School Budget Includes $2.3 Million Increase

The Halifax County School Board unveiled the first draft of its proposed 2007-2008 budget Thursday night, one not calling for any new positions or programs, but one including an across the board three percent salary increase for school system employees.
Chief Financial Officer Bill Covington termed the plan a “level-funded budget,” except for the salary increase, mandatory increase in VRS contributions and an accommodation for a five percent increase in health insurance rates.
The budget also calls for $14,236,432 in county contributions, a $1,244,001 increase over the current year.
Local contributions account for 22.6 percent of the proposed budget, while state monies will fund 63.2 percent and federal funding is at 2.5 percent.
Total contributions to VRS for the 2007-2008 budget year are projected at $5,682,253, compared to $5,148,525 for the previous budget, an increased expense of $533,728.
That reflects a VRS rate increase from 14.69 to 16.46 percent, reducing an almost $1million increase in state funding by almost $261,000, Covington told school board members.
The capital improvement fund for fiscal year 2008 is $683,535.50, excluding a beginning balance of $506,413.88.
The major expenditure in that category for fiscal year 2008 will be the scheduled roofing of the STEM Center in Halifax, Covington told trustees.
School system employees are slated to receive the mandated three percent salary increase despite a shortfall of state contributions, noted Halifax County Public Schools Superintendent Paul Stapleton.
“There’s a shortfall of state money compared to what we’ve had the past two or three years,” explained Stapleton.
“Last year we had roughly $3.2 million in new state money and this year about $700,000, and that’s a tremendous drop when considering you’re giving raises.”
He added that, unfortunately, the 2007-2008 budget is not fully funded based on the needs of the school system, but one that keeps the emphasis on instruction and personnel.
Instruction expenditures alone account for almost 70 percent of the budget or $43,106,166.
“We need cars and several more buses. There are contingency plans in place for upkeep of these vehicles, some of them with a lot of mileage,” added Stapleton.
“It’s status quo on everything else but meeting our personnel costs, and instruction is our number one priority.”
In that vein, trustees received both good new and no so good news in the area of teacher recruitment from Deputy Superintendent Larry Clark, who noted that starting salaries for teachers in Halifax County still lag behind those for most of the Commonwealth.
The minimum salary for county teachers in 2006-2007 was $32,000, compared to the Virginia average salary of $34,527.
That ranked Halifax County 107 out of 132 school systems. Halifax County stood at 102 out of 132 systems in 2005-2006.
When compared to other Southern Virginia school systems, the news is equally discouraging, Halifax County ranking in the bottom half or near the bottom of salaries for beginning teachers and those with five, ten, 15, 20, 25, 30 and 35 years of experience.
“This is simply a dismal picture for someone like myself who has to recruit teachers,” said Clark.
“The good news is that we are still attractive to folks with local connections. In September, I reported that 76 percent of new professional employees in our professional pool have local ties and that’s great.
“We’re always pleased people want to come back and give back.
“The not so good news is that there are two groups of individuals to whom we are not attractive, people with highly specialized degrees and young minority teachers,” continued Clark.
“We have made great advances in our programs which require highly qualified individuals, but we have an extremely hard time attracting them.
“We have a hard time recruiting young minority teachers. Fewer minority students are going into teaching. There are so many options available to them in an urban setting, and they can be compensated at a higher level elsewhere.”
When trustees asked what it would take for teachers salaries in Halifax County to help make up half the salary differential, Covington replied that each one percent increase in salary adds approximately $400,000 to the budget over one year.
“It’s a simple story,” said Covington. “We’re a service organization with a lot of employees and we need to take care of them.
“We need to provide them the tools we need, including transportation and instruction, that provide a safe, modern environment for learning.
“That’s not cheap.”
With trustees Arthur Reynolds and D. H. McDowell absent, the school board voted unanimously to move the draft 2007-2008 budget to a public hearing scheduled for Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the conference room at the Mary Bethune Complex.

