Comments by Van Zant | Eastern NC Now

As I've said before, the staff leadership of BCS has absolutely abandoned their quest for a social studies curriculum purchase. After the public concerns and hard questions by the then new board members a couple of years ago, they actually removed it from any consideration. As I remember it, the item was not placed before the Board again after the public resistance.

As I have observed since then when board members have asked about curriculum status they have been put off by staff. Recently, after being questioned by individual board members they have admitted to not having any plans for social studies curriculum. It seems like it was SAAVAS or nothing for them. Now, they say they want to plan for science curriculum. I don't know anyone that really knows what the status of that is.

I have noticed that some Board members have renewed their requests for staff status reports regarding curriculum. It seems to me that this board is being blown off by staff and there are not enough board members that care enough to demand staff to respond. It seems like a will-full staff and a lazy or ideologically hostile Board majority - not sure what the majority proportion is.

So, how long does it take? It seems like the strategy is to delay untill the clock runs out.

Commented: Thursday, February 27th, 2025 @ 5:27 pm By: Van Zant

RH: We have been living in a real time George Orwell novel for some time now.
Stan: The really disturbing thing is that BBo is not alone, and he just may be a Republican - RINO version.

Commented: Tuesday, February 25th, 2025 @ 7:10 am By: Van Zant

Here we are at that awkward moment. Do we let the BBob ridiculousness hang there or do we say the obvious. OK, I'll do it.

Ms. Cayton was on subject when she mentioned teaching U.S History grounded in the founding of the country. That occurred in the 18th century with roots in the 17th century. BBo wants to muddle it up by concurrently teaching NAACP 19th and 20th century history. They are different time periods. Of course you teach both, just not at the same time.

I'll give BBob this, no matter what the subject it is always about race to him.

I hope our school board can stick to their guns and provide some clear direction. Recent Leftist political and education practices are confusing the heck out of our young people.

Commented: Sunday, February 23rd, 2025 @ 8:54 am By: Van Zant

Am I hearing that indisputable "facts" are being delivered to us from the far-Left echo chamber? Well, I've given BBob ample time to demonstrate a spirit of learning and growing while engaging in interesting dialog. It is not to be.

What he should have said previously is something like for example, Musk perhaps misread that screwed up SSA data and exaggerated the payments, but still there is almost $72 billion in improper payments from the agency, and DOGE is providing a long overdue service.

But no. Instead, race is brought into conversations that have absolutely nothing to do with race and Musk is falsely portrayed as a South African racist with the insinuation that all white South Africans are racist.

Additionally, when he accuses advocates of a color-blind society of being in some way responsible for slavery and Jim Crow, that is highly insulting.

Going back into the catalog of outright false statements, for example the time when he said there were zero free blacks in the antebellum South when there were hundreds of thousands of them at that time. When it is pointed out that he is kinda way off on the crazy pronouncement he doubles down. There are volumes of those type examples.

Not much constructive can come from dialog with that level of hostility and dishonesty other than just letting him demonstrate the lunacy coming out of the extreme Left in this present-day world in which we live. I suppose we should thank him for that.

Commented: Thursday, February 20th, 2025 @ 10:45 am By: Van Zant

BBob is like a race ninny. It's so much that most of what he says is absolute nonsense.

Commented: Tuesday, February 18th, 2025 @ 10:37 am By: Van Zant

The three that voted against it were the two with wives on the School Board and the Chairman of the Board of Commissioners.

Commented: Friday, February 14th, 2025 @ 5:31 am By: Van Zant

Surely, the logic of this project does not follow, but the reasons why this is a flawed process do follow.

Commented: Wednesday, February 12th, 2025 @ 10:34 am By: Van Zant

Ok. Is this the way this all went down?

1) The Beaufort County School system thought they owned all the land at the Eastern Elementary School site where the demolition and construction are to be.
2) They found out after the fact that they did not own all of the land.
3) Initially, the School system thought they had a gentleman's agreement with the City of Washington to use the land.
4. The City of Washington reneged on the agreement and decided to demand a land exchange involving the City of Washington gaining Kugler Field or P.S. Jones Park or a half million dollars.
5) The County School Board did not officially specify any preferred direction but offered to pay half the money (a quarter of a million dollars).
6) Then, the Beaufort County Board of Commissioners by a 4 to 3 vote decided to pay the money to the City of Washington instead of the land swap.

