Micro-Pine Level Elementary School new third-grade teacher, Katie Speer, puts the finishing touches on her classroom bulletin board. Speer moved down from Ohio and said she looks forward to meeting her new third-graders. photo by Cami Jo Narron

Over 32,000 students expected to fill seats at Johnston County Schools in the coming days

Johnston County Schools will welcome back students this coming Monday, Aug. 25, expecting 32,200 students less kindergartners who will enter on a staggered schedule set up at each school. The number is about 1,200 more students than last year, according to Robin Little, interim media spokeswoman for JCS.

Johnston County Sheriff’s deputies and local law enforcement will assist with the traffic volume on the first day of school.

North Johnston High School expecting 757 students, North Johnston Middle School expecting 575 students, Glendale-Kenly Elementary expecting 665 and Micro Pine Level Elementary School expecting 565, will all hold orientations tomorrow night, Thursday.
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The North Johnston High School auditorium’s new chairs, floor and carpet frame the work of Dave Matthews, an employee for C & J Carpets in Smithfield, as he glues down the aisle. photo by Brandon Sneed

I
n addition to its multi-million dollar new wing and competition gym, North Johnston High School is also undergoing renovations to its B and C halls and school auditorium.

Going along with the new building is a requirement for updated firewalls in the school’s B and C halls, mandated by county building inspectors due to a change in codes in 2002, said Ann Williams, Johnston County schools construction project director.

Williams said that state regulations require an inspection of buildings undergoing additional construction, as is the case with NJHS. With the inspection, the North Carolina fire marshal ruled that NJHS was originally constructed, in 1965, without the appropriate number of firewalls. He required the addition of firewalls to two hallways – B and C – and four classrooms in those halls.
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Kenly police officer Willie Parker fires his X26 at a target in Kenly Town Hall last Monday during the police department’s taser training course.

The Kenly Police Department would never let you see it, but there is a video on an officer’s video camera of Kenly Police Chief Josh Gibson wincing, curling into a ball, and grimacing like a child as he practically curls into the fetal position. Every muscle is flexed to the max, and gritted teeth prevent him from uttering a sound.

For five seconds, he lies like this – and then it’s over.

“Wow,” is all he says, opening his eyes and blinking them a few times, a dazed grin forming. After a moment lying motionless – this time by his own decision, to catch his breath – Gibson rises back to his feet and walks away, as normal as he was 30 seconds earlier.

Gibson had just undergone a five-second “ride” produced by the police department’s latest self-defense weapon: Tasers.

Beginning this week, the Kenly PD will be using the TASER X26 Electronic Control Device (ECD), TASER’s most widely-used weapon in law enforcement, according to TASER.com.

Josh Gibson, Kenly police chief, said Tasers were a great option due to their ability to incapacitate a culprit in a safe, non-lethal manner. Tasers can be used on individuals wearing pacemakers, and, unlike pepper spray, the effects of which linger hours after one’s exposure, a Taser has minimal, if any, lasting effects beyond its five-second “ride” – though that ride is far from a roller coaster.
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