THE PERQUIMANS WEEKLY
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- Volume 61, No.40
Hertford, Perquimans County, H.C., Thursday, October 1,1992
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Pirates take first conference win;
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Tigers take gridiron opener; Lady
Tigers split with Knapp: Page s
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Perspectives:
Ross Perot: If he can’t decide
whether to run, do we really want
to elect him?: page 4
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Proposed
buoy is
unpopular
By TRACY E. GERLACH
The Daily Advance
State regulations and safety
concerns, and not a popularity
contest, will determine whether
Outer Banks Contractors can
place a permanent buoy in the
Perquimans River, a state official
said Monday.
“Just because there is very
strong opposition is not sufficient
reason to deny a permit to a pro
posal like this,” said Richard
Watts, coastal field representa
tive for the N.C. Division of
Coastal Management.
The proposal by Outer Banks
Contractors to place a perma
nent buoy in the Perquimans
River, however, has raised con
cerns among those who own
property along the river.
The contracting company,
which already has a barge land
ing near Winfall, is proposing
placing a dolphin mooring in the
area to hold barges. Although it
has been discussed, no formal
! application has been made by
the company to the N.C. Divi
sion of Coastal Management.
A mooring dolphin is a small,
telephone pole like structure
placed near the river bottom.
Barges are tied to it and allowed
to free swing around the piling.
"WeVe had a very quiet, peaceful
river — pretty much left in its
I natural state,” said Elliot G.
“Pete” Overman, who owns 600
feet of property along the river. “I
don’t feel it’s fair to ask the citi
zens of this county to look at
their junk sitting in the river
from now on.”
Overman added, having bar
ges tied in the Perquimans River
will decrease the value of his and
neighbor’s property and could
possibly damage the environ
ment.
He plans to write a letter
voicing his opposition to the pro
ject. The Bethel Ruritan Club
also voted Thursday to send a
letter of opposition, he said.
Dianne Riddick, who also
lives near the proposed project,
said she is concerned about what
it will do to the river.
“I really feel like Perquimans
County’s asset is its river. We
draw retirement people down
here,” she said. "We don’t want
to see it commercialized any
more than it is.”
County Manager N. Paul
Gregory and Hertford Town
Manager Bill Cox both said they
have received a number of calls
from residents opposing the pro
posal.
“No one is in favor of it,” Gre
gory said.
Watts said he has had only
pre-application discussions with
the company. In order to actually
« place die small structure perma
nently in the river, the company
would have to go through a rigor
ous application process, which
could take no less than 75 days
and as many as 150 days, he
said.
So far, the only formal steps
taken by the company have been
to notify the property owners ad
jacent to the proposed project,
Z-. approximately two miles toward
f: the Albemarle Sound down the
‘ j river from the U.S. Highway 17
> bridge over the Perquimans
-w River, Watts said.
: - Once the company makes a
formal application, the Division
of Coastal Management would
V look at traditional recreation and
- I boating activity in the area, the
impact on the river's resources,
> . and the comments of all citizens
and agencies affected. Watts
CONTEST
SEE PAGE
o
Silver anniversary
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Members of the Perquimans County Rescue
Squad celebrated 25 years of service to the
community Saturday evening with a banquet
at Perquimans High School. Guest speaker
was Sam Mickey of Elizabeth City. (Photo by
Susan Harris.)
Hertford Grammar implements new
performance appraisal system
By SUSAN R. HARRIS
Editor
Teachers at Hertford Gram
mar School are excited about a
new system of charting student
progress, a group of school rep
resentatives told the board of ed
ucation last Monday evening.
Principal William D. Tice, as
sistant principal Susan Winslow
and teachers Cheryl Newby and
Hollis Williams updated the
board on plans to do away with
the traditional report card sys
tem, and implement a skills as
sessment performance appraisal.
Newby told the board that
the change will reflect the
school’s philosophy that all chil
dren can learn.
“It’s more one-on-one assess
ment, rather than full class or
one test (assessment),’’ Newby
told board members.
Under the new system, stu
dents will no longer receive letter
and/or number grades, a move
supported by educators across
the state and nation. Instead,
teachers will document perfor
mance based on skills the stu
dents have mastered and those
yet to be mastered. The apprais
als will correlate with standard
objectives set for each grade
level.
In the math and communica
tion sldlls areas, teachers will
“It tolls a lot more about a student's progress and
what they can do.M
Hollis Williams.
Second grade teacher
mark progress charts with an
“M" if the student shows a good
understanding of a performance
standard most of the time, an
“S” for sometimes and an “N" for
not yet
“It tells us a lot more about a
student’s progress and what they
can do,” Williams said. She
added that the assessment is
quite specific, and details pro
gress much more clearly and ac
curately than the traditional
letter grade system.
The assessment will also in
clude statements about progress
in the science and social studies
areas.
The performance appraisals
will also involve parents more
closely with student progress,
the educators said, as the sys
tem calls for parent conferences
rather than sending home report
cards. Increased parental in
volvement is a local and state
goal of the educational reform
movement.
Student performance will be
recorded and parent conferences
will be scheduled every nine
weeks. Teachers will continue to
send home progress reports each
Monday which must be signed
by parents and sent back to
school.
Williams said the teachers
will make arrangements to see
all parents, and will work coop
eratively around employment
schedules.
The appraisal system is an
outgrowth of site-based manage
ment endorsed by the board of
education, which allows faculty
and administrators at each local
school to implement programs
designed to improve student per
formance using innovative meth
ods. Williams said the state
endorsed the plan about four
years ago, and it has met with
positive response in systems
where it has been implemented.
