Thursday, February 13, 2003
Vol. 115 No. 7
50 Cents
url Horne
celebrates
her 95th
birthday
11B
Accor to
fill new
position
in schools
By GARY STEWART
Editor of The Herald
Bethware Principal Mary
Accor was appointed to the
new position of Director of
Administrative Services for
Kings Mountain Schools at
Monday
night's
School
Board
meeting at
Central
School.
The pro-
motion
becomes
effective
July 1.
In addition,
the School Board appointed
three new principals and
extended the contracts of
current principals, assistant
principals and directors.
Their contracts will be
extended from July 1, 2003
until June 30, 2007.
New principals will be
Valerie Boyd, Bethware;
Gary Blake, West; and Janet
Anthony Grover. Current
Grover Principal Jackie
Lavender and current West
Principal Mike Rhoney will
be retiring on June 30.
Persons who were award-
ed four-year extensions on
their contracts were:
Sheila Sisk, Director of
Career and Technical
Education;
Ethel Pedersen, principal
of Kings Mountain
Intermediate School;
Susie Wray, assistant prin-
cipal at Grover School;
Bob Grigg, principal of
Davidson School;
Phil Weathers, Director of
Student Support Services;
John Goforth, Executive
Director of Instruction;
Ronny Funderburke,
assistant principal of Kings
Mountain High School;
John Yarbro, principal of
Kings Mountain High
School;
Lynda Stewart, principal
of Kings Mountain Middle
School;
Mickey Powers, assistant
principal of Kings
Mountain Middle School;
and,
Dave Greene, assistant
principal of Kings
Mountain High School.
ACCOR
See Accor, 3A
/
BY ABIGAIL WOLFORD
Staff Writer
Being a woman has its
advantages for Detective
Sergeant Lisa Proctor, Child
and Sexual Abuse Investigator
for Kings Mountain. She is
able to relate to her clients
more easily than she would be
able to as a man, she said.
Recently Proctor was named
Child Abuse Investigator of
the Year by four-county Region
C Law Enforcement
Association.
Proctor was originally put in
the narcotics division of the
police department, but she
was given the additional job,
partly because she is a woman,
she said. As a woman, she
often has an easier time getting
GARY STEWART / HERALD
ohn ‘
4-month-old Miyana Brice is pushed around the Kings Mountain walking track by her
godmother, Miranda Logan
Council votes to consider
annexation of Shelby Road
BY ABIGAIL WOLFORD
Staff Writer
On Monday evening, Kings Mountain
City Council members voted to consider
annexing a section of Shelby Road. The area
consists of approximately 500-600 acres,
which is less than a square mile.
The meeting consisted of a presentation
by John Witherspoon, of Benchmark, Inc.,
and a vote by City Council.
Council members voted 5-1 to adopt a res-
olution to consider the annexation, with
Carl DeVane dissenting and Rick Moore
absent. Even with the affirmative vote,
nothing is set in stone yet, said Mayor Rick
Murphrey. The city is simply considering
final decisions are made.
A public informational meeting has been
set for March 31 at 7 p.m. City officials will
share plans for extending services to the
annexed area at the meeting and will
answer questions from both Kings
Mountain citizens and residents of the pro-
posed area of annexation.
A public hearing has also been set for
April 11 at 7 p.m. Plans for extending the
services of the city to the residents of the
proposed annexation area will again be dis-
cussed, and the public will be given a
chance to voice concerns regarding the
annexation. Both meetings will take place at
City Hall.
The report on service extension plans, as
the annexation. The public will have its
chance to speak out on the issue before any
children and victims of sexual
abuse to talk to her than a uni-
formed male officer would,
she said. :
She said she investigated
approximately 15-20 cases of
child and sexual abuse last
year, but not all of them
turned out to be legit. One of
her jobs as an investigator is to
determine the truth in a situa-
tion. She said her job is not to
prove that someone is guilty or
not but to find the truth.
Reports of child abuse are
initially made by the victim or
by social services, said Proctor.
Officers could also notice
something unusual about the
child and notify social services
of the problem. Anonymous
reports also come in occasion-
ally, but she said she has no
RE
KINGS MOUNTAIN PEOPLE
Proctor versatile policewoman
See Council, 2A
o decision
in school
merger case
By GARY STEWART
Editor of The Herald
No decision Was rendered
by the North Carolina Court
of Appeals in the Kings
Mountain school merger
case Wednesday.
