cur
rent expense requested by
Edenton-Chowan Schools.
The amount of budget
increases requested by
other county departments
are a $10,066 increase for
the Tax Office; $19,788 for
Elections; $24,630 for Reg
ister of Deeds; $25,529 for
Information Technology;
$48,834 for Central Mainte
nance; $45,820 for Central
Communications; $80,973
for the Sheriffs Department;
$17,200 for School Resource
Officer; $50,642 for Jail;
$56,562 for Library; $22,281
for Recreation; and $45,434
for transfer to Department
of Social Services.
Those requested increas
es total nearly 637,000, but
proposed reductions in
some areas offset that total
— leaving the net figure of
$263,000.
One big area of savings is
in Emergency Medical Ser
vice, which has a prelimi
nary request for a transfer
from the General Fund of
only $36,000 in the upcom
ing fiscal year — compared
with $338,000 in the coming
year.
The shift to the self-sup
porting status for EMS is be
ing driven by an upgrade to
paramedic level EMS.
Schools
plan
summer
camp
BY REBECCA BUNCH
Staff Writer
Flans for a Read to
Achieve summer camp for
Edenton-Chowan Schools
third graders were outlined
for the school board at its
April 7 monthly meeting.
The camp will offer reme
dial help for third graders
not reading at grade level
on state testing standards by
the end of the current school
year and give them an op
portunity to transition into
fourth grade next year.
A team of presenters gave
the update including Katina
Waples, interim principal at
D.F. Walker; Jennifer Thach,
instructional facilitator; Ca
risa Copeland, third grade
teacher/chairperson; and
Lands White, elementary di
rector for the school system.
White said that under state
law the current plan calls for
the summer camp to last
a minimum of six weeks,
three hours a day, four days
a week. However, she said,
State School Superintendent
June Atkinson has sent a
memo to the General As
sembly recommending each
school system should be
able to have its own summer
camp plan. White said that
content could be tweaked
depending on which sched
ule is implemented this sum
mer.
“We do know that we have
.to provide transportation
See CAMP, 2A
Lighthouse furniture search drawing near
BY REBECCA BUNCH
Staff Writer
As the gathering of inte
rior furnishings for the 1886
Roanoke River lighthouse
on the downtown Edenton
waterfront nears comple
tion, some items are still
needed.
Gregg Nathan, execu
tive director of the Eden
ton Historical Commission
which has been accepting
furnishings from the public
for the historic structure,
said those items include,
| __
©2009 The Chowan Herald
Alt Rights Reserved
Jackson values community involvement
BY REBECCA BUNCH
Staff Writer
Rob Jackson wasn’t exactly
a stranger to Edenton
when he agreed last week
to become the local school
system’s new superintendent
Jackson, who currently serves
on the Union County Public
Schools Superintendent’s Execu
tive Cabinet as the chief com
munications officer, will begin
work in Edenton on July 1. He
will be paid an annual salary of
$120,000.
But he said during an inter
view Friday afternoon that he
and his wife Rene had made a
couple of weekend visits to the
community before he decided
to say yes to the job. Once they
did, he said, they were sold on
the idea of making Edenton their
home.
“Everybody was so friendly,
^.tfrey helped us with directions,
whatever we needed,” Jackson
said. “That really resonated with
me and my wife.”
Jackson said that while they
were here he also drove to
each of the county’s four public
schools. Even though they were
closed because it was a week
end, he said, he was impressed
with how well maintained they
were.
Things like that told him more
than words could about how
much the people connected with
the school system valued it, he
said. And, he said, he knows a
little something about being a
maintenance man, and a teacher,
so those are occupations he
values highly.
“I think one of the most
important things I bring to this
job is probably a bit unique and
that is, I’m someone that has
worked my way up,” Jackson
said. “As I was working my way
through college I held jobs as a
custodian, a school secretary, a
“People have been very generous in sharing
things from that time period with us... So
there's been a lot to choose from. ”
Gregg Nathan
Executive director, Edenton Historical Commission
by room, (kitchen) dish
towels with classic tick
ing; (lighthouse keeper’s
office) a roll top desk and
small hanging bookshelf
to hold account books and
journals; (entry hall) cast
iron hooks; (bedrooms)
iron or wood beds and
ticking bag mattresses, rag
rugs; (lighthouse parlor)
bookcases and a rag rug.
“People have been very
generous in sharing things
from that time period
with us,” Nathan said. “So
STAFF PHOTO BY REBECCA BUNCH
Casey Atstupenas, director of secondary education for the Edenton-Chowan Schools, greets Rob
Jackson, new superintendent, during a reception In his honor held April 8 at the Public Safety
Center. Jackson will begin work here on July 1_
bus driver... I did a little bit of
everything on my way to becom
ing a teacher. I think that gives
me a unique perspective on how
each of those roles contributes
there’s been a lot to choose
from.”
Nathan said that cura
tor Elizabeth Reign from
the North Carolina Depart
ment of Cultural Resourc
es has been assisting with
the selection process.
With the search for fur
nishings nearly complete,
the EHC is now seeking
volunteers to fill several
key roles.
One of the needs is for
a seamstress who could
make two ticking bag mat
* M
to the education of a child.”
Jackson and his wife have
four children -r- Dennis, Joshua,
Elijah and Madelyn — so he also
knows firsthand the importance
tresses or other linens.
According to Nathan,
two bag type mattresses
made of period looking
striped ticking cotton
material are needed for
the two bedrooms in the
lighthouse that would
have been used by the
lighthouse keeper and the
assistant keeper. The mat
tress will be stuffed with
cornstarch “peanuts” that
are inert and do not break
down over time, he said.
Able-bodied volunteers
also are needed to help
move furnishings into the
lighthouse and set them
up.
And starting in May, the
Historic Edenton State
Historic Site (Visitor Cen
ter) staff will begin training
See FURNITURE, 4A
New Edenton-Chowan schools
Supt. Rob Jackson, second from
left, is flanked by his wife Rene;
three sons, Dennis, Joshua and
Elijah; and daughter, Madelyn, as
he addresses the crowd at the
Public Safety Center on April 8
during a reception in his honor.
of reaching out to parents and
getting them involved in educat
ing their children, he said. Grow
ing that partnership between
teachers, the school system, and
parents is critical to the academ
ic success of students, he said.
“I believe together we can
achieve just about anything,”
Jackson said. “I also want the
community to know that if I may
be of service, that’s my job.”
In 2011, Jackson was named
See JACKSON, 2A
Policy on teacher
contracts finalized r
BY REBECCA BUNCH
Staff Writer
The school board agreed
at its April 7 monthly board
meeting to follow a previ
ously developed strategy
for die selection of 25 per
cent of eligible teachers to
receive four-year contracts.
Implementation of the
policy will begin next month,
school officials said.
That strategy was de
veloped last December by
a committee consisting of
principals and members of
the Teacher Advisory Com
mittee. The committee re
viewed a number of options
before coming up with a
selection process that was
presented to the board for
its approval on January 23.
During a review of the
plan held at the April board
meeting, school board
members were offered
the chance to suggest any
changes they might have as
the process moves closer to
implementation.
“Is any action needed
or is the board satisfied in
moving forward with what
we have?” board chair John
Guard asked.
No board members re
sponded with any changes
they felt necessary.
The policy calls for the
number of teachers meeting
two specific criteria to be
multiplied by 25 percent to
See CONTRACTS, 4A
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