Dr. Shearin began the Board meeting with a moment of silence for the 9/11 victims.
The set agenda went smoothly, with public comments regarding employment concerns by Kimano Ragland and an appeal by Clenette C. Cheek regarding which elementary school her two children will be attending.
The Superintendent’s report covered efforts to activate the mentoring class. There are currently twelve mentors. The challenge, said Dr.Trixie Brooks, is enlisting partners to work with the mentors. The program is set up to have as many as 20 mentors. A mentoring class will be held this Thursday between 4 and 7 p.m.
It was announced that the NCSBA 37th Annual Conference will take place November 13-15. The November Board meeting will be held the first Monday, Nov. 6th, in order to not conflict with the annual conference.
Board of Education member Robert L. Duke discussed the use of North Carolina Education Lottery proceeds for the school system. The board will not be using the funds to pay off any debts previous to 2003 and will apply the monies to capital improvements. According to Dr. Shearin, $1.6 million has been set aside for Vance County schools.
The board will be examining the need for an increase in school lunch prices. Board member Gloria White reported on the concept of using lunch debit cards to remove the necessity of cash handling and, as board member E.J. Cash, Sr. pointed out, to lessen the stigma attached to reduced and free-lunch recipients.
White stated that she has two major items on her “wish list” for Vance County schools: sheltered walkways for students using the mobile classrooms and resuming the teaching of cursive writing. It was noted that twelve county schools already have covered walkways from their mobile classrooms. Dr. Shearin commented that perhaps the covered walkways should be included in the pricing of the mobile units.
Under new business, the subject of teaching assistants was discussed. White pointed out that there needs to be a statewide improvement in teaching assistant salaries and that the teaching assistant system needs to be kept in place because “TA’s perform a valuable function in our schools”.
At the conclusion of the meeting Dr. Shearin commented on the loss of E. M. Rollins Elementary School teacher Renee Jones Carter in a car accident the day before the first day of school.
The superintendent also announced that the District 3 meeting would be held September 13th in Halifax County.