Now
that's a really creepy
Halloween display!
Giant
skeletons in this yard at
the corner of Sanders
Street and Walnut Drive in
South Smithfield are
intimidating creatures, to
say the least. Where in
the world (or out of this
world) does one get such
oversized specimens?
Hopefully, they didn't
come from an
archaeological dig around
here!
School
board censures Johnson
for a 3rd violation
The
Johnston County Board of
Education, during a
special session last
Thursday, voted to censure
board member Ronald
Johnson for a third
violation of board
policies, this one
involving "inappropriate
text messages"
concerning a school
employee during meetings
of the board in April
and May of 2019.
The board in August
censured Mr. Johnson for
violating a policy that
prohibits secret
recordings of discussions
among board members and
another that bars a member
from interfering in
student-assignment matters
(details in
the Sun of
August 25).
In both cases, Mr. Johnson
was the only board member
to vote against the
resolutions of censure. He
also was the only member
to oppose sending the
contents of investigations
leading to the censures to
the District Attorney's
Office, which has
authority to initiate
proceedings that could
lead to Mr. Johnson's
removal from office.
The latest action against
him came after an unnamed
school employee notified
Todd Sutton, the school
board's chairman, about
text messages exchanged in
2019 between Mr. Johnson
and Jimmy Lawrence, the
board's attorney at the
time. Those messages
became public during a
Facebook live broadcast on
August 8.
As a result, Mr. Sutton
asked Tharrington Smith, a
Raleigh law firm currently
under contract to advise
the school system on legal
matters, to investigate
the employee's complaint.
"We conclude that Mr.
Johnson failed to comply
with the board's ethical
standards and other duties
of board members when he
sent the text messages,"
states the law firm's
report made public at last
week's meeting.
VIEW the
complete investigative
report presented to the
school board last
week>
WATCH the
proceedings of last
week's meeting on the
schools' YouTube
channel>
Audit
report finds nothing
amiss in school system's
finances
At
Tuesday's regular monthly
meeting, Johnston's Board
of Education received the
school system's annual
audit report from Adam
Scepurek, a partner in the
accounting firm of
Anderson, Smith, Wike who
said he and his staff
found no discrepancies in
the books for fiscal
2020-21, which ended June
30. Johnston's schools
closed out the year with a
General Fund balance of
$31,345,361 – an increase
of 7.9% over the previous
year, Mr. Scepurek
reported. That amount will
be reduced by $8 million
once the County
Commissioners sign off on
the school board's request
to transfer those funds
into the system's Capital
Outlay Fund, the auditor
noted. He characterized
the system's rebuilding of
its fund balance over the
past couple of years
"nothing short of an
extreme turnaround" – a
phenomenon he said was
experienced by many school
districts as a result of
extra federal and state
aid coupled with savings
from school shutdowns
brought on by the COVID
pandemic. VIEW the
complete report from the
independent auditing
firm>
Bonus
payments approved for
staffs at 15 improving
schools
The
board approved payment of
bonuses ranging from
$1,000 to $3,000 to 1,157
members of the staffs at
15 schools that met
predesignated benchmarks
of academic improvement
this past year. Included
are teachers and all other
employees at Smithfield
Middle, South Smithfield
Elementary, West
Smithfield Elementary, and
Wilson's Mills Elementary
schools. Total cost of the
bonuses will run about
$2.4 million, to be paid
out of the school system's
General Fund balance,
Chief of Finance Stephen
Britt told the board,
which authorized
continuation of the
program for another year.
New
covered entrance to be
built at Smithfield
Middle School
The
board approved a $303,000
contract with low-bidder
Daniels and Daniels
Construction Company of
Goldsboro to build a new
covered entrance and
canopy for the "carpool
drop off" at Smithfield
Middle School. Funding
comes from the county
school-bond issue approved
by Johnston's voters in
2018.
