Closing the S. W. Snowden School, Another Disgrace | Eastern North Carolina Now

Closing the S. W. Snowden School, Another Disgrace

BY: HOOD RICHARDSON

Any school system’s reputation has a lot to do with the success of the area it represents.  The Beaufort County School System represents all of Beaufort County.  Many people pontificate about our need for economic development.  They throw out their chest and vow that government should do everything possible to bring industry and commerce to Beaufort County.  Many of these socialists are willing to raise taxes to support economic development.

The education system provides the knowledge base to develop the skills and character of a work force.  Industries at times hire professionals to evaluate education systems.  The reputation of a school board goes a long way in this system of evaluation.  That reputation is formed from the dedication to solving education problems, innovation in dealing with issues, and strength of the management ability of the school board in directing and controlling the staff.  Of critical importance is whether the board is dominated by the employees of the school system or whether the will of the board prevails.  The elected members of the school board reflect the character and dedication of the public they represent.  To put it another way, does the public care enough about education to demand their elected school officials provide a meaningful education for their children.

The Beaufort County School System fails every item in the paragraph above.  Obviously, most companies who need a trainable and ethical workforce are not going to locate in such a place as this.  The inability of the Beaufort County School Board to innovate is as plain as the nose on your face.

It is obvious the seven school board members who voted to proceed with closing the Snowden school never considered the needs of Beaufort County, (Charles Hickman and Stacy Davis voted against closing the school.) Those needs are to provide the offer of an education to every child in the county, to provide the opportunity for every child to be able to earn a living above the poverty line.  

The North Carolina General Statutes require public hearings before schools are closed.  The required school closing process started with the seven to two vote by the School Board and the scheduling of the public hearing on April 16 at 6:00 PM at the Snowden School in Aurora. It is of interest that there have been no such hearings scheduled for the two schools, Tayloe and Eastern Elementary, in Washington.  The Big Cheese and Fake Frankie Waters probably have another plan for this.  The average school in Beaufort County is only half full.

These education geniuses never considered what the true cost of keeping Snowden open is. That is, how much more will it cost to keep Snowden open next year than this year.  The answer is surprisingly simple.  It is the difference between paying the principal for a 12-month year versus a 9-month year.  If the student population falls below 100, the State of North Carolina will pay only a nine-month principal’s salary instead of a 12-month salary.  My estimation is about thirty thousand dollars.  That difference could be paid by Beaufort County.

Thirty thousand dollars is very little expense when one considers what would happen when Snowden is closed.  Ninety-nine children would be bused from Aurora to Southside School. Most would then get on another bus and be taken to the schools inside the Town of Chocowinity.  The cost of this transportation definitely is more than thirty thousand dollars.

There is more impact on the community and these children.  The long ride, leaving home before dawn and getting home after dark.  

The largest employer in Beaufort County is in Aurora.  Nutrien needs educated and skilled labor.  

Beaufort County has experience in this kind of school closing.  The Town of Belhaven took a huge economic hit when the school was moved out of town to the intersection of US 264 and Seed Tick Neck Road.  The town has not recovered during the past more than ten years. There was no advantage to having this school at the new location.  This is another exercise in how to lose.

Sending these children to the Pamlico County School System may be in the best interest of the children.  Beaufort County taxpayers pay about three thousand dollars for each student each year.  This money keeps up the buildings, provides school buses, and pays administrative and extra teachers expenses.  Pamlico County would want some of this money.  We could not expect the taxpayers of Pamlico County to pay this expense.  Even if we had to pay Pamlico County the entire three thousand dollars per student (three hundred thousand dollars), both Beaufort County and the students would be well served.

The Beaufort County School Board has been a disappointment for some time.  Their inability to innovate is only part of the problem.  The Board is dominated by liberal ideology.  The Big Cheese has been taken in by every liberal slogan and program.  Among these are failure to teach cursive writing, the LGBTQ+ thing, the pronoun debacle, critical race theory, getting away from the use of textbooks, computer learning, and lack of discipline.

Elected Board members are more loyal to the Big Cheese than they are to parents and children.  The Big Cheese sits beside of the chairman an essentially conducts the meeting.  For some unexplained reason supposed conservative Republican board members flip after their election and “do what the Big Cheese tells them to do”.  Some board members are there to protect and obtain jobs for their relatives.

The ethics issue, with two wives being on the School Board and their husbands being on the Board of County Commissioners, and the four voting in lock step for some really bad ideas, does not give the thinking public confidence in this corrupt system.  They are Randy and Carolyn Walker and Ed and Eltha Booth.

There will be four seats on the School Board open during the 2026 general elections. Hopefully, we will have solid conservatives running against those who are not doing their job. This Board is made up of eight Republicans and one Democrat.  It is hard to imagine they can be as ineffective as they are.  Not all School Board members are RINOs (Republican In Name Only).  Enough are RINO so the Board votes majority Democrat.