School
leaders highlight
academic progress
countywide
Johnston
County Public Schools
staged its second annual
celebration of state
academic testing results
last Thursday. This year's
event took place at West
Smithfield Elementary
School, one of several
Johnston schools that
showed exceptional
progress this past year.
Here are some of the
highlights touted by
Superintendent of Schools
Eric Bracy:
• JCPS is the only school
system in the Triangle
region that outperformed
pre-pandemic levels of
grade-level proficiency,
raising its percentage
from 42.7 in 2020-21 and
53.3 in 2021-22 to 55.2
this past year – above the
statewide proficiency
percentage of 53.6.
• JCPS had the Triangle's
largest percentage of
schools that exceeded
expectations for academic
growth: 64%. Statewide,
28% of schools won that
recognition.
• The number of Johnston
schools graded D or F was
cut in half, from 16 a
year ago to eight this
past year, and no school
was graded F this time.
That puts JCPS closer to
Dr. Bracy's goal of all
schools achieving a grade
of A, B, or C by the end
of 2023-24, the current
academic year.
Two of the eight schools
that improved their grades
from D to C are
Smithfield-Selma High
School and West Smithfield
Elementary, while Wilson's
Mills Elementary retained
its grade of C. Repeating
as grade D schools are
South Smithfield
Elementary, Smithfield
Middle, Selma Elementary,
and Selma Middle.
Three of those four
schools are now included
among the county's six
"low performing" schools,
as defined by the state.
Smithfield Middle avoided
that designation because
its academic results this
past year exceeded
expectations. (The
county's other
low-performing schools are
Benson Middle, Riverwood
Middle, and the system's
online Virtual Academy.)
Smithfield-Selma High,
West Smithfield
Elementary, and West
Clayton Elementary were
removed from last year's
list of low-performing
schools because of their
academic progress.
Besides the testing
results, the state also
released "accountability
data" that shows
Johnston's four-year
high-school graduation
rate of 91.6% continues to
be above the statewide
rate of 86.4%.
Here are the 2022-23
overall testing results
for traditional public
schools within the
Smithfield-Selma
attendance district:
SELECTED
SCHOOLS |
School
Performance
Grade / Score * |
Grade-Level
Proficiency
2022-23 |
Grade-Level
Proficiency
2021-22 |
| South Smithfield Elementary |
D / 40 |
34.0% |
37.2% |
| West Smithfield Elementary |
C / 56 |
47.4% |
33.3% |
| Wilson's Mills Elementary |
C / 59 |
50.5% |
48.8% |
| Smithfield Middle |
D / 47 |
39.2% |
39.7% |
| Selma Elementary |
D / 49 |
39.4% |
40.1% |
| Selma Middle |
D / 42 |
34.6% |
32.6% |
| Smithfield-Selma High |
C
/ 61 |
37.5% |
30.5% |
| All of Johnston County |
n/a |
55.2% |
53.3% |
* Since
2013-14,
student
performance
data have been
used to assign
letter grades
to public
schools as
required by
N.C. General
Statute
115C-83.15.
The grades are
based on each
school’s
achievement
score (weight
of 80%) and
each school’s
student
academic
growth (weight
of 20%). The
total school
performance
score is
converted to a
100-point
scale and then
used to
determine a
school
performance
grade:
A:
85-100; B: 70-84; C: 55-69;
D: 40-54; F:
less than 40.
|
|
Special
academic programs serving
students from anywhere in
Johnston yet housed on
campuses in Smithfield
tested among the best in the
county:
• Career &
Technical Leadership
Academy at
Johnston Community College –
graded A with 95.3% of its
students achieving
grade-level proficiency.
• Early College
Academy, also at
JCC – graded A with 96.8% of
students proficient.
• Innovation
Academy at South
Campus – graded B with 78.5%
student proficiency.
Neuse Charter School,
located across the road from
Smithfield-Selma High,
maintained its previous
grade of C with a 2022-23
performance score of 67,
three points short of a B
grade. Its overall
grade-level proficiency this
past year was 61.8%, up from
59.6% in 2021-22.
American Leadership
Academy Johnston,
a charter school that opened
on a campus between
Smithfield and Clayton a
year ago, barely got a grade
of C with a performance
score of 55, just one point
above the D scale. Overall
grade-level proficiency at
the end of its first year in
operation was 56.4%.
