By Connie Leinbach
Hyde County School Superintendent Dr. Randolph H. Latimore, Sr., is not ready to recommend to the School Board of Commissioners to restore Ocracoke’s arts teacher position.
“We need to be reassured that there will be funding for it,” he said in a community meeting Oct. 3 in Ocracoke School attended by about 20 teachers and residents.
In his budget recommendation to the Board of Education at 4 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 7, Latimore said he will ask to restore two teachers’ assistant positions in the district that were eliminated last spring—one for the mainland and one for Ocracoke—as well as a part-time custodian for Ocracoke.
Ocracoke residents may attend via the school’s Information Highway Room. There will be a public comment period near the beginning of the meeting.
In anticipation of state budget cuts to education this spring, the Board of Education agreed to eliminate the art teacher position this year at Ocracoke and Mattamuskeet schools, leaving the district without any formal arts education in both music and art.
“The restoration of full teaching positions is not on the table,” Latimore said. The reason is, again, lack of funding.
He praised state Rep. Paul Tine’s work in getting the Small School Funding restored for rural schools, which means that Hyde County School District will receive $1.7 million, but that allotment still does not make up for the overall loss of about $300,000 of those funds from the approximately $8 million annual budget.
Moreover, the NC General Assembly in this year’s budget approved a 7 percent pay raise for teachers across the state though did not fully fund that increase.
“The state pays for an allotment for salaries,” Latimore said. “If (our total salaries are) outside that allotment we have to find the dollars somewhere.”
In addition, “standard practice” advises that the school district have a fund balance of 8 to 10 percent of its total budget, or about $800,000, Latimore said. The total district budget is $10 million, he said.
To fully fund the current teachers’ salaries this year, he had to take about half of the fund balance to do so leaving about $350,000 in the balance.  These fund balances are necessary in case of emergencies, he said.
While he asked the Hyde County Commissioners to make up this difference from their budget, they did not approve that request. The Hyde County commissioners approved a contribution of $1,199,568 from their budget to the school district, which is a reduction of $225,000 since 2009 when their grant was $1,424,568.
As for capital projects (money in a separate fund that can only be used for property maintenance and improvements), the Board of Education  has approved for Ocracoke School replacing exterior plywood, aging windows and the cost of the new fence.
Latimore clarified that the moving of a softball field for Mattamuskeet School comes out of this capital projects fund. Unfortunately, the Board of Education did not approve the $10,000 request made by Ocracoke Community Park for the new ball field on Ocracoke because that ball field is not school property.
Another topic Latimore covered is the Early College program that, starting this month, Ocracoke students may enroll in free college courses leading to an associate’s degree from Beaufort County Community College.
These classes would be concurrent with students’ mandatory high school courses and can be taught almost wholly online.
Latimore also announced that Ocracoke School has again received a four-year 21^st Century after-school program grant of $1.4 million over four years. This grant’s cycle will focus on academics, said Dr. Linda Willis, the school district’s grant writer.
Willis also talked about the Transformation Zone, a state-run program that focuses on strengthening families of children five and under through home visits by nurses.
All services are through the state, Willis said, and Hyde County has been newly added
“Research has shown that (home visits) can make a tremendous help with family stability,” Willis said, and family stability helps in school success. She said they are still working on getting this important program better implemented for Hyde County.
–Peter Vankevich contributed to this story.

October 2014
By Connie Leinbach

Installation of replacement street signs on Ocracoke is scheduled to be finished by Oct. 6, said Bill Rich, Hyde County manager.

Their replacement began in late September .  Last year’s budget included purchase of the signs and this year’s budget includes the installation, he said. Street signs for a number of streets in the village have been missing since Hurricane Irene in 2011 and more were lost during Hurricane Arthur July 4.  However, all of the signs might not be replaced.

“We have an inventory of signs ordered last year,” Rich said, “and since then I’ve noticed some stop signs are down.” There also are places on the island that could use some safety signs, such as a yield sign at the intersection of Back Road and Old Beach Road, he said.

In other Hyde County action, the commissioners agreed to join with Dare and Tyrell counties to provide consolidated
911 dispatch service for all three counties to be based in Dare County for an annual savings of about $150,000. The
dispatch center is being built in Manteo. Two of the five of Hyde’s current dispatch staff would be reassigned to Dare
County and the other three will have to interview for the new positions, Rich said. New infrastructure is being built but won’t be finished for 30 months.

“It’s a real gift,” Rich said about the consolidation. The NC State Secretary of Commerce Sharon Decker visited mainland Hyde in September to assist in economic development of Lake Mattamuskeet Lodge, cold storage for fresh catch from county waters and the water lagoon in Engelhard. The prospect of an unmanned aircraft vehicle company relocating to the mainland is being  explored, Rich said. All of this would mean more revenue for the county.

Roy Revels.

By Ruth Fordon

Contemporary modern art leaves interpretation to the viewer, and island artist Roy Revels likes to do just that.
His new and old works will be on view in Down Creek Gallery, 260 Irvin Garrish Hwy. starting Wednesday, Sept. 24, with a reception from 5 to 8 p.m.

Revels’ paintings are abstract and his 2-D and 3-D sculptures sometimes are part of an installation telling a story, or as stand-alone art.“It is me creating an atmosphere, an image, something to make people use their imagination,” he says about his art. He likes art that is untitled, temporary, a message that life is composed of moments that are constantly changing and transforming. Revels is a self-taught artist influenced by many different things, and likes to work in different media.

He likes to make people think and for his art to have a different meaning for each individual. With his 3-D sculptures, he often creates wire cages around his object.Once, one of his 2-D exhibits was a wall of white crucifixes, a silent message to be interpreted by the viewer. While his sculptures are carefully planned and consciously constructed, his paintings are completely abstract.

Revels’ paintings are more of an unconscious action: he doesn’t know where he is going when he starts, but always knows when it is time to stop.Ocracoke is known for it fine artists and Revels, co-owner of Zillie’s Island Pantry, has been part of a local group of like-minded artists called the Ocracoke Five.

Composed of Bob Ray, Ann Ehringhaus, Debbie Wells and Barbara Hardy, the five have chosen to share their art collaboratively in outdoor exhibitions framed by unusual island locations, such as an abandoned WWII bunker and at the Ocracoke Convenience Site (the dump).

These exhibits are usually spontaneous happenings, advertised by word-of-mouth, and popular events among the local island population.Revels has exhibited at many North Carolina galleries, from Manteo to Asheville, and his most recent exhibition was at Barton College, Wilson, in 2012.

His Down Creek Gallery show will be on permanent display there.