DEC 1 8 RECD P The ERQUIMANS ^l\b^WKKKIA^ "News from Next Door” Children’s holiday art, 4-5 DECEMBER 18, 2013 - DECEMBER 24, 2013 50 cents BY PETER WILLIAMS News Editor Teacher turnover in Per quimans County is lower than most school districts in North Carolina, but still two thirds of the 15 who left last year didn’t retire, but instead left for a teaching position elsewhere. The numbers were part of a report released this month by the N.C. Department of Public Education to the state board. The report will in turn be presented to the N.C. Genei^ Assembly. Perquimans had 10 teach ers leave in 2012-13 yet stayed in education. Three retired with full benefits or left for health or family reasons, one left for some other personal reasons and one was either dismissed or didn’t have their contract renewed. “It is disheartening that classroom teachers haven’t seen pay raises for a number of years.’’ Brenda Lassiter School spokeswoman Statewide turnover rates ranged from a liigh of 35 percent in Northampton County Schools to a low of 7.3 percent in Surry County Schools. The Perquimans rate was 12.7 percent. With the exception of Pasquotank County, all of the school districts in the Al bemarle area had turnover rates that were less than the state average of 14.3 per cent. Camden had the low est at 9.7 percent followed by Currituck at 11.7 percent, Chowan at 14.1 percent and Pasquotank at 17.3 percent. The report covers the pe riod from 2012-13. Brenda Lassiter, a spokes person for the Perquimans school system, said two of the teachers that left last year but remained in educa tion went to work in Virginia where salaries are higher. “It is disheartening that classroom teachers haven’t seen pay raises for a num ber of years,” Lassiter said. “They (educators) are work ing diligently to advance to administrative positions or secure advanced education degrees for higher salaries.” Teacher turnover isn’t a new development, the state report shows, but there are some disturbing trends. 'The report called the increase in the turnover rate from 2011- 12 rate of 12.1 percent “sig nificant” Also almost half of the teachers had career status in the latest year. That com- See TURNOVER, 2 STAFF PHOTO BY PETER WILLIAMS Hertford lineman Craig Matthews instaiis one of the new banners on Market Street eariier this month. Colorful banners seen downtown BY PETER WILLIAMS . News Editor It Started with an idea and five months later, that idea turned into reality. A trio of Perquimans County wom en designed and created 10 holiday banners for Historic Hertford, Inc. to grace the light poles downtown. Judy Cudworth tells the story. “We were at a meeting at the beautification committee and -LaUian Holman said she thought we needed some banners for the holidays. So we hauled out a catalog and looked through it but wow, they were like $70 a piece and I knew we needed 10 See BANNERS, 11 Judy Cudworth, Annis Murphy and Anne Carper pose in front of one of the banners on Grubb Street. The three voiunteered their time to create the banners. Lane earns BY PETER WILLIAMS News Editor North Carolina’s larg est specialty medical asso ciation honored Dr. Robert Lane as its 2013 Family Phy sician of the Year during a meeting earlier this month in Asheville. “It’s humbling to get such an award when you’re stand ing in front of 750 other doc tors,” Lane said last week. As the North Caro lina winner. Lane will be eligible for the nation al award by the Ameri can Acade- LANE my of Fam ily Physicians, a group with 110,000 members. Lane operates Coastal Carolina Family Practice in Hertford. He’s practiced medicine for more than 40 years and worked in the area since 1973 when he moved to Edenton. Lane, who will turn 72 in February, has no plans of retiring. However since the addition of a second doc tor to die practice, he does plan to scale back a litde. But he’s not ready to end a career he adores. “During my 40Bplus years in practice, I have been for tunate to do something I truly love,” Lane said at the awards ceremony. “All these years of caring for families and taking care of our com munity have made my life and my practice of medicine complete.” L^e says he er\joys prac ticing a wide variety of med icine. It was the lure of do ing just that that drew him to area back in 1973 and it is what keeps him going. “I was really looking for a place to do a little of every thing,” he said. 'The hospital in Edenton, which was built a few years before he arrived, offered that. Lane started working in Hertford fulltime in the 1980s. Chowan Hospital had been rotating doctors in and out through a Hertford office, but Lane said “that wasn’t working” so he vol unteered to work in Hert ford full time. He operated out of an office on Market Street for years and then moved to the current facility on Church Street. While the building is owned by Chowan Hos pital, the medical practice belongs to Lane. He quit delivering babies in 1985 and has served the See DR. LANE, 11 Perquimans leaders worried about future of extension BY PETER WILLIAMS News Editor The N.C. Extension Ser vice is a vital part of Per quimans County and local leaders attended a meeting last week to express that to state officials looking to cut 89076 47144 back. Perquimans County Man ager Frank Heath, Com missioner Matt Peeler and others attended a listening session in Roper. The event was the 12th in a series and the last of the listening tours around the state. Perquimans County extension director Lewis Smith is retiring at the end of this month after 33 years in the program. 'There are no immediate plans to re RETIREMENT CELEBRATION There will be a retirement celebration for Lewis W. Smith Jr., in honor of 33 years of service to the extension service today. A float ing reception will be held from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Perquimans County Jlecreation Center. place him. Heath doesn’t like it and says so. “We wanted them to know that this (agriculture) is the number one industry we have,” Heath said last week. Heath is arguing that extension should keep the Perquimans County exten sion positions filled. He said the extension service is vital to providing unbiased information to local farm ers and without it, the local economy could suffer. But many counties are facing cutbacks, the group was told at the meeting at the Vernon James Exten sion Center. Joe Zublena, state exten sion director, said there has been a $13.7 million budget cut for extension in the past four years. The current bud get is $52 million. Of that, $39 million comes from the state, $11 million from the federal government and $2 million from other sources. Zublena said since 2000, 90 county positions have been permanently lost. Smith said he knows of four slots in the Bertie County extension office that haven’t been filled. Smith himself has been filling in as the interim director in Pasquo tank County for nearly three See EXTENSION, 2