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January 29, 2003
Vol. 71, No. 5 Hertford, North Carolina 27944
P6/C5***********5-DIGIT 27944
PERQUIMANS COUNTY LIBRARY
110 W ACADEMY ST
HERTFORD, NC 27944-1306
Perquimans
Weekly
Winter storm slaps county
Cold
bursts at
Central
School
SUSAN R. HARRIS
Central School Principal
Billy Stallings got a sur
prise when he returned to
school Monday morning:
about 2 inches of water in
the art room, hallway and
multipurpose area of the
school.
The arctic air that settled
into the county last week
and through the first part of
this week caused a hose bib
in an outside wall at the
school to freeze and burst,
according to schools
Superintendent Ken WeUs.
All maintenance work
ers were dispatched to the
facility, where they capped
off the affected pipes and
began to remove the water
from the building.
The operation of the
school was not affected by
the problem., StaUings said.
He added that the clean-up
was well-organized and
quick, which allowed the
school day to continue as
usual.
’ “The re-routing of stu
dents and staff was the
biggest factor as we worked
to ensure optimum safety
for everyone,” Stallings
said. “The real challenge is
khead as we begin repair
ing the damage caused by
the water.”
Because of the exteme
cold. Wells and
Maintenance Director
Richard O’Neal decided last
Wednesday to run the heat
in aU four schools on a 24-
hour basis. Wells told
school board members
Monday night that with the
frigid temperatures and the
condition of the heating
systems in some of the
school buildings, he and
O’Neal opted to leave the
heat on to try to prevent
any cold-related problems
and because it would have
taken so long to re-heat the
buildings when students
returned.
Maintenance personnel
visited the buildings
throughout the weekend
checking for signs of any
problems. Maintenance
worker Pete Mansfield
checked Central School
Saturday evening, when he
found some pipes that had
exploded. He capped off the
pipes and reported what
had happened to O’Neal.
No other weather-related
problems were reported in
the schools.
WeUs did tell board mem
bers that if another like
storm hits, a decision will
have to be made on whether
to have school, even if there
is no snow or ice causing
transportation concerns.
He said that when single
digit temperatures hit the
area, there is a concern
about children standing at
bus stops, heating effective
ly and other student and
staff safety concerns.
Bitter
cold,
snow
blanket
area
SUSAN R. HARRIS
Bitterly cold tempera
tures and 3—5 inches of
snow hit Perquimans last
week, keeping many
county residents inside.
A couple of days of
below-freezing tempera
tures paved the way for
the snow, which came
early Thursday morning
and stopped about mid
day.
The mercury stayed
below 30 degrees on
Thursday, dipping into
the teens with a wind-
chill factor around zero at
some points during
Thursday night. Friday
saw it rise to almost the
freezing point, before
Schools
schedule
make-up
days
SUSAN R. HARRIS
The school calendar
changed Monday as admin
istrators and staff deter
mined how best to fit make
up and teacher work days
into the schedule after
missing last Thursday and
Friday due to snow.
Make-up days will be
Friday, Feb. 7 and
Thursday, March 13, which
were formerly teacher work
days. The February day was
optional, the March day,
required. Jan. 23 and 24, the
days missed last week, then
became optional teacher
work days. March 14 is now
a required teacher workday.
Superintendent Ken
Wells gave the new sched
ule to the board Monday
night and asked if they had
any concerns with it. He
told the board that the dates
chosen for make-up days
were on the original calen
dar as proposed make-up
days. He added that he does
not want to have to use
spring break as make-up
time because some families
make plans over the sched
uled vacation week.
However, if more winter
weather comes, he added,
spring break days may have
to be used as make-up days
because there are not many
other days that can be used
before the end of the school
year.
The board is not
required to act on schedul
ing make-up days, so no
vote was taken. However, no
board member expressed
any objections to the dates.
Daily Advance photo
A bird looks for something to eat on the snow-covered ground last week. Frigid
temperatures, icy roads and snow kept most people inside from Thursday through
the weekend.
plunging once again in late
afternoon. The cold stayed
until Tuesday, when tem
peratures were forecast to
rise to the 40s.
