75 items found for your search. If no results were found please broaden your search.
(04/28/06 4:00am)
The landscape of representation on the Orange County Board of Commissioners finally might be changing after more than a year of controversy and debate.
The commissioners voted unanimously at an April 18 meeting to put a proposal on the ballot this fall that would increase the board from five to seven members and create two voting districts.
The referendum will be on the ballot for the Nov. 2 election.
If it's approved, one representative would come from the rural parts of Orange County - district one - and two would come from Chapel Hill and Carrboro - district two.
The remaining four commissioners would be elected at-large, regardless of district.
Currently, the five commissioners are elected at-large.
The decision to change that method is one that has been a long time coming, but its impact still isn't clear.
Rep. Bill Faison, D-Orange, said the commissioners have been nonresponsive to frequent pleas from the rural parts of the county to have more representation on the board and only recently paid attention in part due to the pressure he helped to put on them.
Faison presented a 1,200 signature petition to the commissioners at a January 2005 meeting requesting more representation for the northern part of the county on the board.
Barry Jacobs, chairman of the county commissioners, and commissioner Alice Gordon, both of whom are running for reelection, said Faison's petition played a large role in moving the decision-making process forward.
"I think it was very important - 1,200 people thought it was very important," Gordon said.
Jacobs said while two more members could provide for improved decision-making, he is not in favor of districts, instead favoring continued at-large elections.
Jacobs said he is concerned about district representation because it could further fragment the political community.
Gordon voiced similar concerns, citing the uncertainty and transition that will go along with increasing the size of the board.
"It's not just the structure, it's also who," Gordon said. "We don't know what the new system will produce in terms of the people."
Both commissioners showed some confidence in the plan, however.
"We assume this is going to work out or else we wouldn't have done it," Gordon said.
Faison isn't so sure.
He said while having one representative from the rural part of the county and two from Chapel Hill and Carrboro meets the "one person, one vote" ratio, the four at-large members will create a "tremendous inequity" because of the high population in the urban areas of the county.
"What this means is the Chapel Hill township will be able to elect six commissioners, and the one-third of the county that lives outside of the Chapel Hill township will only be able to select one commissioner," Faison said. "This is not fair, nor is it reasonable."
Faison said the commissioners' plan should provide the Chapel Hill district with four members and the rural district with two, allowing for just one at-large commissioner.
"That will give (the rural district) a more meaningful voice on the county commissioners," he said.
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(04/19/06 4:00am)
In addition to moving toward changing district representation patterns, the Orange County Board of Commissioners discussed several issues Tuesday night including regional transportation and the design of a solid waste operations center.
Regional transportation
The board heard a presentation on the possibility of combining transportation programs in Orange County with Wake and Durham counties.
The presentation listed the Triangle Transit Authority as likely being the head of the potential program.
(04/19/06 4:00am)
The Orange County Board of Commissioners agreed on a new way to create election districts in the county Tuesday night.
The board voted unanimously to move forward with map "B," a proposal that consists of two districts and would increase the number of commissioners to seven.
The board currently consists of five members, all elected at-large in countywide elections.
With the new plan, members would be elected by district as well as some members being elected at-large.
Map B includes one district for the Chapel Hill township and another district for the six other townships.
Two members will be elected from the Chapel Hill district, district two, and one member from the county district, district one. The remaining four members will be elected at-large, regardless of district.
The issue now will become a referendum on the November election ballot.
Commissioner Moses Carey Jr. said that no matter which map the board chose, it should approve pursuing nomination by district as well as general election at-large.
His recommendation passed 4-1, with chairman Barry Jacobs the only dissenter.
Vice chairman Stephen Halkiotis said the proposal provides plenty of flexibility and is a good compromise between at-large and district-based elections.
"This board has been interested in fairness all along, this is an opportunity to do that," he said.
Halkiotis, who will not run for reelection in the upcoming race, said that fact allows him to give a more unbiased opinion on the issue.
"I don't have a vested interest in this, so I can sit here and say what's in the best interest long-range," Halkiotis said.
Carey said he doesn't believe any of the plans were perfect, but the board went with the best option.
"They don't completely satisfy anyone, but they go a long way in trying to show good faith," Carey said.
