THE PERQUIMANS WEEKLY
vault 37, W. 14 U$W4m> Ittrttord, Ptrqulmans County, N.C., Thursday, April 9, HH 20 CENTS
Titlel
' funding
slashed
Hie Perquimans County Board of
Education officially acknowledged
reductions in a federal program when it
/ approved a $55,000 rat in funding for
remediation in county schools.
The $2tS,5IT budget the board adopted
reflects an It percent cut in grant money
for the county's Elementary and
Secondary Education Act? Title 1
program, which is funded entirely by the
federal government*
Budget reductions include: the closing
of a reading lab at Hertford Grammar
S School (the school currently has two
reading labs), saving SS&23S; the
reduction of a lab teacher at Perquimans
High School to 90 per cent funding,
saving $?, MO, and; cutbacks in the
working year for aides employed through
the program from 10 months to nine
months, a move that will save $10,001
Two support positions were trimmed,
including a 50 per cent reduction in Title I
funding for a coordinator-evaluator, and
*" the reduction of the working year for a
community service aide/parent advisory
committee coordinator to 10 months. The
board, however, hopes to pick up cuts in
those two positions from other sources.
County Title I director Morris Kor
negay acknowledged that the funding
cuts would hurt "Any time you have to
cut back on good people it's going to have
an effect," said Kornegay.
Students in grades one through II who
s score in the 41th percentile and below on
standardised testing in reading and math
are eligible for the program, but the
cutbacks will mean that students in the
upper ranges, who are near average, will
no longer be served, Kornegay said.
"We will no longer be able to serve the
kids who need a little boost to really take
( Continued onpaget)
Checking out the winners
Witter Edwards (left) and Michael
Jasfehun cheek art the wining entries in
a* art contest sponsored bj the
Perquimans County Recreation
Department The portrait of Jimmy
Hendrix won first place in the seventh
through ninth grades category, and the
contest drew more than 90 entries from
county youths.
Cash questions
stall budget
Uncertainties over federal and state
contribution! are holding up the local
budget making process, and are almost
certain to sting local programs, ac
cording to comments made at a Monday
morning meeting of the Perquimans
County Board of Commissioners.
County social services director Paul
Gregory said he is playing wait and see
with his department's budget, pending
final decisions on the federal level.
Finance officer D.F. Reed, Jr., who
actually prepares the county's budget
document, said he too is being held up by
uncertainties over just how much money
is going to be available for some
programs the county participates in.
He said that figures such as main
tenance and energy costs would not be
affected. "On the other things I'm just
going to kind of wait until the last
minute," Reed said.
Some figures are known already,
though. The county's share of a landfill
operated jointly with Chowan County will
be $90,000, up $10,000 over last year,
according to commissioner Lester
Simpson. The increase is needed for a
new truck, he Mid.
Simpson also acknowledged that the
district health department has been able
to hold the line on its budget through a
moratorium on replacing employees who
have either retired or quit. "Their budget
comes through hurting in some
categories," said Simpson. "They're
losing five employees."
Reed recommended establishing
budgeting priorities, and holding off oo
expanding, or initiating new programs.
"Don't get in such a close bind that you
can't manuever out of it," Reed said.
One area in which the county is moving
ahead, though, is in its water system.
Reed said the system is doing well
financially, and a lengthy discussion was
dedicated to gearing up for Phase II.
The board discussed locating three
wells and a treatment plant on county
property near Winfall, a move that could
save a considerable sum in land cost.
Wayne Floyd, a technician with Rivers
and Associate, engineers for the water
system, will look the land over to see if it
( Continued on page 2)
King Street rehabilitation project rejected
The town of Hertford's plus to extend
reviUliiatxm efforts in the King Street
are* have been postponed.
Hertford Mayor and Town Manager
Bill Cox told couneilmen at their monthly
meeting Monday that an application for
some $1 million dollars in grant money
had been turned down by the Federal
Department of Housing and Urban
Development, which also funded the
initial rehabilitation efforts under the
Community Block Grant program.
Cm said that the present project had
not been completed at the time of pre
application, and that HUD officials had
since told him that completion of any
previous work was* a prerequisite to
additional funding. The town will apply
for the grant again next January.
In other business, council members
were offered another option to the as yet
unsolved dilemma at the town ice plant,
which has been closed since the first of
the year due to a faulty compressor.
Repair of the existing machinery is
estimated at some $8,000.
