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A double baptism – of pastor's twin granddaughters

With children of the congregation invited up front for a close-up view of the proceedings, the Rev. Steve McElroy and his wife, the Rev. Lori Higgins, conduct the baptism of the pastor's infant granddaughters, Lily and June McElroy, during last Sunday's worship service at Centenary United Methodist Church. Also witnessing the Norman Rockwell-like scene are the twins' parents, Josh and Sarah McElroy. The babies were very well-behaved – alert throughout, without any crying!
(Screenshot captured from the weekly YouTube broadcast of the service)
 

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Here's an aerial view of the campus of the Innovation Academy at South Campus on East Smithfield's Martin Luther King Drive. Visible in the distance is a portion of the Johnston Community College campus. (Johnston County Public Schools photo)

Innovation Academy: which way going forward?

That was the question on the minds of parents and students and school leaders gathered for a "work session" of the Johnston County Board of Education Monday afternoon. The meeting was called in the wake of recent pleas from the Innovation Academy "family" to keep the experimental school intact on its present campus.

Monday's session didn't go beyond a staff presentation of data related to the school's mission, with no action taken by the board. "This is the first time the board as a whole has talked about the Innovation Academy," Chair Lyn Andrews told the audience. "We understand this is important to you, and important to us."

Launched in 2017, Innovation Academy "was intended as a place for under-served populations from the I-95 corridor to receive the instruction needed to be successful at (the school system's) Early College Academy, CLTA (Career & Technical Leadership Academy), AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination), and the International Baccalaureate Program," states the introduction to an on-screen presentation shown at Monday's meeting.

Priority for admission was given to applicants "who are potential first-generation college students." That remains a priority, the school board was told Monday.

"I-95 Corridor Schools" initially included elementary grades at South Smithfield, West Smithfield, Wilson's Mills, Selma, Four Oaks, Benson, Pine Level, Micro, and Glendale-Kenly.

As of last July, students from 23 of Johnston's schools made up Innovation Academy's enrollment of 277 in grades 6-8, including 53 from Riverwood Middle School, 45 from Smithfield Middle, 29 from Archer Lodge Middle, 29 from North Johnston Middle, 24 from Four Oaks Middle, 20 from Cleveland Middle, 20 from Swift Creek Middle,16 from McGee's Crossroads Middle, 14 from Clayton Middle, 10 from Selma Middle, and a handful from Benson Middle, Meadow, and Princeton Middle plus six from out of the county.

Principal Elizabeth Patton explained to the board that admission to the school is based in large part on recommendations from teachers and principals coupled with interviews and separate questionnaires for parents and students. Test scores are not considered during the admissions process, and residents of the I-95 corridor continue to get extra points in the admission process, she said. (Screenshot of Ms. Patton is taken from schools' video of Monday's board session)

The principal said Innovation Academy's School Improvement Team this year decided to shift focus "to increase the career aspect of goal setting." (It was pointed out at the start of Monday's presentation that the academy was launched as a "lab school" for "research based instruction... to allow teachers and school leaders from across the state to visit and observe these instructional practices in action.")

Ms. Patton highlighted recent gains in students' academic performance, which has lifted the school's grading by the state from "C" in 2019 to "B" the past three years.

School-bus transportation is provided to students from all part of the county – at a cost of $957,377 during the 2023-24 school year. In response to a question from the board, Chief of Finance Stephen Britt said that number amounted to 5.1% of the school system's total transportation expense.

"We have absolutely the shortest car-pool line in the county," quipped Principal Patton. "Most of our students ride the bus."

Board members expressed some displeasure with the proportion of students presently attending from communities along the I-95 corridor. A table presented at Monday's meeting showed that 36 of 58 rising 6th-graders from those communities who applied last year accepted invitations to attend while 60 of 148 from outside the corridor did so.

An open house for families interested in making application to attend Innovation Academy next year is scheduled at the school on Thursday, February 13 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. The application deadline is March 13.

VIEW the slide presentation shown at Monday's meeting which contains additional data about the school and its students>

AN HISTORICAL FOOTNOTE: "South Campus" was built in the mid-1950s as an annex of Johnston Central High School several blocks to the north in the Belmont neighborhood. At that time the main campus was known as "Johnston County Training School."  Prior to the end of racial segregation of our public schools in the late 1960s, it was Smithfield's African-American high school.

NOON FRIDAY IS DEADLINE FOR INPUT ON SCHOOL CALENDAR

Johnston's Board of Education plans to adopt calendars for both the 2025-26 and 2026-27 school terms at its February 11 meeting. Toward that goal, an online survey seeks public opinion on three options under consideration: two would shorten the first semester to end before Christmas, the third would extend the first semester into January. All three options begin classes the last Monday in August as required by the state, with classes ending before the first of June.
Here's the link to view the options and vote for your preference>
 

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Our state legislators get committee assignments
as General Assembly opens 2025's "long session"

The North Carolina General Assembly convened in Raleigh Wednesday for its every-other-year "long session." Representing legislative districts that include Smithfield are State Senator Benton Sawrey, returning for his second two-year term, and Representative Larry Strickland, starting his fifth two-year term in the N.C. House. Both are Republicans.

