By Cara Beth Lewis
Bladen County Board of Education had important items to discuss on the agenda November 29th. After an invocation, reciting of the Pledge of Allegiance, and approval of the agenda, Dr. Atkinson began the discussion of the first agenda item.
Dr. Jason Atkinson, Superintendent of Bladen County Schools, addressed the Board to consider a request to DPI in the amount of $40 million from the needs-based Public School Capital Fund. Dr. Atkinson shared with board members, “County commissioners have voted to move forward with the request.” He added, “By approving this, we will be submitting a letter to State Superintendent Truitt requesting the $40 million.”
Board member, Mr. Vinston Rozier, motioned to approve the request made by Dr. Atkinson. Rozier’s motion was seconded by Mr. Glenn McKoy. Chairman Roger Carroll requested an individual vote from each board member, and all eight who were present at the time voted “I” to approve.
Next, Russell Worley addressed the board regarding a consideration to authorize the design team to proceed with design upgrades and increase the new Tar Heel School project budget, contingent on receiving the $40 million from the needs-based Public School Capital Fund. Mr. Alan West motioned to approve, and Mr. Vinston Rozier seconded the motion. When Chairman Carroll asked if there was further discussion, no one had any questions or comments. All board members in attendance voted “I” to pass the request.
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The next agenda item was a request from Worley to consider putting the septic system for the Tar Heel School construction out for bids and proceed with ordering septic tanks at the cost of $72,715. Worley stated, “We are anticipating ground-breaking on March 1st, and hoping to have the septic system in mid-February.” Mr. Glenn McKoy motioned to approve, and Mr. Alan West seconded the motion.
Following a few questions asked by board members to Worley, Mr. Alan West motioned to adjourn the meeting. Mr. Vinston Rozier seconded the motion, and the meeting was then adjourned.
Dr. Atkinson shared with BladenOnline, “We are excited about the opportunity of receiving additional funding for the Tar Heel School project, which is now a possibility with the recently released state budget. With financial support from the NC Public School Capital Needs program and the Bladen County Commissioners, we will be able to build a state-of-the-art building in the Tar Heel community for our students and staff. We appreciate the support of our County Commissioners and Board of Education in approving the request for the additional funding.”
Click below to view the presentation that was shared at the joint meeting of the Commissioners and Board of Education on November 22 by the architect.
Presentation Slides_Joint Meeting of Boards (1)
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