Abby Cavenaugh

The Duplin County Board of Education re-elected Brent Davis as chair and Reginald Kenan as vice chair during its regular monthly meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 5. Both were nominated by board member Pam Edwards to continue serving as the board’s leadership, and the votes for both were unanimous.

Kenan took the opportunity to praise Davis’ work as the chair. “I would like to emphasize again that your leadership has been a thrill. By that, I mean it has been a joy to follow your footsteps. You put a lot of your time, your devotion, your heart, you worry about it a lot, which [shows] your commitment. One thing I like about the way you chair is … you listen to people. You hear them out. You don’t pre-judge. You really care about our children, and it’s an honor to be part of a board that you’re leading.”

When given an opportunity to speak, Davis thanked Kenan and the other board members for their confidence in him. “As I always say, this is a group effort,” he said. “We’ve got a great board. One of the most important things is that we’re all good listeners. We always try to move this school system forward in a positive manner. Obviously, this day and time, there are so many things that are outside of our control, between state and federal mandates, and just the environment in education in general is really difficult. But I will say it’s a true honor to serve with this group, and we’re going to continue to do all we can to move this school system forward.”

Sandra Ganus, Saffelle representative, and Ronald Moore, Duplin County Schools maintenance director presented North Duplin Jr./Sr. High School’s custodial staff with this quarter’s Clean School Award.

“All of our custodians at all of our schools work hard every day to keep our schools clean for our children,” Moore said.

Ganus agreed, saying that in a previous visit to the school, she’d discovered an outbuilding that was crowded with equipment and supplies, so that it was difficult to walk around inside. Upon her next visit, the building had been organized and cleaned, with shelving and everything in its correct place. “They worked so, so, so hard on this,” she added, before presenting the award to the custodial team, James Morrisey, Berta Valle, and Ervin Best.

In other business at the December meeting, the board approved a lengthy consent agenda that included a revised contract with the Duplin County Sheriff’s Office for school resource officer services, various deeds of release with property owners, fundraiser and field trip requests, and more.

Superintendent Dr. Austin Obasohan shared that Representative Jimmy Dixon, had sent an email message reiterating his support for education at the state level, and also wishing the school board and school system staff a merry Christmas and happy new year.

The North Carolina State Highway Patrol is investigating three fatal crashes that occurred in Duplin County on Sunday, Dec. 10.

The first accident took place in the early morning hours at the intersection of NC 41 Highway and Rivenbarktown Road. According to authorities Kimberlynn Perez, failed to stop at a stop sign, hitting a tree. The 35 year old was not wearing a seatbelt and died at the scene.

The second fatality took place on N. NC 111 Highway between Cabin Street and Kitty Noecker Road. According to authorities Ashley Lopez was pronounced dead at the scene after her vehicle ran off the road and overturned striking a tree. 

The two early collisions were single car events and driver error was a factor in both, according to NCSHP officials. 

The third fatality occurred on S. NC 41 Highway at Cypress Hole Road when Rebecca Rachlin’s vehicle collided head-on with the at fault vehicle which crossed left of center hitting her vehicle. The man driving the other vehicle is currently facing charges.

Rachlin was extracted from her vehicle but succumbed to her injuries before she could be transported. According to NCSHP, the third collision did occur during the rain and therefore weather has not been ruled out as contributing to the wreck.