Ribbon Cut On VIPER Facility At VIR

Two years of work paid off Friday as dignitaries and academics gathered at Virginia International Raceway to celebrate the grand opening of the new VIPER (Virginia Institute for Performance Engineering and Research) facility in Halifax County.
VIPER is a partnership between VIR, the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research in Danville, Virginia Tech and Old Dominion University.
A two-day open house followed the grand opening, where the public could view VIPER’s eight-post test rig developed by Moog FCS, a driving simulator and a Roehrig shock dynamometer, in the new VIPER building which houses state-of-the-art labs and testing equipment.
During the Friday event, Congressman Virgil Goode said that the new research facility at VIR makes this region unique.
“VIPER offers a package that can’t be found anywhere else in North America,” Goode said. “Now let’s go forward and build on this wonderful facility.”
Goode also said that VIPER is consistent with making Southside Virginia a destination for researchers and companies seeking cutting-edge research facilities.
Connie Nyholm, managing partner of VIR, said that VIPER is already creating a buzz in the motorsports industry.
“Racers are excited about VIPER,” Nyholm said. “Word is spreading very rapidly.”
According to Nyholm, the two test facilities available to race teams were rented out 478 track days last year.
Halifax County Board of Supervisors Chairman William Fitzgerald said that the public-private partnership that makes up VIPER will continue to transform southern Virginia.
He said VIPER is an opportunity to further market the region to the growing motorsports industry, which is a goal of the Virginia Motorsports Alley.
VIPER Technical Director Steve Southward said the facility will be a catalyst for the region’s economy.
“These are exciting times for both the motorsports industry and Southside Virginia as the Virginia Motorsports Alley expands,” Southward said. “VIPER is dedicated to providing engineering test services to the industry which will ultimately promote growth and prosperity in the regional economy.”
Working regionally was a theme at Friday’s grand opening.
Virginia state Sen. Charles Hawkins said the future is built around those who can create and innovate and that Southside would have to work together to attract those types of people.
“VIPER is the best example of what we can and will do,” Hawkins said. “VIR will be a cornerstone of Southside’s new economy.
Hawkins applauded the people who worked to make the new facility a reality, saying they “turned VIR from and world-class destination to a world-class research facility.”
Southside businessman Ben Davenport agreed.
“We have to be regional thinkers,” Davenport said. “This is an enormous thing we have here.”
Dr. Ken Wall, chair of mechanical engineering at Virginia Tech, said he has seen tremendous growth in the engineering research department at the university and that the school’s involvement with VIPER will keep the field growing.
“Our commitment in Southside is both significant and lasting,” Wall said, noting the Virginia Tech students would be at the facility to conduct research.
VIPER’s other university partner ODU will be providing a wind tunnel to the facility for research as it expands its aerodynamics and aerospace programs to include the automotive/motorsports industry.
Southside students will also have the opportunity to study motorsports and take advantage of the research facility through a program offered by Patrick Henry Community College in Martinsville.

 

Obituaries

Giles Edwin Jones Jr.
Funeral arrangements for Giles Edwin “Jolly” Jones Jr. of South Boston were incomplete Sunday at press time.
Mr. Jones, 35, died Friday, April 27, in Halifax County.
He was born February 12, 1972, the son of Giles E. Jones Sr. and Brenda Powell Jones of Vernon Hill, and was married to Cathy Farrar Jones of South Boston.
Mr. Jones was employed by Progress Energy, and was a member of Grace Baptist Church.
In addition to his wife and parents, Mr. Jones is survived by four children, Lainey, Layne, Christian and Jordan, all of the Ashcroft Place home, his grandfather, Andrew Vaughan of Scottsburg, and four sisters, Suzanne Jones and Wendy Jones, both of Vernon Hill, Lisa Moore of Scottsburg and Rhonda Moore of Roxboro, and a number of nieces and nephews.
Mr. Jones was predeceased by his grandmothers Elise P. Vaughan and Sylvia S. Jones, and his grandfather J. Howard Jones.
Faye Wilborn Gray
Graveside services for Mrs. Faye Wilborn Gray will be held at Oak Ridge Cemetery on Wednesday at noon with the Rev. Dr. T. Melvyn Williams officiating.
Visitation will be at Powell Funeral Home from 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday.
Mrs. Gray, 83, of Raleigh, and formerly of Durham, died Friday, April 27, at her home.
She was born on February 18, 1924, in South Boston, the daughter of the late Truett M. Wilborn and Lillian W. Wilborn and was married to the late Cecil Robins Gray Jr.
Mrs. Gray was a member of the Watts Street Baptist Church in Durham.
She is survived by a daughter, Maryanne Gray Porrett and husband Anthony of Raleigh; a son, Cecil Robins Gray III and wife Sherrie of The Forks, Maine; four grandchildren, Katie Kristina Gray and Melanie Faye Gray, both of Portland, Maine, Jeremy Allen Gray of Bingham, Maine and Nina Simone Porrett of Raleigh, and a sister, Peggy Wilborn Claycomb of South Boston.
Online condolences may be sent to powell@gcronline.com.
Mitchell Jasper Blanks
Mitchell Jasper Blanks, 81, of 2123 Link Puryear Road, South Boston died April 26, 2007, at Halifax Regional Hospital.
Mr. Blanks was born April 16, 1926, in Halifax County. He was married to the late Jeanne Bouchez Blanks, was an Army World War II Veteran, a retired textile worker with Burlington Industries, Inc. and was of the Baptist faith.
Survivors of Mr. Blanks include three sons, Jimmy M. Blanks and wife, Sandra, of Roxboro, N.C., Berkley G. Blanks and wife, Catherine, of Greensboro, N.C., and Garry S. Blanks and wife, Deborah, of Kernersville, N.C.; three grandsons, Travis Blanks and wife, Heather, of South Boston, Justin Blanks and wife, Tifine of Greensboro, and Michael Blanks of Winston-Salem, N.C.; three granddaughters, Yvette Crews of Richmond, Kelly Blanks of Greensboro, and Susan B. Park and husband, Michael, of Burlington; four great-grandchildren, Trace Crews, Hailey Blanks, Taylor Blanks, and Cole Blanks; one brother, Marshall Blanks and wife, Anna, of Alton; and one sister, Peggy Richardson of Richmond.
A funeral were held at Brooks Funeral Home Chapel April 28, at 2 p.m. with the Rev. James Watson officiating. Burial followed in Oak Ridge Cemetery.
Those wishing to give memorials are asked to consider a charity of choice.
Online condolences may be sent to brooksfh@earthlink.net