Hearing set for
electoral plan
Three submissions to be reviewed
By TRACY E. GERLACH
Staff writer
How future elections in Per
quimans County will be con
ducted and who will be voting in
what district could go a number
of different ways following a
hearing on the matter Monday.
A biracial electoral study
committee, charged with coming
up with an equitable voting sys
tem for the county, will present
its plan to the board of commis
sioners and the board of educa
tion after five years of study. So
will two other local groups.
The committee's plan calls
for six, instead of five members
on both the board of commis
sioners and the board of educa
tion, abolishes all district lines
and calls for an at large voting
system. Three seats would be
come vacant every four years,
but each voter could choose only
one candidate.
If the plan is approved, it
would call for each of the boards
to appoint a black member to the
sixth seat
However, two different maps,
in addition to the committee’s
plan, are on file in the county
manager's office awaiting review
by the two boards.
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NAACP and the Republican
party.
All of the plans are designed
to ensure a more equitable elec
tion in 1994.
County Manager N. Paul Gre
gory, also a member of the com
mittee, said the group feels the
at large plan would best serve
Perquimans County.
“With having black districts
all of us felt it could tend to po
larize the county. None of us
liked that," he said. “The at large
system says if you’re a good can-\
didate, the majority of the people
will support you.”
The NAACP plan divides the
county into five districts. District
one includes the present Park
ville township with some parts of
BeMdere, the right side of Route
37 up to BeMdere, Chapanoke
and part of Woodville. District
two includes Meads Trailer Park
through Hertford, Harvey Point
Road up to Burgess, from Bur
gess back to Bethel and every
thing on the right side of U.S.
Highway 17.
Districts one and two would
be the majority black districts
under the NAACP plan.
District three includes the
northern part of BeMdere as well
as the west side of Route 37 into
the Bethel community to Burnt
Mill Road. District four would in
elude Woodville, part of Chapa
noke, part of Parkville, Winfall
and a part of the West Hertford
township. District five includes
part of Bethel around Snug Har
bor, Holiday Island, Harvey Point
Road up to Burgess, crosses the
Perquimans River and picks up
a portion of New Hope from
White Hat Road and Woodville
Road to the east up to Little
River.
There are approximately
2,100 people per district.
The Republican plan, pre
sented last week, is similar to
the NAACP plan with six, instead
of five districts.
District one picks up much
of district two in the NAACP
plan. District two is basically the
same as district four in the
NAACP plan. District three in
cludes much of old East Hert
ford. District four keeps much of
Behridere as it is today. District
five includes Snug Harbor, Holi
day Island, a small portion of
Harvey Point Road, Hertford
Beach, all the land on the Per
quimans River side of Harvey
Point Road back to the Town of
Hertford, crosses the river and
includes part of Winfall, part of
the present Parkville township
around Mill Rim Creek to Sut
tons Creek. District six leaves
much of New Hope township in
tact.
District one and two are also
the majority black districts in
the Republican plan.
Perquimans County’s electo
ral system was first questioned
in 1988 by the NAACP after the
board of commissioners over
looked two black candidates vy
ing for a position on the board
and appointed a white candi
date.
Members of the NAACP rec
ommended and still favor a five
member plan for both boards
that would consist of five differ
ent districts — two having a
black majority. Residents could
only vote for candidates within
their district.
A seven member plan ap
proved by the committee in 1990
was rejected by the Justice De
partment.
Following the Oct. 5 hearing,
the plan chosen by the two
boards will be sent to the state
legislature for approval. The U.S.
Justice Department will give fi
nal approval on a plan. With ap
proval, the new system could be
implemented by the 1994 elec
tion.
School board approves
facilities needs study
By SUSAN R. HARRIS
Editor•
The Perquimans County
Board of Education approved
spending almost $10,000 for a
facilities needs study last Mon
day night
According to schools superin
tendent Randall L. Henion, the
state has required that each
school system submit a report
outlining projected facilities
needs through the year 2002.
HBA Architects, the firm re
tained for the Perquimans Middle
School renovation project will
perform the study. Henion said
consultant William Hargrove will
visit each school, evaluate needs
and determine how renovation or
building projects can best be
handled at each site.
"It’s a very important study,"
Henion told the board.
Henion negotiated a fee with
HBA not to exceed $9,800. much
less than the market rate for fa
cilities reviews because HBA will
already be in the county oversee
ing the middle school project,
Henion said.
The state does provide facili
ties needs services, but Henion.;
said he does, not fed what the
state can offer the county would
be at the level he thinks is nec
essary. He said the state has too
few architects on staff to adequa
tely handle the number of sys
tems who will require the service.
HBA will provide information
geared to obtaining grants for in
novative projects. Hadon said.
Board members Walter Leigh
and Clifford Winslow expressed
concerns about spending such a
large sum of money far the study
in light of present budget re
straints.
Vice chairman Ben Hobbs
concurred with the concern, but
said, "It ought to be done by peo
ple who know what they're
doing." He added that adminis
trators and the board must know
what faculties needs will be tn
the future in order to plan for
them.
Cliff Tbwe stated that the
study needs to be done now so
that the system will be poised to -
apply for critical needs funds
and other state monies as soon
as they become available.
Funding for the study will
probably come from small
schools funds allocated by the
state, according to finance officer
Ranees Hammer.
Shaping leaders
William Paul Stallings American Legion Post
126 Commander Carl Mumm (left) and Boy
Scouts of America Troop 155, Hertford
scout master Mark Warrener seal the Ameri
J.,
can Legion’s sponsorship of the scout
troop. See page 2 for a related story. (Photo
by Susan Harris.) ^