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Electric rates rise for West Smithfield residents
Town of Smithfield's rates are now markedly lower

Duke Energy Progress, which provides electricity service to customers in West Smithfield and unincorporated areas surrounding the Town of Smithfield, has raised its rates for the second time this year. Effective this month, a typical residential customer will pay $152.16 for 1,000 kilowatt hours of power – an increase of 5.6% over Duke's interim rate hike allowed by the N.C. Utilities Commission in June.

That widens the gap between rates paid by Town of Smithfield customers and Duke's. Smithfield residents are currently paying $106.44 monthly for 1,000 kilowatt hours following a 2% rate increase that took effect in July.

Town Manager Mike Scott said the Town Council "has worked very hard to keep Smithfield’s residential rates low," pointing out that the town "does not allocate any electric funds to supplement the General Fund or the Water and Sewer Fund" as was done in the past. "I’m not sure what other cities are doing," he added.

Based on rates posted on their websites, the residential monthly cost of 1,000 kilowatt hours is now $121.69 for the Town of Selma, $135.10 for Benson, and $150.90 for Clayton. Those are the only other municipalities in Johnston County that operate their own electric systems.
 

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It was a busy weekend for new stuff in Smithfield

It started last Friday afternoon with the first Homecoming Parade seen in many years at Smithfield-Selma High School. Among student organizations and staff taking part were the school's four assistant principals: (left to right) Tiffany Long, Amanda Huber, Ellen Ennis-Smith, and Jevonne Bradley. "Our desire is to bring back some of the old traditions... and also create some new ones," wrote the school's new principal, Crystal Gregory, on the Town of Smithfield's Facebook page where many more photos of Homecoming events are posted>

Saturday morning brought out a surprising number of youngsters with their parents to a first-ever "Kids Fishing Event" at the town's holding pond across from JCCollege. The town's Parks & Recreation Director Gary Johnson said the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission recently stocked the pond with 250 catfish to supplement bream and other species already at home there. A Wildlife representative was on hand Saturday to hand out fishing tackle to the youngsters and give them advice on how to catch a fish – apparently a first-time experience for most of them.

Then came Saturday's inaugural "Oktoberfest" held Downtown that brought folks to South Third Street for a taste of locally brewed beer, franks and sauerkraut, ice cream and other home-made treats along with a variety of crafts for sale.

Taking place in the background of all that was the annual Ava Gardner Festival – this year's event the climax of Ava's Centennial marking the late movie star's birth on Christmas Eve 1922 (she died on January 25, 1990 – a month after her 67th birthday). Among last weekend's events was a book signing by Hollywood historian and author Annette Bochenek, shown here at the Ava Gardner Museum with Johnston County's Ava Thompson, great niece of the actress (photo from Facebook). A second book signing featured Mary Victoria Price, daughter of legendary actor Vincent Price who starred alongside Ava Gardner in The Bribe.
READ MORE about Ava's life on a Johnston County Visitors Bureau web page>
 

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Audit sheds light on schools' General Fund surplus
Last year's $6.4 million drawdown less than anticipated

The Johnston County Board of Education Tuesday received results of the annual independent audit of the school system's finances. The report from the accounting firm of Anderson Smith & Wike shows a General Fund Balance of $24,938,664 at the end of the 2022-23 fiscal year on June 30 – a reduction of $6,406,697 from the previous year's ending balance of $31,345,361.

The drawdown could have been more than that, but the fiscal year ended with expenditures $8,226,326 less than what had been budgeted – including $ 3.4 million less for "instructional services" and almost $4.6 million less for "support services" apparently because of staffing vacancies through much of the school year.

Meanwhile, the 2023-24 budget for Johnston County's schools anticipates another $7.4 million drawdown from that General Fund surplus. The school board has agreed to do that in light of the school system's recent fiscal turnaround coupled with a push from Johnston's County Commissioners to "spend down" more of that surplus to cover expenditures that aren't funded by the state.

Besides savings from staff shortages, federal COVID-related aid over the past three years has also boosted the school system's financial health.

"Is any money hidden anywhere?"
School board member Kay Carroll asked that question at the end of Tuesday's presentation by Adam Scepurek of the auditing firm. "There's been some insinuation that we might have hidden $8 million," said Mr. Carroll, referring to a political squabble over a recorded comment he made during a closed session last year.

