THE PERQUIMANS WEEKLY
Volume 62, No. 17 _Hertford, Perquimans County, N.C., Thursday, June 3,1993 35 Conte
Step 2
Smith will
meet with
school board
By SUSAN R. HARRIS
Editor'■
Sharon M. “Sherry" Smith
will take step two In her quest to
be reinstated as a special educa
tion teacher at Perquimans
County High School on June 21
when she appears before the
board of education to tell her
story.
Smith, who was suspended
for 90 days on March 15 pending
an investigation into sexual mis
conduct charges, received a letter
dated May 27 from her attorney.
Luke Largess, telling her that the
board of education would like to
meet with her at their regular
June 7 board meeting. The letter
states that the board will hear
Smith at that time, although the
appointment does not constitute
a formal hearing.
Largess said that if the board
decides that a full hearing is
warranted after hearing her
story, they will set a date for a
full nearing.
, Neither Largess nor Ken Soo,
the attorney representing the
school system, could be present
on June 7. Smith said she pre
ferred to have her attorney at the
meeting, and requested a date
change from board chairman
Wayne Howell on June 1. Howell
agreed to change the meeting
date.
Smith said Monday she is
preparing her presentation with
the help of N.C.A.E. representa
tive Lueeta Sellars. Smith also
said that the board will go into
closed session to hear her case.
North Carolina general statutes
- allow the board to enter closed
session to discuss personnel
matters.
Smith was placed on a 90
day suspension with pay March
15 by schools superintendent
Randall L. Henlon. The suspen
sion complied with general stat
utes dealing with public school
personnel. The board voted not
to renew Smith's contract on
May 17 after meeting in closed
session with Soo. On May 19,
Henlon called Smith and asked
her to meet with him in his of
fice. At that time. Smith was told
die could return to the class
room as early as May 20. Smith
chose to return on May 24. The
board has not met again since
Smith returned to the classroom
and has not renewed her con
tract ,
Smith has denied allegations
of misconduct with a student
Park to be
dedicated
J1' The town of Hertford will
dedicate its new waterfront park
on Monday, June 14 at 7:30 p.m.
during a combination dedica
tion/Flag Day celebration featur
ing the Hertford Drums and
Files.
; .. ■ ,.
The park is located behind
dm municipal building. Included
On the site is a boardwalk with
benches overlooking the river, jfi
*
Clowning around
Over 80,000 people, including many Perqui
mans County residents, enjoyed the sights
and sounds of RiverSpree ’93 in Elizabeth
City over the weekend. Entertainment,
' crafts, food, competition and fun were high
on the festival’s priorities list Organizers
declared the event a success. (Photo by
Gary Cosby Jr.)
Cove Grove celebration highlights
county’s rich architectural history
By SUSAN R. HARRIS
Editor __
Perquimans County will cel
ebrate the history of its Old
Neck community Saturday at
the Old Neck Celebration at
Cove Grove.
The celebration includes a
traditional Southern barbecue
and entertainment on the lawn
of Cove Grove. The event is a
fundraiser sponsored by the Old
Neck Committee of the Perqui
mans County Restoration Asso
ciation. Monies from the event
will go toward research of the
significant historic buildings in
the Old Neck area, in hopes that
an Old Neck Historic District will
be accepted into the National
Register of Historic Places. Com
mittee members estimate re
search costs at $6,000.
Several buildings of historic
significance are located in the
proposed district. Two of those
buildings. Cove Grove and the
Sutton-Newby house, are in the
National Register individually.
Owners of the Fletcher-Skinner
Nixon house, known now as
1812 on the Perquimans, are in
the process of applying for Na
tional Register acceptance.
The buildings in the district
were reviewed by Dru Gatewood
Haley and Raymond A. Winslow
Jr. in their 1982 book. The His
toric Architecture of Perquimans
County. North Carolina.
Cove Crave, built around
1830, was desribed as an im
pressive, graceful coastal plan
plantation house which com
bines the boldness of the Greek
Revival period with the delicacy
of the late Federal period. The
house was built by Benjamin S.