South
Smithfield's Advisory
Council gets five new
members
The
board approved the
nominations from the
elementary school's
principal, Susan Jones,
and present council
members, of Waynica
Bradshaw, Rick Buckner,
Kate Byrd, Jeff Caldwell,
and Kellie Smith. They're
appointed to three-year
terms.
Our
signs are changing
to remind you that a
new
season is headed our
way.
Call
Pernell.com
to make sure
you're ready.
It's to be the Johnston
County Public Center when
this building under
construction beside US 70
Business east of
Smithfield is ready next
year for the county's
9-1-1 Communications and
Emergency Management
departments. It's in front
of the county's new
Detention Center (shown
below), expected to be in
service in January.
County
gets big grant to equip
its new 9-1-1 center
From
Johnston County Public
Information Office
Johnston
County 9-1-1 was recently
awarded a substantial
grant from the North
Carolina 9-1-1 Board for
paging and radio
infrastructure upgrade
needs. The department
applied for the grant this
past May and was notified
recently it had been
awarded the full request
of $1,756,657.
9-1-1
Director Brett Renfrow
said the grant money will
be used to outfit the
center with the latest
technology available for
paging capabilities. It
will also cover costs for
moving the current phone
system (from the
Courthouse, where 9-1-1 is
presently housed). The
funds will also help cover
installation of a new
generator at the Public
Safety Center. To learn
more about the county's
9-1-1 operation, visit https://www.johnstonnc.com/911/.
HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS REPORT
SSS stays unbeaten with 20-13 win at
West Johnston
Repeating
the scenario from a week
earlier, the Spartans
jumped out to a 14-0 lead
against the Wildcats
Friday night, had the lead
cut to 14-13 after
halftime, then stiffened
on defense and added a
third touchdown late in
the game for the Spartans'
seventh win of the season
with no losses.
SSS is also undefeated in
Quad County 3-A Conference
battles at 4-0. It was the
Homecoming game for West
Johnston, which dropped to
2-2 in conference play.
The Spartans' touchdowns
came on runs by sophomore
Devyn Grant and senior
Gerard Sanders Jr. and a
TD pass by senior John
Renfrow, who completed 9
of 14 attempts for 136
yards. Sophomore Julian
Dobbin led the rushing
attack with 95 yards on 12
carries.
On defense, senior Joshua
Hightower had 13 tackles,
three of them sacks.
Senior Michael Thompson
Jr. and sophomore Danyaeul
McCray each had an
interception.
Smithfield-Selma hosts
conference foe Southern
Wayne this Friday, and
it's Homecoming. Here are
the current conference
standings and conference
records:
Smithfield-Selma, 4-0;
C.B. Aycock, 4-0; West
Johnston, 2-2; South
Johnston, 2-2; Wilson
Hunt, 2-2; East Wake, 1-3;
Wilson Fike, 1-3; Southern
Wayne, 0-4.
| Last
week's football
scores for other
Johnston County
schools |
Cleveland (7-0)
47
Willow Spring
2 |
Clayton (4-3)
3
South Garner
0 |
Corinth Holders
(2-5)
0
Fuquay-Varina
36 |
South Johnston (4-3) 42
Southern
Wayne
7 |
North Johnston (2-5) 0
Beddingfield
34 |
Princeton (6-1)
55
Goldsboro
0 |
Spartan
soccer team wins one,
loses one in conference
Smithfield-Selma's
boys soccer team is 5-3-2
in Quad County 3-A
Conference matches after
Monday's 3-0 win over
Wilson Hunt and
Wednesday's 2-1 loss at
Wilson Fike. The team's
record overall now stands
at 5-9-4.
The Spartan girls
volleyball team dropped to
a record of 6-15 overall
and 1-12 in conference
play after losses to
Southern Wayne, West
Johnston, and C.B. Aycock
this past week.
The girls tennis squad
finished the season with a
record of 2-16 overall,
2-11 in conference
matches.
