THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, September 15, 1994 TAG: 9409150455
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY PAUL SOUTH, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: MANTEO LENGTH: Medium: 72 lines
The Dare County School Board has approved a resolution asking the North Carolina General Assembly to pass legislation allowing voluntary prayer in public schools.
The action Tuesday night came after the Dare County Board of Commissioners approved a similar resolution.
The School Board passed the resolution by a 5-1 vote, with Donna Buxton opposing the proposal.
``We have taken away a lot of the parents' responsibility in the way kids are raised,'' Buxton said. ``A lot of parents feel it is their responsibility to get kids to go to church and to pray when they feel they should. I have to vote my conscience here.
``We want our kids to be moral, but I think we're taking a responsibility that belongs to the parents.''
Buxton also voiced a concern about children of different religious backgrounds.
``It's easy to vote with the majority,'' she said. ``But we may have Jewish or Hindu or Moslem students. We have to look out for all students.''
Board members Allen Burrus and Virginia Tillett pointed out that the resolution supported voluntary prayer.
The Rev. David Daniels, who brought the resolution before the board, said it was important to understand that the board action did not make prayer legal, but asked for the legislature to take action on school prayer.
``This is not saying we're making it legal,'' said Daniels. ``Our kids don't know what they can and can't do. We're asking the legislature to define what people can do.''
In other action, Dare County Superintendent Leon Holleman reviewed the system's Scholastic Assessment Test scores. The system ranked 12th statewide, and sixth statewide in mathematics scores. The system also ranked fourth in participation.
Overall, the system saw a 28-point improvement in its average scores. Holleman also pointed out that Manteo High students taking the test improved last year's average score by 45 points - 19 points in the verbal section, and 26 points in mathematics.
Holleman also reported 3,970 students were enrolled in the system as of the 10th day of the 1994-95 academic year. Those figures are used by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction to determine a school district's level of state funding.
The board unanimously approved an agreement with the Town of Kill Devil Hills in connection with the Student Resource Office program. In a related matter, Patrolman Freddie Hampton of the Kill Devil Hills Police Department and Deputy Andy Veal of the Dare County Sheriff's Department outlined the student resource officer programs at the First Flight and Cape Hatteras schools.
The resource officer program is designed to provide positive law enforcement role models for the schools, and to assist in drug education and related activities.
Holleman, Tillett and the Dare County Board of Commissioners were nominated by the board for three awards given by the North Carolina School Boards Association. Holleman was nominated for the Superintendent of the Year Award, while Tillett was nominated for the Raleigh Dingman Award, given annually to the state's outstanding school board member. The Dare County Commission was nominated for the NCSBA County Commission Award.
Manteo High School teacher Frank Vrablic was honored with the first Superintendent's Certificate of Merit, which will be given periodically to a staff member of Dare County Schools who merits special recognition. Vrablic teachers mathematics at Manteo, and is the school's soccer coach.
KEYWORDS: PRAYER IN SCHOOL
by CNB