This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

News editor

Teachers and technology were the biggest concerns Thursday during a second public hearing on the Isle of Wight school budget.

And many who spoke were in favor of a tax increase to support needs of the school district.

“I don’t think teachers feel appreciated,” said Smithfield High School student Dane Mosely.

Windsor High School senior Will Wyatt said his teachers’ low morale was due to the “outlandish threats they receive,” such as closing schools and cutting out summer school.

Stephanie Bailey, who heads up the Isle of Wight Education Association, said “teachers feel like toys to be played with and people are playing with them.”

Others asked for technological upgrades, such as increased bandwidth to handle the additional computer traffic.

The Board of Supervisors had asked the School Board to present a flat budget and most of the cuts included kindergarten aides and technological upgrades.

Parents who spoke were also worried that the county’s schools were getting a negative image due to the recent conflict between the School Board and Board of Supervisors.

People choose to move to a community based on its school system, and Isle of Wight can’t afford to have people move elsewhere, said parent Aaron Millikin of Carrolton.

Parent Corey Hearn of Smithfield questioned why instructional jobs were slated for cuts when no change was being made for the “six figure” administrators.

“The budget is heavy on administration and this is where the cuts can be made,” he said.

Neal Johnson of Smithfield advocated for raising taxes, as did School Board member Herb DeGroft, who gave the Board a check for $450 to cover his proposed tax increase.

Windsor Mayor Rita Richardson, who taught for 30 years, also advocated for a tax increase. Richardson was alarmed that the schools were receiving the same amount of money as it had five years ago — despite rising expenses. ...(Subscribe!)

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Staff writer

SURRY — Dogs Deserve Better founder Tamira Thayne says she is prepared to die for her cause.

Thayne is no stranger to extreme measures to show she’s devoted to freeing penned and chained animals, having chained herself outside 10 different state capitols.

This time, she is staging a hunger strike.

On May 7, Thayne began refusing food and started petitioning each day from a camp chair along Route 10 by the Surry County Circuit Courthouse. Thayne wants justice for reasons different than her usual campaign.

She wants Surry County Commonwealth’s Attorney Gerald Poindexter to bring embezzlements charges against a former employee, who she said padded her paycheck to the tune of $1,285.

She wants Poindexter and Chief Animal Control Officer Tracey Terry to admit that the former employee framed Thayne for animal cruelty charges.

Thayne was charged in August 2012 on misdemeanor animal cruelty and misdemeanor failure to provide adequate space charges. Her charges were postponed in March.

Finally, she wants her and Dogs Deserve Better’s name cleared, as their names have been muddied and donations have been affected, she said.

Thayne said she chose a hunger strike because it hurts herself and not others.

When asked how long she plans to strike, Thayne was resolute.

“I’ll do it till I’m dead. I don’t care if it breaks them,” she said.

Thayne contends that Poindexter is purposely keeping the animal cruelty charges alive and avoiding charging the former employee with embezzlement to push her and DDB out of the county.

“I don’t give a damn what they do down there,” said Poindexter about DDB’s mission. “I’m not against those types of interests — far from it.”

But Poindexter said he wouldn’t proceed with the embezzlement charges because he found no criminal intent on behalf of the employee.

“No evidence whatsoever of criminal intent,” said Poindexter, referencing emails in which the former employee offered means of mediation and repayment.

“Is that what criminals do, embezzlers?” he asked.

Poindexter also said that emails between Thayne, the former employee and another DDB employee were convoluted — at one time the accused employee worked full time, then part time, was paid hourly and sometimes at a salary.

Poindexter said he couldn’t pursue the charges because the former employer didn’t have criminal intent, the method of accounting was convoluted and Thayne had admitted to mistakes in one of the emails. ...(Subscribe!)

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

News editor

The Isle of Wight Board of Supervisors continued to pick apart its fiscal 2014 operating budget during a fourth work session Monday.

The Board is considering a maximum real estate tax increase of 8 cents to cover the county’s operating budget and the school budget.

There were varying discussions Monday on why some departments followed the supervisor’s 5 percent budget reduction request and some didn’t.

“It’s not fair,” said Newport Supervisor Buzz Bailey about departments such as the Sheriff’s Office and the schools not following the reduction request.

The Board asked everyone to cut and then it gives some back to other departments, said Chairman JoAnn Hall.

All departments should have to participate in the 5 percent cuts, Hall said.

Carrsville Supervisor Rex Alphin was in favor of yielding to some additional budget requests.

