Trustees To Try Again

After unanimously – with School Board Member Kelly Hill absent – voting against an alternative proposal to send all students from Halifax and Sinai elementary schools to the new South Boston school, the Halifax County School Board set a Thursday night vote on proposed new district lines for the county’s school children.
The Board will meet at 7 p.m. in the public meeting room of the Mary Bethune Complex in Halifax to vote on the matter.
Following a public hearing during which Halifax Mayor Leon Plaster charged the transfer to Sinai Elementary School would have a “tremendous impact” on the town, the Board set another work session for last Thursday in order for Superintendent Paul Stapleton to expand on an alternate proposal that would have sent the children from both schools to the new school in South Boston.
During the public hearing, Stapleton said he had presented the best proposal available, but could offer one other option.
“Even combining Halifax and Sinai, you will have around 347 students in that school and 700 in South Boston,” he said during the public hearing. “But if you want to tie the two towns together, we could move Halifax and Sinai into the new K-5 school in South Boston, take the Halifax school and make it a Law and Leadership academy and make Sinai a pre-school.
“That way, both towns are cooperating because all of the students get to go with the new facility and this would give the pre-school an opportunity to continue,” he said. “It would fill up the South Boston school and would make every school in the county K-5.
“If you want an alternative, that’s the only one I can give you,” Stapleton added.
“The only way to proceed (with the alternative proposal) is to draw your lines around the town limits of Halifax and South Boston. If you do that, you’re going to end up with around 845 students in South Boston,” he said Thursday. “This allows the parents of children in Halifax to send their children to the new facilities in South Boston and we’d be doing our part to tie the towns together.”
But gathered as a Board, trustees said they couldn’t accept the proposal because of a mandate from the Board of Supervisors to save money and a desire to protect the county’s community schools.
“This thing has caught me off guard,” Trustee Arthur Reynolds said. “Having been on the Board through the closing of Virgilina, I thought you didn’t do enough to publicize what you were doing and initially voted against closing it.
“But on this project, we did everything humanly possible to let the citizens know what we’re doing. We made clear the capacity of the schools.”
Reynolds mentioned a series of town meetings held last year.
“We didn’t have many parents come to us to express concerns,” he said. “It’s puzzling me what we could have done to try not to create the situation we have now. The schools have been built. Once the schools are built, the train is out of the station and it’s too late to complain.”
Board Chairman D.H. “Mac” McDowell pointed out that the Board of Supervisors approved more than $60 million for the new schools and expect the School Board to use the funds as efficiently as possible.
“We all know what we’re facing,” he said. “The Board of Supervisors isn’t expecting us to come back anytime soon for more money to renovate schools.”
Stapleton agreed, saying Supervisors are expecting the most fiscally responsible action from the trustees.
“The discussion of facilities is more of a budget discussion, but we need to get the attendance issue out of the way,” he said. “You’re under a mandate from the Board of Supervisors to save operational costs.”
Exploring Their Options
Trustees, seeking to appease a small but vocal opposition movement, expressed some concerns they have about closing Halifax elementary to students and using the facility as a law and leadership academy.
School Board member Joe Bailey III, in whose district Halifax elementary lies, asked about any noise concerns if the firefighting and EMT programs are moved to the Mountain Road facility.
“The students aren’t going to be cranking up the engines and firing up the sirens,” Stapleton said. “One of the reasons we need to move them there is because they need space to park them.
“The vehicles are for skills training,” he added. “This is where they can go show that they know how to use the equipment. It’s not a noise creation thing at all, it’s a skills development exercise so they can train to pass the state test.”
