Newspapers / The News-Record (Marshall, N.C.) / Aug. 13, 1981, edition 1 / Page 1
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Then ews Record SERVING THE PEOPLE OF MADISON COUNTY 80th Year No. 33 PUBLISHED WEEKLY IN THE COUNTY SEAT AT MARSHALL, N.C. THURSDAY, August 13, 1981 15c Per Copy Board Takes Firm i Stand On Moves By NICHOLAS HANCOCK Editor The Madison County Board of Educa tion was confronted with yet more deci sions concerning requests for student transfers right up to its last regular meeting before school began Monday in the county. The board heard two requests at its Aug. 4 meeting. ? one for an in-system reassignment, and one for transfer to Asheville City Schools ? and turned down both, more or less, after making it clear that they want to put a stop to students transfering out of the county "as they have in the past at a wholesale rate." Mr. and Mrs. Glenn McGee of Long Branch Road in Marshall asked the board to reassign their five and one-half year old child from Marshall Elemen tary to Mars Hill Elementary because, they said, they are planning to sell their house and move into the Mars Hill School district as soon as posible. Mrs. McGee explained she wanted to start her son in kindergarten at the school in which he would be enrolled for most of his grammar school years. After establishing that the McGees had not yet started construction of a house in the Mars Hill district, the board denied the request and said the child could be reassigned after the McGees took up residence in Mars Hill. Mrs. McGee than asked the board why two families she said she knew of could live in Mars Hill and send their children to Marshall Elementary. The board said they were unaware of this situation and would look into it. Board member Ed Gentry said. "There would have to be grave necessi ty to transfer a child out of one district into another," and he added, "I see no reason here for this transfer." "Well what's the reason for not transferring our child?" Mr. McGee asked. "The court order I have referred to, " Gentry said. When the McGees pointed out that they were not named in the court order, and that it pertained to specific students requesting transfers out of the county, Gentry replied, "Not necessarily." Gentry said that was only his opinion and he was merely giving his comments as requested by board chairman Bobby Ponder. Ponder said the board has made an attempt for the past two years to "get the students going outside the county back as well as keeping kids within their districts." Mr. McGee said he suspected the pro blem in securing a transfer stemmed from politics in the school system. "I know we're Republicans and everybody else knows it, "he said. "It's irritating as the devil ? If you're not a Democrat you can't have a thing here," he said. "There's not one person that's ever told me that they were proud of this school system," McGee said. "It's just something that bugs everybody here, and you all are the ones that have got to fix it. They say that politics in the schools is terrible. I don't think you're going to get away with it forever," he said. Ponder refuted McGee's statement that politics played a part in denying their request for transfer, or in not hir ing Mrs. McGee as a substitute teacher in the past. He said, "some of the best personnel we have are Republicans who were personally hired by me." In another transfer case, Mr. and Mrs. Tom Roberts of the Sandy Mush community asked to board for permis sion to take their two young daughters (9 and 13 years old) to Asheville each day to school. The Roberts explained they both work in Asheville and it would be convenient to drop them off at their school and pick them up after school. Continued on Page 3 Darrell Boone New Mars Hill T own Manager Darrell Boone, 26, took over the reigns as Mars Hill's new town manager on July 20 when Roger Swann stepped out of that position to work with a water resources management firm head quartered in Advance. Boone, 26, previously worked as a purchasing agent for Quorum Textile Industries in Asheville. He is a 1972 graduate of Mars Hill High School, and received an associate degree in business ad ministration from Asheville-Buncombe Technical College in 1975. He graduated from Mars Hill Col lege with a bachelor of science degree in business administration in 1977. After graduating from Mars Hill, Boone was employed by the Milliken Corp. in Saluda, S.C. A native of Madison County, Boone and his wife, Jean, have two children. r Summer's Ove* - S^ool Begins YOUNGSTERS at Walnut Elementary School spilled out of the door and down the steps as the 2:30 bell signaled the end of the first day of school Monday in Madison Coun ty. Tiny first graders seemed a little bewildered by it all as they tried to figure out just which large yellow bus they were sup posed to board for the trip back home, but PhoMt by N. Hancock older students took everything in stride as they clambered aboard the vehicles and gave "hamish" waves and smiles at a nearby photographer. The day apparently went smoothly