Hertford resident Jim Rose appeared
before the group with a (5,600 proposal to
get the ice plant back into operation. His
proposal included the purchase of two
used compressors at $800, freight, in
stallation, and a $1,000 finder's fee. Rose
said he would promise a 10-day
guarantee that the compressors would
work.
Although the council has also been
considering converting the plant into a
crushed-ice only operation at a cost of
between $18,000 and $40,000, Rose argued
that block ice was actually a better
selling point.
"Selling block ice brings people into
town from the surrounding com
munities," said Rose, "If you put in a bag
ice operation, they won't spend their
money to come into town because they
can get that anywhere."
Council members told Rose that they
had yet to decide whether it would be
financially feasible for the town to
remain in the ice-making business, and
that they would "get back to him."
The council also:
?Moved to apply for redesignation as a
"Community of Excellence";
?Agreed to sell nine completed lots in the
redevelopment area on King Street at a
cost of $3,500 to 16,600 with no restrictions
other than those required by the zoning
ordinance;
?Heard from Hertford resident Scott
Keefe, who told councilmen that he felt
the dog ordinance should be repealed
because of what he considered to be
"selective enforcement";
?And learned that the Hertford Police
Department had instituted a bicycle
patroUn an effort to conserve gasoline,
improve physical fitness, and set a safety
example for area youth.
County residents lobby legislature on schools
North Carolina legislators got a
schooling in the needs of public education
on a special rallying day in Raleigh last
Thursday.
Some 1,400 educators and coocerned
citizens from every school district in the
state poured into the state capital in an
expression of support for public
education, which is facing massive cuts
on the federal level, and has been
threatened with substantial cuts on the
state level.
Among them was a contingent of 13
from Perquimans County.
The group received assurances from
lawmakers and Governor James B.
Hunt, Jr. that education is a top priority
in the state and that any cuts would be
minor.
; The rally, called "Public Education
Day," was organised by the Alliance for
Public Education, a recently formed
lobbying coalition made ?p of four
statewide professional associations.
A morning agenda included remarks
from Clifford Winslow, chairman of the
Perquimans County Board of Education.
Winslow, who is also past praridont of
the N.C. School Boards Association,
offered a statement of purpooe for the
alliance, which also includes the N.C.
Congress of Parents and Teachers, the
N.C. Association of School Ad
ministrators, and the N.C. Association of
School Office Personnel.
said the alliance haa a short
Weather word
'
:!-?>? ? ???
? v i L ;
history bat is off to a "fine start" He said
that joining together for a common cause
is, "a tried and true concept and the
underlying principle of citizen govern
ment in our country."
The common concern of the alliance is,
"the interests of children." Winslow
said.
Governor Hunt wis the key speaker in
the morning session at the Raleigh Civic
Center. Hunt said that as governor he has
seen the need for local lay leadership, in
addition to salaried professionals, to
press for whatever is needed to provide
the best public education possible for
children.
"I beleive the General Assembly will
respect the advice and recommendations
coming from this kind of group," Hunt
said.
The alliance had prepared a 10-point
legislative program and Hunt said that
many items were the same recom
mendations he had made to the General
Assembly.
He said that he considered spending for
education as an investment in the future.
"I'm convinced that our greatest needs
are good iota and good schools." Hunt
said, maintaining that good jobs cannot
be provided in the state without a well
educated workforce.
Hut found his strongest area of
mutoal agreement with the alliance in
reducing class site.
The governor's, "new great goal in
education in the state is helping every
single chiid in the state to graduate from
a public high school."
He said his current focus is on reducing
class size in the middle grades and in
junior high and high school.
In grades four through six, Hunt wants
to reduce class siie from 30 to 26 over the
next two years. He also wants to reduce
the daily contacts for teachers of math
and reading and language arts from ISO
students to 140 students.
Hunt accused Tar Heel newspaper
editors of "picking at" his ad
ministration because many of them have
maintained that the size of reductions he
is backing are not sufficient to have an
impact on student performance.
"The way you get there is by starting
somewhere," said Hunt.
He said the class-size reductions
would, "give more individual attention to
helping every single child learn."
Hunt said he hopes to be able to
characterize the coming year's budget
for education as, "lean and
progressive."
Legislators from education budgeting
committees of both the N.C. House and
the N.C. Senate assured the group that
state cuts to education would be
minimal.
The group was given handouts that had
education budget cuts broken down into
three categories, according to priority.
First priority items included .11 per
cent of the total state budget for
education in 1981-1982, and .115 percent in
1982-1983. Representative G. Malcom
Fulcher told the group that cuts would
probably not go past category one.
Total potential cuts in all three
categories, however, came to about six
percent for each of the two years.
