School News

The Achievement Gap George Will, writing in Sunday's (8-29-10) Washington Post highlights one of the most vexing problems our nation faces…the waste of human capital. September 2nd, 2010 BCCC offering Marine Captain's License course in fall This 60-hour course will prepare students to take the U.S. Coast Guard Marine Captain’s Exam. Boatmanship, rules of the road, chair reading and mapping are just a few of the items covered in this cour August 30th, 2010 BCCC holding golf tournament to help raise money for scholarships The tournament, sponsored by PCS Phosphate, is held each year to raise money for scholarships to BCCC. August 29th, 2010 Commercial Truck Driver Class taking last-minute applications Classes will begin Tuesday, Sept.7, for Beaufort County Community College's Commercial Truck Driver Training Program, with classes offered at a more affordable price for students, thanks to a gran August 27th, 2010 The Governor's visit was plum embarassing Governor Perdue came to town Friday. It was embarrassing. Her handlers couldn't have done a much worse job, all the way around. August 24th, 2010 Imagine this: Judge a teacher by how much improvement the students make Last Saturday the LA Times published student test data. Obviously that was not what made it revolutionary. But what they did was publish the data by teacher. And that if revolutionary. August 21st, 2010 School Board adopts core sex ed. curriculum The Beaufort County Board of Education heard a report from its staff on the development of a revision in the Health curriculum required by recent state legislation. July 30th, 2010 School Board gets warning on capital outlay, hears good news on School Food Service The Beaufort County Board of Education met in its regular monthly meeting Monday (7-26-10). July 28th, 2010 We may just be on the verge of excellence in our school system We may just have an excellent superintendent. It's too soon to declare that so, but we need to give him every chance in the world to make us the best. July 24th, 2010 Beaufort County Schools slides in AYP Beaufort County Schools has posted a news release on its website showing that the school system did not meet "Adequate Yearly Progress" (AYP). July 22nd, 2010 Beaufort County Community College increases tuition Tuition at BCCC will increase for students from $50 to $56.50 per credit hour for N.C. residents and from $241.30 to $248.50 per credit hour for non-residents, effective at registration for the Fall 2 July 7th, 2010 BCCC President David McLawhorn announces retirement After a decade as the head of Beaufort County Community College, Dr. David McLawhorn, the fourth BCCC president, announced he will retire effective July 1, 2011. July 1st, 2010 BCCC announces fall registration and orientation schedules Beaufort County Community College just announced its registration schedule for Fall Semester, which is scheduled to begin Aug. 16, 2010. June 23rd, 2010 Why the temporary classrooms exist in Chocowinity Either Mr. Warren is woefully uninformed, or he is being disingenuous with the Chocowinity Town Board. June 4th, 2010 How we report on disciplinary action involving a teacher We have received several inquires about the reported resignation of a teacher at Washington High School. Specifically we have been asked why we have not reported on it. May 21st, 2010 Our School Board has Created a Mess Most people in Beaufort County do not know it, but the Beaufort County Board of Education has created a huge mess with the way it deals with personnel. May 10th, 2010 Doing the public's business in code so the public doesn't know what's going on North Carolina law, good judgement and common sense says that the public's business should be conducted in public. May 1st, 2010 Kindergarten registration begins at Eastern Elementary Hundreds across county take first step in 13-year trek April 27th, 2010 School board votes unanimously to continue to spend rather than cut as other systems are doing While other school systems are making plans to cut budgets, including layoffs of classroom teachers, Beaufort County's school board yesterday made plans to spend nearly all of its budget. April 23rd, 2010 Do Early Childhood (pre-K) Programs Work? At their regular monthly meeting on March 22 the Beaufort County Board of Education heard a report on the PreK program in Beaufort County. March 31st, 2010 School System Seeking Participation in Sex Ed. Program Revisions The Beaufort County Board of Education, meeting in its regular monthly meeting March 22, heard an update from the administration on the upcoming changes in the system's sex ed. March 27th, 2010 School Board Discusses Drug Screening for Students and Athletes, Part II This is the second of two articles on the School Board's review of its Drug Testing policy. March 26th, 2010 School Board Discusses Drug Screening for Students and for Athletes The Beaufort County Board of Education, meeting in its regular monthly meeting, March 22, 2010, discussed revisions that have been recommended to its Drug Testing Policy 4280. March 25th, 2010 Beaufort County Schools make the New York Times Beaufort County Schools has made the New York Times. The Times is running a story on the extensive use of suspensions and expulsions in the nation's schools. March 20th, 2010 Non-English speaking students...accommodate or teach them to think in English Simply stated the issue is: To what extent must and should we accommodate those who do not speak English? March 8th, 2010 School Board confirms it's spending money like there's no tomorrow Beaufort County Schools officials met with the Beaufort County Board of Commissioners in special session Thursday afternoon to review budget matters. February 26th, 2010 New Superintendent Knocks it out of the Park on the Social Studies Controversy The current controversy in North Carolina with the social studies curriculum was a focus of attention at Monday (2-22-10) night's School Board meeting. February 24th, 2010 The "Charter School" debate heats up in N. C. with significant issues for Beaufort County Charter schools are created for two reasons: To provide parents with a choice in which school their child will attend and secondly, to remove bureaucratic restrictions the state imposes on traditional February 19th, 2010 Our Schools are Headed for The Perfect Storm If there was a Category 5 hurricane a hundred miles off our coast and headed straight for Beaufort County would you expect our School Board to to preparing for it? February 16th, 2010 Fox News Picks Up on the Issue of Whether our Students are Learning U. S. History It appears that North Carolina's school system is losing touch with logic once again. Rather than re-write the history taught in our schools, just don't teach it at all? February 4th, 2010 School Board Takes its Secret Agenda to a New Level The Beaufort County Board of Education often makes many of its decisions out of public view. This is a violation of the N. C. Open Meetings law, certainly in spirit, if not technically. February 1st, 2010 Are our Students Learning What They Need to Know About U. S. History Back in December Commissioner Hood Richardson raised an issue about a quarter of a million dollar grant the school system has to improve the teaching of U. S. History. January 31st, 2010 The Dropout Problem Nearly every school board member and every politician we have ever known expresses concern about this issue. So what are we doing about the problem? January 24th, 2010 Our School Board Needs to Get its Legal Act Together Our School Board continues to violate the Open Meetings Law. The latest incident was Friday, December 18, 2009, when a special meeting was called without proper notification. December 22nd, 2009 An Open Letter to Newly Elected Commissioner Chairman Langley Newly elected Beaufort County Board of Commissioners Chairman Jerry Langley will have his work cut for him if he wants to achieve a better workable relationship with the Beaufort County School Board. December 10th, 2009 Hardy/King v. BOE Shows the System Does Not Always Work the Way it Should The court found that the students were given the required hearings, both at the administrative level and at the board level and thus were not deprived of procedural due process. December 6th, 2009 The School Food Service Problems Need to be Fixed ... Now "Bad Day at Blackrock?" It's a 1955 Western where the day started bad and got progressively worse. As an allegorical reference to the Board of Education it is most appropriate. November 24th, 2009 NCLB 1.0 vs. NCLB 2.0 Commissioner Hood Richardson is still trying to get the school system to disclose how No Child Left Behind (NCLB) works. Good for him. Bad for the school system. November 10th, 2009