ACCESS
statewide statistics on
the N.C. Department of
Public Instruction
website>
For a second year, county schools'
enrollment is down
Johnston
County Public Schools
reported a 10th-day
enrollment of 37,209 on
Tuesday – down 98 from last
year's Day 10 total of
37,307 and 383 below
enrollment of 37,592 on Day
10 two years ago. The
10th-day number is a key
factor in the state's
calculation of funding
allotments to North Carolina's
public schools.
9/11
observance at
Smithfield-Selma High
Students
gathered outside the
school first thing Monday
morning for the annual
commemoration of the
infamous September 11,
2001 attacks when first
responders gave their all
as they sought to save
others in the aftermath of
terrorist attacks that
destroyed the World Trade
Center's twin towers in
New York City and damaged
the Pentagon in
Washington, D.C. And don't
forget the airline
passengers who brought
down a fourth hijacked
plane apparently targeting
either the U.S. Capitol or
the White House. (Photo
from Johnston County
Public Schools Facebook
page)
School
board presses
Legislature on state
budget
Resolution calls for two-year 11%
pay raise for
teachers
The Johnston County Board of Education, during
its monthly meeting
Tuesday, unanimously
adopted a resolution
urging the N.C. General
Assembly to adopt a
state budget that raises
teacher pay by "a
minimum of 7.5% across
the board" this year
toward a total of 11% by
the end of the two-year
budget cycle.
In
addition, Johnston's
school board is asking for
$70 million to be
appropriated for teacher
supplements (presently
paid by local funds) and a
reinstatement of extra pay
for master's degrees and a
resumption of longevity
pay.
The board's resolution
also asks for 7.5% state
pay raises for all other
school employees, with an
additional 2% for
school-bus drivers.
It also asks the
Legislature for "a more
equitable model that fully
funds (taking care of)
exceptional-needs
students" beyond the
current cap of 13% on the
proportion of such
students served by each
school district. The
resolution also calls for
state funding to employ
another 120 school
psychologists throughout
North Carolina.
In response to a couple of
programs favored by many
state legislators yet
lambasted by public-school
advocates, the Johnston
board's resolution calls
for "a stabilization fund
for any impact the
expansion of Opportunity
Scholarships may have on
low-enrollment schools"
and goes on to complain
that $1.5 billion proposed
to restructure teacher
licensing and compensation
under a plan called N.C.
Pathways to Excellence
"would be better spent on
pay raises for teachers."
(Opportunity Scholarships
are private-school
vouchers available to
income-qualifying
households.)
Meanwhile, adoption of a
new state budget continues
to be delayed by
negotiations over
differences in versions
approved by the state's
Senate and House of
Representatives. Its
adoption is now two and a
half months overdue beyond
the July 1 start of the
state's 2023-24 fiscal
year.
Additional $2,500 bonuses approved
for cafeteria staff
With
63 vacancies out of 192
positions throughout the
school system, the Board
of Education unanimously
approved additional
bonuses of $2,500 for all
cafeteria staff, payable
in monthly installments of
$250 over 10 months.
Assistant Superintendent
David Pearce recommended
the extra pay, pointing
out that it comes on top
of $1,000 bonuses
previously approved.
Students
won't have to make up
August 31's closing
The
school board approved a
slight revision in the
system's calendar as a
result of a missed day of
classes on August 31
because of a hurricane
threat. Assistant
Superintendent Pearce said
the day won't have to be
made up by students
because Johnston's schools
have five extra days in
its 2023-24 calendar
beyond the minimum
required by the state. At
the same time, teachers
will have to make up the
day, he said in
recommending an additional
workday for them at the
end of the term.
Three members of superintendent's
"cabinet" moving on
Chair
Lyn Andrews brought to
light three pending
resignations during
Tuesday's meeting of the
Board of Education:
• Nicholas King is giving
up his post as chief
academic officer to accept
a position with Durham
County schools. Dr. King
has filled his seat as a
member of Superintendent
Bracy's executive team the
past two years.
• Caitlin Furr is leaving
her job as communications
director to accept a
position with Wake County
schools. She, too, has
been a member of the
superintendent's "cabinet"
the past two years, having
joined the JCPS staff in
2016.
• Brian Vetrano is
retiring November 1 as the
schools' chief of human
resources. Mr. Vetrano has
held that title since 2017
after moving up through
the ranks of Johnston
County's public schools
first as a teacher and
later as a principal,
including a stint at South
Smithfield Elementary.
