Schools
want $12.9 million more
from county
Superintendent
Eric Bracy's proposed
2023-24 budget for
Johnston County Public
Schools seeks an increase
of $12,924,179 in county
funding – to new totals of
$88,497,179 for operating
expenses and $10 million
for capital projects.
Among key items included
in his proposal:
• A $500-per-year increase
in teacher supplements
(Johnston ranks 14th among
the state's public school
districts in total
compensation for
teachers).
• $16-an-hour minimum pay
for classified staff,
which includes teacher
assistants, custodians,
cafeteria workers, and
office personnel (the
state's minimum is $15).
• A new bus-driver pay
plan that raises the
minimum wage from $17.50
to $18.26 per hour, pays
perfect-attendance and
safety bonuses up to $300
a month, and offers an
extra $2,500 to new
employees.
• SROs at all schools
(School Resource Officers
are assigned by the
Sheriff's Department and
some municipal police
departments).
• $1.7 million in
performance bonuses to
staffs of schools recently
graded "D" or "F" that
show significant academic
improvement.
• $350,000 to increase
supplements paid to
principals.
• $7,987,500 in capital
outlay to provide ADA
handicap access at all
campuses and athletic
venues.
The Johnston County Board
of Education, meeting in
special Wednesday
afternoon, voted 5-1 to
forward the
superintendent's proposal
to the County
Commissioners. Michelle
Antoine cast the only
dissenting vote after the
board refused to grant her
request to draw down $8
million from reserves for
a new fine arts center at
Clayton High School that
wasn't built when funding
from the 2018 county bond
issue ran short because of
inflation.
Chief of Finance Stephen
Britt is forecasting a
$7.4-million draw-down
from the schools' Fund
Balance to help fulfill
the superintendent's
budget request. That would
reduce the balance at the
end of the next fiscal
year to about $19 million.
He advised against
reducing those reserves
any further given
uncertainties regarding
inflation, staffing needs,
and an end to federal
COVID-relief aid.
Board members voting in
support of the
superintendent's proposed
budget were Lyn Andrews,
Kay Carroll, Devin
Donovan, Terry Tippett,
and Mike Wooten. Ronald
Johnson was on jury duty
and did not attend
Wednesday's meeting.
VIEW all the
data that was
distributed during
Wednesday's budget
presentation>
As the sun was going down last Friday – on
the eve of Smithfield's
annual Ham & Yam
Festival – folks got a
chance to take in the
ribbon cutting and a
concert at the
reconstructed Neuse
River Amphitheater.
New
amphitheater star of the
show at Ham & Yam
Recognized
at Friday's ribbon-cutting
ceremony were three of the
planners of the new
facility: (left to
right) Parks &
Recreation Director Gary
Johnson, Town Planner
Stephen Wensman, and
Executive Director Donna
Bailey-Taylor of the
Johnston County Visitors
Bureau.
What's
That Yam Thing?
Meredith
Wood of Johnston County's
4-H program and Scott
Mason, WRAL-TV's "Tar Heel
Traveler," presented
awards to winners of the
Ham & Yam Festival's
sweet-potato decorating
contest for youngsters.
One of the festival's
original events in 1985,
the contest this year was
sponsored by Capitol
Broadcasting Company.
Another original
festival attraction:
the Kiwanis Club's
country-ham biscuit sale –
a tasty offering that
apparently drew
larger-than-usual
patronage this year, with
some folks reporting an
hour-long wait in line.
SHERRON ROOFING AND SHEETMETAL
Call
TOM SHERRON to
learn
how
his crew can help you!
919-631-2695 (cell)
919-934-1160 (office)
Yet
another ribbon-cutting –
at expanded water plant
Town
of Smithfield officials
cut the ceremonial ribbon
last Thursday afternoon to
mark completion of work to
expand the Water
Filtration Plant: (left
to right)
Councilman Roger Wood,
Town Manager Mike Scott,
Utilities Director Ted
Credle, Mayor Andy Moore,
Bashar Al-Maseri of the
N.C. Department of
Environmental Quality,
Councilman Sloan Stevens,
and Water Plant
Superintendent Steve Lane,
who led a public tour of
facilities enlarged by the
$17.6-million project that
expands the plant's daily
treatment capacity from
6.2-million to 8.3-million
gallons. "What we do is
not for tomorrow; it's for
20, 30, 40 years from
now," Mayor Moore stated.
PHOTOS from
a tour of the plant's
new facilities are on
the FEATURE PAGE>
Smithfield
advised to raise its
water rates by 4%
It's
not because of a loan
that's paying for recent
expansion of the town's
Water Filtration Plant.
Rather, it's to generate
sufficient operating
income to fund future
replacement of
depreciating facilities
and also have cash on hand
to take care of unexpected
expenses and emergencies.
