Pay
raises ratified for
county's school staffs
The
Johnston County Board of
Education at its monthly
meeting Wednesday ratified
a new salary schedule for
school-system employees
that locks in pay raises
agreed upon by the board
over the past several
months to retain and
recruit workers in a tight
labor market during a time
of high inflation.
Highlights of the new
schedule:
• All classified employees
will get raises to $15 an
hour or 4% of their
current pay, whichever is
greater.
• Teacher assistants and
TAs doing double duty as
bus drivers will be paid
at the same hourly rate,
ranging from $15.60 to a
maximum of $17.74. That
amounts to an average
increase in pay of 20%
since last August, noted
Stephen Britt, the school
system's chief of finance.
• Bus drivers who hold
that job and none other
with the schools will get
$17.50.
• Long-term temporary
substitute teachers and
TAs will be paid $15 an
hour.
• Certified teachers
working as substitutes
will be paid $140 a day
while non-certified
substitutes will get $120.
• Nutrition assistants may
qualify for $100 monthly
bonuses based on safety
and attendance
requirements.
Certified teachers, whose
base salaries are paid by
the state, will get raises
ranging from 2.5% to 7.2%
as a result of this year's
budget adjustments by the
N.C. General Assembly, Mr.
Britt reported. As a
result of the state's new
schedule plus Johnston
County's supplement,
beginning teachers here
will be paid $41,909.
Meanwhile, "our most
highest experienced
teachers" will get the
2.5% raise, Mr. Britt
noted.
Update
on current staff
vacancies
Brian
Vetrano, chief of human
resources for Johnston
County Public Schools,
told the board the system
currently has 217
vacancies among its
"classified" staff that
includes teacher
assistants, bus drivers,
custodians, cafeteria and
clerical workers – up from
181 at this point a year
ago. Open positions for
certified teachers stand
at 121, up slightly from
118 three weeks prior to
the start of school last
year, he said.
To help recruit new
employees, an Employee
Referral Bonus plan is
being put in place, Mr.
Vetrano reported. Current
JCPS employees will
receive $1,000 for each
new worker they recruit,
provided those workers
continue in service for at
least five months, he
said. Exempt from those
bonuses are school
principals and the HR
staff because recruitment
is already part of their
ongoing duties, Mr.
Vetrano added.
Project
list adopted for this
year's school-bond vote
Johnston's
Board of Education at
Wednesday's session
approved the list of
projects to be funded by
the proposed $177-million
bond issue on the ballot
in November's General
Election:
• A new high school in the
Wilson's Mills area school
administrators say would
relieve overcrowding at
six high schools:
Smithfield-Selma, Clayton,
Cleveland, Corinth
Holders, North Johnston,
and South Johnstond.
• A 23-classroom addition
to Cooper Academy, a
Clayton elementary school.
• A new elementary school
in the Swift Creek area
south of Clayton.
• An addition to Benson
Elementary School.
• Safety and security
upgrades, ADA
improvements, and HVAC
upgrades at schools
throughout the county.
• A variety of improvement
projects at Clayton High,
Cleveland Elementary,
Cleveland High, Four Oaks
Elementary, Glendale-Kenly
Elementary, the Innovation
Academy in Smithfield (new
windows), McGee's
Crossroads Elementary,
Micro Elementary,
Princeton High, Riverwood
schools, Selma Elementary,
Smithfield Middle (HVAC),
Smithfield-Selma High
(tennis courts), South
Smithfield Elementary
(HVAC), South Johnston
High, West Clayton
Elementary, West Johnston
High, and Wilson's Mills
Elementary (HVAC).
Actually, the cost of
those projects is larger
than the $177-million bond
amount and would require
another $18.95 million
from federal ESSER funds
plus $8 million from the
school system's reserves.
(ESSER stands for the
Elementary and Secondary
School Emergency Relief
Fund resulting from
economic-stimulus
legislation passed by
Congress in 2020 and 2021
in response to the
coronavirus pandemic.)
