Associate Superintendent Susan Chase told the county school board on Monday that the system is considering removing a stipulation that only students with a G.P.A. of 3.7 or above can serve as junior marshals at Scotland High Schools.
Chase proposed that the students with the top 10 G.P.A.'s in each of the high school's smaller learning communities be recognized as Junior Marshals, regardless of their G.P.A.
Current procedures have led to academies in the past having zero Junior Marshal representatives, a situation criticized by some, and cited by Superintendent Shirley Prince as evidence of the need for a change in procedure.
Board Member Paul Rush was critical of the plan and asked how it was "fair" if a student with a 3.7 G.P.A. was not selected for the honor when a student with a lower G.P.A qualifies.
"I think G.P.A. is there for a reason ... setting a standard which asks for excellence," he said.
Rush said that the goal for students should not be to simply obtain top 10 status in their school, rather that students should aspire to "achieve a goal set for the whole populace."
Continuing, Rush added that changing the procedure in the manner proposed by Chase would equate to "lowering the bar of excellence" and to "sending a bad message."
The goal of the change, Chase said, would be to "recognize as many students as possible."
With 10 junior marshals coming from each of the five academies (not counting ties, which do qualify), Rush determined that there were "a lot" already, and continued, describing the proposed change as the "dumbing down of the whole marshal program."
Rush told the story of his daughter, who missed qualifying for Magna Cum Laude at Wake Forest University by 1/1000 of a grade point.
"I was upset," said Rush, "but she said 'I didn't make it, and I don't deserve it.'"
"She was absolutely right, and I was absolutely wrong," said Rush.
Prince disagreed, saying "I think your daughter was wrong," causing a discontented murmur to break out from those in the audience.
"I don't believe that our grading practices are so precise that we are going to get it down to the 1/1000 and really feel good about it," she said. "I think we are redefining what academic excellence can be. There are other ways to excel."
But Rush hinted at a deeper problem. He said that the school system was "losing students now who are looking for academic excellence, because there is an impression that we haven't done enough to maintain the highest of standards.
"I hope this isn't a message along those lines."
The board agreed to table taking any action on the proposal until next month.
"I was the one that asked Dr. Chase to bring (the proposal forward), and if it is the board's pleasure to leave it like it is, then that is what it will be," Prince said.
In other business, Board member Charles Brown reported on the progress of the search for a superintendent to replace Prince who is retiring.
According to Brown, 34 applications have been received.
"We are working toward the point where we can start making some contacts, and we are making good progress," commented Brown during his brief presentation.
The school board also on Monday considered a new mission statement for the school system. The new statement read: "The mission of Scotland County Schools is to empower all students to make a positive impact on society." The board tabled taking any action so it could review the statement.
In other business, a support program for beginning teachers was unanimously approved by the board.
Rachel Jones, a director of the program, said the support programs were available to first, second and third year teachers in the Scotland County School System, including a mentorship program and a goals-oriented monitored progress program, aimed at ensuring teacher improvement.
Also during the meeting, budget reductions were approved as presented to the board by schools Finance Director Marvin Dereef. Reductions in the amount of $187,779 were made to compensate for the most recent of the state's financial year 2009 budget reversions.
"We've now given back as much as we possibly can," said Dereef, highlighting the bare bones nature of the school system's current budget.
Money will be returned to the state from the following areas: Classroom materials ($12,000), low wealth supplemental funding ($70,000), at-risk student services and alternative schools ($70,000), children with special needs ($29,779) and staff development ($6,000).
According to Prince, the money which is being given back will spell doom for planned summer courses for struggling students as well as tentatively planned staff development programs.
"We were scraping the bottom of the barrel last time we made cuts ... (and) had they asked for more significant cuts this time, I don't know where we would have gotten them from."
Also during the meeting:
- Despite the fact that the state will not require seniors to complete graduation projects until the 2010-11 school year, the school board voted, at the suggestion of Prince, to allow the high schools to continue their already-in-progress graduation projects.
- The board approved making all teachers, no matter what the fund source for their salaries, subject to the state's new "Flexible Furlough" pay cut. The cut requires state paid employees to take an unpaid furlough.
Teachers in Scotland County are paid by federal, local and state sources, with no particular rhyme or reason, Prince said.
- Associate Superintendent Rick Watkins commended the school system's transportation staff, particularly David Roller, the transportation director, for their work during Monday's thunderstorms.
"There was serious damage near Scotch Meadows, but fortunately our buses had already been unloaded at South Scotland," said Watkins.
"There were no injuries, and all of our kids were safe, and it takes the work of many dedicated people to make that happen."
- The board also approved extending and rolling over two of the school system's food providers' respective contracts to avoid exposing the system to the risk of increased food costs which might come to bare if the contracts were to be made open for bids.
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