School board works to improve internet access

from Smoky Mountain News | August 5, 2020

Residents refuse to aid in COVID-19 trace testing

BY HANNAH MCLEOD S TAFF WRITER

At a July 30 special called meeting, Dr. Trevor Putnam presented the Haywood County School Board with a contract in conjunction with Green County Schools and the North Carolina Rural Center to provide 243 hotspots for students and staff without internet access. The service will be provided free for 12 months.

Haywood County Schools received $62,453 in funding from the state for “community Wi-Fi access,” Putnam said. This contract will cost HCS $62,344 of that funding.

Haywood County Schools applied to a consortium created by Dr. Patrick Miller, superintendent of Green County Schools and the Rural Center in order to use the funds most efficiently. According to Putnam, with the state funds HCS could purchase devices, but the money could not be used to pay for internet service.

“This consortium was formed in conjunction with Kajeet, and Kajeet said ‘look, buy the devices and we will furnish the service for one year.’ So, we used all available money just to purchase those devices. And those devices will be used for students and staff who do not have internet access,” he said.

A survey conducted in the spring, after schools had gone fully remote due to the pandemic, showed 14.59 percent of Haywood County students did not have reliable internet access. According to the survey that would mean at least 648 students do not have reliable internet, much more than the 243 available hotspots for students and staff.

Putnam said these hotspots will be doled out on an “as needed” basis. As students and staff contact the school system with their connectivity problems, staff will resolve those issues until there are no more hotspots available.

“At that point in time we will re-evaluate and determine if more are needed and where we would find those funds. So, we’re working our way through on an as needed basis,” he said. “Far greater is the difficulty in finding reliable internet access. The several that I’ve worked on personally, it has been an issue of the internet service provider. Either they could not sustain reliable uninterrupted streaming, or teleconferencing and videoconferencing, or they did not have the bandwidth needed to download large files. So a good many of them are a result of the internet service provider.”

As another intended solution to the

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problem of internet access within the school system, the school board elected to donate 50 access points to the county. The school system is working together with the county to create community hotspots.

“Sometime in the near future we hope to have a coverage map so we can publish that, and everyone can see where to go for those hotspots,” said Putnam.

Pigeon Street Community Center, Fines Creek and Cruso — some of the most problematic areas in regard to internet access — are among the first three community hotspots the schools system and the county are working to establish.

“Pastor Jason Miller from the Dutch Cove area has reached out to us and is trying to establish one in the Dutch Cove Area, and we’ve had Marion Ferguson at the Fines Creek Fire Department, at the little pavilion area, he’s also trying to establish one,” said Putnam. “So we’ve had a good many community partners reach out to us and we’re providing whatever we can in the way of technical expertise, and establishing those. Our community partners are doing a lot of the frontend work and purchasing equipment.”

Putnam says though this is a difficult region for internet access, the goal will be to have connectivity for everyone as students begin the fall semester remotely.

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One man is dead and a Haywood County Sheriff ’s deputy wounded after a July 28 shooting in Canton.

According to a press release issued by Angie Grube, public information director of the N.C. State Bureau of Investigation, a preliminary investigation showed that a deputy and two officers responding to a possible disturbance off of Asheville Highway around 2 a.m. encountered an armed suspect standing on a billboard.

The suspect began to fire on officers, gunfire was exchanged, and the suspect, 32- year-old Jacob Wilbur Wright, of Canton, was killed.

A deputy from the Haywood County Sheriff ’s Office, identified as Eric Batchelor, was shot and injured by Wright and as of July 28 was reported to be recovering in stable condition after surgery.

As is policy in the case of an officerinvolved shooting, the N.C. State Bureau of Investigations is now conducting an investigation into the incident.

Questions regarding the incident, such as the make and model of the suspect’s weapon and the number of shots fired and by whom, could not be answered according to Grube, because they remain part of the investigation.

Haywood Sheriff Greg Christopher said that officers involved in shootings are normally placed on leave, with pay, until cleared by the investigating agency or the district attorney.

“Before they return to work we do a ‘fit for duty’ investigation,” said Christopher. “It’s normally a psychiatric evaluation of the specific incident, done by a number of different companies here in North Carolina that provide that kind of service specifically for law enforcement.”

Christopher also said that law enforcement officers can be affected, sometimes deeply, by their involvement in such incidents.

“We are human beings, and we hurt just like other people hurt,” he said. “We have emotions just like anybody else, and I can tell you that a use of force – especially a deadly use of force event – will sometimes completely change a person’s life. It’s a very difficult thing to go through not only for them, but for their family as well.”

Grube said that there are too many factors involved with an investigation, including scope and circumstances, to provide a general timeline for its completion. When that does happen, the case file will be submitted to the district attorney for review. — By Cory Vaillancourt

Educators hold protest Saturday

North Carolina Association of Educators will hold a Car Caravan for a socially distant

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call to action to Senator Thom Tillis this Saturday, Aug. 8. The goal of the protest is to implore Sen. Tillis to support the Heroes Act to ensure funding for the safe reopening of public schools.

Around the state NCAE members, educators and supporters will gather to form caravans, then proceed to the local office of Sen. Tillis. Participants are encouraged to decorate their cars to spread their message.

The Heroes Act is a response to the Coronavirus Pandemic and its effect on the economy, public health, state and local governments, individuals and businesses. Among other things, the Heroes Act would set aside federal funding for grade schools, as well as colleges and universities, to “prevent, prepare for, and respond to Coronavirus.”

For more information, or to sign the NCAE petition to keep public schools funded and safe, visit www.organize2020.org.

Tipton appointed interim superintendent

The Jackson County Board of Education announced the hiring of Dr. Tony Tipton as interim superintendent at their monthly meeting on July 28. A 35-year veteran of public education, Tipton will assume the role currently held by Dr. Kimberly Elliott who will retire on Sept. 1.

“I have worked with Dr. Tipton on the regional superintendents’ council, and he has always demonstrated caring leadership,”

Elliott said.

Board Chairperson Ali Large said experience was an important factor in choosing Tipton. “He has been a fifth-grade teacher, a middle school teacher, a high school teacher, an assistant principal, and a principal,” Large said. “We are excited for him to bring that experience to Jackson County Public Schools.”

Tipton, a former Region 8 Superintendent of the Year, retired in 2019 after nearly eight years as Superintendent of Yancey County Schools.

“Jackson County Schools has a wellrespected reputation across western North Carolina, and I am pleased to be part of this hard-working team,” Tipton said. “While the upcoming year will be anything but normal, we will be committed to providing the best and safest instruction possible for students and staff.”

Tipton and his wife Barbara have been married for 41 years. They have three children and two grandchildren.