“I don’t think the people are too happy about having the trucks there,” Bailey said.
“We can always not move the firefighting and EMT program there if it’s a problem,” Stapleton replied. “They don’t seem to be a problem where they are, but if they are we won’t move them.
“We want to be good neighbors, but the bottom line is these are the people who are going to be saving the lives of the people on Mountain Road in the future,” he added.
Following several meetings with teachers and members of Halifax Town Council over the previous days, Bailey persisted and suggested trustees take no action for a year.
“The mayor of Halifax (during a previous public hearing on the zones) came forth and asked us to wait for one year,” Reynolds said. “Do you have any idea how he came up with one year?”
“I heard what you heard,” Stapleton replied.
“The reason they gave a year is they’d like to look at all the options and make sure we’re making the right decisions,” Bailey added. “I think we could look at a plan for Halifax elementary and see if there’s anything we’ve overlooked.
“It’s just a chance to look at everything,” he continued. “It takes time and we need to look at the issues out there. We just want to make sure we’re making the right decisions. I think the people put us here and we should listen to what they’re saying.”
“I’ve talked to some people who don’t want the school closed,” Trustee Doug Fisher said. “I represent the people – they’re the ones who put me in office and we should represent the people who put us in office.”
“With all the work done over the past several years, there are a lot of smart people who could put something together for Halifax,” Bailey continued, suggesting the renovation of the Halifax school in order to keep it open. “That way, once attendance in Halifax increases, it would be available right here in the town.
“It would be in the best interests of the people and my constituents.”
“But we have to look at the whole picture and what do you think the chances are the Board of Supervisors are going to give us any money to renovate Halifax?” Trustee Steve Anderson retorted.
Reynolds agreed.
“I’m hearing from the Board of Supervisors that when they allocated the money to build the new schools, they’re looking to us to ensure we’re using them in the most efficient way possible. When you have a school that’s half-full, someone’s going to have to answer to it. This Board will have to answer to the fact that we’re not using the money the best way we can.”
Bailey then asked about allegations that schools are unsafe.
“I never said that!” Stapleton replied, visibly angry. “There are a lot of things that end up in the papers that were never said. I never said that.”
Trustee Nancylee Bagwell asked how many students are projected to attend Halifax next year if the school isn’t closed.
“You’d have about 110 students there next year,” Stapleton said. “Even if you leave the school open, I’d assume you’d want to move the second grade out of the mobile units. They’re old and I’d think you would want to vacate them and move the students into a regular classroom.”
“They don’t care about the mobile units,” Bailey replied. “I talked to members of (Halifax Town ) Council and they said they aren’t a problem anymore.”
“This is your decision as a Board,” Stapleton replied. “But we’re in limbo and can’t move forward until you move forward on the attendance zones.”
A Tough Decision
McDowell said he has received two phone calls on the issue.
“They told me to do what’s best for the children, but to make the decision and not delay it,” he said.
Anderson said that out of “lots” of input from his constituents, only one person has indicated they believe that Halifax should remain open.
“I’ve gotten lots of calls and e-mails today and the message I’ve gotten is to close Halifax,” he said.
“It’s difficult to close a school or cease to use it for little children,” McDowell said, “but when you have two schools so close together, the Board of Supervisors expects us to save some money. (Halifax and Sinai elementary schools) are a mile and a half apart and you’d still be 200 students under what Sinai can hold and we can get funding to use Halifax Elementary School as a law and leadership academy.
“I can’t support keeping them both open,” he said. “Sinai is a newer school, it’s an elementary school and we have to look at that. It’s time to get off the fence and make a decision for our staff, parents and teachers.”

