THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, September 27, 1995 TAG: 9509270434
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY PERRY PARKS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ELIZABETH CITY LENGTH: Short : 47 lines
No student in Pasquotank County is likely to receive at-school deliveries next Valentine's Day. But some faculty and staff members might.
The Elizabeth City-Pasquotank School Board has altered its proposed policy targeting the pandemonium that erupts at Northeastern High School when hundreds of bouquets are delivered every Feb. 14.
Approved Monday night for a four-week, districtwide review, the policy prohibits deliveries to any school ``of commercial goods, gifts or favors of a personal nature for students by suppliers, friends, family members etc., at any time.''
The version of the policy put out a month ago was similar but broader; it also prevented school personnel from accepting deliveries while school is in session.
Staff members were included in the original policy in an effort to avoid the appearance of a double standard, officials said.
But school employees replied in force to the proposal, saying in ``thoughtfully prepared'' letters and petitions that the policy would make them feel like second-class citizens, Policy Committee Chairman Robert Thorne said Monday.
``It was well-worded,'' Thorne said of the opposition that arose in various forms from every school, ``asking us to please reconsider our policy and the possible detrimental effects on staff morale.''
Thorne and Sandra Hooker, president of the local North Carolina Association of Educators chapter, said the policy was reviewed in a spirit of cooperation.
School officials decided to pursue the no-delivery policy next spring after recovering from Valentine's Day at Northeastern. Administrators said the school received more than 1,000 deliveries, a number that local florists contend is exaggerated.
Officials said the delivery situation wasted an instructional day and posed a safety hazard with flower stems and balloon sticks on school buses.
The best way to correct the situation, they decided, was to prohibit all such deliveries at all 10 schools in the district year-round.
The newest version of the policy will be considered by the School Board next month. by CNB