ost South Point F
Member
North Carolina Press Association
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Mountain citizens
i turn out for Mountaineer Day
rday § p.m.
~ Kings
Grover News
Committee formed
to study library
GROVER - A nine member
Grover Library committee has
been formed to look into the
feasibility of a library and the
estimated costs for staff and op-
erating expenses.
Council member Elizabeth
Throop, chairman of the group,
said Antoinette Adams,
Heather Chadwick, Jean Harry
Francis, Holly. Rountree
Godfrey, Lois Hicks Gold,
Tommy Keeter, commissioner
Jack Herndon and Robert Roper
the board. She said three more
people are needed.
Throop said the committee is
charged with looking for a loca-
possibly be open at least four
hours a day. Throop said pri-
vate donations would also be
sought to help get the library
started.
The library idea has the bless-
ings of Town Board which ap-
pointed Throop, a retired school
teacher, to chair the project.
Throop said she started read-
ing in the first grade at Grover
School and continues to be an
avid reader. "This can be some-
thing that is very beneficial for
our community," she told the
board at Monday's meeting at
Town Hall.
Grover approves
new development
GROVER - Indian Creek
Development got the green
light from Town Board Monday
night for development of new
homes in Amesbury Heights,
the Hardin property on
Bethlehem Church Road.
Fain Hambright, the real es-
tate agent handling the sale of
the property, brought maps of
the proposed development to
Monday's Town Board meeting.
In other actions, the board
delayed until the November
meeting the letting of bids for
trimming of roadside trees.
Councilman Noel Spivey said
he had contacted two trimmers
and the prices range from $3700
to $8000.
Spivey said both men said the
12 holly trees on Main Street
need to be thinned if they are to
continue to grow but Mayor
Ron Queen said that citizens
were up in arms the last time
the trees were trimmed and he
wants to be sure that it's the
proper pruning time. Spivey
said tree limbs are sticking out
on some streets are a problem
for the town's trash truck.
See Grover, 12-A
Myrick, workers
concerned about jobs
GROVER - With plant layoffs
affecting their co-workers,
Minette Mills employees vented
their concerns to U.S.
Congresswoman Sue Myrick
and N.C. House Rep. Debbie
Clary as the two Republican
candidates for reelection
pumped hands Monday.
Myrick said Minette workers
want the local plant locally
owned and operated and are
concerned about job security.
At nearby Grover Industries,
the two women were taken on a
tour by Grover President
Charlie Harry. For Myrick it
was her first time to see how
Grover Industries runs.
Myrick said she was pleased
that Grover Industries has been
recycling 96 percent of what it
uses for two years with a big re-
cycling unit in house. She said
she heard concerns about strict
OSHA regulations. The plant
has spent $1 million on wastew-
ater improvements.
See Myrick, 12-A
Sr. have volunteered to serve on:
tion for a library which could!
1
LUNCH TIME - Lunch time at Bethware School is a busy place. Betty Alexander, veteran cafeteria
manager, is shown with Bethware students ready for chicken nuggets, a school favorite.
FAST FOOD
School cafeteria s celebrate 50th anniversary;
Students prefer chicken nuggets to balanced meals
Kids' eating habits have changed.
Just ask former West School cafeteria manager
Ethel McGinnis, 83, Bethware cafeteria manager
Betty Alexander, a 24-year veteran, and 32-year
veteran of the school kitchen Joyce Hord of
Kings Mountain High School.
The National School; Lunch Program turns 50
next Wednesday and the city's seven schools plan
special birthday parties and "take your family to
lunch day."
Hord said kids love the fast food line and a la
carte area at the high school. All three cooks say
chicken filet and nuggets remains favorite dishes
of all students.
McGinnis started working in the cafeteria at
West School in 1945 where a classroom was actu-
ally the cafeteria and soup was the main course.
That was the year the federal government took
over the school lunch room program and lunch
was a dime. Her kitchen was stocked with a
stove, icebox, dish cabinet, and a table. In later
years the school added a combination dining
room / library.
Unlike schools of today, McGinnis never served
breakfast but every child was fed at both West
and North Schools where she worked during her
18 year tenure with the system. Her motto was
"you can't teach a hungry child."
Peeling potatoes by hand and washing dishes
by hand were the norm for all three women in the
early years of the school lunchroom program.
Now all cafeterias have stainless steel equipment
and dishwashers plus a staff of helpers.
Alexander recalled that in 1972 that she
sprayed the dirty dishes, put them in a sink of
wash water, then rinsed and racked them and put
them in another sink with a heat booster that
heated the water up to 200 degrees to sterilize the
dishes. There were no walk-in coolers or freezers.
At Bethware the cafeteria was located under the
gymnasium until 1974-75 but in 1976 the school
got a modern kitchen, a big dishwasher and a
double deck oven. Alexander also had a steamer
FRESH FROM THE OVEN - Veteran
Cafeteria Manager Joyce Hord turns out hot
rolls from the oven at Kings Mountain High
School.
to steam vegetables instead of having to put them
in a 40 gallon pot on top of the stove. A large
walk-in cooler, freezer and ice maker made her
day brighter. Usually ice picks were used to chop
the ice.
In earlier years kids had no choice of meals.
They were served the full menu each day. Now
they have meat choices, a choice of three or four
vegetables, choice of two fruits and a bread and
milk.