Several other options were considered, including keeping a five-member board, as well as a plan designed by Carey.
Carey's plan included the same two districts - one for Chapel Hill and Carrboro and the other for the rest of Orange County - but four members would come from the Chapel Hill district, two from the county, and one member elected at-large.
The debate about district representation was reignited at a commissioners meeting Jan. 24, 2005 when Rep. Bill Faison, D-Orange, presented a petition asking for reform in commissioner elections to give the northern part of the county more of a voice.
The petition was signed by more than 1,000 county residents.
Commissioner Alice Gordon, who's running for re-election, said district-based voting will help the board be more responsive to the public.
"That's what I was concerned about, that we be responsive."
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu
(04/17/06 4:00am)
Budget plans to build the Homestead Aquatic Center in Chapel Hill might not float because of rising construction costs.
The budget for the joint project between Orange County and Chapel Hill is $5.5 million, but that might have to be increased to allot for a necessary contingency plan.
Josh Gurlitz, an architect at GGA Architects helping to design the aquatic center, said a contingency plan is needed in every construction project in case unforeseen problems come up additions are requested during construction.
Bruce Heflin, Chapel Hill assistant town manager, said he anticipates that to have an adequate backup plan, the budget could increase by about $500,000 to $750,000.
"We've been in an environment for probably three years or more where the construction industry across the board has seen rapid and sustained price increases," Heflin said.
Donna Dean-Coffey, budget director for Orange County, seconded Heflin's concerns about construction cost increases.
"The rising costs of steel and gasoline and other petroleum products have driven construction costs up since 9/11, basically," Dean-Coffey said.
"I think everybody across the nation is feeling the impact of increased construction costs."
Gurlitz said though construction prices have been increasing, there was no way to predict how much extra money to budget for the project.
"I think that we expected costs to increase, but we did not expect the rate of increase," Gurlitz said.
"The building itself is still within budget. However, if we proceeded to build today, we would not have a contingency in place."
Heflin said there are several options to help ease the budget tension including looking into different construction materials and the way in which the building site is used.
And the impact of rising construction costs could have a ripple effect.
"I think any project that we have in the planning process all are going to face serious budget pressures over the next few years," Heflin said.
Dean-Coffey said Gravelly Hill Middle School in Orange County, which is slated to open next fall, and Carrboro High School, also scheduled to open in August 2007, faced the pressures of rising construction prices.
The aquatic center is being funded by voter-approved bonds in both Orange County and Chapel Hill. The county has $4.3 million in bonds put into the project.
Gurlitz said he expects the aquatic center to still be built despite new budget pressures.
"It's a facility that the community needs," he said.
"And there's a lot of community support for getting into place."
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(04/12/06 4:00am)
The Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce hosted the second forum for the eight Orange County Board of Commissioners hopefuls Thursday, with each candidate receiving questions about environmental protection, social equity and economic prosperity.
The forum was held in conjunction with Empowerment Inc., The Village Project and News Talk 1360 WCHL, with WCHL's news director, Daniel Siler, mediating the meeting.
Mike Nelson, former mayor of Carrboro, said social equity begins with "growing our economic pie" by encouraging small businesses to stay in the county, as well as making sure there is affordable housing.
The theme of economic growth was touched on by almost every candidate at the forum, with several candidates noting that economic development could help lead to solving other problems such as job loss and housing affordability.
"Residential development doesn't pay for itself," said Robin Cutson, a candidate who also ran for Town Council last year.
"Obviously if we increase our economic development, we will have the funds that we can supply to the nonprofit housing sector."
Candidate Betty Tom Phelps Davidson, a former school board member, said that unemployment is a problem that needs to be fixed as well.
"We're having difficulty creating enough new jobs, particularly good-paying ones, while it continually costs more to live here," Davidson said.
Commissioner Alice Gordon agreed that producing new jobs should be a priority.
Providing infrastructure and workforce development will improve quality of life, she said.
The topic of affordable housing was breached by every candidate and was a source of discussion throughout the night.
Candidate Fred Battle, a former school board member and president of the local National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said the county must create more affordable housing.
"Having people that are employed in our county that can't afford to live here, that's somewhat inhumane," Battle said.
