Edgecombe County Public Schools Superintendent John Farrelly shares what's left to be done in the district's recovery from Hurricane Matthew in a letter to Gov. Cooper.

1. 412 PEARL STREET - TARBORO N C 27886 - TELEPHONE 252-641-2600 – FACSIMILIE 252-641-5714 - www.ecps.us
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Edgecombe County Public Schools
THE KEYS TO SUCCESS: HOME, SCHOOL, COMMUNITY
March 16, 2017
Honorable Gov. Roy Cooper
North Carolina Office of the Governor
20301 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, NC 27699 – 0301
Dear Gov. Cooper:
Edgecombe County Public Schools continues to suffer from devastating effects caused by
Hurricane Matthew when the storm hit on October 8, 2016. As you are aware, our school system
lost eight (8) days of instruction at thirteen of our school campuses, with thirteen (13) days of
instruction lost at Princeville Elementary School. We are most appreciative of the legislative
efforts, as well as the efforts led by the Office of the Governor in providing relief to our school
system with the added flexibility in making up the instructional time lost.
We are immensely grateful for your efforts in visiting our communities in Edgecombe and the
dedication that you have shown to improving the lives of our citizens, our students and teachers,
and North Carolina.
Just last week, our leadership team was privileged to meet with members of your staff, including
Dempsey Benton and Ryan Flynn. During this meeting our leadership team was asked what
areas of assistance we needed from the State to assist Edgecombe County Schools with our
recovery efforts. The items that we need legislative and gubernatorial assistance with, which
were shared with your staff, include the following:
(1) Funding to cover $300,000 of transportation costs associated with busing students
that continue to be displaced from Edgecombe County to their schools of origin
within our District.
(2) Request legislative action to hold harmless our ADM (Average Daily Membership)
allocation to our ADM at the beginning of the 2016-2017 school year of 5988.
Additional supports from the State, including raises, bonuses, and benefit increases
would need to be in addition to our hold harmless provision request.
(3) Restore Low Wealth and At-Risk Student Services funding with an additional
$460,778 (Low Wealth reduced by $329,460 and At Risk Student Services reduced
by $131,318; totaling $460,778).
The rationale for these requests are vested in our mission to provide for the best, highest quality
education possible for our students. In addition, the request made for transportation costs in item

2. 412 PEARL STREET - TARBORO N C 27886 - TELEPHONE 252-641-2600 – FACSIMILIE 252-641-5714 - www.ecps.us
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(1) are not covered by FEMA, insurance, or other sources of funding, and instead, will be
incurred by our local budget. We have instituted these transportation methods to insure that our
students that reside outside of our county are able to return to their home schools to have some
semblance of normalcy to their lives, in the midst of the destruction that they have endured.
I am concerned with the provision in the State Board of Education’s Allotment policy manual,
regarding allotment adjustments for ADM decreases. The manual provides that: “In accordance
with HB 1473 Section 7.15 (b), decreases to allotments must be made if the original anticipated
ADM used for allotments exceeds the higher of the first or second month Average Daily
Membership (ADM) by at least 2% or 100 students.” With the significant impact of the
Hurricane, and with the displacement of so many of our county’s residents, as well as the
relocation of Princeville Elementary School and the undetermined factor of whether the school
will be able to be reopened, I feel that these requests will enable our school system to have
stability until our residents can return. I request that these stabilization funds be provided for a
period of two (2) years to cover the 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 school years. As you will recall,
it was well over five (5) years before most of our citizens were able to fully return to their homes
after the devastating flood caused by Hurricane Floyd in 1999.
With regards to item request (3), our experience with Hurricane Floyd and now with Hurricane
Matthew, has demonstrated the overwhelming need for supplemental funding to assist our
already large at-risk student population.
I hope that you and the legislature will be able to support our efforts to maintain stability for our
students. We have only asked for reasonable support for our students, despite the many needs
that exist in the educational arena. I am most grateful for your leadership and your support that
you have provided during these very trying times. Thank you for considering these requests and
know that I stand ready to provide further detail and / or clarification on any of the
aforementioned points of requests.
Sincerely,
JohnD.Farrelly
John D. Farrelly
Superintendent
Cc: Senator Eric Smith – Ingram
Rep. Shelly Willingham