Thursday, July 1, 2004
Vol. 116 No. 27
Since 1889
50 Cents
‘A tough pill to swallow’
Tuition for transfers to Cleveland County Schools set at $1,414
BY ANDIE L. BRYMER
Staff Writer
Kings Mountain students living
in Gaston County will have to
come up with $1,414 a year to
attend the schools they've been |
attending for free, the Cleveland
County School Board voted
Monday night.
“That was the last chance,” said
Alison Champion whose son
Educators’
Austin is a rising third grader at
East Elementary.
The Champions have the money
but many of their son’s friends
don't.
“I'm sad for all the other kids,”
Alison Champion said.
Many of the students at East
Elementary come from lower
income families. Despite the socio-
economic status of the area, East
has been nationally recognized for
its test scores.
Teachers and administrators at
East have campaigned to keep the
current attendance lines. They
have offered after school tutoring
and other enrichment programs.
The proximity of the students’
homes to East has kept transporta-
tion from being an issue. They fear
that the approximate 15 to 20
minute drive to Gaston schools
will be a barrier to after school and
parent involvement.
Approximately 175 students will
be affected.
During the public comment por-
tion of the meeting, East Principal
Jerry Hoyle referred to the story of
the good samaritan in the biblical
book of Luke, saying many stu-
dents were “left beside the road by
merger.”
“You can prove this board has a
heart,” Hoyle said, asking that the
current students be grandfathered.
Hoyle reminded the board that
$5,000 per pupil in state funds will
follow each of the children in
question. He asked that if tuition is
imposed, it be kept between $125
and $150.
“You can boldly take action to
show black or white, resident or
not, Cleveland County cares for
kids,” Hoyle said.
See Tuition, 7A
Council approves
opinions vary
on late start
BY ANDIE L. BRYMER
Staff Writer
Opinions vary among local educators
regarding a proposed bill that would
require school to start no earlier than
August 25 and end by June 10.
Earlier this year, the Cleveland County
School Board passed a resolution against
the bill, asserting it would take away local
control.
To keep the state mandated 180 instruc-
tion days, the new calendar would elimi-
nate 10 teacher workdays.
Gail McDougal, a business instructor at
Kings Mountain High School, says that
teachers will still have the same amount of
lesson planning, grading and other paper-
work. If work days are taken away, they'll
have to use personal time to get their jobs
done.
“It takes away from a teacher’s time with
family. We still have the same amount of
work to do,” she said.
McDougal also believes her students’
grades will suffer. Under the current calen-
dar, end of course testing takes place before
the Christmas break. This will change if the
start date is pushed back.
“That's horrible for test scores,”
McDougal said. :
Not all McDougal’s colleagues agree with
her.
High school science teacher Brian
Thompson likes the idea of fewer work
days at the same salary but doesn’t want to
wait until after Labor Day to start the aca-
demic year.
Rebecca Thompson, a KMHS English
teacher, says that teachers are pursuing con-
tinuing education requirements on their
own time already so losing the days is not
an issue for her. Unlike her husband, she
doesn’t see a problem with waiting until
after Labor Day for school to start.
“1 would like to start back later; a lot of
people disagree,” Rebecca Thompson said.
Dave Greene, KMHS assistant principal,
believes high schools will be affected the
most due to testing schedules. In addition
to the holiday break adversely affecting
scores, testing in January is complicated by
the risk of inclement weather, Greene said.
John Goforth, an administrator with
Cleveland County Schools, agrees with
See Opinions, 5A
Primary care services
at KM health department
BY ANDIE L. BRYMER
Staff Writer
Starting today primary care services will
be available at the Kings Mountain branch
of the Cleveland County Health
Department.
Jill Spangler Parker, a family nurse practi-
tioner, will be at the local office from 2 to 5
p.m. weekdays. Parker can provide routine
physicals, sick and well care to people of all
ages. :
We're seeing a need for sick care. We've
already had a lot of calls,” said Gay Melton,
RN, adult health nurse supervisor.
Parker will provide services like those
offered in a general practitioners office. As a
Kings Mountain Mayor Rick Murphrey will arrive on horse bacl : luring
the city’s Fabulous 4th patriotic celebration Saturday night at the
Jake Early Sports Complex walking track. : :
Fabulous Fourth in
|
Free swimming, fireworks,
music and a salute to World War I
vets happens Saturday. The City of
~ Kings Mountain is hostinga
Fabulous 4th at the YMCA and
Jake Early Sports Complex walk-
ing track.
The Loch Norma
Kings Mountain
Honor Guard,
nurse practitioner, state laws allows her to
diagnose, treat and write prescriptions.
Spangler earned a masters degree in nurs-
ing from UNC-Chapel Hill. She completed
extra course work and clinical hours study-
ing health care in rural and medically under
served settings.
“I have a heart for the segment of the
population not covered by insurance,” she
said.
The health department uses a sliding fee
scale for patients paying out of pocket and
accepts Medicaid, Medicare, Blue Cross and
most other insurance plans.
Some of the services offered in Kings
Mountain include blood pressure checks,
See Health, 5A
resident’s plea
BY ANDIE L. BRYMER
Staff Writer
After hearing an impas-
sioned plea from a grand-
mother, Kings Mountain
City Council will now
require all swimming pools
to have a fence.
Betty Humphries told the
council that her grandchil-
dren’s neighbor Paul
Morrow should be required
to put a fence around the
pool at his Lee Street home.
Pools installed before 1996
were exempt under a grand-
father clause. Morrow could
not be reached for comment.
Humphries said she
feared that either of her
grandchildren, Mikayla, 8,
or Zachary, 3, or one of the
other neighborhood children
could drown in the pool.
The neighborhood is
located near Kings
Mountain's high school and
middle school. Humphries
said this was further proof
the pool is a nuisance.
She told council that she
had worked with the city
for seven years to change
the law.
“At times I felt like I was
beating my head up against
the wall,” she said in an
interview after her presenta-
tion.
Monday night she made
her campaign public.
“T will not go away. I will
not disappear. I will stand
firm,” Humphries told the
council.
She presented the city
with a petition signed by
neighbors.
“So many times nothing is
done til death or injury,”
said Councilwoman Kay
_ Hambright, who met with
Humphries earlier in the
for pool fences
JOSEPH BRYMER/HERALD
Tuesday night Betty
Humphries asked Kings
Mountain City Council to
"require pools have fencing.
She held up tennis shoes
as an example of how fast
.children can run out of
range of the watchful eye
of caretakers.
day. ’
Humphries praised
Hambright, Mayor Rick
Murphrey and former city
councilman Gene White for
their work on the issue.
The city can probably use
county property tax records
to determine which resi-
dents have pools. The new
ordinance will apply to peo-
ple living in the two-mile
extra territorial jurisdiction
also.
In other business, council
members voted down a
cycle billing proposal five to
one. Councilman Rick
Moore was absent.
The plan would have
shortened the time between
when a utility service is
used and when the cus-
tomer is billed. Officials say
the plan could save the city
between $40,000 and $50,000
in bad debt.
To put the plan into
action, some customers
would have received two
See Pool, 5A
ANDIE BRYMER / HERALD
Nurse Practitioner Jill Spangler Parker is on duty for primary care at the Cleveland
County Health Department’s Kings Mountain branch on E. King St.
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