Battle, along with Nelson, referenced the county's plan to incorporate a number of acres of the Greene Tract to build affordable housing and said it is a step in the right direction, but there is still a lot of work to do.
Barry Jacobs, the chairman of the county commissioners, said Orange County has the lowest unemployment rate in North Carolina and said he guaranteed that in five years, the county will reach its goal of increasing private sector jobs by 5,000.
"We're one of the leaders in the state at trying to preserve agriculture and promote it as an industry," Jacobs said.
The presence of small businesses in the county was another point of focus in the forum, and many candidates voiced their desire to attract more entrepreneurs to the area.
"A lot of people have good ideas; they just don't have the resources," Battle said. "A lot of our people have to go to Durham and Raleigh in order to obtain those resources."
Jamie Daniel, the sole Republican hopeful, said he believes diversifying the work space in the county will help the economy.
"If I see another retail store or coffee shop or restaurant, I'm going to lose my mind," he said. "It seems like that's all that we allow to move in."
Daniel said the commissioners are scared that growing a commercial tax base means bringing in big business, and the economy has suffered because of it.
"It doesn't take a factory or a 400,000-square-foot factory to foster a commercial tax base," he said.
Candidate Artie Franklin, who ran as a libertarian in 2004 but who is running as a democrat, agreed that commercial businesses are needed to diversify the county's economy.
"I would be interested in seeing if there could be a benefit to expanding some sort of broader economic activities in the northern part of the country," Franklin said.
"A lot of folks that live up there shop in other counties and have to drive a ways to do so."
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(03/30/06 5:00am)
Most county residents expect to have good drinking water when they turn on the sink, or at least the infrastructure needed for a proper sewage system.
But being on the fringe of three planning jurisdictions has left some residences along Rogers Road without either for years.
Today's Assembly of Governments meeting at 7:30 p.m. at the Southern Human Services Center could put into motion plans that would help integrate these services into the neighborhoods.
The Town Council will discuss the development of a small area plan for the Greene Tract, a 169-acre piece of land owned partially by Carrboro and Orange County along with Chapel Hill.
The development of the small area plan could bring resources and infrastructure to the Rogers Road area, located between Homestead and Eubanks roads, just outside Chapel Hill town limits, but its jurisdiction is contested.
Mayor Kevin Foy said the town is ready to begin putting the plan into effect next fiscal year and is looking to collaborate with Carrboro and Orange County.
"What the plan does is identify the characteristics of the area that need to be protected but also the characteristics of the area that need to be changed," he said.
Foy said the Greene Tract will be divided into two necessary parts.
"Several years ago the three partners agreed that a portion would be used for affordable housing, and a portion of it would be used for passive recreation and open space."
He said a part of that plan included that Chapel Hill would determine how the Rogers Road area would be developed.
"It's an area that is perfectly positioned for some good planning attention right now," said Roger Waldon, former Chapel Hill planning director. Waldon, who helped develop much of the zoning determinations for the area, retired last year after 21 years with the town.
Because it's outside Chapel Hill limits, a portion of the region doesn't receive some needed amenities.
A resident of Rogers Road has become an annual fixture at municipal budget hearings.
"It's in the planning jurisdiction for the town of Chapel Hill but not within the town limits, so there's no garbage pickup for example and no bus transportation," said Susan Levy, executive director of Habitat for Humanity of Orange County.
Habitat has built two neighborhoods in the Rogers Road area - New Homestead Place and Rusch Hollow. In those areas, Habitat has helped extend sewer access.
"I think now that we have two communities that we've built there, we clearly feel a commitment to helping the neighborhood to the degree we can to work on common problems," Levy said, adding that the town and county should become more involved.
She cited other problems including wells which could be contaminated due to a nearby landfill.
But the blame for these problems cannot lie with current leadership, said Barry Jacobs, chairman of the Orange County Board of Commissioners, who is running for re-election this year. "The Rogers Road community has historically been overburdened with landfill uses that were created long before any of the current elected officials came on the scene," Jacobs said.
Jacobs said there has been some planning in the past to bring amenities to the neighborhood, and new plans will continue to be made.
