THE PERQUIMANS WEEKLY \ - Volume 61, No.40 Hertford, Perquimans County, H.C., Thursday, October 1,1992 35 Cent* * . ■" >, # .. , .< , v -. * . . ' • , , < ' . ,v s-'* - - ■-, ^^ >;- >. . “ ■ • ■ "-' < '■'-. - :■ • ' ■ " ' Pirates take first conference win; JiM'l Tigers take gridiron opener; Lady Tigers split with Knapp: Page s -* l| --.»A ■ A-, , ...jgF - ■ > »/„■ BS Hrl * ? ~r' >^$.1 x%*> •» t'f *?-**** i *> *' ‘ v>« ><**♦*%.* Yifli^ ^ '<> & mmmrnmmmmmimmm m Perspectives: Ross Perot: If he can’t decide whether to run, do we really want to elect him?: page 4 y -r y ■vf;*?; 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 Uiiiii. i him .—..I .. Fkfl 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. iu\« piai »u nv