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Powhatan, Virginia
The hometown paper of Lori Warwick
Vol. XXVII No. 26
June 25, 2014
Board ends school retirement program By Laura McFarland News Editor
T
he Powhatan County Board of Supervisors was divided on how to end the county school division’s controversial supplemental retirement program, but end it they did. The board voted three to two to close the program at its meeting on Monday, June 16 in a move that prevents any additional retiring employees from enrolling and bars former superintendent Margaret Meara from participating. The main contention behind the two dissenting votes was an amendment added by Barry Hodge, who represents District 3, preventing enrollment by eligible school employees who had submitted letters of intention to retire as of June 16. Employees who are already “properly enrolled” and currently in their working year
were not affected by the amendment and may continue to participate in the program. Two other employees enrolled in 2013, the same year as Meara, will be allowed to stay in the program, Tom Lacheney, county attorney, said. Chairman Carson Tucker, District 5, and Bill Melton, District 4, cast the dissenting votes. Tucker didn’t comment during the discussion, simply saying after the vote, “the SRP is done for.” Melton said that while he felt the program needed to be closed, the five eligible people who had applied to enroll in the Supplemental Retirement Program (SRP) by June 16 PHOTO BY LAURA MCFARLAND should not be penalized. “I think it is fair to allow the five who have At a June 16 Board of Supervisors meeting, Bill Melton (left), District filed their paperwork to enter the program, 4, was one of two members who voted against an amendment by and shut it down at that point,” he said. Barry Hodge (right), District 3, on a resolution to end the Powhatan see BOARD page 2A
County school division’s supplemental retirement program. The amendment prevented additional employees from participating.
University team digs into local history
Changes made to school lunch prices By Laura McFarland News Editor
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Above, Ileana Ilas, a recent graduate of the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, surveys new points on an excavation grid of an archaeology field study being conducted in Powhatan County. Right, Samantha Galloway, a senior anthropology major at the University of Tennessee, holds a large cow tibia found on the dig, which is at a home on Old Buckingham Road.
By Laura McFarland News Editor
W
ith every ounce of dirt that is brushed away, a piece of Powhatan County’s history is uncovered. For the last four summers, Fred and Carolyn Neurohr have opened the land around their house on Old Buckingham Road to serve as the site of an archaeology dig by a group from the
PHOTOS BY LAURA MCFARLAND
University of Tennessee-Knoxville. The couple already had a good sense of the history that surrounds their home, French’s Tavern, which was built in 1730 and is on the National Register of Historic Places. Watching the team of undergraduate and graduate students led by Dr. Barbara Heath, associate professor of anthropology, work through heat, bugs see DIGS page 7A
BATTEAU FESTIVAL ON THE JAMES By Laura McFarland News Editor
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eaching perfection is hard, but water conditions for this year’s James River Batteau Festival brought the event pretty close, according to Ned Nelson of Powhatan. During the eight days Nelson spent sailing down the James River in a the sleek, shallow draft merchant boat called Fine Creek Mill, the water was never so high it was a danger and never so low the vessel was scraping the bottom. Much of the time he was able to sit back PHOTO BY ANJIE HENLEY
see BATTEAU page 5A
The crew of a batteau pole into shore.
he Powhatan County School Board has made changes to the school lunch pricing that will have many families seeing small increases or decreases, depending on their economic status. A policy change to the school lunch program was approved by the board at its meeting on Tuesday, June 10, that increased regular school lunch prices and eliminates the fee for the elementary, middle and junior high schools’ reduced price breakfasts. The changes go into effect with the start of the 2014-15 school year. An increase in the lunch price for students by 10 cents and for adults by 15 cents was made to comply with federal regulations, Larry Johns, assistant superintendent for finance and business operations, said. The federal government gives the school district a monetary subsidy and food to support the students on the free/reduced meal program, he said. The government looks at the cost of those meals compared to the paid student meals. When the average paid lunch price is less than the difference between the federal free lunch and paid lunch reimbursement rates, the district either has to increase the cost of the paid lunch or move money from the school general into food services, Johns said. “The last two years we have had to go up a nickel for lunch. This year we have to go up 10 cents,” he said. The new student lunch prices are $2.30 at the elementary and middle schools and $2.40 at the junior high and high schools, he said. The
adult price is $3.40. The reduced lunch fee is 40 cents. The decision to eliminate a 30-cent reduced breakfast fee at the elementary, middle and junior high schools was made to encourage more eligible students to take advantage of the program, Johns said. “If that causes more students to participate, we are better off because we get the reimbursement from the federal government,” he said. Of the students who are eligible for the reduced price breakfast, only 15 percent are participating, Johns said, add-
“The last two years we have had to go up a nickel for lunch. This year we have to go up 10 cents.” Larry Johns Assistant superintendent for finance and business operations ing that he only needs a 1 percent increase to make it revenue neutral, or breaking even. The district has seen a drop in school meal sales at the elementary and middle schools in the past few years, the biggest reason being the phased in requirements that have caused schools to reduce the calories offered in each meal, Johns said. Food service also lost revenue due to 13 days schools were closed because of weather this winter, which was more than last year, he said. There were 161,450 lunches served in the 2012-2013 school year, down from 203,498 lunches in 2011-12, he said. The 2013-14 school year has not closed, but he said it will be less than last school year.
Inside
Sports
Index
A4 Community Briefs Volunteer firefighters help horse out of pool
B3 Rob Hogan wins Eastern Open at the Foundry
Calendar Classified Crossword Horoscope Obituaries Opinion TV Listings
A9 B8-9 A9 A9 A3 A8 B6-7