The Dare Voter February 20015

Mark your Calendar

February 25 – 7:00 p.m. – Kill Devil Hills Town Hall - Dr. Thomas

McGrady, PhD – owner of Sunshine Family Pharmacy, Duck --

“Prescription Medication Abuse: Focus on the Elderly”.

Dinner at 5:00 at Café Franco’s in the Dare Center. Call Nancy

Birindelli, 261-3915 or Bbirindelli@aol.com, to make a

reservation.

March 18 – “Girl Power”

April 15 – Go-See Tour to the Colored School at Jarvisburg, NC,

followed by lunch.

May 6 – “Rising Tide”

May 29 – Annual Meeting

June – Planning Retreat

Co-Presidents Letter

Valentine Smile

On Valentine's Day we think of those

Who make our lives worthwhile,

Those gracious, friendly people who

We think of with a smile.

I am fortunate to know you,

That's why I want to say,

To a rare and special person:

Happy Valentine's Day!

By Joanna Fuchs

Health Report

Wednesday, January 28th

, Carman Hooker Odum spoke on the many

facets of the Affordable Care Act. On that very cold evening about 35

folks came out to listen and learn. The audience was really engaged and

had good questions. Thanks to Marion Midgett and Ursula Bateman for

arranging this very informative evening.

The Citizens Guide will be bundled /distributed

on Friday February 6th

at 9:30 at Mary Jane

Slesinski’s home. If you can volunteer to help,

please call Geri Sullivan @ 261-8874

Fund Raising Report

By Carol Butscher, Chairman

2014 was a very successful year for the League’s Fund Raising! Our Belk Charity

Days in November added $588 to our general fund. We will participate again in

the spring. This is a “no-brainer” as far as fund raising is concerned. We receive

100% profit of the tickets that we sell and also receive a portion of the tickets sold

at the door on Charity Day.

Our Fall Letter Campaign also was a record. We received over $5,000 for our CEF

Fund. This money is used to cover the cost of printing the Citizens Guide.

Our Holiday Silent and Live Auction added over $2,000 to our general fund. Thank

you to all the members who attended. A special thank you to Tony DiBernardo for

providing a VERY entertaining Live Auction! If you haven’t participated in this

event, you are missing a fun afternoon.

I would like to “recruit” a co-chair for the Fund Raising Committee which consists

of ME!! Lori DiBernardo has been my right-hand-lady the past few years, but she

will be assuming the Co-President’s position next year. The main duty of the co-

chair will be to help with the holiday silent and live auction. The letter campaign is

more of a one-lady job, and I take care of that. Please consider joining me! You

can contact me at 261-6983 orcab313@yahoo.com.

Membership Report

By Lori Williams

The membership as of January 22, 2015 was 81! There are

48 individual members; 15 heads of family; 18 members of

family. My numbers agree with the numbers on the

National (LWV-US) database. This is important since we will

be billed for our dues based on the February 1, 2015 roster.

First Friday Lunch Bunch

Friday, February 6th

at noon, at the Black

Pelican

Natural Resources

Public Meeting and Public Comment Period: Offshore Wind Energy Development off the

Northern Outer Banks Contributed by Lorelei DeBernardo, Natural Resources Chair

The U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) recently released an

Environmental Assessment report in support of the potential lease sale of more than 300,000 acres of federal

waters off the coast of North Carolina for commercial wind energy development. The press release initiated a

30-day public comment period and announced three public meetings during February in North Carolina.

The public comment period ends on February 23, 20115.

The first public meeting for the Northern Outer Banks site off Corolla/Duck/Southern Shores will be held on

Monday, February 9 at the Hilton Garden Inn in Kitty Hawk. The other meetings are scheduled for

Wednesday, February 11 at the Coastline Conference & Event Center in Wilmington, and on Thursday,

February 12 at the South Brunswick Island Center in Carolina Shore. All 3 public meetings will be from 5-8:00

p.m.

The 3 proposed NC Wind Energy Areas (WEA) are: 1) Kitty Hawk WEA, off the Currituck/Dare County coast, 2)

Wilmington West WEA, and 3) the Wilmington East WEA, both off the Brunswick County coast. The ultimate

goal of the initiative is to develop renewable energy and to strengthen our nation’s energy security.

To view full details of the project and to submit comments, visit the BOEM’s website at:

http://www.boem.gov/State-Activities-North-Carolina/

Comments may be submitted on-line or they may be mailed to:

Office of Renewable Energy Programs

Bureau of Ocean Energy Management

381 Elder Street, HM 1328

Herndon, VA 20170-4817

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) sees public input as a critical component to the safe and

responsible exploration and development of offshore resources. Public engagement and comment is solicited

in their environmental review and regulatory programs for both oil, gas, and renewable energy proposals.

Surveying the School Scene

Marion W. Midgett, Education Chair

Dare County Board of Education meetings are held monthly on the

second Tuesday at 5:00 P.M. at a different school each time.

This report covers instructional highlights, reports, and

business items handled by the Board at regular meetings on

October 14, November 25, December 9, 2014 and January 13, 2015.

Business items are presented two times over two months and

carefully considered by board members during and between

meetings.

During each meeting there is an “instructional highlights”

presentation by teachers and students usually with a focus on

STEM technology activities and complex problem solving. From a

different direction, one show-and-tell program focused on how

art and music are supporting other subjects: for example, music

RAPs for math steps and traditional songs and mask-making for

social studies.