Architect's rendering of new high
school at Wilson's
Mills
Brooks
Moore, the school system's
director of facility
services, presented
renderings of two new
schools about to be built:
a new high school yet to
be named on the east side
of Wilson's Mills (shown
above) and a new
elementary school on
Cleveland Road west of
Smithfield. A third
immediate project financed
by the county bond issue
approved by voters last
November is an addition to
Cooper Academy (a
long-standing elementary
school in Clayton).
FOR
SALE:
overlooking
pond
in South
Smithfield
313
W. Wilson Street
4,612 sq. ft. brick
veneer home with 5
bedrooms, 5 full baths,
2-car garage, 0.64-acre
landscaped lot. $699,000
(MLS#
2509894)
SUSAN
LASSITER,
Broker
• Fonville
Morisey Realty
• 919-669-9235
County
OKs hotel sewage; town
drops legal action
The
Smithfield Town Council,
following a closed session
Wednesday evening, agreed
to drop pending legal
action after the County of
Johnston agreed to accept
additional sewage
treatment associated with
a proposed new hotel here.
The council had claimed
the county was withholding
approval of the Home2
Suites hotel project until
the town signed a new
sewage-allocation contract
containing provisions that
displeased council
members. After Wednesday's
session, the council
approved the draft of a
revised contract, reports
Town Manager Mike Scott.
Among changes in the
revised agreement is an
increase in the town's
initial treatment
allocation – from
2,477,000 gallons per day
to 2,676,000 gallons.
Future allocations beyond
that number will require
the town to pay "bulk
capacity fees" to the
county.
The county treats
wastewater from Smithfield
and other neighboring
towns at a plant on the
Neuse River acquired from
the town in 1979. A second
treatment plant is under
construction near the
county's landfill off NC
210 west of Smithfield.
Smithfield
promotes Jeremey
Daughtry to Fire Chief
The Town
of Smithfield this week
named Assistant Fire Chief
Jeremey Daughtry as its
new Fire Chief. He
succeeds Mike Brown, who
retired earlier this
summer.
Chief Daughtry is in his
25th year of service,
beginning his career in
1998 as a volunteer for
the Brogden Fire
Department where he still
assists in that capacity
today. He is the 14th
chief of the Smithfield
Fire Department.
He served as a firefighter
for the Goldsboro Fire
Department for four years
before joining the Town of
Smithfield as a
firefighter in 2006. He
left Smithfield in 2011 to
serve as Director of Fire
Training at Johnston
Community College.
He returned to Smithfield
in 2016 as Division Chief
of Fire Training and was
promoted to Assistant Fire
Chief in 2018.
UNC
hospitals pledge $176,000
for JCC nursing program
UNC
Health Johnston has agreed
to continue its commitment
to future nurses of Johnston
County. The hospital system
pledged another $176,000,
which helps 
support
faculty positions in
Johnston Community College’s
Associate Degree Nursing
program for two years.
The Associate Degree Nursing
program has been a
cornerstone program of the
college since its inception
in 1969. "We are
appreciative of our true
partnership with UNC Health
Johnston,” said Johnston
Community College Foundation
Executive Director Joy
Callahan. “The hospital
system understands the
critical need for nurses in
our area, and that JCC is
the best place to start
their training, in order to
fulfill our county’s needs."
UNC Health Johnston
previously funded a two-year
pledge for nursing faculty
support at the
Smithfield-based college.
WHAT'S COMING UP
Third StrEATery returns this Friday
with the Band of Oz
This
Friday's installment of
Downtown Smithfield's
outdoor dining event
features Beach Music's
Band of Oz as well as the
usual assortment of
giant-sized games,
children's activities,
food trucks, and
"Inflatable Mechanical
Surfing." Folks are
welcome to occupy tables
set up along the 100 block
of South Third Street from
6 to 9 p.m. There's no
admission charge.
Take-outs from nearby
restaurants are
encouraged, and specialty
shops in the neighborhood
will remain open during
the event. (DSDC
Facebook photo)
Free voter ID service at Board of
Elections on Saturday
The
Johnston County Board of
Elections will hold a
Voter Photo ID Event from
10 a.m. till 2 p.m. this
Saturday at its
headquarters at 205 South
Second Street in
Smithfield. The service is
free and no appointment is
necessary. Beginning with
this year's
municipal elections,
North Carolina voters will
be required to show a
photo ID. Most voters will
simply show their driver's
license, but there are
other acceptable forms of
photo ID (a list is
posted on the Board of
Elections website>).