Second Resolution To Merge School Zones Fails

Halifax Town Council held a special called meeting Saturday to address a second resolution proposed by Councilman Jack Dunavant petitioning the School Board to merge the Halifax and South Boston school zones into one entity.
The resolution did not make it to a vote after Dunavant withdrew it from consideration after the other members of Council in attendance stated they would not be willing to support it.
Halifax passed its original resolution at its monthly meeting Tuesday seeking a one-year delay before Halifax Elementary School could be closed and the Halifax school district redrawn.
The second resolution sought four things from the School Board, the merging of the town’s school zones, the renaming of the new school to the Halifax/South Boston Elementary School, a promise to keep Halifax Elementary open for use by the school system and to revisit the issue at public hearings next year to see how the situation is working out.
Dunavant warned those in attendance Saturday that if Halifax sticks with its original resolution, seeking a one-year delay, the town may be left out in the cold if the School Board adopts its original rezoning plan that calls for Halifax to be split into three school zones: South Boston, Sinai and Clays Mill.
As it stands now Halifax will be at a competitive disadvantage with its southern neighbor, Dunavant said, noting South Boston will have a new, modern facility and Halifax will have an old building with rundown mobile units to house students.
Dunavant said he and Mayor Leon Plaster met with School Superintendent Paul Stapleton last week and they learned that 67 K-5 students reside in the corporate limits of the town.
The second resolution applies to those students who live in town and Sinai would not need to be closed, Dunavant said, noting Sinai has over 300 students.
Several residents and members of the Sinai facility addressed Council at the meeting.
Shelia Irby, a teacher at Sinai, said she applauded Council’s effort to put all the children in the new school, but she asked if the school would practice inclusion, placing learning disabled students in regular classes, which could lead to 30 students in a classroom.
“My concern is that this is opening the door for Stapleton for closing schools,” Irby said, noting the facility at Sinai work very well together especially helping students that come from broken homes.
“The color of the child is not the issue,” she said. “It’s the homes they come out of.
“We get them taught through grades 5 and 6 and into the middle school,” she added. “Some students don’t get meals at home, are up all night and fall asleep at their desks,” Irby said. “This group of kids would not make it in a big school. They would be lost.”
Two Halifax businesswomen, Carol Throckmorton and Marsha Hite, both said they had a problem with Council adopting a resolution last week and then meeting again a few days later to consider a new resolution.
“A new school does not give children a better education,” Throckmorton said. “Council made a resolution and should stick to the resolution.”
“How do we look if we do this?” Hite added. “Take a little elite group of kids (to the new school) to satisfy Council. I’m not sure this is the right thing to do.”
Dunavant countered that the majority of students attending Halifax don’t live in the town.
He said the best solution would be to keep Halifax open as a K-5 elementary school, but there is not enough room, however it could be an option in the future if the facility is kept open is some capacity.
Realtor Honey Davis then addressed Council telling them about a client she recently took around the area.
She said she took a doctor, his wife and their three children around the towns and showed them the schools.
“All they wanted to know was about the schools,” Davis said.
The family was extremely impressed with the new South Boston facility, she said, noting the family also saw Halifax and Sinai.
“A new school makes a big, big difference,” Davis said. “New schools make a good impression.”
Councilman Charles Parker took exception to Davis’ comments.
“Did you tell them it is next to a landfill?” Parker asked.
Davis said she did.
Parker then asked if Davis informed her clients that the school building is located next to a parole office where sex offenders report and in a neighborhood he alleges has one of the highest drug crime rates in the towns.
Parker contended that her clients would be just as impressed with Halifax and Sinai if they got a chance to meet the people inside.
Davis explained that she only has a brief timeframe to show clients the community, often not long enough to introduce them to everyone who works at the schools.
Missy Slate Henderson agreed with Parker that the new South Boston school is being built in a terrible place.
“My child will not go to the new facility,” Henderson said, noting she will send her child to Wilson-Memorial if Halifax closes. “I will not have a child at a school with a probation office across the street.
“What are they going to do when a child is abducted and raped?” she asked. “This is the worst location a school could ever be put in.”
She said in addition to the parole office she objected to the school’s close proximity to the landfill and Blue Ridge Beverage.
Ted Bennett, the executive director of the Higher Ed Center in South Boston, said he looked at the issue of education in the county as hard as anybody.
Bennett said he served on a committee several years ago that studied the state of the county’s schools and “the problems then were massive.”
He said the group made an effort to do right by every child in the county.
Bennett said the Southside region had been hit as hard economically as any region in the county, noting Halifax County has lost roughly 700 residents since the last census.
On top of that, the county will soon be on the hook for an additional $4 million a year for schools when the waiver granted by the state runs out for when South Boston reverted back to a town from an independent city.
“That day is coming,” Bennett said. “The waiver is passing by.”
Bennett said although he keeps hearing that Stapleton and the School Board want to close this and close that – it’s not true.
“They are sensitive to keeping open community schools,” Bennett said. “But we get nowhere attacking personalities.
“I haven’t heard anybody speak about the parents of children bused from the airport area who subsidize Halifax Elementary,” he said.
Bennett said when the decision was being made where to locate the new school Centerville was considered.
“Land owners wanted a million dollars an acre,” Bennett said. “Stapleton tried.
“I hope a year would help,” he added. “I urge everyone to think about this very, very carefully.
“Condition and size (of the school) does in fact make a difference in learning,” Bennett added, research from major universities is conclusive.
According to Bennett, 450 students is the bare minimum of students for an elementary school.
Bennett added that approving Dunavant’s resolution was the best course of action, on balance, letting the town’s students attend the new school.
Parker said he saw Bennett’s remarks as a defense of Stapleton’s proposals, noting he asked how much money closing Halifax would save and got no response from Stapleton.
Bennett objected, saying he was presenting facts and the debate should not be personality-driven.
Following public comments Dunavant said he proposed the new resolution to be practical.
“The School Board has not adopted our position from the other night,” he said. “I’m trying to come up with something new that will be best.
“If we stick with what we’ve got, there’s no telling what we’re going to get,” Dunavant added. “I think this is best for the town of Halifax.”
The other three councilmen in attendance, Parker, Phil Hollis and Dick Moore, said they would not support the new resolution.
Parker said the meeting was unnecessary to reconsider the original resolution and that he continued to support a one-year delay.
Hollis said he thought there was enough to the new proposal to meet, but that he wouldn’t support it.
Moore also said he still supported a one-year delay after making 26 phone calls to constituents. Of the calls, he said he spoke with 12 people and they were split down the middle whether to send the kids to the new school or keep Halifax open.
Dunavant withdrew it from consideration without a vote.
Parker then announced a rally to keep Halifax Elementary open that will start at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at the courthouse and proceed to the Mary Bethune Complex to attend the School Board meeting at 7 p.m.

