The only newspaper for and about Perquimans County and its peopii
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November 28, 2001
Vol. 69, No. 38 Hertford, North Carolina 27944
The
B3/S2*****’»*CAR-RT LOT**C-001
PERQUIMANS COUNTY LIBRARY
110 W ACADEMY ST
HERTFORD, NC 27944-1306
Perquimans
2 Q
35 cents
Holiday
events kick
off Saturday
It’s beginning to look a
lot like Christmas in
Hertford — and several
upcoming holiday events
should make it feel like
Christmas, too.
Saturday will bring the
annual Christmas parade
through the streets of
Hertford. Themed “An
American Christmas,” the
parade will leave the high
school at 2 p.m., head north
on Edenton Road Street,
turn east onto Grubh
Street, turn south onto
Church Street, turn west
onto Dobbs Street and turn
south onto Edenton Road
Street to end back at the
high school. Entries should
reach downtown 20-30 min
utes after leaving the high
school.
Leading the parade will
be Sadot Mendez, grand
marshall, and Janice Cole,
honorary chairperson.
Both Perquimans County
residents have earned
recognition for their out
standing contributions to
the community. Mendez
was selected as an Olympic
torchbearer. Cole was pre
sented with the highest
civilian honor in the state.
The Order of the Long Leaf
Pine.
Participants include tra
ditional favorites,
Perquimans Middle and
High school hands.
Northeastern High School
will also perform at the
parade.
Floats of many descrip
tions, Scout groups, local
officials, fire trucks and
more are scheduled to
appear in the parade.
Downtown, there will be
a variety of craft, food and
other vendors on the court
house lawn from 11 a.m.—4
p.m.
In order to provide a safe
environment for parade
participants and Chamber
of Commerce organizers,
traffic will be monitored
closely at the high school
on parade day. The King
Street gates to Cedar Wood
Cemetery will close at 10
a.m. Traffic coming into
the high school will enter
Jimmy Hunter Drive and
turn right onto Ainsley
Drive to exit. Parking will
be allowed on one side of
Ainsley Drive only. No vehi
cles except those in the
parade will be allowed in
Weekend
Weather
Thursday
High: 74
Low: 49
Partly Cloudy
Friday
High: 65
Low: 42
Rain
Saturday
High: 62
Low: 40
Partly Cloudy
Wreaths of Thanks
the line-up area after 11:30
a.m. Judging will take place
at 12:45.
Because of limited park
ing at the high school,
runover parking will be at
the school’s King Street
Annex.
The Band Boosters wiU
be selling concessions on
site.
The man of the season,
Santa Claus, has confirmed
his appearance in Hertford.
He will leave his sleigh
downtown to hear the wish
lists of boys and girls on
the courthouse lawn.
Questions about the
parade may be directed to
the Chamber office at 426-
5657 or Susan Harris, co
chairperson, at 426-5728.
The town’s Christmas
lights will be turned on
Saturday in conjunction
with the parade.
Thursday also promises
to bring holiday cheer to
the county. The annual
Extension Christmas
Ramble, Caroling on the
Green and Antique Dealers
Ramble is set for Dec. 6.
The antique shops will
get the evening started with
an open-house atmosphere
at each of the seven partici
pating shops. Ramble hours
are 4—9 p.m. Call 426-3640
or 426-8222 for information.
From 5—9, downtown
will come alive with the
Historic Hertford Business
Association Caroling on
the Courthouse Green and
Treasure Hunt.
Entertainment, including
high and middle school
groups, is scheduled every
30 minutes beginning at 6
p.m. and ending at 8:30 with
community caroling. For
information on caroling
and extended store hours,
call 426-2021.
The treasure hunt is set
from 5—8 p.m. and will
begin at Frankie’s Hertford
Cafe. For rules and infor
mation on the treasure
hunt, call 426-5593.
Newbold-White House
docents will be serving
home-made cookies and
warm apple cider on the
courthouse lawn during the
evening.
The Perquimans
Extension and Community
Association will host its
annual Christmas Ramble
from 6:30—9 p.m. Homes on
tour include those of
Shirley Wiggins of Winfall,
Gary and Marchita Sawyer
of New Hope, and Richard
and Maggie Morris of
Land’s End Plantation.
Also on the tour until 8 p.m.
will be Pala Creations
Porcelain Dolls &
Ceramics. Refreshments
will be served at Woodland
United Methodist Church.
Tour passes are $3 for
adults and $1 for students.
Tickets will be sold in
advance and at the homes
on tour night.
Proceeds will benefit
youth programs and educa
tional projects for the com
ing year.
