The Scotland County Board of Education approved a revision to its 2012-2013 capital outlay budget that decreased its request for county funding by $470,000.
The board voted Monday night to set aside four capital outlay projects originally budgeted for the 2012-2013 fiscal year: a brick security fence at Scotland High School, perimeter fencing at Spring Hill Middle School, a walkway awning at Carver Middle School, and carpet replacement in Wagram Primary administrative offices. The total estimated cost of these projects is $130,000.
“These four items are very important, but we feel that we can place them on hold for one more year,” said Jay Toland, the schools’ chief financial officer.
Other savings were realized in the initial over budgeting of a roof replacement at Sycamore Lane Middle School.
“When we initially made this budget, the estimates were coming in at $400,000, but when we sent out the bid in this current environment, the bids came back at $180,000, which is a significant savings,” Toland said.
The total capital outlay budget is thereby reduced from $1.3 million to $955,000. The school board’s budget request for capital improvements from the county has decreased from $600,000 to $130,000.
School officials did not discuss in open session how the system planned to pay for repairs to Pate Stadium at Scotland High School. After school officials learned that there might be some shifting in the stadium’s concrete components, both the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction and the South Carolina firm that originally constructed the stadium both advised against its use until it was repaired.
Work on the stadium may be one of the topics discussed by school officials and the county Board of Commissioners when the they meet on Thursday.
In other business, the Scotland school board voted to join the State Board of Education’s effort to prevent the opening of an online charter school.
The resolution approved Monday night would make Scotland a party of interest in the pending litigation known as North Carolina Learns, Inc. vs. State Board of Education. The state board is appealing a judge’s May 8 decision that allowed the virtual charter school to start up.
A majority of school boards across North Carolina have expressed opposition to the online school, arguing that it could divert more than $34 million a year in taxpayer dollars away from traditional public schools.
Under the current application, the charter school is expected to begin in August.
Also Monday, the board announced that Chuck Dulin and Angela Gallagher were selected as principals at Pate-Gardner Elementary and South Scotland Elementary, respectively.
Dulin replaces Melody Snead and Gallagher replaces Pat Gates. Both Snead and Gates will be retiring at 30-year careers in Scotland County Schools.
Dulin is a 13-veteran of Scotland County Schools, having served as a school counselor at Carver Middle Schools and assistant principal at Carver Middle School, Covington Street Elementary School and Washington Park Elementary School. A graduate of Wingate University, University of North Carolina at Pembroke and East Carolina University, he is currently completing his doctorate in educational leadership at North Carolina State University.
Gallagher, a Scotland County native, spent this past school year as the assistant principal at Laurel Hill Elementary School. Prior to that, she was the assistant principal of North Chatham School. She received her administrator certification as a North Carolina Principal Fellow. Through the program, the completed an internship at Horton Middle School in Chatham County.
“Chuck and Angela both bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to these schools,” said Scotland County Schools Superintendent Rick Stout said in a statement. “Experienced principals like Pat (Gates) and Melody (Snead) are hard to replace but I have confidence in them to continue to improve Pate-Gardner and South Scotland and make those schools as great as they can be for our students.”
Dulin and Gallagher will officially begin in their new jobs on July 1.
Post a Comment
