perquIMANS COUNTY LIBRARY
■■■-'■"" ^ — ' - ^ no w academy st
HERTFORD, NC 27944-1306
COA graduates
Rage 5
Briefs
Rage 2
Letters to the editor
Page 4
August 14 2002
VoJ. 71, No. 33 Hertford. North Carolina 27944
Tin
Perquimans
Weekly^
AUG 1 4 2062
]{jt5C?c5rr:
School year gets off to smooth start
SUSAN R. HARRIS
The sounds of youth
filled scrubbed-down class
rooms as the 2002-03 school
year got underway in
Perquimans last Thursday.
“1 thought we had a very
good opening those first
two days,” Superintendent
Kenneth Wells said
Monday. “We had the usual
small glitches with getting
a few schedules redone at
the last minute and that
kind of thing, but basically,
we had a very smooth open
ing.”
First-day attendance was
1,654,94 percent of the 1,751
students enrolled.
Numbers of students regis
tered at each site are:
Central, 344; Hertford
Grammar, 397; middle, 423;
and high, 587.
Wells said the school sys
tem has traditionally con
tinued to enroll students
during the first 10 days of
class.
A pared-down force of 30
yellow buses picked up and
dropped off students. Last
year, 34 buses ran. Wells
said the decrease is
designed to increase effi
ciency and reduce costs.
While there were a few
adjustments to make to the
bus schedules. Wells said
that all routes ran on time,
according to
Transportation Director
Richard O’Neal.
“Richard said this morn
ing that everything in
transportation is going
smoothly,” Wells said
Monday.
Bus numbers are not the
only thing down from last
year. State budget cuts
meant reducing the work
force, also. Systemwide,
four teacher and four
teacher assistant positions
were not filled due to bud
get constraints.
“Due to budget cuts were
were unable to fill several
teaching, teacher assistant,
central office, cafeteria and
bus driver positions,” said
Personnel Director Brenda
dail. “However, our princi
pals have done a nice job
reassigning staff members
to be sure that all students,
will continue to get a quali
ty education.”
Dail said' the system
brought aboard 26 new
employees during the sum
mer.
“We hired a very highly
qualified staff this sum
mer,” Dail said. “Each year
gets more challenging in
finding highly qualified
teachers, but with the help
of a great administrative
team, we interviewed many
applicants and made some
excellent decisions.”
Dail said as soon as posi
tions came available, she
and administrators imme
diately began looking for
replacements. Most open
ings were created by retire
ment and teachers relocat
ing, she said.
At present, all teaching
and certified positions have
been filled, with two teach
ing positions still requiring
board approval. A 21st
Century Site Coordinator
at Central School and a cen
tral office receptionist are
the only open jobs.
The system employs 156
certified personnel, 35 at
Central, 30 at Hertford
Grammar, 41 at
Perquimans Middle, and 50
at Perquimans High.
Students seem to be
adjusting to the new block
schedule at the high school.
Wells said, as well as to the
new principal, John
Dublin, at the middle
school.
“1 said just this morning
that if the next 178 (school)
days go as smoothly as the
first two, we’re off to a good
year,” Wells said.
Town hall
construction
begins in
I'STnfaU
SUSAN R. HARRIS
If smiles were dollar
bills, the town of Winfall
wouldn’t need the $513,000
grant/loan combination
from USD A Rural
Development to build its
new town hall.
Everyone was smiling
and jovial at Monday’s
groundbreaking ceremony
for the new Winfall Town
Hall. The building is adja
cent to the Winfall Town
Park overlooking the
Perquimans River just off
Major Street.
The foundation is
poured for the 3,116 square
foot facility which will
house the town’s adminis
trative offices and police
department.
The building will feature
a meeting room designed to
allow for town and commu
nity functions.
'The present town hall is
just off Winfall Boulevard.
Winfall Mayor Fred Yates
said the facility is no longer
adequate to serve the
town’s needs and is in need
of major repair.
As town officials looked
at long-term needs for
WinfaU several years ago,
they realized the need for a
I
3.
W- -
mu/m..
new building. But with
only 554 residents — 312
households, Yates said the
town council could not
raise funds locally to pay
for a new building.
Yates, always on the
lookout for grant money,
found out as he sought
additional funding for the
town’s wastewater collec
tion system that Rural
Development might be able
to help the town.
In addition to construc
tion money, the town need
ed a lot upon which to
build. Yates went back to
John Harris, a Virginia
businessman who had sev
eral years earlier donated
three acres of waterfront
property plus a $10,000
grant match to allow the
town to build its park.
Harris again helped.
“John Harris has been
good to the town,” Yates
said. “People really don’t
know it. 1 talked to him and
he gave us the land. He’s
interested in the town and
doesn’t even live there.”
Yates said Harris pur
chased the waterfront
acreage out of bankruptcy.
The owner of a communi
cations company, Harris
had initially intended to
tu.