Tourists should bring
flashlights and wear low-
heeled shoes.
For tickets, tour
brochures and maps, con
tact the Extension Center
at 426-7697.
a
The PTAs and PTSAs of
the county's four schools
joined Wednesday after
noon on the courthouse
lawn for a wreath cere
mony in conjunction with
the national PTA. Each
school designed a wreath
with a theme of thank
fulness, peace, patriotism
and/or hope.
Remembered in the
prayers offered during
the brief ceremony were
those involved in the
Sept. 11 attacks on the
U.S. and their families,
and servicemen and
women fighting the war
on terrorism. Each
wreath is on display at
the school at which it
was made.
PHOTOS BY SUSAN HARRIS
i;,
HGS music teacher Heather Webb leads a group of Hertford Grammar students as
they sing patriotic songs.
Speaking to school board may get easier
SUSAN R. HARRIS
Those with something to
say to the school board will
find it easier to speak if the
board approves a proposed
revision to its policy.
The first reading of an
additional subsection of
policy 1326 Public
Comment took place
Monday night. The policy
revision would allow the
public to sign up just prior
to the start of a board meet
ing and speak at the same
meeting.
The addition to the poli
cy, subsection 1326.6, reads,
“A part of each meeting
will be set aside for citizens
to address the board. A
sign-up sheet will be avail
able for any individual or
group to indicate their
desire to address the board.
The chairperson will
decide the time devoted to
public comments. Board
members will not respond
to individuals who address
the board except to request
clarification of points
made by the presenter.
Those addressing the board
concerning a non-agenda
item will be informed that
the board will receive the
presentation, but wiH not
take any action on a
request or proposal at that
meeting.”
Presently, any person
wishing to speak to the
school board must call the
schools central office
before Friday at 9 a.m.
prior to a Monday board
meeting to get on the agen
da.
In conjunction with the
policy, a Citizen Comment
Sheet was created so that
those who wish to speak
can give the question, com
ment or concern they plan
to address.^ There is also
space for a proposed solu
tion to concerns raised.
The revised policy would
give a speaker 3 minutes
before the board to address
any issue that is not prop
erly the subject of closed
session discussions.
Personnel and litigation
issues, for instance, are
allowed by state statute to
be discussed in closed ses
sion.
The policy revision as
proposed leaves it to the
chairman to decide how
much time overall will be
devoted to public comment.
The second reading of
the policy is set for Dec. 17.
It is expected to be voted on
at that time.
Board members asked
that the policy be revised in
order to be more responsive
to the public.
School board approves policy revisions
Short-term
suspension,
internet rules
get updated
SUSAN R. HARRIS
The school board
approved revisions to two
of its policies after second
readings Monday night.
Policy 6515 Short-Term
Suspensiop had a para
graph deleted. The para
graph read, “Decisions on
short-terin suspensions
may be' Appealed to the
Superintendent. The deci
sion of the Superintendent
may be '‘jE^ppealed to the
Board. TMe Superintendent
may, in hipj discretion, post
pone the disciplinary
action during any appeals.”
Superintendent Kenneth
Wells said when proposing
the revision in October that
the policy as originally
written took away the
authority of principals to
handle discipline at their
sites. He said principals in
the district suspend stu
dents only when they feel it
is absolutely necessary
and/or is mandated by dis
cipline policies.
The board’s full policy
on student discipline still
allows parents/guardians
to meet with principals, the
superintendent and finally
the board if they have con
cerns about discipline mat
ters. The policy revision
does not take away those
rights. Wells said.
However, the policy does
mean that students sus
pended for up to 10 days
will not be allowed to
attend school during the
appeals process.
Also approved was an
addition to policy 5450
Internet/Computer
Network Acceptable Use
Policy and Regulations.
In the section dealing
with appropriate use of the
technology, the following
was added: As a further
measure of protection
against inappropriate
materials from the Internet
in the schools, computers
will access the Internet
using filtering technology
which protects against
access by adults and
minors to language and
visued depictions that are
obscene, pornographic, or
harmful to minors. The fil
tering technology may be
disabled temporarily for
adults engaged in curricu
lum related research or
other lawful, legitimate
purposes. This filtering
technology will enable
monitoring of online activ
ities by students.
While board members
agreed that filtering tech
nology is imperfect, they
approved the policy
because it does provide a
safeguard against inappro
priate use.
For instance, a health
occupations student doing
research on breast cancer
might be blocked from
searching for articles with
the word “breast.”
However, in cases such as
this technology specialists
can disable the filter to
allow the student to com
plete adequate research for
his or her assignment, then
restore the filter.