Newspapers / The News-Record (Marshall, N.C.) / May 12, 1982, edition 1 / Page 1
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The News record SERVING THE PEOPLE OF MADISON COUNTY , / 81st Year No. 19 PUBLISHED WEEKLY IN THE COUNTY SEAT AT MARSHALL, N.C. WEDhlFSHAv *yj i?? ? 15c Per Copy MADISON LITTLE MAC . CHAMPS ? The Madison High Lady Patriot track team recently became the first track team in MHS history to win the Little Mac Conference Champion ship. The final team record was 29-9 having won their last 15 meets in a row. Six girls qualified for the Western Sectional meet on May 7. The 1982 team consists of 4 seniors, 2 Photo by N Hancock juniors, 2 sophomores and 5 freshmen. Front row: (1-r) Lisa Shelton, Charis Mahy, Rene Cole, Penny Stanton, Mary Rice. Back row (1-r) Coach Ricky McDevitt, Karlyn Am nions, Debbie Spears, Heidi Worley, Rachel Ammons, Laurie Melvin, Cindy Buckner, Katrina Worley and Nancy Holcombe. County Commissioners Meeting County Budget Requests Total Over $2 Million By NICHOLAS HANCOCK Editor Thus far, budget requests from coun ty agencies total "well over (2 million", accoraing to county finance officer David Caldwell, and that's not in cluding the sheriff's department and general county administrative offices, he said. The $2 million figure was revealed $ last week at the county commissioners meeting after several departmental heads submitted proposed 1982-83 budgets to the board. Highest among the county agencies seeking local tax dollars was the Madison County Schools which have asked in excess of 9800,000 in combined local current expense and capital outlay funds. Commission Chairman James Ledford told the board the school figure amounts to 86 percent "over what we gave them last year," and he said, "the school system is going to have to tighten their belt, too." Ledford said to meet all the submit ted requests would mean raising the county tax rate to $1.75 per valuation, but he added, "We've just had orders to keep the same as last year (75 cents per $100 valuation) regardless of who gets cut." Budget requests were submitted Fri day night by Ed Morton, director of the county health department; Luanne Roberts, director of the daycare pro gram; Mildred West, Emergency Medical Service director; and Anita Davie, Department of Social Services director. Morton requested $166,148 in local funds for the health department, and said that sum could be smaller if state and federal allocations for family plan ning and maternal and child health care were not cut too severely. But, Morton said his department has already had to take some cuts in the two programs. Morton said his overall budget figure reflected a 10 percent increase in pay scales. The daycare budget of $76,453 showed some increases in personnel, travel and supply costs, according to Ms. Roberts. Anita Davie said the $373,548 county money figure for DSS is a $26,000 in crease (7 percent) over the 1981-82 budget. She said the increases are Medicaid vendors ($23,000), daycare services (5,500), and in an increase for foster care services of $3,579 which re quires 25 percent in matching funds from the county. Mrs. Davie said the DDS budget showed decreases in Aide to Families with Dependent Children staff ($4,000) and Medicaid staff ($6,000). (Continued on Page 2) Clarke Files For Congressional Seat 1 IP w State Senator James Mc aure Clarke (D-Buncombe) officially filed last week for the N.C. Uth District seat in the U.S. Congress now held by Republican Bill Hendon of Asheville. Clarke, now completing his first term in the state Senate, was first elected to the General Assembly in 1976 where he served two terms in the N.C. House. During his first N.C. House term, he served on the House Committee on Aging and the Interim Joint Study Commit tee on Aging. During the 1979 legislative session, Clarke was of the House Com Law Enforcement i the Governor's Symphony. In the past, Clarke has held trusteeships for the N.C. School of the Arts in Winston Salem and Memorial Mission Hospital in Asheville. He is a former chairman of the N.C. Historic Sites Advisory Com mittee and former president of the Asheville Civitan Club. He has served as assistant to the President of Warren Wilson College and is a former associate editor of the Aaheville-Citizen-Timea. He began his public service career as a member of the Buncombe County Board of Education. In a recent press release, Clarke said be will make reducing the federal budget COUNTY LIBRARY i GENERAL DELIVERY Parents j^est Principal's Removal By NICHOLAS HANCOCK Editor Parents who want Laurel School Principal Vernon Ponder transferred next term and others who want him to remain at Laurel appeared before the Madison County Board of Education last week to find out what action the board plans. The board left the matter hanging saying principal assignments would be made after the final state teacher allotments are received. Leonard Gosnell, spokesman for 73 parents who signed a petition in April asking for Ponder's removal, told the board, "we are not asking that Ponder or anyone be fired." He said the group only wants him moved to another school in the system. "We just want to know if the board has taken any action on our request," Gosnell said. BOARD CHAIRMAN BOBBY PONDER told Gosnell and the 40 parents with him that the board had received only a tentative state allot ment for teachers and that no teachers or principals had been assigned for the next school year. "We won't do that un til we receive the final allotment," Ponder said. "I can assure you that our decision will be in the best interest of the children," Ponder said. The group petitioned the board last month for the principal's removal, citing lack of leadership and unsanitary conditions at the school as reasons for their wanting another principal assign ed to the elementary school containing grades K-8. Approximately 20 people, apparently attending the meeting on the principal's behalf, sat across the center aisle of the Madison County