I
75 CENTS
BLACK COP SUSPENDED PAGE A3
32 PAGES THIS WEEK
School Liaison Officer
William P. Capers talks about Job at
Independence High School.
PAGE A11
Sunny Skies
Warmer weather brings people outside
for tennis, golf and basketball.
THURSDAY. APRIL 8, 1893
Winston-Salem Chronicle
PAGE B1
'Power concedes nothing without a struggle." ? Frederick Douglass
VOL. XIX, No. 33
IN OUR SCHOOLS
OUR CHILDREN:
Armed and Dangerous?
Guns, Violence Increasing
In Forsyth County Schools
Second of a two-part series
' r
By RICHARD L. WILLIAMS
Chronicle Managing Editor
A middle-school student displays a fully loaded
.357 semiautomatic magnum on school grounds. A .25
caliber handgun falls from the pocket of a high-school
student while clowning around with classmates. A prin
cipal is kicked and spat upon by two students as he
crawls through the window of a school bus to thwart the
efforts of two middle-school pupils from laking a
joyride.
South Central Los Angeles? South Bronx? Spanish
Harlem? No, these horrific scenes unfojded right here in
Foray ih County, where, for students at some schools,
weapons and violence have replaced the red apple and
shy smile.
"It's getting to epidemic proportions," said Sam
Puryear, principal of South Park High School. "How to
Entertainment B9
Obituaries Bll
Religion BIO
Sports B1
Tms Wm In Buck Hzstokt
On April 9, 1959, 75,000 Macks and whites attended a
Anderson concert on Easter Sunday at the Lincoln Monument
I Business
j Classifieds
Community News
? Editorials
solve that, I don't know. If I did, I would win the
$64,000 prize."
Puryear was quick to point out that no guns have
been found on students at his school, "although we've
had a few knives." School records underscore his con
cern.
In the first half of this year, 19 students in Forsyth
SPECIAL REPORT
high schools were cited for having weapons, compared
with 12 in the first half of 1991-92 and seven over the
same period in tne 1990-91 school year. So far this year,
Forsyth County sheriff deputies have seized four pistols,
eight knives, three BB guns, a meat cleaver, a stun gun,
along with a starter gun and a water pistol ? both of
which closely resemble real guns.
In middle schools, nine students were cited for hav
ing weapons on campus in the first half of this year.
There were five
instances in the 1991
92 school year and
-two during 1990-91,
school records show.
At those schools,
deputies so far this
year have seized three V
cap pistols (replicas of
real guns), one BB gun, three knives, two razors, a
- socket wrench and the fully loaded .357.
"We are concerned about weapons in the schools at
any level," said Elsa Woods, director of Forsyth middle
schools. With the availability of weapons in society and
the lack of involvement by many parents, the situation
will not likely get better, she said.
"I want to be an optimist," Woods said. "But obvi
ously society is changing and the students reflect the
? Southpark band director suspended Page A9
r>
aths
ers Discuss
ors
y
society at large. Unfortunately, there are guns in society
and there are going to be guns in the school."
School administrators said students bring weapons
to school to protect themselves following arguments
with other students. For example, Forsyth sheriff
deputies recently found a pistol on a teen-ager following
a fight at Reynolds High School. The gun was not used
in the fight, but two students from Independence High
School were arrested on gun-related charges.
Please see page A 9
Review Board Nominee Probed By Feds
? Bolton Repaid Feds
Thousands of Dollars
By MARK R. MOSS
Chronicle Staff Writer
One of the mayor s nominees for the
Citizens Review Board was forced to
reimburse the government thousands of
dollars after falsely receiving worker's
compensation and retirement benefits,
the Chronicle has learned.
Charles C. Bolton Sr., a retired letter
carrier, was also suspended from the
National Letter Carriers Union, Local
No. 461, where he had served 1 1 years as
president. His suspension also involved a
money-related matter He said he refused
to pay a $175 assessment fee to the
union.
Bolton, of 2321 Old Salisbury Road,
admitted this week that he had received
both injury compensation and civil-ser
vice retirement benefits from the federal
government at the same time. He said he
didnot recall how long he had received
the monthly checks, but at one point, he
said, he wrote a letter explaining the gov
ernment's error.
No criminal charges were filed
against Bolton.
Bolton, 64, is one of 1 1 candidates
nominated by Mayor Martha S. Wood to
serve on the Citizens Review Board.
Wood said in an interview yesterday that
an investigation into Bolton's back
ground ^ revealed nothing more serious
than traffic violations. Wood said she
contacted Bolton yesterday morning after
learning about the issue and was to dis
cuss it with him later Wednesday before
making a decision about his nomination.
Bolton said that when the federal
government realized that he was receiv
ing two monthly checks ? in the mid
1980s ? he owed them "thousands" of
dollars. Bolton refused to say how many
thousands, but^aid he was only forced to
reimburse the government half the
amount.
He admitted that during the time of
the federal investigation, he borrowed
S20.000 from a local businesswoman. He
denied, however, that the money was
A12
used to sat
isfy his gov
e r n m e n 1
debt. He said
he used the
money to
open a pizza
shop.
' After
Bolton
s t o p p e d
making loan
payments to Mayor Martha Wood
the woman,
her attorney, Bobby Newton, contacted
Bolton and the payments resumed. New
ton could not be reached for comment.
set page A9
Rev. John Robinsony few left , Rev. Kenneth Wahlum Jr. and Rabbi Harry Danzinger, right, pray outside the
Lorraine Motel in Memphis , Tenn., Sunday night. The wreath on the balcony marks the spot where Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr. was killed 25 years ago on April 4, 1968.
TO SUBSCRIBE CALL 919-722-8624 ?
Violent Pupils Held
In Padded Room
A "Timeout room' said to
calm disruptive students
By RICHARD L. WILLIAMS
Chronicle Managing Editor
When a student becomes violent toward a teacher or
administrator at some Forsyth County schools, they are
forcibly placed in a small, padded room until they have
calmed down, school officials said.
"Timeout rooms." as they are called, exists in at least
three schools ? Hall-Woodward and Kernersville ele
mentary schools and Petree Middle School, according to
Emilie Simeon, program manager for exceptional children
for Forsyth schools.
The walls and floors of the room are completely
padded with carpet and because students may present a
danger to themselves, their belts and shoestnngs might be
removed before being put in the room.
The rooms do not have a mechanical lock on them,
but the door is held closed with an attachment by a teacher
or liaison officer until the student has shown that he can
again be placed with the general student population, offi
cials said. Simeon said the rooms were once a staple in
f
Please see page A 9