Obituaries

Michael Eugene Whitt

Mr. Michael Eugene Whitt, of East Hyco Road in South Boston, died Saturday, March 17, at the Salem VA Medical Center. He was 53.
Mr. Whitt was born in Halifax County, the son of Joyce Cranford Whitt and Lacy R. Whitt, on October 22, 1953. He was a veteran of the U.S. Navy and was a member of the Living Word Church of Taylorsville, N.C.
In addition to his parents, Mr. Whitt is survived by on sister, Rebecca “Becky” W. Hutcherson and husband Ricky of South Boston; one brother, Stanley P. Whitt and wife Ellen of Knightdale, N.C.; two nieces, Shawn H. Short and husband Eric and Meredith Whitt; and one nephew, Eric Whitt.
Funeral services for Mr. Whitt will be held at 2 p.m. Tuesday at the Brooks Funeral Home Chapel with the Rev. Curtis Cole officiating.
Visitation will be held at Brooks Funeral Home tonight from 7:00 p.m. until 8:30 p.m. and other times at the home of his parents, 3071 East Hyco Road, South Boston.
The family requests that anyone wishing to give memorials please consider the Cherry Hill United Methodist Church, 3199 Huell Matthews Highway, South Boston, Va., 24592.
Online condolences may be sent to brooksfh@earthlink.net.

Samuel Wray Redd

Mr. Samuel Wray Redd, 65, of Magnolia Drive in South Boston, died Thursday, March 15, at the Hunter Holmes McGuire VA Medical Center.
He was born in Pittsylvania County on March 9, 1942, the son of the late A.C. Redd and the late Minnie Walker Redd.
Mr. Redd was married to Betty Womack Redd, was a retired machine operator for Huber Engineered Woods, was a veteran of the U.S. Army and was a member of American Legion Post 8.
In addition to his wife, Mr. Redd is survived by one son, Samuel Wayne Redd of Clover; one daughter, Tracey R. Francis and husband Glen Jr., both of South Boston; two brothers, Amos Redd and wife Ina of Prince George County and Herman Redd of Wirtz; five sisters, Velora R. Moore of Halifax, Bonnie Snow and husband Roger of Halifax, Francis Hawker and husband Robert of Sutherlin, Virginia Strader of Ruffin, N.C. and Betty Miller and husband David of South Boston; one grandchild, Morgan Lynn Francis.
He was preceded in death by two brothers, Frank and James Redd.
Funeral services for Mr. Redd were held Sunday, March 18, at Ash Avenue Baptist Church. The Rev. John Eure officiated. Burial followed in the Clover Cemetery.
The family requests that those wishing to give memorials please consider Ash Avenue Baptist Church, 900 Ash Avenue, South Boston, Va., 24592 or the Hospital Hospitality House, P.O. Box 10090, Richmond, Va., 23240.
Online condolences may be sent to brooksfh@earthlink.net.

David Nichols

David “Red” Nichols, age 53 of Laurel Woods Drive, died Friday, March 16, 2007 at Tidelands Community Hospice following an illness.
Born November 18, 1954 in South Boston, a son of the late Eugene J. and Shirley Ann Barker Nichols. Mr. Nichols was a devoted father and professional billiards player.
Surviving are the mother of his daughter and best friend: Kathy Sansbury Winans; daughter: Amanda Jean Nichols of Myrtle Beach; brother: Eugene Nichols, Jr. of Miami, FL; and sister: Anna Nichols of Roxboro, NC.
Memorial services will be held at 1 p.m. Tuesday at Huntington Beach State Park. A gathering for family and friends will be held at the residence following the services.
Memorials may be made to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of America, SC Chapter, 1247 Lake Murray Blvd., Irmo, SC 29603.
Goldfinch Funeral Home, Beach Chapel is in Charge.
Sign a guest book at www.goldfinchfuneralhome.com