Kings Mountain's appeal
against the State Board of
Education's approval of the
Cleveland County merger
plan was heard by a three-
judge panel composed of
judges James A. Wynn Jr.,
Patricia Timmons-Goodson
and Eric Levinson.
The judges heard attor-
neys representing KM
District Schools and the
State Board of Education,
and said they would make
their decision at a later date.
The hearing could be the
final step in the merger
fight, which began more
than three years ago after
Cleveland County
Commissioners approved a
plan to merge the Kings
Mountain, Shelby and
Cleveland County systems.
The plan did not include
184 students who live in the
Gaston County portion of
the Kings Mountain city
limits so KMDS and a group
of parents filed suit to stop
the merger, claiming the
county commissioners did
not follow State law in
drawing up the plan.
The State School Board
approved the plan on June
1, 1999. Kings Mountain
then filed action against that
board and the matter has
been held up in court ever
since.
«According to KM’s attor-
neys, Brian Shaw and
Richard Schwartz of
Raleigh, if there is a split
decision in the Court of
Appeals the losing side can
appeal to the State Supreme
Court. However, if the vote
is 3-0, the decision can be
appealed but the Supreme
Court can choose not to hear
it.
If Kings Mountain loses
its case - which it has in
every other appeal so far -
the Civil Rights division of
the U.S. Justice Department
would have to preclear the
merger. That decision could
power to investigate those
claims. The anonymous
reports are passed on to social
services, which investigates
the claims and notify the
police if they find problems.
When a report of abuse
comes in, Proctor said an offi-
cer immediately files and inci-
dence report. If the allegation
occurred recently, the depart-
ment immediately contacts
her, she said. Otherwise, she
looks at the report when she
returns to the office.
“Child abuse is a hard thing
to investigate. I'm human just
like anybody else, but no per-
sonal feelings can creep in.
The hardest part is trying not
to get involved personally.
See Proctor, 3A LISA PROCTOR
seven-year period.
year is $74,000.
QE
XI
hel
HOMETOWN
BANK
| FIRST NATIONAL BANK
Celebrating 129 Years
Kings Mountain Gastonia
300 W. Mountain St.
704-739-4782 704-865-1233
Shelby
529 New Hope Road 106 S Lafayette St.
704-484-6200
take up to 60 days.
Kings Mountain
Superintendent Larry Allen
said he was pleased with
the way Wednesday's hear-
ing went.’
“The judges listened
intently and from the ques-
tions they asked we knew
they had prepared them-
selves as far as reviewing
other cases’ transcripts,” he
said. “We feel very comfort-
able that they were giving
us a fair hearing.”
Kings Mountain's attor-
neys indicated that NC
Court of Appeals decisions
usually take about 90 days,
but it could take longer
because of a backlog of
cases in that court, Allen
said.
Among those attending
the hearing was School
Board member Mike Smith,
a Gaston County resident
who was elected to the
School Board in November
2001. Kings Mountain hopes
the fact that a Gaston
County resident was elected
to the Board will carry some
weight in the judges’ deci-
sion.
Although there has never
been any State legislative
action to make the Gaston.
County portion of the KM
city limits a part of Kings
Mountain District Schools,
Allen said KMDS has been
receiving per pupil expendi-
tures for the Gaston stu-
dents for more than 35
years.
“Our attorneys checked
all of the books and closets
and files in Raleigh, and
there was no legislative
action that took place,” he
said. “But all of this goes
back to when Don Jones
first became superintendent
here. They worked through
the school board attorney
and the State Controllers
Office, and the State
Controller sought counsel
from the Attorney General
office, and it was deter-
mined by the Attorney
General's representative at
that time that the (Gaston)
students were Kings
Mountain students. So
Gaston County started send-
ing the money.”
Deal guarantees
KM Schools will
cut energy costs
By GARY STEWART
Editor of The Herald
Kings Mountain Board of Education Monday
night voted to enter into a contract with Energy
Education, Inc. to reduce energy costs in Kings
Mountain District Schools.
The system will pay the company $69,000 per
year for four years in return for what the firm
promises to be $1,203,467 in energy savings over a
The company offers a guarantee that if the pro-
jected energy savings are not met in each year of
the agreement, it will reimburse the school system
the difference. The projected savings in the first
Glenn Gaines of EEI said the company has been
in business for 17 years and has a sound track
record with 486 school districts in 44 states. During
those 17 years, he said the company has written
See Deal, 3A
" Bessemer City
225 Gastonia Hwy.
704-629-3906