Commissioners seek to improve relationship with BOE
By Steve Herring
Published in News on February 10, 2016 1:46 PM
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News-Argus/STEVE HERRING
Wayne County Commissioner Ed Cromartie makes a point during the board's Tuesday planning retreat at Lane Tree Golf Club as Commissioner Bill Pate, left, and County Manager George Wood listen.
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News-Argus/STEVE HERRING
Wayne County Commissioners Ray Mayo, left, and Joe Gurley, talk about goals during the board's retreat.
Wayne County commissioners Tuesday morning said they want to continue strengthening their working relationship with the Wayne County Board of Education.
Those efforts, they said, will include working to secure countywide broadband Internet service, providing additional school funding by annually earmarked for technology improvements, covering state raises for employees beyond the state funding plan and supporting a performing arts program at Goldsboro High School.
Those were among the goals the board reviewed during its planning retreat at Lane Tree Golf Club.
State law does not allow municipal and county governments to provide Internet, County Manager George Wood said.
Instead, the county must convince private carriers that it is worth their cost to provide service in the areas not now served, he said.
Wood said he has met with a state official whose job it is to help the county evaluate the areas where broadband is not available.
He in turn brings in the vendors in an effort to convince them to provide the service.
A survey would be conducted to determine where the problems are, Wood said. It is recommended to involve the schools, he said.
County Planner Chip Crumpler, who also heads up the county's geographic information system, is in the process of completing that survey, Wood said. Next would be a meeting with schools Superintendent Dr. Michael Dunsmore and the associate superintendent for information technology since they will have a "good idea" where the problem areas are, he said.
"They are hearing from their staff and parents that some of the kids couldn't get their homework," he said. "They have to go somewhere else, where there is Wi-Fi connectivity for them.
"So what we are looking at, we would send the survey out through the schools, Wayne Community College and a few other places like that. We want to have it online on our website."
A wireless system will be needed, which means the companies would need access to tower space, such as the county's five communication towers, water towers and cell towers, Wood said.
"So when they do the survey it tells if there is interest there," he said. "We use those to try to get those companies in here. We want the survey done before the end of the school year. At that point he will start aggregating the information and bring in those people to try to get them interested in expanding."
The county has been working on the process for the past few months, Wood said.
"I recommend that we put it on as a goal because we do have a number of kids that it (lack of broadband) is a real problem for them -- more and more with this (Internet) and less textbooks," he said.
Commissioner Wayne Aycock said the University of Mount Olive should be included as well since it has students in the southern end of the county affected by the lack of broadband.
Commissioner Joe Gurley said a similar survey had been done several years ago, but that he does not know what became of it.
Wood asked Assistant County Manager Tommy Burns to see if he could locate a copy of that study.
Vice chairman Bill Pate chaired the meeting in the absence of Chairman Joe Daughtery who was ill and unable to attend.
Pate said he had spoken with his wife, a retired school teacher, concerning teacher supplements.
"We need to look at our monies and those kinds of things of course, but I know some counties help out more with supplements for the classroom teachers," he said. "It would probably raise the morale tremendously if we could kick some more in, even if it is a small amount.
"I want to research that, but I want to make sure it goes to the classroom teacher."
Wood said he thinks commissioners know that the county is going to have to make more of a financial commitment to the schools.
"We know where we rank," he said. "We know the issues with the Air Force with concerns about the schools. So I think from a capital improvement standpoint, we already have that (goal) up there -- review capital improvement plan with them (school board) to determine needs."
The county is probably going to be looking at a replacement elementary school so the review will cover that part, Wood said.
Wood reminded commissioners they had applied for $750,000 from the Golden LEAF Foundation to help the school system "jump start" its technology plan.
"We will know shortly if they got that," he said. "Dr. Dunsmore, I think I am quoting right, said that we rank like 92 in the state for schools (technology). But one of the things we have talked about is, as you give them additional money, I would suggest that we do two things.
"One is, what Bill is talking about, having more money generally for the system, but then you want to earmark some of that. Say we are willing to do it, but we want it to go to supplements. You could do that."
Currently the county provides approximately $2 million annually for capital outlay and approximately $19 million for current expense, he said.
Wood said he would like to see a third fund for technology.
"How you fund that, you are not going to get there in one year," he said. "Start putting some of the new money you give them each year toward technology, and you earmark it for that because if we don't do that it will get used in other places."
Commissioner Ed Cromartie, a retired educator, agreed.
The system has to start moving in that direction and Dunsmore knows that, Wood said.
Wood said he has talked with Dunsmore about that issue.
"Last year, we gave them about $220,000 in new money," he said. "You earmark a portion of that for technology, and then you may want to earmark a portion for supplements and the other may be for what they want.
"The reason I say you can't do all supplements, remember that they have positions above what the state funds. So if the state gives a raise for all teachers that has to be local money because they (school system) do not get any money for that."
Aycock said he had no problem with the extra funding as long as it went to the schools and not "Royall Avenue" -- a reference to the school system's central office.
Commissioner John Bell said he had spoken with Dunsmore about a performing arts program at Goldsboro High School.
He asked that the board earmark money for that program.
Bell said studies have shown that students in those programs consistently test 25 to 30 points higher than an average high school student.
"The school board and Dr. Dunsmore have bought into this and are going to start the program in August," Bell said.
Wood said it sounds like the school board would cover it in its budget.
But he did add to the goals commissioners' support of the project.
Gurley said he supported the increase in funding, but would like to see what the return is going to be, too.
"I want to see returns on improved test scores, improved pass rates and things like that," he said.