But Foy said the small area plan does not necessarily ensure change. "The plan is like any plan; it can be modified, or it can be ignored or it can be executed upon."
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(03/24/06 5:00am)
The Orange County Board of Commissioners interviewed three consultant groups Thursday that could be used to help select the next county manager.
John Link, county manager for the past 18 years, plans to retire Aug. 31, giving the commissioners a tight time frame for finding his replacement.
"I think we want to develop a process whereby we help to shape the criteria for the kind of candidate that we would like," said Barry Jacobs, chairman of the board.
The Mercer Group Inc., Slavin Management Consultants and Smither & Associates Inc. all were considered for the consulting position, and a representative from each attempted to sell the firm to the board.
Jim Mercer, president of the Mercer Group, said there are several major steps his firm would take in the search process.
He said he would visit the board to help it come up with a set of attributes to look for in a manager. Then he would begin networking to get the word out, as well as advertising in several newspapers and magazines.
"The best way to get good people is to find ones that aren't looking for a job, but they're doing a great job somewhere else," Mercer said.
Bob Slavin, president of Slavin Management Consultants, agreed that an important part of the process is drafting a "recruitment profile," with characteristics necessary for the new manager.
"That's the road map that guides the entire process," Slavin said. "It's also the criteria we use to screen r
(03/22/06 5:00am)
Carrboro Elementary School's dual language program could be expanded to middle and high schools in the next few years if a parent group gets its way.
The school's dual language program serves students from kindergarten through fifth grade in the Carrboro Elementary district and teaches students enrolled in the program core subjects in both English and Spanish.
At a Chapel Hill-Carrboro Board of Education meeting Thursday, Padres Unidos, a group of parents of children in the program, presented a letter calling for expansion.
The group noted the success of their students versus those in traditional classrooms.
Jennifer Curtis, a member of the group and co-writer of the letter, said the group hopes the school board will create a committee of parents and teachers to help figure out how to expand the program to middle and high schools.
Kris Castellano, another co-writer of the letter, said the expansion is necessary for students to retain the knowledge they've gained.
"You can't put a kid that's already gotten six years of immersion into even a higher-level Spanish class," she said. "They'll just be way beyond. They could even teach the class."
Lisa Stuckey, chairwoman of the city school board, said the board has not yet discussed the issues presented by Padres Unidos.
"Speaking for myself, I think that it is important that we make provisions for the continuation of the program in some form or another in middle and high school," she said.
The letter asserted that black, Latino and white students in the dual language program are outperforming their racial counterparts in traditional classrooms, noting higher third-grade pre-end-of-grade test scores and more level four students as evidence.
Jenny Saville, a kindergarten teacher in the program, said in addition to helping English-speaking students learn Spanish, the program also is useful for Spanish-speaking students trying to learn new material.
"We've seen that it's beneficial, especially for the second language learners, to learn all of the academics in their native language first," Saville said.
"Because if they can learn it in their native language, it transfers so much quicker, and it's easier for the students to pick up the English language."
Padres Unidos members say this learning process could help to close the minority student achievement gap, the No. 1 priority in the district.
"If you think about it, you've got 18 percent of Carrboro's school population is Hispanic, and if they have the ability to become literate in their native language, as well as English, it's going to increase their ability to continue in school and learn," Curtis said.
"It increases the likelihood that they will be successful."
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(03/10/06 5:00am)
Parents of minority students in Orange County elementary, middle and high schools are being asked to attend an education summit on Tuesday titled "Opening the Doors by Closing the Gap."
The three-hour event will focus on minority student achievement and what county schools are doing to enhance it.
The event will be held at Cedar Ridge High School and will include a free pizza dinner.
The dinner will begin at 5:30 p.m., and the programs will last until about 8:30 p.m. Childcare will be available.
A tentative agenda lists speeches such as "Involved Parents: The Key to Success," as well as talks about homework, study skills and extra-curricular summer opportunities including athletics, clubs and camps.
Rebecca Garland, associate superintendent for curriculum and instruction for county schools, said the summit is the result of years of planning.
"I think that we have a superintendent who feels like she's been here long enough," Garland said. "And she has wanted to do something about this and just feels like this is a really good time."
