Newspapers / The Yancey Journal (Burnsville, … / Nov. 12, 1970, edition 1 / Page 2
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i«£W? £5 T ABLBHED EDWARD A. YUZIUK - EDITOR & PUBLISHER CAROLYN R. YUZ3UK - ASSOCIATE EDITOR MBS PATSY BRIGGS - OFFICE MANAGER FLOYD GEOUGE - PRODUCTION PUBLISHED EVERY THURSDAY BY I YANCEY PUBLBHING COMPANY § | SECOND CLASS POSTAGE PAID AT BURNS VILI£,N,C. =| THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 1970 NUMBER 46 | SUBSCRIPTION RATES $3. 00/YEAR I OUT OF COUNTY $5.00/YEAR 1 School Board Clarifies Intent (Coat'd from page 1) after an hour-long presentation of views by representatives hem the several school dis tricts. The views were con flictlng, and the applause ac corded the different sp e eches showed the emotion- char g e d atmosphere of the meeting. Most of the speeches, incluiing the introductory remarls by Dover Fouts, attorney for the school board, expressed the hope for reasonable, unpreju - diced solutions in the best in terests of the children of the entire county. Several refer - ences were made to post mis takes, and that the present difficult school situation is an inherited one, for which the present school board is not responsible. -an.. _--u - mediate plan", involving the consolidation for the present of the two high schools at the Cane River location, was both de fended and attacked. This con troversial plan has clearly been shelved by the school board,at least for the present. Should the bond issue be defeated, it might, of course, be revived. On one point, at least the large audience seemed to be in agreement—that improve ment in the Comity's school facilities is desperatelyneecfed. Following the proposals for the bond and one cent sales tax elections, Mr. Fouts asked all those who would support the proposals to stand up. All but a small handful responded. There was a stir of uncer - tainty after the adoption of the motions for the elections. No thing had been stated specifi cally as to how the money would be used until GJlßailey asked horn the floor whether the school board believed vo tes would support such heavy borrowing without knowledge as to the use Os the funds. Af ter a brief huddle of the Chairman Clevenger stated that the intention was definite ly to use the fundi for construc tion of a new consolidated hjft school, and that the motion was being amended accordingly. Dr. J.L, Pierce, director of the division of planning for the state board of education, who attended the meeting, made several clarifying remarks re- to the sole of his dtvi- PRon in offering plans for Yan- cey County. His planning work had been previously criticized by Yates Bailey, a former school board member, who de clared that the planning seem ed more suitable for the Pied mont, than for Yancey County. Pierce, who seemed nettled by this criticism, pointed out that several misstatements had been made from the floor. He emphasized that the state plan ners were not attempting to impose or dictate a plan for Yancey County, and that his division had studied Y a ncey at the invitation of the Yancey board of education. He re iterated that in a large major ity of cases the recommenda tions of his planners gpt adopted sooner or later, became, he added "They make good sensed' ****' win. »mue svjioOT piann ers have now twice reviewed the problems of Yancey County schools—first in 1966 and {gain in 1969. They strongly re commend that the long rangp plan should call for a single, new high school. If the pro posed elections pass the voters' hurdle, it appears that the school board action is coiisis tant with the long range recom mendations of the state plamers. Dr. Pierce called attention to the small contribution of local tax money made by Yan cey County toward support of - the schools. The figures show Yancey is spending only $2267 per pupil for current school ex penses, which compares with a state average of $69.02, the latter figure excluding the lar ger cities, which spend more. Dr. Pierce cited the actions of a number of other N. Ccoun ties which in recent years have made heroic efforts to improve their schools. Some have even doubled their tax rates. The suggestion was clearly implied that Yancey could give far mere financial support to our schools provided our citizens have the '-..rerminatiotn. Dr. Pierce Stated that the $338,000 allocated to Yancey County from the 1963 bond election will continue to lie unused and unavailable until we adopt a school plan which is approved by the state plan ners. Presumably, if the Coun ty votes the bond issue, the $338,000 could be released to be applied toward the new high school. Gift Haven (Cont'd from page 1) has already picked the name "Girls' Haven" fo* such a home. Since Boys' Home it located in file far eastern part of the state, he believes that a loca tion in a western county vould be appropriate fee the girls. At a lunch at the Amb er jack, some twenty five inter ested men end women dis cussed the possibility of Thnoey County ss a site, and the ex ploratory steps that would be In order. The sentiment of the group was strongly in fa vor of proceeding with a care ful investigation of the feasi bility of the project. A tem porary organization was setup with Carolyn Yuziuk as the secretary, and AlmaHslcombe as treasurer. , Peacock, with the experi ence of having successfully launched such an institution, is volunteering his services as consultant. The local group who have conferred with him are impressed with the invalu able contribution his guidance would lend to the project. Peacock emphasizes that much preliminary groundwork would have to be done prior to starting the project,andlhat in any