That's what a consulting
firm told the Smithfield
Town Council during
another budget session
held Monday evening. Jill
Joseph of Utility
Financial Solutions (UFS),
under contract with the
town to recommend where
utility rates ought to go
over the next several
years, said the town's
debt ratio is "very
healthy" for its water and
sewer operations and
shouldn't require higher
rates at this time.
Even so, she presented two
options for water rates to
cover anticipated
operating expenses and
contingencies: increases
of (a) 4% annually or (b)
6.8% every other year
through 2028. For a
typical residential
customer, a 4% increase
would add just under $1 to
a monthly bill, she
calculated.
"Small adjustments over
time are much better than
a big one all at once,"
said Ted Credle, the
town's director of
utilities.
The council took the UFS
recommendation under
advisement, deferring a
decision until examination
of Town Manager Mike
Scott's recommended budget
for 2023-24 that he plans
to bring forth next week.
His budget will based on
discussions held at
several council sessions
over the past six weeks.
Meanwhile, UFS is not
recommending any change in
the town's sewer rates.
But those may have to go
up, depending on what the
County of Johnston decides
to charge Smithfield for
wastewater treatment in
the year ahead. (The town
operates its own water
plant, but turned its
sewage plant over to the
county some years ago.)
The town manager is
recommending a 2% increase
in the town's electrical
rates.
Downtown
program to get
additional funding
During
a budget session held last
Thursday evening, council
members agreed to increase
the town manager's
recommended funding for
the Downtown Smithfield
Development Corporation by
$50,000 in the year ahead,
with $10,000 of that to
support DSDC's operations
and $40,000 set aside in a
new "Project Fund" that
would require the
council's approval of
specific things to be
done.
Mr. Scott pointed out that
the town has not raised
its annual contribution to
DSDC since 2017. Including
extra property taxes
collected within Downtown
Smithfield's Municipal
Service District and
motor-vehicle taxes
assigned to the district
under a state rule
regarding unknown
addresses, the town's
contribution has totaled
$151,460 in recent years.
Equal
contributions to
Smithfield's schools
On
another matter brought up
at last Thursday's
session, the council
agreed to set $1,500 as
the amount of equal
donations to schools that
lie within Smithfield's
jurisdiction after some
discussion about whether
the town should be making
such grants in the first
place.
This past year, five
schools – Smithfield
Middle, South Smithfield
Elementary, Neuse Charter
School, the Innovation
Academy at South Campus,
and the Career &
Technical Leadership
Academy (housed at
Johnston Community
College) – each got grants
of $1,000 from the town
while Smithfield-Selma
High and West Smithfield
Elementary received $2,000
apiece.
This year Neuse Charter
had asked for $5,000 to
help pay for athletic
uniforms and the
Innovation Academy had
asked for $3,000 to expand
its programs for students
interested in engineering
and robotics.
Councilman David Barbour
said providing money for
schools to buy uniforms
for sports is "not
something we should do."
Councilman Sloan Stevens
went even further,
complaining that the
grants to schools amount
to "charity" that "we
shouldn't be doing" since
Smithfield's taxpayers are
also County of Johnston
taxpayers who are
responsible for funding
local schools.
In the end, council
members reached a
compromise by agreeing to
put $1,500 in the coming
year's budget for all the
schools requesting aid
from the town. "That shows
we do support our
schools," Mr. Stevens
concluded.
FOR
SALE:
overlooking
the pond in
S. Smithfield
Brick-veneer
home at 313 West Wilson
St. contains 4,612 square
feet with five bedrooms,
five full baths, two-car
garage on 0.64-acre
landscaped lot. Priced
at $760,000
(MLS# 2509894)
SUSAN
LASSITER, Broker,
Fonville Morisey Realty
• 919-669-9235
18 picked for Governor's School includes 4
from SSS
This year, a record-breaking 18 students from
Johnston County Public
Schools were selected to
attend the North
Carolina Governor's
School – a four-week
summer residential
program for gifted and
talented high-school
students, integrating
academic disciplines,
the arts, and unique
courses on each of two
campuses: Raleigh's
Meredith College and
Winston-Salem State
University. The four
selected from
Smithfield-Selma High
School are Abimifoluwa Adeshina, Sam Bullock, Denasia Dixon, and Michael Schmidt.
Photo from Johnston County Public Schools
HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS REPORT
Smithfield-Selma girls soccer: 10
wins, 10 losses
The
Smithfield-Selma High
girls soccer team wrapped
up its season with 3-2 win
versus C.B. Aycock High
last Thursday and a 3-0
loss to West Johnston on
Monday. That put the
Spartans' season record at
10-10 and their Quad
County 3-A Conference
record at 7-7, good enough
for fourth place. In the
victory over Aycock, Ava
Cummings, Angelica Mendes,
and Emily Stuckey scored
the SSS goals.