Carolyn L. Cole
Howard Grinnan, 80, of 1078 Lacks Town Road, Clover died April 24, 2007, at Medical College of Virginia Hospital in Richmond.
Mr. Grinnan was born in Halifax County July 9, 1926, to the late William Grinnan and Adlissa Grinnan and was married to Corinne Lacks Grinnan. He was a member of St. Matthew Baptist Church.
Survivors include his wife of the home; three sons, Clinton Alphonso Grinnan of South Boston, Lester Gerald Grinnan of Beacon, N.Y., and Robin Terry Grinnan of Baltimore, Md.; one brother, Shirley Grinnan; two sisters, Sadie Sturdivant and Marie Heard; seven grandchildren; three great-grandchildren; three daughters-in-law, Sherry Grinnan of New York, Gloria Grinnanof Chase City and Karen Grinnan-Jenkins of Rio Rancho, NM; and one sister-in-law, Eliza Scott.
Funeral services for Mr. Grinnan will be held tomorrow, April 28, at 4 p.m. at St. Matthew Baptist Church with the Rev. Dr. Whitfield Scott officiating. Burial will follow in the Lacks Family Cemetery.
The family is receiving friends at the home.

Frank Traynham
Funeral services for Mrs. Carolyn L. Cole of South Boston will be held today at 2 p.m. at Mt. Olive Baptist Church with the Rev. Dr. James M. Crowder officiating.
Mrs. Cole, 64, died Thursday, April 26, at Halifax Regional Hospital.
She was born in Brooklyn, New York, on April 8, 1943, to the late Sylvester Younger Sr. and Ernestine C. Buster Younger, and was married to the late Timothy Cole of South Boston.
Mrs. Cole is survived by one daughter, Deborah Younger of South Boston; three sons, Gregory Younger of Newark, N.J., and Jerry and Clay Cole, both of South Boston; 15 grandchildren; four great-grandchildren; one sister, Anita L. Jackson of Newark; one brother, Sylvester Younger Jr. of South Boston; one son-in-law, Alejandro West of South Boston; one daughter-in-law, Constance Younger of Newark; two sisters-in-law, Donna Younger and Reathie Woody, both of South Boston; and a host of nieces, nephews, cousins, other relatives and friends.
Mrs. Cole was preceded in death by one sister, Hameedah Faried.
A public viewing will be at Jeffress Funeral Home Chapel today from 10:00 a.m. until 12:30 p.m.
The family will receive friends at the residence, 1109 Berry Hill Road, South Boston.

Stephanie Ann Arrington Hite
A funeral for Stephanie Ann Arrington Hite will be held at 11 a.m. today in the Watkins Cooper Lyon Funeral Home Chapel in Clarksville. Father Silvio Kaberia will officiate.
Interment will follow in Oakhurst Cemetery.
Mrs. Hite, 29, died Friday, April 27, in Southampton County.
She is the daughter of Earnest Lee Jr. and Maria Sewill Arrington, and the wife of Danny Preston Hite Jr.
Mrs. Hite was a member of Saint Catherines Catholic Church, and a sales representative with LG Electronic and Brown Rogers Dixon in Winston-Salem.
In addition to her husband and parents, she is survived by her children, Sylvia Clyrsia Katherina Hite and Dillon Preston Hite, of the home; and sisters Michelle Maria Lloyd, Andrea Regina Gravitt and Tiffany Sasha Arrington, all of Clarksville.
Also surviving are: maternal grandmother Regina Sewill of Dalum, Germany; paternal grandmother Ruth Eileen Higgins Arrington of Clarksville; and mother and father-in-law Lonie Bet and Danny Hite of Virgilina.
Online condolences may be expressed to the family at www.wclfh.com.
In lieu of flowers, please consider contributions to a trust fund for her children, c/o Wachovia Bank, Clarksville, Va. 23927.