at the Walnut school. One teacher of the little ones remarked, "I didn't have a single one to cry today." Biltmore Fails To Butter Up Board For Bid By NICHOLAS HANCOCK Editor Despite the fact that Biltmore Dairies purchased nearly five million pounds of raw milk from Madison County dairymen last year to the tune of $705,000, the board of education voted to accept Pet Dairies low bid making Pet the supplier of milk for the school system this year. Board members Floyd Wallin and Dedrick Cody voted to accept the Pet bid, while Ed Gentry and Gerald Young, a Mars Hill dairyman, declined to vote. Two Biltmore Dairy representatives were present at the August 4 school board meeting to inform the board that Biltmore was willing to equal Pet's low bid and ask the board to accept their of fer for the milk contract. Board member Young spoke at length in favor of considering BUtmore's offer, but the board followed chairman Bobby Ponder'* lead in accepting the low bid as required by law. "After advertising and accepting the low bid which waa opened in public, I see no way we could go ahead and be legal if we accepted anything other than the low bid," Ponder said. "If we're not going to accept the low bid, why go to the trouble of bidding?" he added. However, Young asked Ponder to have school superintendent Robert L. Edwards call the state school controller in Raleigh to inquire about the possibili ty of negating Pat's bid and substituting Biltmore's offer. Edwards reported back to the board that both the controller and Mac Baldwin, assistant purchasing agent for N.C. schools, said the board was legafiy bound to accept the original low bid unteas the board decided to reject ? The Town of hearing at 1:30 p.m. on PllHlif* at the Marshall Town Hall * Wl/llv ... L- , a public j Aug. 20, purpose of this meeting will be ta discuss the Ap m* , ; palachian Regional Commission grant to iueeung construct a sewer line to the Madison Coun ty k. ? p'H L all the bids received. The board conducted the vote on the matter after hearing Edward's report. In other busines the board: ? Accepted the resignation of Alex Parkas, resource teacher and bus driver at Marshall Elementary School. In a letter to Edwards, Parkas stated he was resigning his position "Due to the inability of the board to (dace me in my area of primary certification." Present at the meeting, Parkas told The News Record that resigning was "not what I want to do, I wanted to put my 40 years in here and retire." He said his teacher certification was in physical education and that he had been trying for six years to get himself replaced in that field in the school system. He said that since 1975 he had requested in a statement at the end of his teacher evaluation forms that he be placed in a physical education position, but his re rwMHitu mi* never ffnnted W Cl V. IICTvl ?1 SUIMPHi Parkas said he is taking aposition as ? Heard a report from Dr. Owen Fish, ESEA Title I director, who said he had received Title I allocations from the state Board of Education totalling $376,662. Pish said that amount was Ave percent less than what was allocated last year. ? Heard a report from Dr. Bobby Jean Rice, county schools supervisor, who said 1MM1 test scores of Madison first, second, third and ninth graders in reading and math skills showed that the students were performing above the na tional average in each category. ? Accepted the recommendation for hiring Harry Overby at Madison High School as band director. High School principal David Wyatt and Overby has been band director in Bladen County for the past Ave years. He is a graduate of A.C. Reynolds High School and Mars Hill College. ?Accepting the resignations of Kathy Fefer, who stated in a letter that she had accepted a teaching position at Erwin Middle School, and Nina Rogers, a kindergarten aide at Mars Hill Elementary. ?Approved the reassignment of Larry Wy^tt from Hot Springs Elemen tary School to Marshall Elementary. ? To Judicial Council By Green Swain, Allsbrook Re-Appointed Lt Gov. Jimmy Green has of Senator Julian R Allsfarook of Roanoke Rapid* and Senator Robert S. Swain of Asheville to two year terms <* the Judicial Council Senator Allsbrook was ginalh ippotntrd in IfTT. and ha" v, full tenTis Senator Swain wm onginaljf, appointed in 1WB to flU the . r\j*L~ar , | 0^t W J[ |3?J44 f ?M . f, tmmu i *i ill, ?ir . expire Jam SO, tm ?Swain, who prac ttesalaw In Aaheville, spent 13 yean, from 1M6 to 1M7, at District Attorney lor the 19th Judicial District of Buncombe and Madiaon Counties. He lias bam la the North Carolina the Mth ?tftj comprised of Madison. McDowell, and JEILS iJnateSJS Senate Committee on Courts and Judicial District* and Criminal Justice. He is atoo Vice-Chairman of the Senate Committee on Alcoholic Beverage Control, and Vkse -? o< the Senate Com mittee on Judiciary I his 14th term in the General Assam My and l*h in the
The News-Record (Marshall, N.C.)
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Aug. 13, 1981, edition 1
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