Only eligible voters
who reside in Johnston
County will be able to
receive a photo ID at
Saturday's event. For more
information, call the
Board of Elections at
919-989-5095.
"Movie in the Park" at amphitheater
Saturday evening
Disney's
Jungle Cruise is
the featured film for the
second of two free
showings this summer at
the Neuse River
Amphitheater. It'll be
screened at 7:45 p.m.
Saturday by the Smithfield
Parks & Recreation
Department, which advises
those attending to "bring
a chair or blanket and
your snacks and enjoy the
show!"
Constitution to be celebrated with
bell-ringing Sunday
The
Smith-Bryan Daughters of the
American Revolution will
celebrate Constitution Day
this Sunday, September 17 on
the steps of the Johnston
County Courthouse. A short
program starting at 3:45
p.m. will honor the 236th
anniversary of the United
States Constitution. The
program will be followed by
the "Ringing of the Bells,"
just as church bells rang
out in Philadelphia in 1787
to notify the citizens that
the Constitution had been
signed. "Bring a bell or a
noise maker to celebrate!"
urges Smith-Bryan's Regent
Frances Aycock Kiker.
DEATHS
& FUNERALS
A
WORD (OR TWO) FROM THE
EDITOR
Disturbing
numbers behind school
test results
Educators,
sociologists, even some
politicians agree that the
demographics of a public
school's students
determine how well or
poorly they perform on
standardized tests of
academic achievement.
Here's more evidence to
back up that correlation:
A visit to the website of
the National Center for
Educational Statistics (an
arm of the U.S. Department
of Education) turns up
these numbers for schools
in the Smithfield-Selma
attendance district:
• South Smithfield
Elementary School – 481 of
484 students (99.4%)
enrolled this past year
qualified for free or
reduced-price lunches
because of household
incomes.
• West Smithfield
Elementary – 450 of 453
students (99.3%)
qualified.
• Selma Elementary – 380
of 383 students (99.2%).
• Smithfield Middle – 553
of 556 students (99.5%).
• Selma Middle – 380 of
383 students (99.2%).
Four of those schools
received grades of D for
state-measured academic
performance this past
year. West Smithfield was
a surprising exception,
pulling its overall
performance grade up from
a D in 2021-22 to a C in
2022-23. Kudos to that
school's staff and
students.
Smithfield-Selma High
School also raised its
grade from D to C. The
National Center's
statistical report shows
563 of 1,413 students at
SSS this past year were
eligible for free or
reduced-price lunches – a
percentage of 39.8%.
Wilson's Mills Elementary
maintained its C grade,
with 318 of its 558
students – 57% – eligible
for meal assistance.
Admittedly, those numbers
aren't the only
explanation for poor
academic performance. But
the fact remains that
students from low-income
households struggle to
keep up with their peers
when it comes to "hitting
the books."
And it should be noted
that ALL students in
Smithfield-Selma area
schools will get free
breakfast and lunch this
school year – no questions
asked – since the school
system won approval for
federal aid extending
beyond the recent
free-meal program related
to the coronavirus
pandemic.
That doesn't solve the
poverty problem when it
comes to academic
performance. But at least
it should take the
nutrition factor out of
the equation. And, as West
Smithfield Elementary's
success this past year
shows us, there's hope for
improvement at all our
schools through sheer
determination and effort
by staffs truly caring for
their students.
COMMENTS
FROM A READER
18-wheelers
and left-turners mess up
Market Street
LYNN
JOHNSON of
Smithfield writes:
I’m glad the speed
limit on Market Street
is being lowered.
Traffic – especially
large trucks – literally
FLY along there. And
they “clip” several
rear-view mirrors a week
– and keep flying.
One issue that needs to
be addressed still is
establishing a "no thru
trucks" area on Third
Street starting at the
intersection by the Post
Office. I watched one
the other day making a
right turn onto Market
from Third that was SO
BIG they needed all four
traffic lanes—and I was
holding my breath that
they did not hit a car
or a light pole.
Another issue that needs
to be addressed are the
illegal left turns from
Third onto Market. I’ve
seen as many as three
making illegal turns as
the light changes at one
time. I was told that
the police do not have
the manpower to patrol
that and issue tickets
since all of the ticket
revenue goes to the
schools. That needs to
change.
As Smithfield grows, we
need to find a way to
keep the very large
18-wheelers from using
the downtown streets as
"short cuts." I
know that some trucks
need to deliver
merchandise to
merchants, but I
guarantee you that
NOBODY downtown is
waiting for a trailer
load of big logs.
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