C.G. White Deal In Limbo

by Jennipher Dickens - October 8th, 2007 - Roanoke-Chowan News-Herald

WINDSOR - Just when you think something's almost a done deal, everything seems to fall apart.

That's what it looks like is happening with Bertie County's acquisition of the C.G. White property from the Bertie Board of Education (BOE).

[snip]

Harrell [Board Chairman] advised Lamb [County Manger] to meet with the new school superintendent to discuss school needs and how best to meet those with existing facilities.

The former BOE members who arranged for the Federal Courts to order two of our schools closed have placed us in a really frustrating position. We apparently need more Elementary schools, but the two paid for by Bertie County taxpayers that are in good shape, J.P. Law and Askewville, cannot be used as schools. J.P. Law is especially needed since that is in the fastest growing part of the county and is the place where children are currently bussed the farthest to get to an overcrowded school. C.G. White, which needs a lot of work and which most people in the county would like to see used for other purposes, appears the only option as a result.

It was stupid to close those two schools, J.P. Law and Askewville.

The DOJ lawyers who asked for them to be closed did so for reasons that ignored where Bertie County is today. Their demand was based on lawyer career building and had nothing to do with the issues they claimed. They lied.

The unelected Judge that ordered them closed, Terrence Boyle, did so for political reasons and will always be held in contempt for what he did by many of us.

The BOE members and Central Office educrats who asked for the closure to try and ram through a consolidation of all elementary students into a single big elementary will never live down the damage they have done to our county. The decision was disdain for the desires of parents and did not serve our children. The overcrowding situation the new Superintendent now faces proves it.

Hopefully we will find some way out of this mess. However the only rational answer is the one answer that seems impossible, getting Terrence Boyle to reverse his decision to close the schools. Bertie County taxpayers will unfortunately pay for this truly stupid decision. Thanks Judge Boyle.