The new Speaker of the House, Destin Hall, has appointed Mr. Strickland one of four "senior chairs" of the House Appropriations Committee. He's also listed on the General Assembly's website as a member of the House Select Committee on Helene Recovery and the Joint Legislative Administrative Procedure Oversight Committee.

Senate Leader Phil Berger has appointed Mr. Sawrey
co-chair of both the Senate Health Committee and the Appropriations for Health and Human Services Committee. He's also serving as co-chair of the Legislative Ethics Committee and a member of committees on Appropriations/Base Budget, Elections, Judiciary, Rules and Operations of the Senate. In addition, Mr. Sawrey is also listed as a member of Joint Legislative Oversight committees on Education, Health and Human Services, and Medicaid.

VISIT the legislators' official pages that include direct contact information:
• Senator Benton G. Sawrey.     • Representative Larry C. Strickland>
 

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US 301 (N. Bright Leaf Boulevard) at the busy intersection leading to Walmart on one side and Chick-fil-A on the other. The state's proposal would eliminate most left turns into businesses in this area.

State wants to reduce left turns from US 301 North

The N.C. Department of Transportation is proposing to install "reduced conflict intersections" along US 301 between Booker Dairy Road in Smithfield and Ricks Road in Selma.

"Reduced conflict intersections and raised medians redirect minor-traffic movements into going right," NCDOT explains. "This design reduces the risk of serious crashes and improves traffic flow for the main corridor."

Additionally, NCDOT is evaluating a proposal to construct a raised median along US 70 between 301 and I-95. "A raised median and traffic islands would be installed on a section of Ricks Road that intersects U.S. 70, and two concepts are being considered to create a new access road with Ricks Road," notes the NCDOT announcement.

A public "open house" for both projects is scheduled next Thursday (Feb. 6) from 5 to 7 p.m. in the auditorium at Johnston Community College. "People may drop in during the meeting at any time to review conceptual design maps, ask questions, and provide comments. There will be no formal presentation," NCDOT notes.

Here are links to NCDOT websites with details including maps for the two projects:
• US 301 proposal: https://publicinput.com/us301-bookerdairy-ricks>
• US 70 proposal: https://publicinput.com/us70-selma>
 

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2.4 acres for sale at 1558 W. Market St. in West Smithfield
Located across from Rose Manor Shopping Center close to intersection with M. Durwood Stephenson Parkway. Just west of Downtown Smithfield. Zoned B-3 (Highway Business).
$498,000  MLS# 10021671

SUSAN LASSITER
Fonville Morisey Realty919-669-9235

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WHAT'S COMING UP

County Commissioners will get annual audit report Monday
The Johnston County Board of Commissioners will meet twice at the Courthouse Monday. The agenda for the 10 a.m. session includes presentation of the county's audit report for the fiscal year that ended last June 30. The board will also choose which of seven candidates to appoint to the Johnston County Planning Board to fill the seat previously held by Michelle Pace Davis, who was elected in November to the Board of Commissioners. VIEW the complete agenda for the morning session>
The agenda for the 6 p.m. session includes hearings on five land-use zoning cases.
VIEW the complete agenda for the evening session>

Town Council to conduct postponed hearings Tuesday
Public hearings on proposals for two subdivisions – originally scheduled for last week's canceled-by-weather session – will be held during the Smithfield Town Council's meeting at 7 p.m. next Tuesday at Town Hall. The hearings involve preliminary plans for 117 single-family residential lots east of Buffalo Road next to the Bradford Park subdivision and a 627-unit subdivision including single-family houses, townhouses, and apartments east of Booker Dairy Road extending beyond Durwood Stephenson Parkway. (Land-use changes for both projects have previously been approved by the council.) VIEW the complete agenda>
 

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DEATHS & FUNERALS

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A WORD (OR TWO) FROM THE EDITOR

Two needed reforms bigger than partisan politics

I read in this morning's online edition of The News & Observer that a bill has been introduced in the N.C. General Assembly to take redistricting out of the hands of politicians and put that responsibility in the hands of the people. The battle cry for that long overdue reform has been: "Let the voters choose their representatives, not the other way around."

The proposed "Fair Maps Act" would bar office holders, legislative staffers, lobbyists, and individuals "with other political ties" from devising North Carolina's districts for electing members of Congress and the General Assembly. That task would be assigned instead to an independent commission – a process already in place in a number of other states.

Along with that reform ought to come a rollback to nonpartisan election of our state's judicial officers, from Supreme Court justices all the way down the line to District Court judges. That's the way it was for a time before our state's legislators required those seats to be chosen by political party affiliation starting in 2018.

Minus partisan election of judicial officers, the current fiasco over what votes to count for a closely contested seat on the North Carolina Supreme Court wouldn't be happening.

Trouble is, Republicans in control of the General Assembly just now appear to be in no mood to undertake either of those reforms, which would strengthen our democratic form of government. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it," goes the folksy old saying, which needs a logical second part: "If it's broke, fix it!"
 

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