03/29/2024
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Bladen County Board of Education met on Monday, July 20, at 6 p.m. virtually. Board members in attendance were Roger Carroll, Board Chair, Glenn McKoy, Board Vice-chair, Chris Clark, Berry Lewis, Gary Rhoda, Vinston Rozier, Cory Singletary, and Alan West. The board attorney, Gary Grady, was present as well.

Chairman Carroll called the meeting to order, went over the action items, and called for approval to virtually conduct the meeting. The motion was approved. An invocation and the Pledge of Allegiance was said, and the agenda was adopted.

The minutes from the June 29, 2020, Special Called virtual meeting were approved. Then Valerie F. Newton, Public Relations & Information Officer, read an email submitted on Thursday prior to the meeting from a citizen. The email was a request from a citizen to use the Booker T. Washington School in Clarkton for a Back to School/Stop the Violence event. After Newton read the request, no discussion on the matter was made.

Sharon Penny, Finance Director with the Bladen County Schools gave the June Financial Summary. She stated, “We’ve done very well.”

She explained the new roofs on East and West Bladen High Schools were being paid for by state hurricane relief funds.

Ricky Davis with RICE Security & Consulting gave a presentation to the board members about their services. Davis explained his company mitigates security risks through comprehensive assessment, strategic planning, extensive training, cutting-edge technology, and expert consulting.

Board member Rhoda asked if RICE Security had submitted any presentations or information to the board in writing to review. Dr. Taylor explained other than the proposal the board approved back in March, no documentation had been submitted. However, Taylor stated a plan would be presented and had been modified due to COVID-19.

Davis said, “We look forward to the opportunity.”

After the security company’s presentation, Dr. Taylor gave an update on the COVID-19 planning. Taylor explained the hybrid students would attend school on an “A” day schedule or a “B” day schedule. The district will pre-assign students to either an “A” day or a “B” day. Both hybrid and virtual K-4 students will participate in virtual learning on Fridays.

When Bladen County Schools first announced the plan, “A” day schedules were proposed to be Mondays and Wednesdays, and “B” day schedules were proposed to be Tuesdays and Thursdays. Board member West asked if the Schools would be using Wednesday as a cleaning day instead of “A” and “B” days Monday through Thursday. Dr. Taylor stated, at the moment, the plan is to use Wednesday as a cleaning day.

Taylor noted he would be working with Bladen Community College to make the high school classes offered at the virtual college classes. He also reminded the board of the special called board meeting on Thursday, July 23, 2020, at 5:30 p.m. to discuss the new school year plans further.

Board member Lewis made the motion to accept the consent agenda items outlined as EC Contracts and the 2020-2021 Pay Dates. Rhoda made the second, and all board members approved the motion.

Spring Custom Policy Updates was to be presented by Dr. Taylor, however, board member Rozier made a motion to remove the item from the agenda. All board members approved removing the spring customs policy from the agenda.

Penny explained the lottery applications for HVAC rooftop units at Bladenboro Primary School and at Plainview Primary School. McKoy made a motion to approve. Rozier made the second for the motion. All were in favor of voting for lottery applications for HVAC rooftop units at the two elementary schools.

Board member Singletary asked about the air conditioning units at East Arcadia. Dr. Taylor asked Bladen County Schools Maintenance Director Worley to address the question. Mr. Worley stated East Arcadia School now has two HVAC units not working. The estimate on fixing the two units and the floor at the East Arcadia campus is around $155,000, according to Worley. No further questions were asked about the East Arcadia campus.

The board went into closed session for the purpose of discussing personnel, as per NCGS 143.318.11, (a) (1), to consult with an attorney, if needed, as per NCGS 143.318.11 (a) (3), and to discuss student reassignment/discipline, per the 1974 Family Rights and Privacy Act.

During the Certified/Classified Personnel and Students Transfers items on the agenda, Dr. Beatty requested a motion to approve the action items noted only as action items A and B. The board voted unanimously in favor of both items.

Dr. Taylor announced the Bladen County Commissioners started three different working groups to address economic, judicial and educational issues. He and Dr. Amanda Lee with Bladen Community College are in charge of the educational working group. He reported the group met on Friday to discuss the issues in education. Taylor told the board people at the meeting wanted to know why the local Board of Education members were not in attendance.

Singletary wanted to know what action items came out of the meeting. No report was given on the action items from the meeting. Dr. Taylor said he would keep the board informed about when the sessions were to be held, however, no schedule for the education working meeting was announced during Dr. Taylor’s briefing.

Before closing, Dr. Taylor presented Bladen County Schools Chief Finance Officer Sharon Penny with a plaque in congratulations on her retirement. Penny has served Bladen County School over 18 years and has dedicated 29 years and 10 months to the education system. Each board member took the time to bid her farewell and thank her for her many years of great service.

Penny’s official last day will be July 31, 2020. She plans to work at the Town of Elizabethtown in finance after her retirement.

Chairman Carroll reminded the Bladen County Board of Education board members to meet in a special called session on Thursday, July 23, 2020, at 5:30 p.m. The meeting will be conducted virtually.

The meeting aims to approve the Bladen County Schools 2020/2021 school year reopening plans based on the COVID-19 pandemic, as per NCGS 115C.47.

A hyperlink will be activated prior to the meeting to allow the public to virtually listen to the meeting. The meeting link will be published and accessible on the Bladen County Schools’ website at www.bladen.k12.nc.us, and on the Bladen County Schools’ Facebook and Twitter social media pages at https://www.facebook.com/BladenCountySchools/ and https://twitter.com/BladenCountySch.

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