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"News from Next Door” WEDNESDAY, MARCH 29, 2017 MAR
Students learn through shadowing 3
2 9 REC'D
50 cents
School system warns of possible job cuts
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
The Perquimans County Schools
system is putting 28 teacher assis
tants on notice that they may not
have a job next year.
Monday night Superintendent
Matthew Cheeseman asked the
school board for the authority to
start “Reduction In Force” policy
because of uncertainty over next
year’s state fund
ing-
Some mem
bers of the Gener
al Assembly have
questioned the
need for teacher
assistants. TA’s
are used primar
ily at Perquimans
CHEESEMAN
Central School to augment teach
ers but some work at Hertford
Grammar School. Over the years
as some TAs have left, the school
system has not replaced them be
cause of funding.
“Right now we’re projecting
a 14 decrease in funding,” said
Matthew Cheeseman, the school
superintendent. “We project a
shortfall and as sad as I am, we
have to deal with it and give them
(teacher assistants) appropriate
time to plan.”
The school system did use the
RIF process in 2011 when funding
was cut and some staff lost their
jobs. Cheeseman said the schools
did it again in 2013, but managed
to find the funding to avoid lay-
offs.
The school system faces a big
ger funding shortfall if the General
Assembly doesn’t pass a waiver
on class sizes. The current rule
calls for one teacher for every 21
students. The new rule would be
one teacher for every 18 kinder
garten students, one teacher for
every 16 first grade students, and
one teacher for every 17 students
for grades two and three. Schools
can be a granted a waiver of three
extra students under HB13 passed
in the house. The Senate has not
taken up the bill.
See SCHOOLS, 2
Layden
to lead
local GOP
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
Bridge Reopens
One of the three mem
bers of the Perquimans
County Board of Elections
has stepped down. Dianne
Layden served on the elec
tions board for two years
and was chairman when she
resigned earlier this month.
T h e
makeup
of the lo
cal elec
tion board
was going
to change
before
Layden
stepped
down. North Carolina law
says the political party of
the Governor gets to have
two representatives on each
three-member board. Gov.
Roy Cooper is a Democrat,
which means under that law
See LAYDEN, 2
STAFF PHOTO BY PETER WILLIAMS
Bill Cartwright, one of the bridge tenders on Hertford’s S-Bridge, watches a car drive across the bridge Friday
afternoon. The bridge underwent three months worth of repairs to make it lighter in the hopes of extending
the life of the span by a few years.
County
line may
move
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
The county line between
Perquimans and Chowan
may not be where you think
it is.
The issue came up when
someone went to vote in
Chowan County and was
told they actually lived in
Perquimans County.
The variance between
where both counties think
the line belongs and where
the state recognizes the bor
der is not large according to
Perquimans County Man
ager Frank Heath.
“Basically it’s like 100
yards,” Heath said.
The actual county line
may shift slightly to the
west, meaning Perquimans
County would become a
little larger and Chowan
would be a little smaller.
“We just want to make
See LINE, 2
Volunteers reach out to teach growing food techniques
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
A group of volunteers trained in garden
ing are reaching out to the clients of local
food pantries to show them how to grow
their own fresh produce.
The Chowan-Gates-Perquimans Master
Gardener’s program initiated the “Grow to
Eat” program last year under Betty Onu-
frak.
Onufrak likened the effort to the Chi
nese proverb — “You give a poor man a
fish and you feed him for a day. You teach
him to fish and you feed him for a life
time.”.
Master Gardeners aren’t just handing
out seeds. They’re backing it up with writ
ten information on how to care for the
plants and a phone line where they can
call if they have questions.
See FOOD, 5
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Extension Master Gardener Jean Batson
is distributing vegetable seeds and
gardening information to interested
Chowan Food Pantry clients as part of
the Extension Master Gardeners’ Grow
to Eat Program.
Program offers
gardening tips
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
It may be too soon to start
working in the garden, but
Katy Shook said that doesn’t
stop people from thinking
about it.
Shook, the area horticul
ture agent and director of
the N.C. State Cooperative
Extension Service office in
Chowan County, said she’s
often getting questions from
people about what to plant
and when. Shook coordi
nates the Master Gardener
program for Perquimans,
STAFF PHOTO BY PETER WILLIAMS
It may be too early to start a wildflower garden, but it’s not
too early to start planning for it, extension officials say.
Chowan and Gates coun
ties.
Turning a huge plot of
grass into a massive display
of wildflowers may sound
attractive, but Shook said
See GARDENING, 5 '
COA names new president
Aladdin Performance
BY REGGIE PONDER
The Daily Advance
A veteran community
college teacher and admin
istrator who helped lead
Western Nevada College
through a severe financial
crunch has been named the
10th president at College of
The Albemarle.
Paul O’Neal, chairman of
COA’s Board of Trustees,
announced last week that
Ronald Wynegar, vice presi
dent of student and academ
ic affairs at Western Nevada
College, had been named
president of COA.
Wynegar, 52, is slated to
start April 17.
“He is every excited
about getting to northeast
ern North Carolina and get
ting to work,” O’Neal said,
describing Wynegar as “very
well qualified.”
“We had four outstanding
candidates and he was the
one that the board unani
mously picked as our next
See PRESIDENT, 2
STAFF PHOTO BY PETER WILLIAMS
Hertford Grammar School students
were treated to a performance of
Aladdin by the Hurrah Players last
week. The event was held at the
Perquimans County High School
auditorium. Sponsors for the event
were the Albemarle Community
Trust grant through Albemarle
Electric Membership Corp., Arene
Contracting, the Albemarle
Plantation Women’s Club and
the Perquimans County Schools
Foundation.