Eastern Elementary Construction, Disgusting | Eastern North Carolina Now

By:   Hood Richardson

Representations by Superintendent Cheeseman that the July Progress Monitoring meeting was cancelled because there was nothing to report are entirely false.  Cheeseman must think he is dealing with third graders.  He started the School Board meeting on June 19 by stating there was nothing to report at the June Progress update and promptly reported colossal changes. He stated the entire proposed Eastern building complex has been “shifted” to run along Pennsylvania Avenue.  He further stated that all service buildings (maintenance, nutrition, technology, etc) located on Pennsylvania Avenue would be demolished because the storm water pond had to go there.  This increases the cost of this project by, in my estimation, as much as 5 million dollars to replace those existing buildings.  

No explanation was given for why several months of work was trash caned so casually.  We knew Cheeseman’s cancelling the June meeting the day before the meeting and then going to the Rotary Club meeting that same day and announcing the new school would house 1,000 kindergarden thru third grade students was a cover up for something.  We do not have 1,000 K-3 students in the Washington Attendance.  So where are those 200+/- students going to come from?  Of course, they would have to be taken from other schools like Bath and Chocowinity.  I took note that within 30 days the size of the proposed school went from 960 to 1,000 students.  Presently, according to Cheeseman, we have 800 students in Eastern Elementary and John Cotton Tayloe.  Sound confusing?  It certainly is.

Cheeseman’s comments at the School Board meeting were video recorded.  Chairman T. W. Allen gave the wrong answer when ask why the storm water pond had to be built before anything else.  Allen said it was because the State required it.  Not so.  The correct answer is: At the election of the developer the storm water pond may be used as part of the erosion and sedimentation control process.  This is not mandatory, it is elective.

I, as a County Commissioner, am puzzled at why this gigantic shift in the scoping of this project had to be done at all.  So far, no one has given any explanation.  The Eastern Elementary site consists of 38 acres of land with approximately 28 acres vacant.  The service complex (maintenance, nutrition, technology, etc buildings) are in a very out of the way place at a southwest corner of the property.  The drainage outlet for the entire 38 acres is a culvert under Maple Street about 800 feet to the east of the proposed storm water pond.  Storm water ponds are almost always located on the lowest elevations on the property near drainage outlets. So, this pond’s location violates all the rules. The service complex (maintenance, nutrition, technology, etc) is at one of the higher elevations on this site.  Ditching will be required to get storm water to run to the drainage outlet.  This kind of ditching is not required if normal design techniques for locating ponds are used.

Bottom line.  The worst place on this site to build a storm water pond is at the service complex.  This is likely a ploy on the part of Cheeseman to get a new service complex at a cost of as much as 5 million dollars or more.

Sound confusing?  You got that right!

Making these major changes in this project means there is abundant work for the Progress Monitoring Committee unless Cheeseman is making all of the decisions.  This major change in the scope of the project with no meeting of the Progress Review Committee tells me all of the decisions are being made by Cheeseman.  He is making a lot of very bad decisions.  The Progress Review Committee is a farce.  How can Beaufort County spend tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousand of dollars on changes to this project with zero oversight and in the Back Room?  Cheeseman promised new plans for the July Committee meeting.  This means this Committee is there to rubber stamp whatever Cheeseman is thinking that day.  That makes Fake Frankie Waters and T. W. Allen Cheeseman’s puppets. There is no provision for voting during the Progress Monitoring Committee meetings. Fake Frankie Waters and T. W. Allen sit there and agree with whatever Cheeseman presents. Why are not these discussions/decisions taking place in a regular School Board meeting with the entire board involved?  Look at the video of the June 19 meeting and note how much discussion there is from the other school board members.  Why is that?  Do you suppose that might just be to get around the Open Meetings Law?

Somebody needs to be asking if keeping the Cross-town Busing of the current grade configuration in place is the best thing for the future development of the Washington Attendance Area as well as whether it is better to have less busing of our youngest children.  Reducing the size of the Eastern Attendance Area would reduce bus rides for these children.  Have they considered revising the grade structure in the Washington Attendance Area?  Cheesman has apparently not even considered reducing the busing by having more elementary schools with smaller attendance areas.  And shamefully, none of the School Board members has questioned his inadequate planning assumptions.  Why?

We need a competent assessment of the current Eastern Facility, from the perspective of what it would cost to renovate, as opposed to replacing the entire school.  Likewise, we need a professional assessment of placing a new elementary school west of Washington to replace John Cotton Tayloe. Common sense tells us that the area between Tranters Creek (Pitt County) and the current Industrial Park is where most of the future growth will come.  Nor has Cheeseman done an assessment of potential sites along the current sewer lines running to the Industrial Park.  

This debacle over the Eastern site does not bode well for us to trust his construction expertise and judgment.  The School Board should immediately secure the services of a competent construction expert, sometimes called a Clerk of the Works, to develop alternatives and provide the Board with a professional assessment of the alternatives.  Fifty million dollars is too much money not to be planned well.

Unless the voters and taxpayers in Beaufort County rise up and insist on a democratic process, with their elected officials making decisions and examining alternatives to this school project, we will continue to be under the control of dictator Cheeseman.  Surely there are citizens who want better education than we now have in Beaufort County.  Surely, we have citizens who understand Cheeseman has seized (usurped) power.  Natives of Beaufort County should have a say in their schools. Not this outsider who is only building his resume so he can make more money when he leaves Beaufort County.  I have to wonder what experience he has in school planning and construction management.  Most of the sound elements of planning are being cast aside.  Perhaps it is time to bring in an engineering professional experienced in school construction to review these plans.

Voters should consider how ineffective the majority of this sitting School Board and Board of Commissioners are. Cheeseman could not become dictator unless most of the school board supports his actions.  Neither Frankie Waters nor T. W. Allen have any expertise or experience in planning school projects of this magnitude.  School Board members are elected by district.  We need a major change on our school board.  The last election began the needed change, but it is vital that the voters change the sitting board members who are up for election this November.  Look at your district and refuse to vote for incumbents in November of this year.  Our school system can become one of the best in the nation with honest, Christian board members.

This reasoning also applies to the board of Commissioners. Frankie Waters could not have disenfranchised the Board of County Commissioners from this process unless the majority of the Board failed to do their fiduciary and ethical duty to our citizens and children.  They have simply turned their backs and are willing to “go along to get along.”

Most people are not school planning experts.  But when Cheeseman has long disappeared from Beaufort County, the students will pay the price in longer bus rides and the taxpayers will get the bill for all of the poor planning mistakes that are being made.

The School Board should mandate that all of the viable alternatives be presented to it, and no decisions made until after the public has been shown the alternatives and afforded a chance to offer comments and input.  Only then should these decisions be made.