"I didn't see any money hidden," Mr. Scepurek replied. A financial statement "is like a puzzle, but it's a puzzle that always balances, comes to zero," he said. "Any dollars that make it into the system become a part of that puzzle, and so to move $8 million off of that system requires an $8-million red flag sitting somewhere else."
 

South Smithfield lays out its goals for improvement
Principal Chad McLamb reports 30 new hires since July

In his first full year as principal of South Smithfield Elementary School, Chad McLamb told the Johnston County Board of Education last week he senses "a positive buzz in our community" about the school's momentum in search of academic improvement during the 2023-24 school year. (Screenshot from last week's meeting)

That's encouraging news as South Smithfield is classified by the state as one of six "low performing" schools in Johnston as a result of last year's academic performance measures.

Because of the state's ratings, the principals of the six schools were required to stand before the Board of Education at a special session last Thursday afternoon and present their performance goals for the current year.

Goal 1 for South Smithfield is to raise the school's percentage of students tested grade-level proficient from 34% last year to 41% by the end of the 2023-24 school term. Goal 2 is to raise proficiency levels for the Students with Disabilities Subgroup from 7% to 15% and for the Black Subgroup from 24.6% to 30.6%.

Strategies to reach those goals, Principal McLamb said, include weekly classroom "walkthroughs" by school administrators coupled with diagnostic data reviewed weekly to guide instructional planning.

Goal 3, he continued, is to increase measurable student skills in Social and Emotional Learning from 47% to 55%. Toward that end, the school is emphasizing "morning messages" that  provide "a lot of emotional support for our students in every classroom" Mr. McLamb noted. Another new initiative is a Student Leadership Program involving the school's older students as role models for others.

ACCESS full details of South Smithfield's plan through this website portal>

Addressing the issue of teacher retention, Principal McLamb reported the hiring of "over 30 professionals" since the end of the last school year. As a result, South Smithfield has just two teacher vacancies at present, he said. Going forward, "I want 90% of our certified staff (of teachers) retained," he declared. (The school's website currently lists 65 on its staff directory.)

Another plus for South Smithfield, he reported, is an increase in enrollment from 448 students to 472 since the start of school in late August. "We are getting families back from charter schools because of the great things we are doing," he said.

At the end of Principal McLamb's presentation, board member Kevin Donovan asked him about a "boom box" playing upbeat music as students arrive on campus each morning. "Every single kid needs to be greeted positively," Mr. McLamb responded. "We've got it playing during car pool. We do play kid-friendly music" and "and we've got it blasting," he exclaimed. "We set the mood that it's going to be a fun, exciting day at school and that learning is going to happen. It's been a big hit (and) we're about to get one for our bus line as well."

South Smithfield Elementary's students are 40.7% Hispanic, 31.9% Black, 19.6% White, 5.5% Multi-racial, 2.1% Asian. Of total enrollment, 17.3% are classified as Exceptional Children with special needs, 2.5% as Academically and Intellectually Gifted, and 24.1% as Limited English Proficient. The school's attendance rate is 90.7%, which is below the three-year statewide average of 94.54%.

The other schools currently classified as "low performing" are Selma Elementary, Selma Middle, Benson Middle, Riverwood Middle, and the JCPS Virtual Academy. At its regular monthly session on Tuesday, Johnston's Board of Education approved improvement plans submitted for all of the county's 48 schools that will be forwarded to the N.C. Department of Public Instruction as required by state law.

Aging chillers are being replaced at South Smithfield

Meanwhile, at Tuesday's regular session the school board approved a $1,151,385 contract with Superior Mechanical Services, a national company, to replace two large chillers that air-condition the interior of South Smithfield Elementary School. This is the most recent of several  projects to replace aging HVAC systems with federal ESSER funding, noted Brooks Moore, the school system's chief of facility design and construction. Subsequent work at South Smithfield will involve replacing HVAC units in individual classrooms, he added. (ESSER stands for Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief.)
 

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Partnership for Children chooses its next leader

Candy Scott will serve as the next Executive Director of the Partnership for Children of Johnston County, starting this Monday (October 16).

Ms. Scott comes to Johnston County from the Cumberland County Partnership for Children, where she has served as Vice President of Programs since 2016. She has over 20 years of non-profit management experience in early childhood.

