Valentine's
Day flowers from
juniors to seniors
The
youth of Centenary United
Methodist Church put
together 125 rose-bud
vases for every resident
of Smithfield Manor
Nursing & Rehab for
Valentine's Day: (left to
right) James Foy, Elijah
Matthews, Braxton
Wilson, Banks Gaskins,
Lexi Hopkins, Margo
Grimes, Will Harris,
Tristan Matthews, Crecia
Parrish, Mackenzie
Simonson, Will Denning,
Whitley Kate Moore, Bo
Harris, Hudson Schwartz,
and Brayden Parr. (Photo
sent from Centenary
Church)
CORONAVIRUS REPORT
Masks
optional at all schools
"without stipulations"
That's
what Johnston's Board of
Education agreed upon
without discussion or
dissent at a special meeting
Monday afternoon that was
called in light of modified
state guidelines regarding
COVID-19 quarantines and
testing.
The board's decision came
after Assistant
Superintendent David Pearce
reported on "significant
changes" in the state's
Strong Schools Toolkit
announced late last week –
after Johnston's board had
voted 6-1 to make masks
optional starting next
Monday so long as schools
continued to have no more
than 4% of students and
staff either infected or
quarantined at any time.
(Board member Kay Carroll,
who cast the lone vote
against that plan, did not
participate in Monday's
session conducted
"virtually" by
teleconference.)
Monday's action, in effect,
removed the 4% requirement.
In his report to the board,
Dr. Pearce said the state's
revised Toolkit "allows our
schools to end contact
tracing and no longer
requires students or staff
members who are in close
contact with a person who
has tested positive for
COVID-19 to quarantine."
He said Johnston's Public
Health Director Marilyn
Pearson supports the new
guidance from the N.C.
Department of Health and
Human Services.
"Individuals who test
positive must quarantine for
five days and continue to
wear a mask for five days
after their quarantine, and
individuals unable or
unwilling to wear a mask for
an additional five days will
need to remain home," Dr.
Pearce reported.
"It is important to note
that masks will be required
on our buses as required by
federal mandate," he added.
Board member Mike Wooten
offered the motion to make
mask wearing at school
optional after this week
"without any stipulations."
As a result, Johnston will
be one of 45 school
districts across the state
without a mask mandate,
while 70 districts continue
to require masks to be worn
(numbers reported as of Feb.
14).
This morning's
report from Johnston
County Public Schools showed
60 active cases among
students and staff (down
from last week's
87) with 130 students
and 20 staff members
quarantined (down from 261
students and 34 staff a week
ago). Polenta Elementary (on
Cleveland Road west of
Smithfield) had 16 students
in quarantine, but no other
school in Johnston had more
than 10.
VIEW the
school system's COVID
dashboard with data for
all schools>
The
number of new COVID cases
detected here continued
a downward trend this past
week with 924 reported,
compared to 4,588 three
weeks ago. Hospitalizations
also continue to decline (see
table below), yet
COVID-related fatalities
among Johnstonians haven't
let up, with 11 reported
this past week.
Johnston's
vaccination numbers
continue to rise ever so
modestly: This
past week another 253
residents of the county
became "fully vaccinated"
with initially recommended
doses while 558 got booster
shots.
Nearly
54% of the world's
population is now fully
vaccinated against the
coronavirus, according to
Our World in Data, an
information partnership
between the University of
Oxford and the Global
Change Data Lab charity.
Johnston County's rate is
53% while the statewide
rate is 61% and the
nationwide rate is 65%.
VIEW the
current list of
vaccination clinics in
Johnston County>
VIEW the
current list of COVID
testing sites in
Johnston County>
CORONAVIRUS
weekly
measurements |
Case total
since 3-20
(last week) |
Deaths
since 3-20
(last week) |
Hospital
patients
(last week) |
Fully vaccinated *
[got boosters] |
| JOHNSTON COUNTY |
54,556
( 53,632) |
423
(412) |
29
(44) |
110,890: 53%**
[48,454] |
| NORTH CAROLINA |
2,549,339
(2,509,470) |
21,968
(21,482) |
2,872
(3,812) |
6,360,932: 61%**
[3,056,787] |
| UNITED STATES |
78,173,320
(77,267,876) |
928,519
(912,257) |
78,097
(103,753) |
214,218,580: 65%** |
| WORLDWIDE |
418,235,287
(404,010,392) |
5,853,246
(5,780,320) |
|
10,257,109,696
total doses |
* 2 doses
Moderna or Pfizer
vaccines or 1 dose
Johnson &
Johnson vaccine
** Percentage of
total population
(all ages)
Data provided
by: County
of Johnston at
5:15 p.m. February
15
N.C.
Department of
Health and Human
Services at
12:05 p.m.
February 16
Johns
Hopkins
University at
8:21 a.m. February
17 |
Drone's-eye
view of Smithfield-Selma
High School. (JoCo Public
Schools photo)
What's
the forecast for growth in
local schools?