HCHS Baseball Begins Crucial District Stretch

By Joe Chandler
Sports Editor
The heart of the Western Valley District baseball schedule looms ahead for the Halifax County High School varsity baseball team with the Comets facing an important stretch of games that will have a big impact upon the district title race.
Halifax County (9-5 overall, 2-1 district) will go on the road this week to face district title contenders Franklin County and E.C. Glass and will need wins in both games to stay within hailing distance of first place in the district championship race.
In past seasons, winning the regular-season championship guaranteed a team one of the district’s two seeds in the Northwest Region Tournament with the district’s top seed going to the winner of the district tournament.
That has changed, however.
Starting this season, the regular-season champion gets the district’s top seed in the Northwest Region Tournament with the district tournament champion getting the second seed.
As a result, the real prize is now the regular-season title.
Halifax County, with its loss to GW a week ago, needs wins to keep from falling behind further in the district title chase. That is why this week’s pair of road games, especially Tuesday night’s clash with Franklin County, are important.
“Tuesday’s game with Franklin County is very big,” said Comet coach Kelvin Davis.
“The season is starting to run out on us really fast. It’s going to be one of those ballgames like Halifax and GW. It’s a big ballgame and we need to go up there and try to jump on them early.”
Halifax County and Franklin County have traditionally played close, exciting ballgames regardless of whether they square off here or at Rocky Mount. Davis said he expects another close game Tuesday night.
“They play us tight all of the time up there,” Davis pointed out.
“It’s a good baseball atmosphere up there. We usually play pretty well up there and they play extremely well at home.”
Davis says his team’s good overall performance in last week’s 10-0 win over Patrick Henry should give the team a good shot of momentum going into Tuesday’s game.
“It was a good motivational game for us,” Davis said his team’s win over Patrick Henry.
“We definitely needed after the way we played against GW.
“It’s very important that we go up there (to Franklin County) and display our talent,” Davis added.
“We can talk a lot, but I told the guys we need to perform between the lines. Mentally you’ve got to be there. You’ve got to put everything on the table.”
The Comets coach says he is pleased with his team’s work ethic and effort.
“This is a wonderful group of guys to work with,” Davis pointed out.
“They’re very talented. All they need to do is continue to come out here every day, never accept where they are and continue to work.
“This is a hard game to play,” Davis continued.
“These guys are doing a wonderful job attitude-wise and everything. We just need to stay on this roll that we’re on.”
WVD Baseball
FC 4-9 1-1
GW 12-1 3-0
HC 9-5 2-1
PH 3-5 0-2
Glass 7-5 0-2

Girls Third In Invitational

By Doug Ford
G-V Staff Writer
Seanna Bradley won the championship at number three singles, and the Comets girls tennis team finished third in the Heritage Invitational Tournament Friday and Saturday, despite playing without four of six regular starters.
Heritage secured spots in all nine finals to win the tournament, while Nelson finished with 14 and Halifax 10 points.
Halifax advanced players to the finals in four of nine positions, including Shanna Luck, Seanna Bradley and Fallon Farmer in singles and Farmer and Morgan Farley in doubles.
Bradley defeated Jessie Farenholt of Heritage 11-10 (7-2) at number three doubles for the only Comets’ title of the tournament.
Comets coach Greg Donner said he was happy with the play of several Comets who got their first chance to play in real competition.
“Morgan Farley and Fallon Farmer were impressive at number three doubles and defeated a more experienced pair from William Campbell,” said Donner.
“Fallon also won her semi-final singles match, the only Comet to play in both singles and doubles finals.”
Tiffany Green and Melanie Pool played in their first official matches and performed well against more experienced players, Pool joining Luck at number one doubles and also playing well there, according to Donner.
“I was pleased that even playing at a much reduced strength, we were able to make a good showing and actually had a shot at second place on championship day,” noted Donner.
“All of our players except Shanna were playing at levels higher than their usual positions, or for the first time.
“All of our players were able to experience some real success on the court and I felt like all of our younger players were playing well at the end of their matches.”