Ms. Scott has spent most of her career working in Smart Start and NC Pre-K programs in North Carolina, beginning in 2006 at the Guilford County Partnership for Children. She is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Wilmington.

She succeeds Dwight Morris, who retired in August after serving almost 17 years as director of Johnston's Partnership.

Founded in 1997, the Partnership for Children of Johnston County describes itself as "a non-profit organization that improves the safety, health, and emotional well-being of children birth to age 5 by enhancing the quality of childcare, supporting strong families, and reaching out to at-risk kids."
 

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WHAT'S COMING UP

Hispanic Heritage Month program this Saturday at museum

The Johnston County Museum will host an Hispanic Heritage Month event at 11 a.m. Saturday highlighting the book Moment, Memories, and Men: An Immigrant's Trigenerational Historical Reminiscences of Pre-Castro Cuba, Fleeing to America, and Serving Its Military for Forty-One Years... by Pascual Goicoechea, who will be on hand to talk about his book and sign copies. The program will include a brief question-and-answer segment, and participants will be encouraged to share their life stories and family histories through writing or by scheduling a recorded oral-history interview. No reservations are necessary; admission will be free of charge. For more information about the event, call the Johnston County Museum at 919-938-5912. Located at 929 East Market Street, it's open 10-5 Monday-Saturday.

Last of season's Farmers' Market Downtown this Saturday

Organized by a couple of shops last spring, the Farmers' Market in Downtown Smithfield winds up the season this Saturday. The Town Council gave permission for The Oak City Collection and The Twisted Willow to host the event on the second and fourth Saturdays through this week. It opens at 9 a.m., closes at 2 p.m., and includes both produce and craft vendors set up along the 100 block of South Third, which will be closed to vehicular traffic during that time.

County Commissioners to get convenience-center report

Johnston's County Board of Commissioners will receive a report on the future of the county's solid-waste "convenience centers" during the board's regularly scheduled meeting at 6 p.m. Monday at the Courthouse. Another item on the agenda is a franchise application from Priority Care Ambulance to provide non-emergency medical-care transport in Johnston.
VIEW the complete agenda posted on the county's website>

Here's a chance to meet Smithfield's new chief of police

The Town of Smithfield will host "a community meet and greet" for its new police chief, Pete Hedrick, from 5:30 to 7 p.m. next Thursday (October 19) in the Council Chambers at Town Hall. Some food items will be served during the event.
 

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Health Department resuming COVID vaccinations

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DEATHS & FUNERALS

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A WORD (OR TWO) FROM THE EDITOR

This could have happened anywhere in the state

Margie Riedel from River Dell Elementary School near Flowers Plantation was one of several teachers who stood before Johnston's school board this week to berate the N.C. General Assembly for mistreating their profession. But she "stole the show" when she unfolded a head-to-toe list of her duties and responsibilities as a teacher in North Carolina – a list she termed "exhausting." (Screenshot from Tuesday's Board of Education session)

"The General Assembly is systematically increasing the teacher workload without keeping pay in pace with inflation," she exclaimed, "so not only are teachers exhausted; we are the professional poor."

Regarding pay raises averaging 7% over two years with an emphasis on starting pay for first-year teachers, Ms. Riedell declared: "Veteran teachers got the shaft. With 22 years of teaching, my raise is $5 a day, before taxes," she said. "They are purposefully devaluing their most experienced teachers. For shame!"

At that point she unrolled her handwritten list of daily responsibilities. "And I get to eat for 12 minutes," she noted. "It's overwhelming, it's crushing... and it's destroying our personal time."

Referring to the majority of legislators who approved the state's spending plan, Mr. Riedell said "North Carolina teachers have graded their budget, and it has failed." As a result, she concluded, "we feel frustrated, foiled, forgotten."

Normally, school board members and staff don't respond to speakers during the Public Comment portion of meetings. But this time Board Chair Lyn Andrews said Superintendent of Schools Eric Bracy had a response to Ms. Riedell's presentation. "I want to invite you to our legislative breakfast," he said.

That event – including board members, staff, and Johnston County's legislative delegation – is coming up at 8 a.m. this Monday at the school system's Facility Services building at the intersection of highways 210 and 70 Business in West Smithfield. And it's open to the public.
 

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