Daily Advance photo
Winfall Mayor Fred Yates (left) reacts to a member of the audience as he counter
signs a $513,000 "check" from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural
Development during a ground-breaking ceremony for Winfall's new town hall
Monday. Joining Yates are Susan Sorrell, a rural development specialist based in
Williamston, and John Cooper, USDA Rural Development's state director.
put a tower on the property.
That was before Yates
cajoled him into donating
the land for a park.
The town had a place to
build, and got a $338,000
grant and a $175,000 loan at
a 4 percent interest rate.
Construction on the
facility has begun, and
Yates said it should be com
plete by January. A.R.
Chesson Construction
Company, Inc. is the gener
al contractor.
Once the new building is
complete and in use, Yates
said the present facility
will become a public works
headquarters.
The town hall was built
by the Winfall Volunteer
Fire Department and also
served as its headquarters
until a couple of years ago,
Yates said. At that time, the
county gave Winfall a par
cel of land across from the
county softball fields and a
new fire station was built.
When the fire depart
ment moved, the town reno
vated that space to expand
its extremely small offices.
On hand for the ground
breaking were USDA Rural
Development State
Director John J. Cooper
with several members of
the Rural Development
staff from the state and
local offices; Joyce
Mitchell, area representa
tive for Sen. John Edwards;
Charles Worth, district
manager for
Congresswoman Eva
Clayton; Dr. Albert Walker,
vice chancellor for academ
ic affairs at Elizabeth City
State University; Sen.
Frank Ballance; and repre
sentatives from Winfall,
Hertford and the county.
Credit union expands services through grant
SUSAN R. HARRIS
The Perquimans Credit
Union is expanding its ser
vices.
The credit union recent
ly received a $43,840 grant
from the U.S. Treasury
Department’s Community
Development Financial
Insitutions Program. The
program was created to
expand the availability of
credit, investment capital
and financial services in
distressed urban and rural
communities.
Credit Union Manager
Tracy Bowser said the
funds, coupled with other
grants, will allow the finan
cial institution to install
computers and offer cus
tomers ATM and checking
services. She said plans call
for the new equipment and
services to be in place by
the end of the year.
Bowser said the expan
sion will allow the financial
institution to be more com
petitive and improve cus
tomer service.
At present, the credit
union offers savings
accounts and personal,
mortgage and automobile
loans to its 842 customers.
Services are available to
anyone who lives in
Perquimans County. To
join, prospective members
must put $25 in a savings.
or share, account and pay a
$1 fee. The $25 must stay in
the savings account at all
times.
Guidelines for ATM use
and checking services are
being discussed by’ the
credit union’s board of
directors.
The credit union opened
in 1945 with a mission to
serve low-income county
residents. Although its cus
tomer base at present is
composed mostly of
African-Americans,
Bowser said the credit
union is inclusive and its
mission is to serve all those
who need financial ser
vices. With a growing
Latino population in the
county. Bowser is working
with other credit unions
that serve the Hispanic
community to get ideas on
how better to serve that
segment of the county’s
residents.
The credit union’s broad
est goal is to make sure^
there are banking services '
in the community that low-
income residents can
afford and to remain an
institution that offers per
sonal service while grow
ing in its financial offer
ings.
Because of its status as
an institution serving the
low-income community
and its low fees. Bowser
said she is constantly writ
school
board
SUSAN R. HARRIS
William Byrum has held
a lot of positions in educa
tion, and last month he was
elected to a new one. Byrum
was elected chairman of
the board of education by
fellow school board mem
bers.
Byrum, 64, was elected to
the board in May 2000, col
lecting the highest number
of votes in a five-way race
for three seats. The
Perquimans County native
garnered 806 of the 2,065
votes cast.
The veteran educator
retired from Perquimans
County Schools after a
career that spanned four
decades. His first position
was teacher, but he was
named principal just a few
years later, a position he
held for over 30 years. He
left that slot to become a
special assistant to the
superintendent. He was a
very popular administrator
with students and parents.
Elected vice chair was
Helen Shaw. Shaw was
appointed to the board
eight years ago to fill a
vacancy created by a new
electoral system. She was
elected to 4-year terms in
1996 and 2000.
ing grants to pay for
salaries, expanded ser
vices and equipment
upgrades. In fact, she said,
her own salary is paid for
with grant funds.
In addition to Bowser,
Linda Billups is a credit
union employee and they
are currently seeking a
third employee.
The credit union is
located at 306 Dobbs Street,
and hours are Monday,
Tuesday, arid Thursday, 9
a.m.— 5 p.m., and Friday, 9
a.m.— 6 p.m.. Once com
puters are installed, the
credit union will be open
half-days on Wednesdays.
Call 426-5131 for more
information.
Weekend
Weather
Thursday
High: 98
Low: 73
Mostly Sunny
Friday
High: 92
Low: 71
Scattered T'Storms
Saturday
High: 92
Low: 70
Partly Cloudy