DATE: Thursday, July 10, 1997               TAG: 9707100514

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA 

SOURCE: BY PAUL SOUTH, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: MANTEO                            LENGTH:   68 lines

TOP ADMINISTRATORS TO LEAVE MANTEO HIGH SCHOOL PRINCIPAL ASKS FOR LEAVE, ASSISTANT QUITS, AND BASEBALL COACH WILL BE AD.

The top two administrators at Manteo High School are leaving, school officials disclosed Wednesday.

Principal Everett Walterhouse has requested a one-year leave of absence and Assistant Principal Alison Sholar has resigned to take a job in her hometown of Asheboro, Superintendent Leon Holleman confirmed.

In addition, the athletic director of the school has been replaced by the baseball coach.

Walterhouse's leave will have to be approved by the Dare County Board of Education, which has been involved in numerous controversies this year.

Walterhouse said in a telephone interview: ``I'm going to evaluate my quality of life for a year and spend some time with my family, rather than spending my days and nights at Manteo High School.

``I'm ready to smell the roses for a while.''

Walterhouse, 55, will not be paid during his absence. Asked if the action is temporary, Walterhouse said, ``I don't think they can legally guarantee me a job if and when I come back. They can give me consideration for any administrative job that may be open when I come back. But my letter only asked for a leave of absence. There's no pay, and there's no obligation on the part of the School Board.''

Walterhouse gave high marks to his two years at Manteo High.

``I would characterize it as a time of great growth when some good things happened,'' Walterhouse said. ``I think it has been a great two years. It has been a good experience.''

Holleman said the district will begin a regional search for Walterhouse's successor as soon as the board takes up his request. The panel has a retreat scheduled for later this month and a regular meeting slated for early August.

Including his county supplement, Walterhouse's annual salary was $68,544.

Manteo High School has been at the center of controversy for several months, in part because of environmental problems at the school. The Board of Education has shuffled officers and sparred verbally on numerous occasions since losing a campaign for voters' approval of a $59.5 million school bond issue on May 20.

However, Walterhouse said the leave request should be seen in a positive light.

``This is not a negative thing,'' Walterhouse said. ``I talked to my wife and my children, and we felt this was the best thing to do.''

Walterhouse has been an educator for 29 years, 25 as a principal.

Sholar, the assistant principal at Manteo for the past three years, has been hired by the Asheboro school district as principal at Guy B. Teachey Elementary School. Sholar, 35, will start her second stint with the Asheboro system. She left there three years ago for the Manteo job. Her annual salary at Manteo High, including county supplement, was $35,325.

``They called and offered me the position,'' Sholar said of her new job in Asheboro. ``I felt there were no opportunities for me here.''

Changes at Manteo High also spilled over to the athletic program. Longtime athletic director Algie Campbell was asked to resign his post. On Wednesday, baseball coach Kenny Meekins was named to replace Campbell.

``We just felt like we needed a change in the direction of our athletic program,'' Holleman said. ``That's really all I can say about that.''

Campbell, who earned $46,413 with his supplement, will remain at the school as a vocational education teacher, Holleman said.

Neither Meekins nor Campbell could be reached for comment Wednesday. Meekins led the Redskins to the Class 2A baseball title in 1996 and to the state semifinals this past season. His annual salary is $31,010. ILLUSTRATION: Graphic

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