event it would be desir able to start on a small scale, hi line with his advice it is planned as a first step to write to all social service departmate in the state, as well as court judges who handle juvenile cases, to obtain their views relative to the need for a "Girls' Haven". Veterans (Cont'd from page 1) imagine ourselves as Veterans for a moment in a time when, unfortunately, society leaves little time for reflection and meditation, we would surely deeply appreciate the Veteran, his family who had to do with out him for long months or far those who never retumed.Scme still bear visible and invisible scars of combat in order that our country can remain the "land of the free and the home of the brave". Let's not let the Veteran be . the "Forgotten Man". In our American Legion and Legion Auxiliary, we try to keep this spirit alive of patriotism and tribute. Some have abused our flag, have defied our laws and have shown little pride in being an American. Turning to God would solve these problems. Can't we help preserve our great nation so that this ex tremely important man," The Veteran" will not have m ade his efforts in vain? He should not and must not be forgotten, It is because of our great lead ers and servicemen that this nation, under God, still pre vails. /w The Man In j The Middle j By Carolyn Yuzhik Throughout the crisis in the Yancey County school system there has been one man "caught in the middle", so to speak. He has had the unenviable job of working together with irate parents who want immediate action, long overdue, on the Burnsville school situation and with cautious school board members who hesitate to apply ex treme measures to satisfy one group of parents, knowing perhaps that these crises could be repeated again and again with each elementary school in Yancey County which can legitimately gripe about poor educational fa cilities. C. Landrum Wilson, County School Superinten dent since July 1, 1969, is Yancey County's "Manin the Middle". With a solid background of experience in school sys tems all over North Carolina, having served as teacher, principal and School Superintendent elsewhere, Wilson comes well equipped for his present job. He has been | responsible since his appointment for seeming federal | and state grants for many important school programs. The | grants he has obtained for Yancey schools include these I listed below: 1. State Competitive Project under the Vocational Education Act, SB,BBO. 2. Federal Grant to help pay for lunchroom equip - ment at Bee log School, $8,483. 3. State Grant to take over Trainable Class that had been operated by the Yancey County Mental Health Association, $7,863. 4. Federal Title K ESEA Project, $2,500 for school libraries in Yancey County. 5. Federal Title VI-A ESEA Project for handicapped, $4,000. 6. Federal Educational Development and Professio nal Act—to assist in upgrading teaching certificates, $2,000. | 7. $2,500 from the State for additional utilities, granted on request. | 8. $4,200 tentatively approved at this time to help I finance a breakfast program in a needy school. 9. Increased the assistance reimbursements to the lunchrooms in Yancey County by $18,744. over the I previous year. This is due to getting East Yancey, Cane River and Burnsville Elementary on special assistance. j The grand total of Federal and State grants received dining the year and a half of Wilson's tenure as Yancey County School Superintendent is $59,170. And in addi tion, the State school planners from Raleigh, who follow ■ the grant program closely, have stated that Yancey now ranks among the ten top counties in effective utilization | of the aid available under Title L | The Yancey school situation, which has been fermen- I ting for many yeas while nothing was done to relieve dangerous and unsanitary conditions, finally exploded in late 1969, just a few months after Wilson was appointed to his present position. He has, during this period, be come the target for criticism by many people who do not understand what the job of School Superintendent entails. He has been blamed for actions, or no action, taken by tin Yancey County Board of Education, even though the Su perintendent of Schools has no vote in this body, but serves only as an ex-officio member of the board. And laid to his account by many uninformed citizens is the decision to move Burnsville students into the old agricul tural building—a decision which the 3oaid of Education kept entirely out of his hands. A hard-working, unassuming man, Landrum Wilson chose to avoid being personally involved in the Yancey School System controvesy in order to be able to cantime j working behind the scenes for federal and state aid for our schools—a job in which he has had excellent results. I Now that Yancey County has had its problems aired oiXside the county, Landrum Wilson is even more a tar- I get for criticism and blame by casual observers vho krew nothing of either post or present school regimes. The truth of the matter is that the problems in YanceyCbunty schools are inherited ones. Neither the Superintendent of Schools nor the present Board of Education can be held responsible in any way for the past mistakes and neglect which have brought our school situation to such a crisis. With the type of foresight and ingenuity shown by our | "Man in the Middle", and with Yancey Countiara work- | ing together to reach a solution to our problems, Yancey | schools may yet come out on top. ( 1 | ■-‘--r—.-.-TTr""-" - —'—
The Yancey Journal (Burnsville, N.C.)
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Nov. 12, 1970, edition 1
2
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