That would prevent departments from coming back in the middle of the year and the Board having to pull from reserves, he said.

“We need to look at realistic expenses,” Alphin said. ...(Subscribe!)

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

News editor

Plans for a 162-apartment mixed-use development on what is known as the Norsworthy property is under rezoning review with Isle of Wight Planning and Zoning.

Brewer’s Station also calls for 85,000 square feet of retail space, 34 townhouses and 54 single-family units, according to preliminary plans.

The application is expected to go to the Planning Commission sometime in the summer.

The property was formerly approved in 2005 for 42 single family units and the new application represents a change from that, said Matt Smolnik, assistant director of planning and zoning.

The proposed development located at the intersection of New Towne Haven Lane and Norsworthy Drive along Brewer’s Neck Boulevard in Carrollton.

The developer is also working with the county on plans to build a sidewalk to connect the Carrollton Library and Carrollton Elementary School, Smolnik said.

Already approved in the Carrollton area are 1,509 single-family homes, condominiums, townhouses and apartments, including Red Oaks mobile home park, Benn’s Grant, St. Luke’s Village, The Crossings, Bridge Point Commons and Carrollton Condos.

The Planning Commission recently recommended denial for 208 apartments for the Eagle Harbor Tract 8 site, located along Carrollton Boulevard.

Those plans are expected to go before the Isle of Wight Board of Supervisors this month.

Also already approved in the Carrollton area are more than one million square feet of retail, commercial, office and mini-warehouse space, as well as Riverside Medical Center with 30,000 square feet of medical offices and 50,000 square feet of clinical space located at the intersection of Brewers Neck and Benn’s Church boulevards.

All of the developments are located in the Newport Development Service district — an area the county set aside for higher density and commercial development. ...(Subscribe!)

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

News editor

A comment about the Confederacy by an Isle of Wight elected official during a public budget meeting sparked controversy Monday.

Frustrated over a lack of money and a request for additional emergency services funding, Newport District Supervisor Buzz Bailey jokingly wondered if Isle of Wight could print money like the federal government.

And then he said, “Save the Confederate money. The south will rise again.”

It wasn’t taken as a joke.

Isle of Wight Superintendent Katrise Perera left the meeting following Bailey’s comment.

Local television channels were immediately alerted and one channel interpreted Bailey’s comment as a serious hope that the Confederacy would return.

Efforts to reach Bailey were unsuccessful.

Schools spokesperson Kenita Bowers said Perera felt uncomfortable with those sorts of comments being made in that setting.

Some people can be offended, Bowers said.

Perera thought the Board should have been focusing on the budget rather than making those comments and thought it was best to leave the meeting, Bowers said.

Isle of Wight Board of Supervisors Chairman JoAnn Hall said the comments were inappropriate.

“It was inappropriate and I’m sorry that it happened. I haven’t spoken to Mr. Bailey about it. He hasn’t returned my calls,” said Isle of Wight Board of Supervisors Chairman JoAnn Hall.

The Board probably should have paused at that point and addressed the comment, but “everyone was so tired and frustrated at the time … it didn’t seem like a big issue at the time,” she said, adding that she wasn’t aware the superintendent left the meeting.

“That was a comment made by one board member and it certainly doesn’t represent the feelings of the board or other board members,” Hall said. ...(Subscribe!)

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Staff writer

Virginia school superintendents will soon face an evaluation system in which 40 percent of their evaluation will be based on student achievement.

The remaining 60 percent will be covered by six indicators that are weighed at 10 percent each: mission, vision and goals, planning and assessment, instructional leadership, organizational leadership and safety, communication and community relations and professionalism.

The Virginia Department of Education issued the new evaluation criteria after finding that the current practices, which were updated in 2000, lack objectivity and scope.

School divisions must adopt the criteria developed by the Virginia Department of Education by July 1, 2014 or sooner.

Isle of Wight County Superintendent Katrise Perera attended a conference recently at which the topic was discussed.

About the evaluation change, Perera said, “The complexity of education leadership has changed drastically over the last 10 years, so having an evaluation system that acknowledges those changes is necessary.”

The purpose of the new evaluation criteria is to improve superintendents’ and school division performance, strengthen community relations, inform personnel decisions and serve as an accountability tool.

According to the Guidelines for Uniform Performance Standards and Evaluation Criteria for Superintendents, “school board members may not be adequately prepared for evaluating superintendents” and input is rarely sought from teachers, staff and students.

The School Board must evaluate its superintendent on the six indicators as well as students’ academic progress, according to Virginia law. ...(Subscribe!)