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by Bethany Stephens
The Board of Education met this Monday for their monthly session where a new Board Chair and Assistant Chair were elected. Wilbur Smith replaced Ophelia Munn-Goins as the Board Chair, and Vinson Rozier replaced Alan West as the Vice Chair.
Several West Bladen Foods 2 students under the leadership of their teacher, Gail Marsh, recently earned their ServSafe Certifications. Billy Carroll, Kelly Caulder, Kinza Dowless, Brianna Dole, Jason Eason, Kelly Herring, Valerie Jessup, Judy Lopez, Leticia Munoz, Josselin Perez, and Taylor Shipman all were recognized for this achievement.
Several East and West Bladen students were recognized for winning several awards in the Regional District IV HOSA Competition. Kathelia Luckey won fourth in Prepared Speaking. Willow Edge and Lily Nyugen together won first place in Health Career Display. Myesha McMillan and Zaria Humphrey together places fifth in eye Health Career Display Competition. Hannah Malcolm won third in Medical Math. Sophie Singletary won second ins Prepared Speaking, and Aileen Garcia and Jenna Floyd won second place as a team for their Health Career Display.
Colonel Eli Ballard, West Bladen High School JROTC Instructor, was announced as the 2015 Alpha Kappa Alpha School Employee of the Year.
The board recognized Allie Marsh, a student at West Bladen, for being elected to serve as the District 4 FCCLA State Officer. Marsh also recently won a Silver Medal this summer at the FCCLA National Competition held in Washington, DC.
Bladenboro Middle School’s Junior Beta Club was also recognized for wins at the National Junior Beta Club Convention in Nashville, TN. Dalton Pair won fifth place in T-shirt Design, and Ian Ransom won first place in Black and White Photography. The club as a group also won fifth place in Recyclable Art and eighth place in Banner Design.
Booker T. Washington Primary was presented the attendance award for the month of December in the Elementary School Division; Clarkton School of Discovery won in the Middle School Division, and East Bladen High School won in the High School Division.
Next, the board heard from community citizen, Phyllis Miller on behalf of Clarkton. Miller voiced concerns about the way the Board had recently handled possible school consolidations. Miller felt that the Board had pursued the possible consolidations hastily without enough planning or care for the citizens’ views and feedback. She asked Wilbur Smith if the Board was making plans to possibly close Booker T. Washington Primary and Clarkton School of Discovery or to move Project Challenge in the future, but Smith refused to comment and said he didn’t know.
Jason Atkinson, Chief Technology Officer, addressed the board concerning the county’s phone services. The Board later approved a related Voice Over IP Voice Services Contract that will put a phone in every classroom (there weren’t before), will give teachers voicemail, will be internet based instead of traditional phone lines, and will help with long distance calls through True IP Solutions.
Valerie Newton, Public Information Officer, gave an update on the county’s new e-newsletters. Newton also gave an update on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) Labs. The labs are now in all of the county’s middle schools and will be fully installed this week.
Sharon Penny, Finance Director, gave a brief financial summary for information purposes, and Willa Dean Williams, CTE Director, gave the board the Fall CTE Newsletter. Robert Heavenridge, Support Services Coordinator, presented the DPI Facility Needs Survey that has to be completed every five years. DPI (Department of Public Instruction) uses a formula they have devised to predict upcoming facility needs based on projected enrollment. Since DPI thinks that enrollment in Bladen will decline some, they feel that Bladen has no facility needs. DPI’s formula did not take roofing needs into account, however.
NC School Board Association Policy Updates, four overnight field trip requests, a fundraiser request, and development of an Educational App were all approved. Following these approvals, the Board went into closed session to discuss personnel and legal matters.
Upon reconvening into open session, the Board also approved two Personnel Addendum Action Items as recommended by Antonia Beatty, Personnel Director. The board also agreed to hire a law firm to represent them in relation to a lawsuit they are filing concerning an improper equipment fee. Following brief comments from the superintendent concerning upcoming board conferences, the meeting was adjourned.
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