courtroom from Gosnell's group of dissenting parents. HARVEY FRANKLIN, a teacher at Laurel School, told the board that the principal "has suffered unjustly" since the petition to remove him surfaced, and he called Vernon Ponder a "fine man." "I see so many good things about our school, and one of the best is our prin cipal," Franklin said. Mary Brooks, who said she was speaking as a concerned parent of three children in Laurel School, said, "Mr. Ponder is just a super person, and the teachers are just great." Saying she once attended Laurel School herself, Mrs. Brooks countered the petitioners' allegations about unsanitary conditions saying, "the food is just great. I've never seen nastiness in the bathrooms, lunchroom or anywhere." "I'm proud of Laurel School," Mrs. Brooks said. Speaking for the petitioners, Gosnell emphasized to the board that none of the parents were seeking to get the principal or any of the school's teachers or employees fired from the system. He repeated a request made last month to hire Charles Cutshall, a native of the Laurel community and teacher in the Asheville city schools, to replace Ponder. GOSNELL SAID "it is appalling and destressing" that the group, as tax payers, couldn't aeeqfi to get one posi tion filled at the schtol when, he said, 13 members of school board member Floyd Wallin's family are employed by the system. Gosnell said Wallin's wife is employed as a cafeteria cook and two sons, Kenneth and Jerry, are employed as bus drivers while one is a teacher's aide at Madison High and the other works as a school bus garage mechanic. Gosnell named the other 10 relatives and their jobs in the system and pointed out that superintendent Robert L. Edwards is Wallin's nephew. "We pay taxes. We have a right," Gosnell said, indicating the group wants some say in who is assigned to Laurel. Chairman Ponder, requesting to Gosnell's statements about Wallin, said, "An assumption has been made that Mr. Wallin has hired his own peo ple." Then, Ponder solicited testimony from Franklin who said Wallin's wife has been working in the system for over 30 years. Ponder said Wallin has been on the board for only three years. "I resent that being brought out," Ponder said. MRS. HARVEY FRANKLIN, defen ding Wallin, said, "Laurel School has really been good to my children. Mr. Wallin's family has meant a lot to my children. It seems really cruel to have our school system publicized as being bad." School board attorney Larry Leake told Gosnell and the petitioners, "This board has not assigned anyone to any school. It can't tell you it's going to do it ( remove Ponder ) or not do it. It will act on the recommendations of the superintendent." Board Hears Details Of Program By NICHOLAS HANCOCK "The number one need in the program now is to get into the elementary schools," Harry Overby, Madison High band director, told the board of education last week in ex plaining details of expanding the school system's music pro gram. Overby and Madison High principal David Wyatt brought facts and figures before board members in an effort to get a larger slice of next year's school budget to offer band instruction to elementary students. After hearing the details of the program, as was re quested at last month's board meeting, Chairman Bobby Ponder told Overby, "It's a very good program; it's a matter of whether we can come up with the money or not." The board made no commit ment, pending the county allocation to the board for the 1982-83 budget year. Overby said he had con ducted a countywide survey in the six elementary schools and found that nearly 25 per cent of the students were in terested in participating in the band program. Overby said "considerable interest' has grown in music in the local schools. Additional cost to the board would be approximately $4,500 for the next year, Overby said. Plans call for him to travel to each of the schools "two or three times per week" to pro vide basic musical instruction primarily to seventh and eighth graders. Cost of travel would amount to $2,400 and cost of printed sheet music would be approx imately $2,000, Overby said, Students would provide their own instruments. Overby said he would like to see a countywide band boosters club formed to help defray the cost of the program in the future. He said the boosters club is a project he would be working on soon. In other board business, the board: ? Rescheduled the June 2 board of education meeting to Friday, June 4. Red Rector Still Pickin And Gnnin By NICHOLAS HANCOCK Clyde Shook of Bowman Funeral Home says he remembers when Red Rector used to bring a mandolin or guitar to school. "Red was always fooling around with music," Shook said recalling their early years when the two attended the same school near Leicester. Red's still fooling around with music, but instead of cat ching the stern eye of some disapproving teacher, he's basking in the applause of en thusiastic folk and btuagraas music fans wherever he shows up with Us (rid Gibson A-4 mandolin throughout the eastern United States. Sunday, Red was teamed up with noted banjo picker Don Stover _at_?e_Siyy-Van < amp routine resnvai ai ob 1982 World's Fair in Knorrille. Red now calb Knoxvtlle number of country and bluegrass notables including Carl Story and Hylo Brown. When the surge in popularity of bluegrass music occurred during the late '00s and early 70s, Red could be found at almost all the major bluegrass festivals from New England to Florida. Red and Stover, who is perhaps best known for his banjo work with the Lilly Brothers, had been hired to perform for several days at the World's Fair Folklife Festival. The festival will feature folk, country, btaes and bluegrass musicians every day through October SI. Even though Red departed Red with banjotel Don Stov i h< d i r at UN- 18W II'LIV IPe Vmah tMa ^ -Mm 1^1
The News-Record (Marshall, N.C.)
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May 12, 1982, edition 1
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