If that is it, this has got darned near everything, including incompetence and greed.

Commented: Tuesday, February 11th, 2025 @ 6:55 pm By: Van Zant

Do Eastern Carolina residents really want California style school consolidations, and do Eastern Carolina residents really favor California style ethics? I'll wager that most of our reps really do not want to know.









eastern Carolina residents

Commented: Monday, February 10th, 2025 @ 9:56 am By: Van Zant

Thanks to Soros funded NC Attorney General Jeff Jackson, our state is the ugly purple/blue spot of the southeastern states. We have become the California of the South, and that is truly disgraceful.

Commented: Sunday, February 9th, 2025 @ 3:49 pm By: Van Zant

Questions that need to be answered before going forward with a project this big:
1. More preparation and more scrutiny by both boards. Where was it?
2. Input from the community. Why was there none?
3. A County Long-Range Facility study and plan. Where is it?
4. A County/City Transportation study? Where is it?

People elect Hood Richardson because he asks these questions. Why do so many other board members (majorities) not ask these questions? It is their job to do so.

Commented: Saturday, February 8th, 2025 @ 12:18 pm By: Van Zant

BO: You're right of course. The School Board should demand a Long-Range Facility Plan before they ever commit to any of these projects. They need to have the discipline not to go for anything that does not fit within the long-range plan. Too bad we have a school board where the tail wags the dog.

Commented: Friday, February 7th, 2025 @ 8:59 am By: Van Zant

It seems that what is happening now is part of an established process of poor planning and broken promises.

In all of this, Chocowinity Primary School still does not have a 5th grade on campus. The CPS 5th grade is located on the Chocowinity Middle School campus. Has anywhere else in North Carolina done this?

Also, around County/City merger time the greatest needs in the County were identified as Belhaven and Aurora. I never quite understood how the answer to that was losing John A. Wilkenson. Maybe there are things I don't know about that one, but it makes me wonder.

At the time I wasn't very negative about the Chocowinity / Aurora High School consolidation. I've had second thoughts since then. When this was going on, assurances were given to Aurora area residents not to worry, because younger children would not be subjected to having to travel increased distances. Nowadays it appears that promise is off the table too.

Consequently, I'm for having a time out on everything until we've had a detailed study done resulting in a coherent plan for Beaufort County. This hodgepodge planning seems to be headed for nowhere good.

P.S.- I can't see where any of this Beaufort County business has anything to do with Tula [Tulsa] Oklahoma in 1921.

Commented: Thursday, February 6th, 2025 @ 9:41 am By: Van Zant

Here's something interesting: I heard a big delegation from my part of the county attended the school board meeting on Monday. They were concerned because they saw on the agenda a Snowden School fiscal report that was listed as an action item.

At the last minute the item was removed. When the meeting started board member Hickman asked the chairman why it was removed. The superintendent said it would be dealt with in closed session. Hum.

Commented: Tuesday, February 4th, 2025 @ 6:10 am By: Van Zant

RH: Hoping for the best with Hudson. Time will tell. Unfortunately, we've all seen a fair number of board members sit on boards for the prestige and the extra monthly check, while taking the path of least resistance. The easy way is to turn the manager or superintendent loose while they pretend like they are doing something. With this scenario a manager or superintendent can do whatever they want as long as they have a lazy board majority in their pocket.

Stan: Yep. The uniparty runs a con game on an unknowing public.

Commented: Friday, January 31st, 2025 @ 9:44 pm By: Van Zant

Stan: The less traveled path for many of the board members on the various Beaufort County Boards does seem to be the exception rather than the rule. Ever notice that the local board members that are willing to actually work are often times criticized and attacked for it and vilified for not going along. I'd wager you have noticed.

Commented: Wednesday, January 29th, 2025 @ 4:22 am By: Van Zant

Speaking in clichés: How about this? "...kids would have a better outcome if the adults didn't act like [crooks]." Or "...better outcome if adults didn't act like [rubber stamp zombies]."

Hey cliché speaking can be fun. How about if some of our board members could take control of their boards and do their damned jobs instead of dancing on the end of their puppet strings.

Commented: Tuesday, January 28th, 2025 @ 2:19 am By: Van Zant