School board member Delores Simpson said the minority achievement gap is a top priority for the school board, and the summit will help provide more ways to close it.
"We've been working on it, but somehow we haven't managed to close that gap," Simpson said. "So we just have to look at what we have been doing and why it's not working."
Simpson said talking to the parents of minority students will help school board members gain some insight into what schools should do better.
"Sometimes you can get more from the average person in the community, who's right there at the grassroots, to understand . why we're not accomplishing what we're wanting to accomplish," she said.
Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools also have listed closing the achievement gap as the number one priority for about five years, deciding this school year to focus most of the district's resources on accomplishing the goal.
Lisa Stuckey, chairwoman of the city school board, said city schools have many of the same problems with minority achievement and are collaborating with county schools on a few programs that might help.
Stuckey said both districts have taken part in countywide afterschool programs, which include tutoring. In addition, both districts are involved in the High Five Regional Partnership for High School Excellence.
"We are working together as part of that collaboration to increase achievement and decrease the dropout rate, which continues to include more children of color," Stuckey said.
"It's a national and state issue, and I think if you look across the country you would find districts everywhere looking to close the achievement gap and doing it in similar ways."
Simpson said the most important thing to consider right now is what to do to fix the problem.
"We must close the achievement gap, and one of the reasons being that if we don't bring all of our students up to par, there is going to be such an imbalance in our productive citizens in this country," she said.
Simpson said the process might be slowed by constant discussion about creating equitable funding between city and county schools.
"Instead of talking about equity, let's talk about what we need to do to achieve the goals that will make for a successful student."
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(02/24/06 5:00am)
A program designed to help students in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools is looking for a little help of its own.
The Blue Ribbon Mentor-Advocate Program primarily takes black and Latino students beginning in the fourth grade and matches them with mentors to help the students grow both academically and socially.
The program is looking for volunteers to be mentors for more than 20 new students. Mentors must be at least 21 years old and be willing to work with their students at least two hours per week.
Nine-year-old Erika Franco Quiroz said she and her mentor have fun wherever they go, whether they attend a UNC women's basketball game or eat pizza and go to a movie.
"It is really fun," Quiroz said as she painted pottery Thursday with her mentor at Paint the Earth on Franklin Street.
"We do things we both like together. It's not like we do something only I want to do - that really wouldn't get us having fun."
Rachel Dudenhausen, a social research associate at the University, has been Quiroz's mentor since October.
Mentors typically are matched with their student for a minimum of two years, but Blue Ribbon program coordinator Graig Meyer said the bond formed is so strong that most pairs stick together for longer.
"We're finding that over two-thirds of our mentors stick with their kids for longer than two years," Meyer said.
He added that some pairs stay together until the student graduates from high school.
Dudenhausen said the connection she has made with Quiroz will last much longer than two years.
"I think that whenever I'm with her, I'm probably at the happiest that you'll see me," she said. "As long as I am in the area . and as long as she is here, then I think we'll be together."
Dudenhausen said Quiroz's family's involvement has been the key to their successful pairing.
"Right now with my relationship with Erika, one thing is that I have like a second family," she said.
Meyer said he looks for several characteristics when trying to pair a duo with a similar strong bond.
"We look for people who are interested in spending high-quality time with kids.
"We look for people who can definitely make the commitment that we're asking for, and we look for people who we think have some types of strengths or interests of their own that will match up well with a student," he said.
Meyer said the program provides the students with a one-on-one relationship that could help them get past barriers that might prevent them from fulfilling their "untapped potential."
"We want to keep working with them all the way through high-school graduation and into enrollment in post-secondary education," he said.
As she meticulously painted her clay unicorn, Quiroz gave some advice to any aspiring volunteers.
"Be a mentor: Make kids happy."
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(02/22/06 5:00am)
Due to a reporting error this article incorrectly states that Julie McClintock and Ruby Sinreich will be Chapel Hill's citizen representatives on the Carolina North leadership advisory committee. The two have been nominated but the Chapel Hill Town Council has yet to appoint them formally.
The Daily Tar Heel apologizes for the error.
After two decades on the Orange County Board of Commissioners, Vice Chairman Stephen H. Halkiotis announced Tuesday that he will not run for re-election in 2006.