Johnston's
Board of Education got a
10-year forecast for
school-enrollment growth
last week from consultants
based at N.C. State
University who've been
tracking the county's
accelerated residential
development for some time
now. Not surprisingly,
their numbers are greatest
for Johnston's
fast-growing northwestern
quadrant closest to Wake
County.
But what about growth that
appears to be headed
closer to Smithfield?
The chart below answers
that question, showing
school-enrollment upswings
on the northwestern side
of town that's reflected
in projections for West
Smithfield and Wilson's
Mills elementary schools.
And that, in time,
translates into rising
enrollment at
Smithfield-Selma High
School.
The consultants – who work
for OREd (NCSU's
Operations and Research
Education Laboratory) –
told the school board
they're currently tracking
233 residential
subdivisions either
planned or already under
development throughout the
county; and they expect
202 of those projects to
be done by 2025, just
three years away.
Obviously, most of those
are in the exploding
suburban areas on either
side of Clayton. But
recently we've seen a
sudden uptick in interest
among residential
developers for tracts of
land adjacent to West
Smithfield.
The consultants,
meanwhile, are
recommending construction
of one new high school,
one new middle school, and
four new elementary
schools during the decade
ahead – all in
northwestern Johnston –
plus expansion of
Cleveland High School and
existing elementary
schools at Clayton,
Corinth-Holders, and
Princeton.
| 10-YEAR FORECAST FOR PUBLIC-SCHOOL
ENROLLMENT HERE |
| Campus |
Current
capacity |
Current
enrollment |
Projected
in 2031-32 |
| Smithfield-Selma High School |
1,448 |
1,433 |
1,706 |
| Smithfield Middle School |
748 |
560 |
733 |
| South Smithfield Elementary |
600 |
482 |
477 |
| West Smithfield Elementary |
540 |
463 |
705 |
| Wilson's Mills Elementary |
556 |
566 |
865 |
| All high schools |
11,313 |
11,762 |
13,961 |
| All middle schools |
8,836 |
7,922 |
9,587 |
| All elementary schools |
16,802 |
16,234 |
19,662 |
| COUNTYWIDE TOTALS * |
36,951 |
35,918 |
43,210 |
| * not including enrollment
in the
Virtual Academy,
alternative-site
classes, and
charter schools |
Schools
spend $7.8 million on
electronic devices
Johnston's
Board of Education last
week approved two large
expenditures from two pots
of COVID-19 relief funds
from the Federal
Government: $3,757,694 to
purchase 10,000 laptop
computers for students and
$4,082,525 for 1,825
interactive classroom
panels for teachers.
The Chromebooks for
students will replace
older models deemed
obsolete. The money for
those comes from the
Federal Communications
Commission Emergency
Connectivity Fund set up
to help local school
districts "close the
Homework Gap" for students
lacking Internet access or
devices to connect to
virtual classrooms.
The Interactive Trutouch
panels for teachers will
replace 1,445 failing or
obsolete SmartBoards and
provide devices for 380
classrooms that currently
lack such "presentation
technology." The money for
those comes from
Elementary and Secondary
School Emergency Relief
(ESSER) funding authorized
by Congress.
SSS
runner finishes
3rd in state 3A meet,
sets school record
Last Saturday, senior Alex Topoly of Smithfield-Selma High School took 3rd place in the 1,000-meter run at the 3A Indoor Track State Championships in Winston-Salem.
His time of 2 minutes and 38.72 seconds was a new school record.
Alex also excels in academics: He's on the school's latest Principal's List.
(SSS Facebook photo)
A
Literary and Historical
Journal about Johnston
The
Johnston County Heritage
Center has released its
first Literary and
Historical
Journal – a
collection of poems, short
stories, and essays by a
diverse selection of local
writers.
The hardcover book is
dedicated to the late
Margaret Maron, acclaimed
author and Heritage Center
patron who was
honored with the North
Carolina Award for
Literature in 2008, named
Grand Master by Mystery
Writers of America for
lifetime achievement in
2013, and inducted into
the North Carolina
Literary Hall of Fame in
2016. She passed away in
2021.
As
the back cover states,
this collection of short
literary pieces
"celebrates a fast-growing
rural county in central
North Carolina whose
history dates back to
colonial times."
The writings
represent the perspective
of those with deep family
roots – like Johnston
County native and former
North Carolina Poet
Laureate Shelby
Stephenson. They also
represent newcomers like
Evelyn Wool – author,
artist, and farmer who
moved with her husband
Robert from Connecticut to
Pine Level in 2014 to
embrace the slow-paced
“JoCo” way of life –
sometimes
enthusiastically,
sometimes reluctantly.
The book’s 164 pages
feature poems by Oakley
Dean Baldwin, Teresa
McLamb Blackmon, Cindy
Brookshire, Cornell Cox,
Carolyn Grantham Ennis,
Nell M. Evans, Dorothy La
Motta, Shelby Stephenson,
and Lasa Sanders-Williams.
