Comments for Let's Get It Right! | Eastern NC Now

Befuddled: You're asking some great questions. I'm having a hard time putting this together also. The Superintendent started the grant process in 2023. By November 2023 it was on the agenda to move forward, and the board voted to present the proposal to the County Commission. That proposal breezed through 8 to 1 with Mr. Hickman voting against it. The County Commission knocked it through with a familiar 5 to 2 cram. At that time, it was assumed that BCS owned all the land.

By the December 18, 2024 School Board Emergency Closed Session meeting, the Board came back into open session whereupon chairman Allen made a motion seconded by Mr. Shreve to authorize the attorney to enter negotiations with the City of Washington for a Temporary Construction Easement including provisions about the 4 acres owned by the City of Washington. This included the proposals for trading Kugler Field, or trading P.S. Jones Park for the 4 acres. So, the shakedown was begun sometime before this.

There was another School Board Emergency Closed Session on January 10, 2025. Coming back into open session Chairman Allen made a motion seconded by Mr. Shreve to offer the City of Washington two options. Option 1. Purchase the 4 acres for $500,000. Option 2. Offer P.S. Jones Memorial Park to the City of Washington as a land swap. The Board offer provided for letting the County Commissioners choose.

From my conversations with a Board member, there seemed to be several meetings during this time with certain members of each board that were supposedly reporting back to the other members. From the School Board end, I seriously doubt if anyone really knows other than the Chairman and the Superintendent. It's probably a similar situation on the other boards too. It's all kind of murky with no clear trail. During this end of proceedings, the major players seem to be the Superintendent, the School Board Chairman, the Chairman of the Board of Commissioners, the County Manager and I'm really not clear about who was leading the shakedown from the City of Washington.

I've put all this together by referring to my own notes, checking the minutes, and conversations I've had with a School Board member (one I can trust). If anyone has it more clear than I do, I welcome the input. There really should be more light on all of this. They owe it to the public. But I suppose that would be too embarrassing.

Commented: Saturday, July 5th, 2025 @ 9:43 pm By: Van Zant

The Big Cheese would not negotiate with the City to get the land. He did not want the land. If he did not get the land, the shop and service complex area would be used for the stormwater pond. He wanted a new shop and service area at a cost of at least 5 million dollars.

This all looks funny and confusing because the Big Cheese wanted it to be odd and confusing.

Commented: Saturday, July 5th, 2025 @ 5:09 pm By: Hood Richardson

VZ:
Do you hav a timeline & a Who's Who, of what went down th moment
after th staff at the BoardofEducation were told:"Hey u dont own th 9acs that is in your NewSchool BuildingPlan."

Did Cheeseman go to th SchoolBoard members & ask what should we do abt this? Or did he skip them & go straight to th CityManager, skipping th CityCouncil as well? Then did th CityManager&Cheeseman contact the CountyManager & discuss what to do, skipping th CountyCommissioners at this time too?

When Cheeseman was meeting w th CityManager,& asked What is th land worth in $$, did he say $1million? And then did Cheeseman say What abt 1/2 of it?
Then did th CityManagr independently,& exclusive of the CityCouncil quote to Cheeseman $500,000, to which Cheeseman sd, Okay if I can get th 4 Useful Idiots to say yes? And then, w nothin more than these
3 bureaucrats agreeing,did Cheeseman go to th CommissionerMeeting & say, Well th CityManager says $500,000, to which th 4 sd, "Tell me NO more, LET's DO THIS ASAP."

Commented: Saturday, July 5th, 2025 @ 1:36 pm By: Befuddled

Stan: Could be. I'm no fan of district elections either. But I wonder if a voting system can fix character issues.

Befuddled: Concerning the new school building project, all but one school board member rushed into that as hard as they could, eager to spend that "free" money.

Commented: Friday, July 4th, 2025 @ 6:55 pm By: Van Zant

Everyone seems to have moved on to the Snowden School issue, but I'm still stuck at the 9 1/2 ac lot debacle that the schools system thought it owned.There seems to be a lack of competence galore. Not only the 4 jerks on the Commissioners Board, who could easily be nicknamed the 4 clones of Sgt Shultz, but also the School Board members who seemed to have played Zero role in the transaction. Thus we could nickname them Sgt Shultz's too. Then there is the City Council members who seem to be another body of Sgt Shultz's.