(02/15/06 5:00am)
The next step - albeit a small one - in planning for a progressive early-education school in Chapel Hill could come Thursday.
For the past year, the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Board of Education and the University have discussed a proposal to build the First School.
The facility would help acclimate students to classroom education from pre-kindergarten until they enter the third grade.
The school board will discuss the proposal during its retreat Thursday and Friday at the Friday Center.
"The time allotted at our planning conference is very brief, and it will be insufficient," said Lisa Stuckey, chairwoman of the school board.
"I anticipate that the proposal will come back before the board at a regular board meeting in the near future."
The potential site for the school is near Seawell Elementary School and is part of Carolina North.
The school would enroll 3- to 4-year-olds and take them through the second grade.
Students who would have attended the lower grades at Seawell would be assigned to the First School, eliminating those grades from Seawell.
UNC's Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute developed the idea for the First School after intensive research about early education.
"FPG has been doing research on young children for several decades, and particularly in the last several years, we've been looking at all the state-funded pre-K's across the nation," said Sharon Ritchie, a senior scientist with Frank Porter Graham and co-director of the First School project.
Ritchie said there is a "logical development period" for children 3 to 8 years old, but that the education systems for children 3 to 4 years old are completely different than those for 5- to 8-year-olds.
Ritchie said the goal of the proposed school is to take the "relatively miserable transition into kindergarten" and make it a smoother transition to the rest of students' early education.
The school board has discussed the need for two more elementary schools by 2012, but the First School likely would eliminate the need for one of these schools.
"The proposal offers some really interesting and forward-thinking ideas," Stuckey said.
The First School would hold slightly more than 500 students based on the proposal, with Seawell enrolling about 450 students.
Katherine Worley, faculty chairwoman of the Seawell School governance committee and a fifth-grade teacher, said that her organization had not received much information about the proposal but that she looks forward to hearing more about it.
"We haven't discussed it formally yet; we're going to have a meeting soon," Worley said.
"We have a lot of questions and concerns about the proposal."
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu
(02/15/06 5:00am)
Kimberly Alston loves her job, and it shows through in her personality.
"She's real outgoing, happy all the time, got a lot of spirit," said Queen Holt, one of Alston's co-workers. "She works really well with the children."
The Chapel Hill-Carrboro Board of Education agreed and presented her with February's Employee of the Month award Thursday.
Alston, a bus driver and cafeteria worker at Grey Culbreth Middle School, said she was excited to receive the award.
Her favorite part of her job is the kids, "because you can love some of them, but some of them get on your nerves," she said with a laugh.
"In order to drive the bus, you have to love the kids," Alston added.
In January a car collided with Alston's bus while she was driving to school. The car slid under the bus full of children, almost flipping it.
Alston maintained control of the vehicle and helped evacuate kids from the bus after the accident.
"The grace of God helped me to stop that bus without flipping over," she said. "It was out of my control."
Alston said the incident was unlike anything else.
"I was scared to death, and I was crying. Some of the kids were crying, too. I was trying to be strong for the kids," she said.
Alston and all of the children came out of the accident without any major injuries. She said her arms were sore from holding on to the steering wheel so tightly, and a couple of the children had bruises.
Members of the school board recognized Alston's dedication and bravery in the face of the accident.
After Alston got the children off the bus, "she had them huddled around like a mother hen," said Steve Scroggs, assistant superintendent for support services, at the school board meeting last week.
"Her first concern was for the children."
While it took Alston a week-and-a-half to get back the courage to drive her bus, she returned to work in the cafeteria the next day.
"She said she couldn't stay at home," Holt said.
Alston's workday starts at 6:25 a.m. when she gets on her bus and starts her route. About 8:30 a.m. she finishes driving and starts working in the cafeteria.
That work ends at 2 p.m. when she gets back on her bus and drives the children home.
Alston has lived in Chapel Hill her whole life and attended Culbreth, where she now works.
She has an 8-year-old son and a 21-year-old daughter.
Alston said she keeps a smile on her face and a good attitude for the children. "That could make their day," she said.
"The kids are the first people you see in the morning. I try to say 'good morning' whether they speak to me or not."