Neuse
Charter volleyball
team 9-0 in conference
matches
The
Cougars' girls volleyball
team remains undefeated in
Carolina 1-A Conference
matches after last
Thursday's win over
Rosewood and Tuesday's win
over Lakewood. Neuse
Charter closes out the
regular season at home
today (Thursday) versus
Union High. The team's
overall season record is
17-3.
The boys soccer team is
6-8 overall, 2-6 in
conference play after last
Thursday's 8-1 loss at
Hobbton and Wednesday's
7-1 loss at home against
Rosewood.
HOME
FOR SALE IN SOUTH
SMITHFIELD:
2,427 sq. ft., 3
bedrooms, 2.5 baths,
2-car garage. 811
Baker Street (MLS#
2478008). Asking
price: $410,000.
SUSAN
LASSITER, Broker
• FONVILLE
MORISEY
REALTY • 919-669-9235
WHAT'S
COMING UP?
County
Commissioners meet in
regular session Monday
The
Johnston County Board of
Commissioners will meet at
6 p.m. Monday at the
Courthouse. The agenda was
not ready in time for this
week's edition. Once
posted, it may be viewed on the
county's website>
Health
Department offering flu
vaccines on Thursdays
The
Johnston County Public
Health Department began its
Adult Influenza Vaccine
Clinic today that will
continue every Thursday 9-11
a.m. and 2-4 p.m. No
appointment is necessary.
All forms of insurance will
be filed. Costs for patients
without insurance will be
$25 for regular flu vaccine
and $70 for high-dose
vaccine (for patients 65 and
older). For more information
visit www.johnstonnc.com/health
or call the Health
Department at 919-989-5200.
The Health Department is
located at 517 North Bright
Leaf Boulevard in
Smithfield.
Early
voting for the Nov. 8
election starts next
Thursday
Smithfield's
early-voting place
continues to be the First
Baptist Church Ministry
Center at South Fourth and
Johnston streets. Here's
the complete list of
Johnston County
early-voting sites with
dates and times all will
be open through November
5:
VIEW the
two-page SAMPLE BALLOT
for Smithfield precinct
voters>
DEATHS
& FUNERALS
Click
on the name to read an
obituary, usually posted
by the funeral home
RONNIE LEE
CROCKER, 77 – died
October 11
WAYNE RONDA
REGISTER, 82 – died
October 8
MARTHA
GRIFFIN PELLETIER, 81
– died October 7
CHRISTOPHER
ANTONIO SURLES, 35 –
died September 29
A
WORD (OR TWO) FROM THE
EDITOR
Are
student transfers
undermining local
schools?
That
was a question raised at
last week's meeting of the
Smithfield Town Council
during a presentation by
Landis Bullock speaking in
behalf of Friends of
Johnston County Schools, a
committee promoting
approval of the
$177-million school-bond
issue on the ballot this
fall.
Councilman Roger Wood and
Mayor Andy Moore expressed
fears that construction of
new schools and
renovations at older ones
with bond funds would be
accompanied by more
transfers of local
students out of the
Smithfield-Selma school
district. That has been an
issue in the past, they
reminded Mr. Bullock.
He couldn't address their
concern because neither he
nor the rest of us have
any recent data about
school transfers in
Johnston County. That's
because the Board of
Education no longer
approves or denies
transfer requests in open
session as the board was
doing a couple of years
ago.
Presumably, that change
was made to protect the
privacy of students and
their parents. But
couldn't we at least get a
summary report each month
with numbers of transfers
by school district?
The absence of facts about
the issue leads to
negative speculation about
it.
A
spectacular autumnal
sunset at the N.C. coast
The
editor joined family
members for a long weekend
at Oak Island near
Southport and observed the
sun setting behind a
fishing pier last Friday
evening. "Best sunset
pictures I've ever taken!"
he exclaimed. Sometimes
you get lucky.
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