Who were the players? As far as I can tell, Cheeseman put his head together with the City Manager and agreed on a $500,000 price tag for HALF the 9 acs they thought they owned.

Out of these three bodies, no one said, Hey maybe we need a Title Search, and NO ONE said, Maybe we should negotiate this price on
behalf of the taxpayers?
Why didnt they? It stinks galore! It feels like a lot of money laundering between Governmental bodies at the detriment of the taxpayer.

Commented: Friday, July 4th, 2025 @ 3:17 pm By: Befuddled

Van Zant: Your analogy supports the better fact that school board members should run county wide.

Commented: Thursday, July 3rd, 2025 @ 11:33 am By: Stan Deatherage

The public education system here in Beaufort County has great potential, and then I am reminded, first hand, just how messed up it is, as I watch, know intimately, how greatly their leadership diligently strives to grasp ahold of that single shiny thread from that dark, distant gordian knot, where a masked mediocrity might be attained, and closely held; until even that common place venture of something slightly better than nothing ... Just slips away.

Commented: Thursday, July 3rd, 2025 @ 7:34 am By: Stan Deatherage

Steve Bonner: I believe your analysis is point by point right on the money.

Commented: Wednesday, July 2nd, 2025 @ 5:54 pm By: Charles Hickman

John, the reason private schools and/or charter schools can provide an education at a lower cost per student is because they do not have the same regulations. They do not have to provide free lunch like Beaufort County Public schools do. Their teachers also do not need to be certified, which is scary. I know many students who came out of PCA to go into college having to take college prep courses because they were not prepared by the private school to enter into college. Is that all, no. But I know many. Also, I would argue that private schools are at a higher cost per student. They pay 10,000+ in tuition, have to pay for books, pay for lunch, pay for transportation, and then the school has fundraisers that you have to raise a certain amount or pay out of pocket more. Also, you have to commit to volunteer your time to work for them for events or pay your way out of volunteering. It is all a money racket.

Commented: Wednesday, July 2nd, 2025 @ 4:05 pm By: BCCitizen

First, let me acknowledge that the roles of County Commissioners and School Board Members are not easy. When done well, these positions require dedication, thoughtful decision-making, and hard work. Thank you to all who serve and help keep the county functioning as smoothly as possible.

That said, there is a quadrant of this county, the third largest of six townships and the fourth most populated, that is the source of the most local income and tax revenue and includes multiple communities and an incorporated town, that is now functioning worse from the decision of the School Board. This area and its school district are now destabilized. The elementary school and the people it served were not considered important enough for elected officials to explore reasonable alternatives before removing the school from an entire township community.

Consolidation has been ongoing for over a century. For the first 50 years, and during the 60s and 70s desegregation, it made sense. But as it has become more centralized, it increasingly fails to serve the unique needs of local elementary aged children, especially in remote communities like Aurora when viewed through the lens of child well being. Despite the education and experience among Board Members, the emphasis was less on children than on balancing the county’s overall education budget at the expense of one of its most underserved and remote school populations. Instead of lobbying for more resources to meet the actual needs, the Board chose to close the least visible school.

We’re hearing from families now forced to relocate, change jobs, or cancel their plans to move into the area. Others, who just moved here before the closure decision, are scrambling to figure out how to manage their children’s schooling and their family’s stability. Busing small children for long hours each day should have been reason enough to reconsider. But the impact goes beyond logistics; this decision is dismantling a community one family at a time.

Had proper impact studies been conducted, as required by state policy, the Board would have likely seen this coming. But for most Board members, this isn’t your district, and these aren’t your families being affected. While I don’t believe the decision was made with malice, I do believe that if this were your children, your school, and your community on the line, you and others would have made a different choice.

Commented: Wednesday, July 2nd, 2025 @ 2:31 pm By: Steve Bonner

Stan, when Martin County Schools closed the community public school in Bear Grass, that is exactly what was done with the building. It is now a thriving charter school, and the Bear Grass community continues to have a local school. Charter schools and private schools tend to provide better education at a lower cost per student than public schools, so that is beneficial in a lot of ways. I wonder if anyone in Aurora would pick up the ball and run with it? That might be an option for John Cotton Tayloe as well.

Commented: Tuesday, July 1st, 2025 @ 2:37 pm By: John Steed