The
QIJIMANS
WEEKLY
“News from Next Door”
THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2022
$1.50
© SCAN ME
PAGE 5
Hartman:
Jesus showed us
Christlikeness in
Judas encounter
PAGE 6
Fisher scores
twice in 3-0 win
over Bear Grass
Charter
PAGE 7
Throckmor
ton: Presidents
put themselves
above law
issuing exec
orders
School hopefuls address race, history and curriculum
6 to vie for 3 open seats on
board of education May 17
BY REGGIE PONDER
Staff Writer
When Perquimans voters
go to the polls on May 17,
they won’t have any coun
ty primary races to decide.
They will, however, decide
who fills three open seats
on the county’s Board of
Education for the next four
years.
CORPREW FELTON HUDDLESTON SILVA WHITE WINSLOW
A total of six candidates
are seeking the seats in the
non-partisan race, only one
of whom is an incumbent.
Anne White, the school
board’s current chairwom
an, is seeking another four-
year term. Incumbents Amy
Spaugh and Matt Peeler
elected not to seek re-elec
tion.
The five other candidates
on the ballot include Kristy
Corprew, Brenda Hud
dleston, Matt Winslow, Dave
Silva and Gracie Felton.
The Perquimans Weekly
recently asked each candi
date to respond to a series
of questions related to ed
ucation. All but Felton re
sponded by the newspaper’s
deadline.
The candidates’ respons
es to one of the questions
will appear below; respons
es to the other questions
will appear in subsequent
editions in the run-up to the
start of early voting on April
28.
TPW: The Perquimans
County Schools does not
teach what is known as
“Critical Race Theory”
because it is not part of
the approved curriculum.
What are some ways the
schools should teach stu
dents about the role of
race in American history,
as it pertains to slavery,
segregation, civil rights,
and contemporary is
sues and concerns? More
See BOARD, A3
Reopening Redux
Senate hopefuls
face off at county
GOP convention
PHOTOS BY JOHN FOLEY
Jennifer Poppert (left) admires Brantley Geoffrey’s artwork on the wall of the Perquimans Arts League Gallery
during a reception to celebrate the reopening of the gallery, Thursday, March 31. The artworks of 42 students,
including Brantley’s, were displayed during the event.
PAL celebrates reopening of Gallery
artwork, honors artist Pardue
BY JOHN FOLEY
Correspondent
Despite thunderstorm
cloud skies, a good crowd
of benefactors, neighbors,
town officials and artists of
all ages turned out for last
week’s reopening of the
Perquimans Arts League
Gallery.
The gallery’s reopening
had been anticipated by
many since an emergency
closing in February due to
buckling floors. With the
floors now fixed, PAL re
opened the gallery at 133
North Church Street on
Thursday, March 31, and
held a reception to cele
brate.
“We’re very excited
about the reopening,” said
Lynne Nichtelein as she
and her husband Fred en
joyed a sampling of the cu
linary aits on display.
“We used to go to the
other gallery all the time,”
she continued. “We are
looking forward to being
able to come downtown
and enjoy this.”
See PAL, A3
Artist and Perquimans
Arts League
benefactor Jack
Pardue (left) chats
with Anne Lankford
during the PAL
reception to celebrate
the reopening of its
gallery, Thursday,
March 31. PAL
announced during
the event that it was
renaming its youth
gallery the Jack
Pardue Gallery of
Youth Art because of
Pardue’s donation of.
66 artworks to the
arts group’s recent
auction.
Steinburg, Sanderson tout
their records in Senate
BY REGGIE PONDER
Staff Writer
HERTFORD — The two
candidates vying for the
Republican nomination for
N.C. Senate in the 1st Dis
trict both cited their Gen
eral Assembly records in
comments at Thursday’s
Perquimans County Repub
lican Convention.
Sen. Norm Sanderson,
R-Pamlico, who represents
the current 2nd District,
and Sen. Bob Steinburg,
R-Chowan, who represents
the current 1st District,
will face each other in the
Republican primary May
17. The winner will almost
certainly fill the seat in the
newly drawn 1st District
since no Democrat has filed.
Steinburg said he works
hard to get things done
for his constituents and is
Local man charged in
drug overdose death
Shepard indicted by grand
jury for death by distribution
From staff reports
A Perquimans County
man has been charged in
connection with a death
from a drug overdose.
Gary Shepard, 61, of the.
100 block of Hunt Club
Trail, Hertford, was arrest
ed March 22, charged with
death by distribution of
INSIDE
Commission, school, judge, DA can
didates tout experience. Page A2.
SANDERSON STEINBURG
“bringing the bacon home”
on everything from prison
reform to including north-
eastern North Carolina in
a foreign trade zone for the
Port of Virginia.
Steinburg said he is rid
iculed for supporting HB2,
which he described as com
monsense legislation, and
for opposing “guys who
See PERQUIMANS, A7
controlled substances. He’s
being confined at Albemar
le District Jail in lieu of a
$100,000 secured bond.
The offense date is fisted
as June 14, 2021. The war
rant for Shepard’s arrest
was issued March 22. It
stems from a true bill of in
dictment by a grand jury.
Perquimans County Sher
iff Shelby White said the
sheriffs office is seeking
See OVERDOSE, A7
School board to dig deeper into safety concerns
Survey: Half of high school
students express concerns
BY REGGIE PONDER
Staff Writer
Perquimans County school of
ficials will take a closer look at
what’s causing high school stu
Vol. 87, No. 14
WWW.PerquimansWeekly.com
@2021 Perquimans Weekly
All Rights Reserved
dents to question their safety at
school.
A report on student social and
emotional wellbeing presented to
the Perquimans County Board of
Education Monday, March 28, in
cluded a survey in which high per
centages of students, staff and par
ents said they feel safe at school.
But the outlier was Perquimans
County High School, where near
ly half of the 172 students who
responded to a voluntary survey
on school safety reported having
concerns about their safety while
at school.
Board members asked school
district staff to drill down on the
reasons some students say they
feel unsafe.
Board member Leary Winslow
pointed out that safety concerns
could refer to anything from bully
ing to questions about health and
safety related to the COVID-19
pandemic.
Perquimans school staff agreed
to conduct a follow-up survey to
identify the underlying causes of
concern reflected in the first sur
vey.
The report by Chief Academ
ic Officer Melissa Fields also
touched on other aspects of the
district’s concern for “the whole
child,” including school atten
dance. She noted that attendance
appears to have been affected
negatively by the GOVID-19 pan
demic.
A comprehensive effort is un
derway to reach out to students
with attendance issues and work
with them and their families to get
those issues resolved, Fields told
the board.
Fields reported that the Perqui
mans schools offer professional
development opportunities to
teachers and administrators to
help them provide “culturally re
sponsive” instruction to all stu
dents.
In' another matter related to
school safety, the board approved
the purchase of surveillance cam
era systems for Central Elementa
ry School and Hertford Grammar
School.
The camera systems, which
are the same type as those al
ready in place at the county’s
middle school and high school,
are being funded mainly through
a school safety grant from the
N.C. Department of Public In
struction.
About $3,000 from the school
district’s existing budget will be
needed to round out funding
for the project, which includes
$18,198 for the system at Perquim
ans Central and $26,886 for Hert
ford Grammar. The systems are
being purchased from WYN Tech
nologies Inc.