DATE: Friday, March 28, 1997                TAG: 9703280609

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA 

SOURCE: BY ANNE SAITA, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: ELIZABETH CITY                    LENGTH:   70 lines

STARTING DATE, SUPERINTENDENT TO STAY THE SAME IN ELIZABETH CITY

The old school calendar is staying - and so is the school system's superintendent.

Elizabeth City-Pasquotank Public Schools Superintendent Joseph Peel announced Wednesday night that he is not planning to leave his post.

He earlier had been mentioned as one of several finalists for superintendent of the 24,000-student Buncombe County school system.

``I'm staying,'' Peel said just prior to the regular Board of Education meeting. ``It was a mutual thing. It just wasn't a good fit.''

The news was greeted by applause from both the board and the audience.

``We are very, very pleased that you have elected to stay with us,'' said Pat McDowell, chairman of the school board.

After the announcement, the Board of Education approved an Aug. 21 starting date for school, which was expected.

But the board held off adopting a calendar for 1998-99, which had posed an earlier August opening. Instead, it now appears that the board is leaning toward a traditional start of mid- to late-August for two years from now.

The main reason is public input, ranging from letters to e-mail, which indicated people by a 2-to-1 margin preferred things to stay the same.

Although employees of 7 of 10 schools voted for the earlier start, the margin was slim, Peel said.

Among the reasons for resisting the change was the August heat.

``That is the hottest time of the year, and that is something that we did not consider,'' Peel said of public comments.

Family summer vacations were another topic.

``People felt you were starting to intrude on what they considered their vacation time,'' the superintendent said.

Also, high school students with summer jobs at the beach would be forced to quit earlier.

High schoolers were the main reason the board had considered making the calendar switch. Currently, students must wait until winter break and other holidays to take final exams.

``I just think that's very disruptive. I just don't think it's a good way to arrange a calendar,'' said school board member Nita Coleman.

In a related matter, board member Frank Jennings asked about changing some of the Wednesday early release days to Fridays.

The school system usually has a half-day of school on the first Wednesday of each month. The extra time is used mainly for staff training and development.

``A lot of people have expressed concern about having to take off work to pick up their children on early release days,'' Jennings said.

The board agreed to look into changing some of the days.

Also at Wednesday's meeting, several people were recognized for recent achievements.

Karen Midgette was honored for being named a local and regional teacher's assistant of the year.

Midgette has 17 years of experience in the field and has been with the Elizabeth City-Pasquotank school system since 1984. She works at J.C. Sawyer Elementary School.

Elizabeth City Middle School's Brett Templeton, an eighth-grade communications teacher, received the district's Sallie Mae First Class Teacher Award. He'll now compete statewide.

Director of Federal Programs Elizabeth Anne Neal was recognized for her state leadership award from the National Association of Federal Education Program Administrators.

Neal, who is president-elect for the North Carolina Association of Compensatory Educators, also was congratulated for organizing a recent conference.

Sheep-Harney Elementary School also was applauded for its recent national recognition in two reading programs.

The school won the awards for three consecutive years of growth in academic test scores.

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