Beyond that, a second bond
issue would be sought in
2024 and and a third in
2026 to accommodate a
projected increase of
9,479 students in Johnston
County's public schools by
the end of the decade,
Brooks Moore, the system's
chief of facilities and
construction, told the
board.
Ronald Johnson absent after
disclosure of secret
recording
He
was the only member of the
school board who didn't
take part in Wednesday's
monthly session, during
which all the other board
members, the
superintendent of schools,
and the system's chief
financial officer
lambasted Mr. Johnson and
the online JoCoReport
for an article published
Monday under the headline:
Shocking
Audio: Johnston Co.
School Board Members and
CFO Discussed Hiding
Millions Of Dollars From
Commissioners> (click
on the headline to see
the story)
Mr. Johnson had given two
candidates running for
Board of Education seats a
recording he secretly made
during one of several
school-board Finance
Committee meetings he
attended this past spring
where budgetary
negotiations with
Johnston's County
Commissioners were
discussed. The candidates,
Kevin Donovan and Michelle
Antoine, provided the
recording to JoCoReport.
"In this recording, Lyn
Andrews, Kay Carroll, and
CFO Steven (sic)
Britt are planning to hide
$8 million from the
commissioners in order to
gain more money," Mr.
Donovan told JoCoReport.
"Money has been missing in
the past and it appears
history is trying to
repeat itself if someone
doesn't bring light to the
subject."
Stephen
Britt (right)
stood before the school
board on Wednesday to
refute claims in the
article. "We have been
transparent in everything
we've talked about" with
county commissioners
during negotiations prior
to adoption of the 2022-23
county budget, he said.
The $8 million in
question, he explained,
involved a transfer from
the schools' unspent
reserves into the new
year's capital budget – a
move that enabled
commissioners to forego an
appropriation for school
upkeep and repairs this
coming year as they
approved an increase of
almost $5.7 million for
school operations. The
$8-million transfer
requires a joint
resolution from the Board
of Education and the
County Board of
Commissioners – another
element of transparency,
Mr. Britt noted.
School board members
responded with lots of
praise for Mr. Britt's
work since he came from
Sampson County to Johnston
along with Superintendent
Eric Bracy two years ago.
"I don't know of anybody
with more integrity than
you that has ever worked
for this school system,"
said Ms. Andrews.
Mr. Carroll said the
published article was "out
of bounds" with
allegations about hiding
of funds by school
personnel, Mr. Britt in
particular. "I apologize
to you for being dragged
into this political mess,"
he told the finance
director.
Referring to Mr. Johnson
and others involved in the
published article, Ms.
Andrews said "it is my
full intention to hold
these individuals
accountable for their
actions."
Terri Sessoms, chair of
the school board's Policy
Committee, said Mr.
Johnson's action in making
the recording public runs
counter to a
state-required Code of
Ethics for School Board
Members, which includes a
rule that board members
"not make secret
recordings, in any format"
at school-related events
or meetings. She said
school personnel have been
told that Mr. Johnson also
has recorded confidential
board sessions held behind
closed doors on certain
matters as state law
allows.
Meanwhile, Mr. Johnson
remains suspended without
pay from his job as a
Smithfield police
detective while town
officials continue to
investigate undisclosed
issues regarding his work.
WATCH the
schools' YouTube video
of Wednesday's school
board meeting>
Chief Genealogist Becky
Owens helps Steven Amchor
sort out his family
history in the Johnston
County Heritage Center's
relocated Reading Room,
which has moved downstairs
to the first floor in
place of the exhibit hall
that's being reassembled
in expanded quarters in
the former Rose's
department store building.
Heritage
Center rearranging
furniture for expansion
It
started out as the
Johnston County Room
inside Downtown
Smithfield's Public
Library before moving into
the former home office of
First Citizens Bank across
the street in 2000. Now,
to make room for additions
to its collections of
local history and
genealogy, the center is
up-fitting leased space a
block away on Market
Street for a separate
museum component.