Skinner, who married Elizabeth
Leigh, the daughter of Col.
James Leigh. Leign built Land's
End. The home is still owned and
occupied by descendants of Ben
jamin Skinner.
The Fletcher-Skinner-Nixon
house (ca. 1815) is one of the
largest, most outstanding Fed
eral style plantation houses in
the county. The house was built
by William Fletcher; was owned
by four Skinner brothers, includ
ing Cove Grove's Benjamin; and
is now a bed and breakfast inn.
The house was recently restored
by owners Peter and Nancy Ras
coe. Mrs. Rascoe is a descendant
of one of the home’s early own
ers.
Riverside, published in the
Gatewood-Winslow work as the
Williams Jones House, was prob
ably built around 1815. The
house is a center-hall plan Fed
eral dwelling which was modified
into a larger, more formal. T-plan
Greek Revival plantation house.
Tradition holds that the earliest
portion of the house, a two-room
wing, was probably built in the
18th century.
The Thomas Nixon house,
also known as Elmwood (ca.
18148), features several period
outbuilding. Including bams, a
smokehouse and a dairy. A well
windmill tower still stands tall cm
the site.
The Francis Nixon house is
an example of continued addi
tions to a small dwelling. The
original portion of the three-part
house is thought to have been a
one-and-a-half stray coastal cot
tage built in the early 19th cen
tury. Two Federal-style additions
were made to the original dwell
ing.
The Gabriel White house has
also undergone changes since it
was built in the early 1800s.
Originally a three-bay, two
story house, it was enlarged
with a stray-and-a-half wing.
The house features Federal,
Greek Revival and coastal plain
architecture. It was moved a
short distance from its original
site in 1978 and renovated by
present owner John Matthews.
Willow Branch School, also
known as Frog Hall School, is
one of the county’s largest early
20th century community
schools. Black students in
grades 1-7 attended the school
until 1951. It was converted to a
private residence that year.
The Sutton-Newby house is
one of the oldest in the state,
and is thought to be the second
oldest house still standing in the
county. It is a significant exam
ple of medieval house forms in
the state, and features a frame
structure with brick ends. The
house has both an 18th century
rear frame shed and a 20th cen
tury side shed addition. It is
presently being renovated.
county manager n. raui Gre
gory submitted a budget exceed
tag $5.3 million to the county
commissioners, which would re
sult In an 8 cents per $100 vahi
atlon tax hike If the
commissioners accept It
Gregory trimmed the depart
mental requests before present
ing his budget recommendations
! to the board. The half million
dollar Increase from last year’s
budget is due In part to a 5 per
■' V ■' ft#
‘ cent across-tne-Doara salary in
crease for county employees, an
additional deputy sheriff, in
creased jail costs, an additional
employee at the Department of
Social Services, dispatch equip
ment and a new ambulance for
the EMS department
In last week’s Perquimans
Weekly, the Perquimans Taxpay
ers Committee ran an advertise
ment against any increase over
1992-93 levels. The group has
auenucu lmjcuu uiccuugs, »iuu
led the budget and spoken with
commissioners about rising ad
valorem taxes and the land use
break for farmland owners.
; ‘ The public will have an op
portunity to speak to the com
missioners about the proposed
budget at a public hearing set
for tonight (Thursday) at 7:90
p.m. in the commissioner's
room hr the courthouse annex.
Willis, White lead
PCHS class of ’93
Perquimans County High
School announced recently the
names of the valedictorian and
salutatorian of the class of 1993.
Ryan Willis finished his high
school career with the highest
average in his class. Dena White
earned the number two spot
Both will speak during gradua
tion exercises on June 11 at 8
p.m. at die Perquimans County
High School athletic field.
Willis, the son of Earl and
Gloria Willis of Edenton, has
been accepted at both Duke Uni
versity and the University of
North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He
expects to decide between the
two schools within the next few
weeks. Willis will pursue a de
gree in political science and his
tory. He is interested in a career
in education and politics.