See Food, 11-A
CANDIDATES PUMP HANDS - Dorthy Robinson, open end spinner at Grover Industries, meets
Congresswoman Sue Myrick and N.C. House Rep. Debbie Clary during a visit by the two candi-
dates to the plant. President Charlie Harry, right, directed the plant tour.
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KM Schools want
funds for salaries
Kings Mountain Board of
Education will continue to push
for a new salary schedule for
non-certified employees but the
funding won't be accomplished
this administrative year, accord-
ing to Board Chairman Ronnie
Hawkins.
Hawkins said the plan would
be the same as teachers and
maintenance staff and would be
reflect the years of experience
which would realize the contri-
bution of custodians, teacher as-
sistants, secretaries, school food
service personnel, etc., some of
whom have 15-25 years of expe-
rience he considered inappro-
priately paid for their services.
"This is long overdue and we
will continue to look for ways
to implement it," said Hawkins
‘after the board returned from a
weekend Advance in Boone
where the full board looked at
other system-wide goals.
"I don't know if the state will
ever approve a salary schedule
for non-certified employees but
Kings Mountain will look at
such a plan if we can come up
‘with the money," he said.
Hawkins said that Kings
Mountain recently added the
maintenance staff to the
salaried schedule that has al-
ways included teachers.
A new ABC's of Education
program is in the works this
year for all grades except high
school, said Hawkins. He said
board members discussed the
new state-approved program at
the recent retreat. The program
is a state board initiative de-
_signed to improve performance
in the schools. ABC is an
acronym for accountability, ba-
sic skills and local control and is
targeted to maintain perfor-
mance in goals set by the state.
Plans for the system's imple-
mentation of the program will
be sent to the state for approval
by March.
"One of the uppermost things
in our minds is the school bond
election in November which if
passed will bring in over $6.1
million in matching funds to
Kings Mountain schools over a
five year period for school facil-
ity needs," he said.
Hawkins said board mem-
bers will be out in the commu-
nity in force in support of the
bonds which will provide $11
million in matching funds for
the three school systems in the
county and a total of $1.8 billion
overall for school needs and
road construction.
"Our system has some match-
ing dollars that we can use if
"This is long
overdue." |
-Ronnie Hawkins
the bond issue passes," he said.
The matching dollars come
from projects funded since 1992
and through debt service from
the local bond issue passed in
the late 1980s.
Hawkins said the board indi-
cated it would suggest to the
school calendar committee that
it prepare two calendars, one
for the current year and another
calendar in advance for the next
school year. Hawkins said the
advance schedules would be
appreciated by parents plan-
ning vacations.
The board may also look at a
dress policy for faculty and stu-
dents. This does not mean a
uniform, he said.
The board may also take a
look at adjusting the tuition fees
which currently are $115 for
out-of-county and $70 for in-
county students who don't re-
side in the KM School District.
Hawkins said the system ranks
seventh from the bottom in tu-
ition costs among North
Carolina schools. The costs
range from $2,000 per student
in Chapel Hill to $50 per stu-
dent in Chatham County. Since
the early 1980's the rate has
been unchanged. The board is
proposing a flat $150 fee and it
would be effective next school
year.
The board looked at improve-
ments which would make
Barnes Auditorium and the
high school even more handi-
capped accessible and looked
at proposed road improvements
targeted for the middle and the
high schools which are included
in a state plan which would in-
‘clude a turning lane at the high
school and widening of Phifer
Road. Expenses for the im-
‘provements at the high school
are minimal but the middle
school project would be more
expensive.
Hawkins said members were
pleased with reading and math
scores system-wide. "We are
seeing a lot of growth in these
areas,” he said. ,
Present for the retreat in addi-
tion to Hawkins were Supt. Dr.
Bob McRae and board mem-
bers, C.A.Allison, Shearra
Miller, B.S. Peeler and Billy
Houze and staff members Dr.
Jane King, Ronnie Wilson, Jean
Thrift and Terri Haas.
KM School Board to meet Monday
The results of end -of-school
and end-of-course testing in
math and reading should bring
smiles to the faces of those at-
tending Monday night's Kings
Mountain Board of Education
meeting at 7 p.m. at Central
School.
"Scores are up and we are
very pleased," said Supt. Dr.
" Bob McRae.
Another major item on the
agenda is the adoption of the
final budget for 1996-97.
The board will also consider
school participation in a coun-
ty-wide drug abuse survey after
approval, with slight modifica-
tions, by the Kings Mountain
Health Council.
‘Last month the Cleveland
County Abuse Task Force invit-
ed the KM system's participa-
tion in the survey.
~ McRae said the Health
Council omitted several sensi-
tive questions which were a
part of the survey. Parents can
opt their students from partici-
pation.
——— TR Mr —r =
First reading of a policy to up
the cost of out-of-district tuition
will be conducted. The board is
considering upping the tuition
costs to $150 for all students
who do not reside in the Kings
Mountain School District. The
. fee has been $115 for out-of-
county and $70 for in-county
students not residing in the KM
District. The fee has been un-
changed since 1980.
Travis Magnum of North
Shelby PTO will request a con-
tribution to the gymnasium
fund at North Shelby which
serves severely handicapped
children from the system and
those from all over Cleveland
County. :
McRae will invite board
members to attend a strategy
and informational meeting
October 15 at 7 p.m. at the
Teacher's Center at Central to
work the upcoming November
elections at which voters will
consider the passage of a big
bond referendum for schools
and road construction.
Si RE