State road maintenance
crews worked Wednesday
night and Thursday salt
ing, sanding and clearing
main roads.
Driving conditions
closed schools and some
government offices and
businesses on Thursday,
with schools remaining
closed on Friday. While the
work of the state crews,
sunshine and traffic
cleared some roads, frigid
temperatures and nightfall
kept many secondary
roads hazardous through
the weekend.
Although most of the
white stuff was gone by
this week, by press time on
Tuesday, there were still
patches of snow through
out the county, especially
in shaded and low-lying
areas.
As late as Tuesday, the
Perquimans River was cov
ered with a layer of ice in
some spots. Hertford Town
Manager John Christensen
said he picked up a piece of
ice and skipped it across.
“It just kept going and
going,” he said.
Storm brings no
mgyor problems
Schools superintendent Ken Wells congratulated all
four county school principals (left to right) Dwayne
Stallings, John Dublin, Edward Williams and Billy
Stallings for completing the Principals Education
Program Principals as Technology Leaders.
Principals complete
technology training
SUSAN R. HARRIS
Perquimans County
school principals have
become more involved in
implementing technology
programs at their schools
thanks to training they
received through the
Principals as Technology
Leaders program.
Offered through the
Principals Education
Program at the University
of North Carolina at
Chapel HlLL, the technology
course helped principals
learn more about instruc
tional use of technology in
the classroom and strate
gies to improve the use of
technology.
Superintendent Ken
WeUs said each principal
spent at least 60 hours in
additionto attending the
training sessions review
ing technology uses and
strategies in their individ
ual schools.
The four were among
about 40 principals and
administrators attending
the session, which was
brought to the Northeast
Region, meaning that
school systems did not have
to pay the cost of a
three—four day stay in
Chapel Hill, where PEP
courses are usuaUy taught.
WeUs said the technolo
gy program was developed
through a grant from the
BUI Gates Foundation.
Technology continues to
play an ever-increasing role
in classrooms. Internet
research, computer pro
grams to reinforce textbook
lessons, presentations
using computer programs
such as Microsoft
PowerPoint and more are a
component of the curricu
lum in schools today, and
are critical teaching tools.
SUSAN R. HARRIS
Driving in Perquimans
was hazardous from
Thursday through the
weekend, but Hertford
Police Chief Dale Vanscoy
said his officers investigat
ed no accidents in town
during the storm.
“I was very pleased,”
Vanscoy said. “Most people
stayed home and the ones
who did get out were very
cautious. I was impressed.”
Sheriff Eric TiUey said
his officers investigated a
few minor incidents, such
as cars sliding into ditches,
but no major accidents
were reported or investigat
ed. He said he told his
deputies to curtaU patrols
across the county during
the storm so that they
worUd be ready to respond
from a central location in
the event of an emergency.
WhUe Elizabeth City is
still suffering from the
effects of burst water
mains, both Hertford and
county spokespersons said
we were more fortunate
here.
A pipe did burst at
Central School sometime
Sunday night, but no other
major problems were
reported.
Hertford Town Manager
John Christensen said
Tuesday that a couple of
transformers went down
from the heavy load, .but
were repaired and back in
service.
Christensen added that
the town has had no water
mains to burst.
Maintenance employees
have capped off leaking
water lines, he said, in
response to frozen and
bursting water pipes in pri
vate homes and businesses.
“We’re lucky,”
Christensen said. “I’m
pleased.”
Likewise, County
Manager Paul Gregory said
the county had no problems
with its water lines. He did
say that water levels were
down, but he and Water
Department Supervisor
Russ Chappell believed that
was from residents keeping
faucets dripping to try to
keep pipes from freezing.
By Tuesday, the water lev
els in the tanks had risen
about four feet, he added.
Gregory said water
department employees had
repaired little leaks
throughout the county, but
that those types of repairs
are not unusual with the
blast of sustained cold
weather over the past week.
“We’ve been real fortu
nate,” Gregory said.
Weekend
Weather
THURSDAY
High: 45
Low: 40
Light Rain
Friday
High:57
Low: 42
Rain
Saturday
High: 57
Low: 42
Showers