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(02/15/06 5:00am)
After 26 years of service in Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools, Arlena Fuller has official recognition to add to the dozens of students and teachers who appreciate her.
Fuller, a custodian at Seawell Elementary School, received the award for January's Employee of the Month for city schools last Thursday.
"Really I was surprised, because I had been here all this time and I never got it," she said. "It was shocking."
Fuller started working at Seawell in 1980 and has been working there ever since.
"I've seen a lot of people come and go and retire as well, and I'm still here," she said.
"I think I'm the only one that's got that many years of service in the whole system."
Susan Pegg, the principal at Seawell, said Fuller looks out for the teachers and the students.
"She has been here ever since I've been here, and she cares about everybody in the school," Pegg said.
Pegg said Fuller likes to do little things for people, whether that means making tea for the teachers during her break or buying gifts for some of the children.
"She makes everyone's jobs more enjoyable," Pegg said.
The students at Seawell agree.
Amy Kwiek, a teacher who works with Fuller, asked her kindergarten class what Fuller means to them.
"We like Miss Arlena because she is very nice," the class members stated. "She keeps our room clean, healthy and beautiful every day."
Fuller has a routine she follows after arriving at school in the morning. She washes the tables in the cafeteria, then the doorknobs in the principal's office. Then Fuller makes 10 gallons of tea for the cafeteria.
"Then I sweep around the building, dump the trash, and go in the classroom and help the little kids out," Fuller said.
She said she has a secret to doing her job so well: She boils the water she uses when she mops.
"All the teachers love it," she said.
For the last two weeks, Fuller said she has been working at another of the district's schools, cleaning and helping set up the cafeteria.
Fuller said she has held two jobs ever since she was first hired at Seawell.
Born in Hillsborough, Fuller is married and has three kids in their 30s.
Fuller, 57, said she doesn't plan to retire from Seawell for at least a few more years. "I plan to stay till I get 30 years in," she said.
And what will she do when she does retire?
"I think I'm gonna rest," she said.
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(01/27/06 5:00am)
Parents voiced concern Thursday night about reassignment plans in Orange County Schools that could move more than 1,300 students.
Schools officials held a public hearing, the first of two opportunities for members of the community to voice their opinions on plans for reassigning students to accommodate Gravelly Hill Middle School, on the system's newest addition.
Laura Wilkinson cited concerns about her children's proximity to the schools.
"I just cannot imagine going the route that you have lined out for me," Wilkinson said. "It seems to me to be unworkable, especially with all the after-school activities the kids are involved in. I may as well just give up my job and spend my life on the road."
The school board's current plan involves moving 1,361 students from their schools, 611 of which are at the middle school level.
Many of the 611 would move to Gravelly Hill to fill the new school to 80 percent capacity, allowing room for growth.
The school board has said allowing that room is important, so another reassignment is not needed in a few years, as the area is expected to experience population growth.
Rising fifth-, eighth-, 11th- and 12th-graders, even if chosen, would be able to stay at their current schools, to grandfather, if they can provide their own transportation.
Students would be chosen for reassignment based on several criteria including proximity, socioeconomic balance, feeder patterns and ethnic and racial balance.
"We put our souls into developing a plan, and we wanted it to be what's best for all the students in Orange County," said George McFarley, associate superintendent for support services. "This is as good as we can get it."
But many parents made it clear Thursday night that they disagreed.
Brad Davis, the father of two daughters in county schools, was worried about the prospect of his children heading to separate, distant schools.
"Mostly my concern is the travel time between the schools is going to be very considerable," Davis said.
One of the major concerns with parents at the meeting was their children's adjustment to the new surroundings.
Julie Wilson has a son in the district and said she worried about the transition being difficult for him.
"Being a second grader, my son, as many second graders, has difficulty with new experiences," Wilson said. "I'm worried at this point what it's going to be like (for him) all summer thinking about a brand new school and a brand new teacher.
"What plans are going to be made to help the children being moved assimilate to their new school?"
The reassignment committee said it will attempt to address all Thursday's comments and questions at the opening of its next public meeting.
The meeting will be held 7 p.m. Feb. 2 at Orange High School.
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.