Joe Webb, special assistant for federal
relations at the Department of Public
Instruction, provided a less optimistic
federal budget picture.
Though federal aid represents only 12
percent of total expenditures for
education in North Carolina, Webb said
the largest total reductions will come
from the federal level.
Besides future cuts, the president is
attempting to rescind funds already
approved, said Webb. He said that 4,000
positions in North Carolina are
threatened, mostly teachers and aids,
but also guidance counselors, social
workers and others.
Webb said the proposed cuts would, in
fact, hurt the "truly needy," and would
hit the school lunch program, the
disadvantaged, and destroy the planning
process.
He said he wasn't sure that a Reagan
administration "block grant" proposal
would really provide more local control.
Although, Reagan's proposed cuts to
education represent only 10 percent of
total federal allocations, they would cut
the federal contribution to North
Carolina by 34 percent. "Does education
in North Carolina deserve a 34 percent
cut from the federal level?," Webb
asked.
The administration has also backed
tuition tax credits for enrolling students
in private schools, and Webb expressed
confusion over that move. "It would
reduce treasury dollars more than the
proposed cuts in education," he said.
Lieutenant governor Jimmy C. Green
was a post-luncheon speaker, and again
stressed the high priority of education in
state government. Green also promised a
simplified allocation process and more
local autonomy for school boards.
The final speaker was Dr. Craig
Phillips, state superintendent of the
schools. "Never has there been a more
important moment in the history of
public education in this state," said
Phillips.
He stressed the importance of meeting
budget restrictions in a positive fashion,
calling the process "retrenchment."
From there, delegations from several
Eastern counties crowed into room 1229
of the state legislature building to meet
with legislators from their home
districts.
Senators Charles Evans and Melvin
Daniels, as well as representative
Vernon James were among those who
fielded questions on education.
All of the elected officials expressed
support for a statewide school facilities
bond referendum, and James was the
only representative who espoused the
possibility of a six percent state budget
cut for education.
Evans countered that, "Only if it gets
real bad will we go beyond priority one."
David Green, superintendent of the
Hertford County Schools, asked why
legislators had outlined six percent in
total cuts for education in the state in the
first place. "If it's to protect the high
ways of this state I wish someone would
have the guts to say so," said Green, in
reference to a rumor that other agencies
and departments would be cut to create
more funds for the financially strapped
Department of Transportation.
Finding more funds from other areas
would prevent an increase in the state
gasoline tax.
But both Evans and James assured the
group that outlining the budget cuts was
done not because of highways, but
because of the uncertainties of federal
contributions to the state in several
areas.
One Perquimans County delegate
seemed to express the concerns of the
entire group, and drew a round of ap
plause when he said, "Any cut in
education is beginning to eat our seed
corn."
Special Olympics set Wednesday, April 15
WMks of training and hard work will
Wedneoday, April IS. when
100 o I PtifdaaH Canity's ex
upttonal children participate in the
annual Special Olympics, aet at Central
Grammar School in WiisfaO.
I Id If yean of age will
easnpeta in tenia dMM by age, aex.
and ability in aneh events as the Softball
WUte ribbon* will be awarded to first.
to the local
Nnoeent a winner." said
Tant, eoaaty coordinator ft the
lm aerrea aa M KMH
LD reoanrce tMcber at Central
The feeling of being a winner is
especially needed by many exceptional
children, according to Mrs. Tant "A lot
of the time, these students hear 'you
cant do it Johnny.' But this is a time
when Johnny sees that he actually can,"
she said.
Kathy Ansink, ? TMH teacher at
Perquimans County High School, also
considers the event a way to give
students a feeling at self worth. "These
kids are often left oat in the regular
physical education rlaima. but the
Special Olympic* shows them that they
can end," said Ms. Ansink, who added,
"It makes them feet like they are
special "
Volanteeie from throughout the
community are expected to be on hand to
help wtth the fMd events, which will be
1
directed by Billy Mailings, to serve as
"buggers," and also serve refreshments.
Former 'Philadelphia Eagles
quaterback Johnny Walton, who is
presently athletic director at Elisabeth
City State University, is expected to
serve as master of ceremonies.
Winners of the local event will go to the
regional competition May 2 at Nor
theastern High School in Elizabeth City.
The state-level event will be in Charlotte.
One of the largest sports training and
sports competition events held in the
United States, the Special Olympics
serve approximately 11,000 students in
North Carolina and over 1 million In the
nation.
The games were created by the Joeeph
P. Kennedy Foundation in MS.
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