During his high school ca
reer, Willis has been involved in
numerous extracurricular activ
ities, including band. Future
Teachers of America, Future
Business Leaders of America,
Beta Club, Spanish Club, Stu
dents Against Drunk Driving,
Quiz Bowl and Math Science
Club. He served as senior class
president and as president of
FTA, FBLA and the Beta Club.
Willis was offered a slot in die
North Carolina Teaching Fellows
Program.
White is the daughter of Joe
and Mary White of Hertford. She
will enter Meredith College in the
fall, where she plans to major in
English. Her career goal is to
teach English, then move up into
educational administration. She
has been accepted into the hon
ors program at Meredith and as
a N6rth Carolina Teaching Fel
low.
White served as drum major
for the band her junior and se
niors years, is president of Stu
dents Against Drunk Driving and
vice president of the Future Tea
chers of America, and is a mem
ber of Future Business Leaders
of America, Beta Club, Math Sci
ence Club and Spanish Club.
The honor students said they
felt prepared to enter college, es
pecially in the areas of English,
math and history. Both said they
felt most of their teachers had
been very good, although at
times lack of equipment and fa
cilities had hindered experimen
tation and hands-on learning,
particularly in the science area.
Attending a small school has
been a positive experience, the
students said. Hie sense of com
munity in a smaller school pro
vides greater faculty support and
integration with other students
Ryan Willis
...Valedictorian
Dena White
...Saiutatorian
Grom a variety of backgrounds.
White and Willis said. White said
her decision to attend a small col
lege was influenced by her experi
ence in a small school setting.
Willis, who began school in Per
quimans County, then moved to a
metropolitan area before deciding
to come back, said he much pre
fers the atmosphere in a small
school system.
Both students said they will
miss family and friends when
they leave for college in August,
but look forward to the challenge
of university life and to the new
opportunities and responsibilities
they will have.
Wherever their futures take
them, both said they will always
have an appreciation for the
beauty and the people in Perqui
mans'County.
Governor creates task force to
study schools administration
Gov. Jim Hunt has created a
task force to conduct a statewide
"audit” of central administra tion
offices in each school system.
Hunt created the Public Ad
ministrator Task Force by Exec
utive order in mid-May. as part
of his education reform effort.
The Task Force will analyse the
percentage of dollars going to
administrators, to make sure
classrooms and teachers are get
ting adequate funding.
The Public School Adminis
trator Task Force will be charged
with:
• Analyzing existing ratios of
public schools administrators to
teachers and students;
• Determining the ratio
needed to effectively and effi
ciently administer quality educa
tion at a local level:
• Developing guidelines for
local administrators to follow in
becoming more effective and effi
cient: ana
• Reporting Its findings to
the Joint Legislative Education
Oversight and to the State Board
of Education.
The Task Force will be made
tip of eight business and tndus
hy leaders with experience in in
creasing productivity in their
nrganlrahnnii
"We want these business
leaders to take a hard look over
the next 6 months at our public
•••*?•* '-- Vs..',. >. '•
. x»'-V v . u : -*■ . - -V a. x
schools, and make recommenda
tions.* Hunt said. 'Right now we
don't know tf we have too many
administrators, or too few. We do
know that we need foots and rec
ommendations before we make
wholesale changes.*
The Task Force is Just part of
the comprehensive education re
form plan Hunt unveiled in
March. Hunt also proposed:
• Legislation creating the
Standards and Accountability
Commission, which has passed
the Senate.
• Legislation creating a Na
tional Teaching Exam has passed
the House. The bill would help
North Carolina become the first
state in the country to reward tea
chers for becoming nationally
board-certified.
• Legislation allowing local
school systems more flexibility la
spending state education dollars,
so that local schools can target lo
cal needs, is befog considered In
the House and Senate.
The Governor has also pro
posed creating the Governor’s
Business Committee on Educa
tion. to find ways of implementing
the principles of Total Quality
Management in the state* school
systems.