The SSS boys baseball team
ended the regular season
with an 8-5 loss against
C.B. Aycock High last
Thursday. The Spartans
were winless in conference
play and 2-18 overall with
both wins coming at the
start of the season versus
Neuse Charter. Luke
Woodall hit a two-run
homer in the game versus
Aycock.
The girls softball team
ended the season without a
win in 22 tries.
Neuse
Charter girls soccer
finishes season at
12-5
The
Neuse Charter School girls
soccer team finished the
season with a 12-5 record
after losing to Hobbton
4-2 in the Carolina 1-A
Conference tournament last
Thursday.
The Downtown Smithfield Development
Corporation has
purchased 33 planters
like the two shown here
to grace the sidewalks
of the central business
district. (Photos from
DSDC Facebook page)
WHAT'S
COMING UP?
Downtown's Farmers Market, Round 2,
this Saturday
Scheduled
every other weekend
through May, the second
edition continues from 9
a.m. till 2 p.m. Saturday
in the 100 block of South
Third Street, which will
be closed to vehicular
traffic during that time.
Organizers are owners of
two shops on that block –
The Oak City Collection
and The Twisted Willow –
which got permission from
the Smithfield Town
Council to stage the event
three times to see how
things go. The organizers
have requested
continuation beyond May
27.
Several
planning items on
Monday's County Board
agenda
The
Johnston County Board of
Commissioners will hold a
public hearing on a Master
Plan for a proposed
regional park in Cleveland
Township near the start of
its 6 p.m. meeting Monday
at the Courthouse. Also on
the agenda are discussions
about the county's
Comprehensive
Transportation Plan and
revisions to its
Comprehensive Land Use
Plan. An update from the
Triangle Land Conservancy
is also scheduled.
VIEW the
agenda's details posted
on the county's
website>
County
session Wednesday on
septic permit changes
Johnston
County's Environmental
Health Department will host
an information session
next Wednesday about
upcoming changes to the
subdivision approval
process related to septic
permitting. The meeting
will continue from 4 to
5:30 p.m. in the
auditorium of the Johnston
County Agricultural Center
off NC 210 west of
Smithfield. New procedures
will begin July 1 and are
expected to speed up
response times for septic
permits issued by
Environmental Health
staff.
DEATHS
& FUNERALS
Click
on the name to read an
obituary, usually posted
by the funeral home
BONNIE KAY
CREECH BAKER, 69 –
died May 9
ADRIAN
JEROME (A.J.) BALL JR.,
80 – died May 9
JOSEPHINE
DAVIS JONES, 92 –
died May 8
MARGIE NELL
PARRISH GOWER, 92 –
died May 5
ROBERT
QUINCEY PEACOCK, 52
– died May 5
CARLTON
DWIGHT EXUM, 75 –
died May 4
APPIE INEZ
WILSON CREECH, 90 –
died May 3
A
WORD (OR TWO) FROM THE
EDITOR
Teacher
Appreciation Week?
"Where's the beef"?
That
line from an old Wendy's
commercial comes to mind
as I think about North
Carolina's treatment of
classroom teachers in our
public schools. They're
underpaid, overworked, and
targeted by politicians
for their alleged
"indoctrination" of
students on matters
related to race and
gender.
Several teachers used the
nationwide commemoration
of Teacher Appreciation
Week to appear before the
Johnston County Board of
Education on Tuesday to
talk about their
mistreatment.
Specifically, they asked
the board for a line item
in the upcoming year's
budget guaranteeing $350
per teacher for purchase
of school supplies beyond
what's normally provided.
They made that same
request to the County
Commissioners last month
but were told it's up to
the school board to
designate such funding.
One of the Johnston County
teachers who spoke to the
Board of Education this
week – Margie Riedel –
said "teacher burnout is
the highest I've seen in
my 20 years in education."
What makes it worse, she
said, is North Carolina's
salary schedule for
teachers, which she called
"woefully stagnant" since
2008. As a result, she
said three of nine
teachers in her
second-grade team are not
coming back next year.
And where lies the blame
for that? The North
Carolina General Assembly,
that's where. Legislative
leaders there boast about
recent progress in funding
public education, but the
proof is in the pudding
and it's not tasting so
good to our teachers.
A DISCLAIMER: Both of
the editor's children
are public-school
teachers – one in Wake
County, the other in
suburban Atlanta,
Georgia. I'm proud of
what they do.
The photo above and the message below were posted on the Town of Smithfield's Facebook page following Saturday's Ham & Yam Festival:
It’s hard to believe that just a few short hours ago, this block was packed with people and 48 vendors (in this block alone). The Town of Smithfield's Public Works crew has already emptied and picked up the trash cans, swept the streets, picked up trash that didn't make it into the cans, and picked up almost all of the cones all over Downtown. If you didn't know, you really couldn't tell that there was a festival that brought thousands of people to our sweet small town today.
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