Contributors of short
stories and essays are Joe
Austin, Cindy Brookshire,
Dale Coats, Cornell Cox,
Mary Nell Lee Ferguson,
Kelley Stone Garris, K.
Todd Johnson, Dorothy La
Motta, Margaret Maron,
Gordon McLamb, Gary
Ridout, Vicki Poole
Sherwood, Jake Stephenson,
Sherwood Williford, and
Evelyn Wool.
The book, produced with
financial assistance from
the Cynthia DeFord Adams
Fund, was edited by
Dorothy La Motta and
Heritage Center
Director Todd
Johnson.
The Johnston
County Literary and
Historical Journal,
Volume 1 is a
fund-raiser for The
Heritage Center, priced at
$30, and is available at
the center’s gift
shop at 241 East
Market Street in Downtown
Smithfield 9 a.m.
to 5 p.m.
Monday-Saturday. The book
can be ordered online
at www.lulu.com.
Heritage
Center story & photo
"Trusted
by families since
1977"
840 S. Bright Leaf
Blvd. • 919-934-7164
• www.carrollpharmacy.com
WHAT'S
COMING UP?
Black History program to
salute health-care
professionals
The Black
History Committee of the
Johnston County Heritage
Commission will honor
local African-American
health-care professionals
through a virtual program
next Thursday (Feb. 24),
beginning at 7 p.m. on the
Heritage Center’s YouTube
channel (and
available for viewing
later). Dr. Marilyn
Pearson, Johnston County’s
public-health director,
will be the keynote
speaker. Smithfield native
Lucille Raiford Jones (right)
of Bronx, N.Y. will
receive special
recognition as one of the
first African-American
nurses at Johnston
Memorial Hospital when it
opened in 1951.
Commissioners
get "State of the
County" report Monday
County
Commissioners' Chairman
Butch Lawter will present
the annual State of the
County Address at Monday's
meeting of the board,
scheduled to begin at 6
p.m. at the Courthouse in
Smithfield. Also on the
agenda are two grant
requests requiring the
board's approval: $730,000
from the state's
Motorsports Relief Fund
for GALOT Motorsports and
$120,000 from the state
for development of a
countywide trails and
greenways plan. The full
agenda is posted on the
county's website>
Land
Use Plan public forums
next Wednesday &
Thursday
The
Johnston County Planning
Department will seek
public feedback on
revisions to the county's
Comprehensive Land Use
Plan at two locations next
week: Johnston Community
College in Smithfield on
Wednesday (Feb. 23) and
The Clayton Center in
Downtown Clayton on
Thursday (Feb. 24). The
"drop-in style" sessions
are scheduled from 6 to 8
p.m. both days.
DEATHS
& FUNERALS
Click
on the name to read an
obituary, usually posted
by the funeral home
BILLY RAY
HINES, 65 – died
February 14
SHERLOCK
HOLDER, 91 – died
February 14
ANNA MAE
WILLIAMS GRAHAM, 85
– died February 13
JACKLYN
SELBY ALLEN, 74 –
died February 12
LINDA GAYLE
DAUGHTRY BIZZELL, 74
– died February 12
RAYVON
HAYES, 64 – died
February 12
VIRGINIA
McCURLEY WILLIAMS, 91
– died February 12
RONNIE
DURWOOD LANGSTON SR., 72
– died February 10
SALLY
CAMPBELL REGISTER, 75
– died February 10
ROSA LEE
EVERETTE MARBLEY, 92
– died February 9
RACHEL LEE
WOODARD, 87 – died
February 9
A
WORD (OR TWO) FROM THE
EDITOR
Will
masks off in school turn
COVID back on?
With
face masks about to become
optional in Johnston's
public schools, in a
county with barely half
the population vaccinated
against COVID-19, how
shall students and teachers
and staff most vulnerable to
infection protect themselves
from now on?
Of course, they're still be
able to "mask up" if they so
choose. And if they're not
yet vaccinated, there's
still plenty of opportunity
to get the free COVID shots.
The question is: Will that
be enough to prevent mass
outbreaks that could send
many of Johnston's students
back to remote learning at
home?
We were wondering how many
teachers and staff have been
vaccinated. Since there's no
vaccination mandate for
school employees, Johnston's
school system does not keep
track of how many of them
have been vaccinated, we
were told.
In other words, our schools
are headed into uncharted
waters. For that matter, so
are the rest of us who move
about among so many folks
refusing to take the shots.
One of those glorious Holt Lake
sunsets
The
late Julia Elsee, in an
interview with Gary Ridout
some years ago, said one
of the reasons she was
able to convince her
husband Walter to move
from town to a new home at
Holt Lake was to admire
"the most beautiful
sunsets you will ever
see." Here's one of those
gems, photographed on
Tuesday near the Elsee
residence on Country Club
Road. The days are getting
longer as we move closer
to Spring. Tuesday's
sunset, according to the
Old Farmer's Almanac, took
place at 5:55 p.m.
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