In November, staff reported on the “Beginning Teacher Support

Program” which is part of the NC Licensure Policy Code. The

goals of the program are to ensure success in the classroom and

reduce teacher turnover. During the first three years of

teaching, teachers work with trained mentors, attend summer and

Saturday workshops. Also, they are assigned a limited number of

preparations, few non-instructional duties, and no

extracurricular responsibilities unless requested. In addition,

professional development plans and several evaluations are

required yearly. A unique Dare County support component is the

teacher housing option available in Kill Devil Hills or Buxton.

A five year audit reflected praise from all; the teacher

turnover rate for Dare is 7.8%, the fifth lowest in the state.

The Board approved two business items in December after hearing

first readings in November.

The first approval concerned the above “Beginning Teacher

Support Program” which the State BOE newly requires must address

13 program requirements and be approved by the local BOE as part

of the Licensure Policy Code.

The second approval went to the “Digital Learning Policy” which

lays out the “district’s commitment to providing a 21st Century

learning environment in keeping with its Strategic Plan,

mission, and vision.” The laptop initiative which provides a

computer to each student in grades 6-12 is at the core of the

policy. The regulations accompanying this policy outline

acceptable use and care of student laptops. The “Student Laptop

User Agreement” is a comprehensive plan requiring orientation

meetings, a $25 insurance fee, signatures of parents and

students, and return of the computers at the end of the school

year. High school student laptops were distributed on January

16. Middle school students will receive theirs at the beginning

of the 2015—2016 year, along with the ninth graders.

In December, staff reported on the fall 2014 joint discussions

with Dare County regarding the local school funding formula. A

committee of three BOE members, three commissioners, and staff

met five times to develop a revised formula that should provide

both the County and the BOE with a more predictable funding plan

based on General Assembly action as well as economic,

inflationary, and student enrollment factors.

As a new business item, the superintendent recommended that the

BOE endorse the methodology of the new School Funding Formula

and implement it at the beginning of the 2015—2016 fiscal year,

as supported by the committee. Approval came in January.

The Board reviewed another new business item in December

recommending they opt out of the State Differentiated Pay Plan.

The following is what Dr. Burgess wrote:

In 2013—2014 Senate Bill 402 required each school

district to identify up to 25 percent of teachers who

were eligible based on their performance and other

criteria to receive 4—year contracts and bonuses in

return for surrendering their tenure rights. This form

of differentiated pay was overwhelmingly opposed by the

teachers of Dare County. On March 17, 2014, the Dare

BOE adopted a resolution opposing the implementation of

Senate Bill 402. Eventually, a judge ruled the

legislation was unconstitutional.

This year Appropriations Bill 8.41 requires each school

district to design a differentiated teacher pay plan

based on criteria such as “hard to staff subject areas”

and “hard to staff school.” However, no funding is

provided to implement the plan. Given the lack of

funding, the lack of specificity of the criteria to

qualify for differentiated pay, the unspecified amounts

to be awarded, and the lack of support from Dare county

teachers and the Dare BOE last year for the idea of

identifying 25 percent of teachers to receive merit

pay, the superintendent recommends that the BOE opt out

of Appropriations Bill 8.41, as provided in the

legislation.

In January, the Board voted to opt out of the requirement to

develop a differentiated pay plan for which there is no state

funding.

The 2013—2014 Audit Report presented by Douglas A. Hollowell

P.C. came in January. The report was positive with a rating of

“unmodified.” Notations reported to the Board were as follows:

The unassigned fund amount has dropped from the

previous year.

Regarding compliance with the concussion law, which

requires auditing, the Board was reminded that 100

percent of student notification and permission forms

must be signed and on file.

Finance staff members were commended for receiving high

ratings repeatedly from SDPI.

Also in January, the Board heard from the facilities director

concerning the Manteo Elementary School addition. He reported

that the building will be in use by Mid-February.

Citizens Guide

Geri Sullivan

This year the Dare League of Women Voters is publishing 6800 copies of its 2015 Citizens

Guide to be distributed in early February. This year’s guide is 48 pages covering over 100

separate organizations. Two changes to be noted this year include: renaming of Dare County

departments of Health and Human Services to Public Health Division (page 27) and Social

Services Division (31) and addition of phone number 511 to track NC road conditions (inside

front cover). Also, this year the History Center ‘s exhibit will be “A Heritage of Heroes: the

Coast Guard in NC” and the Aquarium suggests hosting your next special event there. And we

have again listed major contributors to the Citizens Guide on the back cover and all other

contributors on page 48.

The Guide requires a lot of effort to prepare and distribute and could not be done without

volunteers. We did direct mailing to 53 locations and covered the rest by phone and internet.

This year Pat Hayward and Mary Ann Remer worked the phones, to gather update information

for over 30 organization listings. Board members Carol Butscher and Nancy Birindelli served as

proof readers. And on January 30, Mary Jane Slesinski hosted the annual “bundling” party to

package about 4000 guides for distribution (2100 were delivered directly by the printer). The

first week of February, we will be distributing the guides to 82 locations and making

presentations to the Dare County Commissioners and the Town Boards and Councils. This

year’s bundlers were: Mary Jane Slesinski, Audrey Esposito, Carole Butscher and Geri

Sullivan. Our delivery team and presenters include: Lorelei Dibernardo, Mary Ellen

Hawthorne, Ursula Bateman, Marion Midgett, Mary Ann Remer, Audrey Esposito and Geri

Sullivan. And Geri Sullivan served as editor, bringing it all together. Many thanks to all our

volunteers for making this year’s guide a success!