Angelelli, Magnussen Top Field In VIR 400

By Joe Chandler
Sports Editor
For much of the weekend Max Angelelli and Jan Magnussen struggled trying to get a handle on their SunTrust Pontiac Riley.
Through Friday and Saturday’s practice and qualifying the pair could never get the car quite where they wanted it.
“I have to say that after yesterday in qualifying I didn’t think we were going to have a race-winning car,” said Magnussen.
Something changed when the team took the car out for a 15-minute practice yesterday morning.
“We had some problems all through practice and qualifying, which we sorted out during practice this morning luckily. The warm-up was great, and in the race we had a great race car.”
That, Magnussen and Angelelli did.
Angelelli posted his second career triumph here yesterday as he and Magnussen returned the SunTrust Racing Team and team owner Wayne Taylor to VIR’s Victory Lane in yesterday’s VIR 400 Rolex Sports Car Series Daytona Prototype race.
Driving the final stint, Angelelli drove his team’s Pontiac Riley across the finish line 3.567 seconds ahead of the runner-up Pontiac Riley driven by Max Papis of Miami, Fla.
David Donahue of Malvern, Pa., driving the Brumos Racing Porsche Riley, finished third, taking the spot from Ryan Dalziel of of Orlando, Fla. on the final lap. Alex Gurney of Irvine, Cal, driving a Pontiac Riley, rounded out the top five finishers.
The Lexus Riley co-driven by Burt Frisselle of Lynchburg and Ian James of Phoenix, Ariz. finished sixth and was followed by a Pontiac Riley co-driven by Jim Matthews and Marc Goossens of Belgium, the Lexus Riley co-driven by Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas, the Porsche Crawford of Patrick Long and Jorg Bergmeister of Germany and the Lexus Riley co-driven by Mark Patterson and Oswaldo Negri.
“It’s a fantastic feeling,” Angelelli said.
“We’ve always been good at this track, but this year is different, with so many different people involved. Like Jan said, up until this morning, we had a terrible car, and luckily we turned everything around and had a good race.”them, Magnussen and Angelelli led 27 laps of yesterday’s 77-lap, 400K event over VIR’s 3.27-mile layout with Angelelli leading the final 25 circuits of the race.
Angelelli took the lead from Papis on lap 53 and led pretty much unchallenged the rest of the way.
Papis said once Angelelli broke into the lead, he knew it would be difficult to remain in contention for the win. He did, however, manage to cut Angelelli’s five second lead down to three and a half seconds at the end of the race.
“I got the lead car from Colin (teammate Colin Braun), and we knew it was going to be a short stint and I had to be as fast as possible,” Papis said.
“It was good for the first couple of laps, and after that, it became difficult to keep up the pace. We were quite loose, and it was quite difficult to hold the car, especially turning in. We were struggling a little bit, and I was trying to hold my pace the best I could. When I saw Angelelli try to make his move, I tried to make it a little more difficult, but I knew once he found his way through, it would be difficult to match his pace. I tried to keep pressure on him.”
Magnussen started the race in fifth place and didn’t get to the top spot until he took the lead from Braun when Braun pitted on lap 43 and turned the car over to Papis. A lap later, Magnussen pitted and turned the car over to Angelelli, handing the lead to Michael Valiante
A lap later, a full-course caution came out and Fogarty took the lead as Valiante pitted. Fogarty then pitted and turned his car over to Alex Gurney, giving Papis the lead.
By that time, Angelelli had worked his way back up to second place with Dalziel and Donahue following in order.
Angelelli got past Papis on the inside in the first turn on lap 53. By the time they pair got back to the start/finish line again, Angelelli had a lead of 1.315 seconds and was pulling away.
While Angelelli and Magnussen celebrated their win, Donahue and co-driver Darren Law celebrated the team’s first podium finish since the Daytona finale in 2003. It was an emotion-filled day for the two drivers who competed with heavy hearts in the wake of the death last week of the team’s president and CEO, Bob Snodgrass, Jr.
“It’s been a tough weekend for everybody,” said Law.
“We’re really proud of the team. They’ve done a great job. We were up late last night working on the car. I’ve already said that it’s great to have a podium, but it’s even more special this weekend because of what’s happened to Bob. There were a lot of happy people today.”
The race was a competitive one with eight car lead changes and eight driver lead changes. Braun led the most laps, racing at the point for a total of 34 laps. Between them, Braun and Angelelli led 59 of the race’s 77 laps.
Yesterday’s win vaultted Angelelli and Magnussen into the series points lead. The pair have 127 points and hold an 11-point edge over Pruett who has 116 points. Braun and Papis trail in third place with 107 points each.
Angelelli, who, with Taylor, won here at VIR in 2004, averaged 102.171 mph in the race that took two hours, 27 minutes and 51.875 seconds to complete.