A "soft opening" of what
will become a Johnston
County Museum is planned
for the weekend of October
7-9 in conjunction with
the annual Ava Gardner
Festival. Todd Johnson,
the center's director,
told the county's Heritage
Commission this week that
the opening exhibit will
feature photographs and
artifacts from the movie
star's early years as the
daughter of a sharecropper
in the Brogden community.
The Heritage Center is
renting the left-hand
portion of the former
Rose's department store
from the Allen Wellons
family for the museum.
Donations coupled with
assistance from the County
of Johnston are paying for
the transformation (the
Heritage Center is a
department of County
Government).
Among the
items being assembled for
display are poster boards
covering various elements
of Johnston County
history, including a panel
on "King of the
Moonshiners" Percy Flowers
and salvaged artifacts
like the neon sign 
from Four
Oaks Drug Company.
The Rose's building, while
not among the oldest of
Johnston's historic
properties, is nonetheless
a Smithfield landmark.
Built at the corner of
Market and Fourth streets,
Rose's held its grand
opening there in 1964
(replacing a former
location across Market
Street from the
Courthouse) but lasted
only until 1979 when the
business departed Downtown
along with other retailers
seeking greener pastures
elsewhere.
Here's a 1960s photo
from a Downtown
Smithfield photo album
assembled by Warren
Grimes, current chairman
of the Johnston County
Heritage Commission:
"Trusted
by families since
1977"
840 S. Bright Leaf
Blvd. • 919-934-7164
• www.carrollpharmacy.com
WHAT'S
COMING UP?
River
Rat Regatta on the Neuse
starts at 5 p.m.
Saturday
The
Town of Smithfield will host
the annual River Rat Regatta
at the Town Commons boat
ramp on North Front Street.
Contestants are required to
build their boats solely out
of cardboard, glue, and duct
tape. Onlookers can enjoy
live music and food trucks.
Contestants may register
just prior to Saturday's
event, beginning at 3 p.m.
County
Commissioners to address
sewer capacity Monday
That's
the main item on the
agenda for the board's
regular third-Monday
session, which begins at 6
p.m. at the Courthouse.
It's a follow-up to a
lengthy discussion by
commissioners last week
and is expected to produce
answers to questions about
the county's future
capacity for sewage
treatment in light of
unprecedented residential
and commercial growth. The
agenda includes
attachments about upcoming
water and sewer projects
as well as suggested
revisions to the county's
Residential Sewer Service
Policy. VIEW the
complete agenda>
DEATHS
& FUNERALS
Click
on the name to read an
obituary, usually posted
by the funeral home
DAVID RAY
CASSEL, 74 – died
August 10
MARY FRANCES
HOCKADAY SMITH, 82 –
died August 8
REBECCA
(BECKY) SUE TAYLOR
GIBBS, 77 – died
August 6
RASOOL
KAREEM EDDINGS, 80 –
died August 4
DENNIS
SMITH, 69 – died
August 4
EDNA RAE
HUDSON JOHNSON, 96 –
died August 1
A
WORD (OR TWO) FROM THE
EDITOR
Another
"blast from the
past"...
Scrolling
through the Heritage
Center's album of
digitized Downtown
Smithfield photos
assembled by Warren Grimes
(where I found the 1960s
photo of the Rose's
building shown above), I
came across this gem
showing Marvin Johnson's
Cities Service station on
the "Truck Lane" (today's
Bright Leaf Boulevard)
when gasoline was priced
at just 28.9 cents a
gallon! The structure
behind the station housed
Johnston County's last
working cotton gin, which
ceased operations in 1975.
Thank goodness gas prices
this week dropped well
below the $4-per-gallon
mark, the result of
worldwide petroleum supply
moving closer to consumer
demand.
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