The Scotland County Board of Education will keep its current leadership, the board decided Monday.

Jimmy Bennett was reelected chairman of the board in a 6-1 vote.

"I want to thank the board members that voted for me, showing their confidence in me," Bennett said. "I have been chairman for the past year and that has been a learning experience for me. I think I gained enough knowledge to carry me into this year."

He hoped to get more accomplished as board chair in 2010.

Jeff Bird also vied for the position after being nominated by fellow board member Paul Rush. Bird only garnered one vote – that of Rush. Bird declined to vote.

Mary Evans was the only nominee for board vice-chairman and did not require a vote to retain her position.

"I think that it was a great opportunity that they gave me, an opportunity to help the board to better things for our children and for the staff in making the Scotland County School district a better system," Evans said.

Evans said the board has big plans for next year, but many of the issues still need to be discussed.

The school system's finances got a clean bill of health.

Michael Hike of Norris, Stewart and Ralston, P.A., told board members the firm gave the system an unqualified audit opinion letter, the highest rating certified public accountants give to an institution's finances.

He further told the board that the few issues they found with the schools' finances have been dealt with by Finance Officer Tony Messer.

The audit reported several minor issues; most of them were reporting mistakes that have been rectified. The audit also took issue with a drink machine being left on during meal times; this issue has also been dealt with.

The school board also heard a presentation on how the smaller learning communities affect the ability of students to be admitted to colleges and universities.

This presentation came as a response to concerns by some Scotland County residents that smaller learning communities will inhibit college enrollment from the county by having smaller class sizes.

Most admissions departments do not look at class rank or size, according to Stephen Farmer, associate provost and director of undergraduate admissions at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

"It is not our place to tell local schools how to control their schools," Farmer said.

He told board members that they pay more attention to grades and the difficulty of the curriculum than they do to rank and class.

For admission to his university, they prefer seeing students who have taken advanced classes, which include Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate and dual enrollment. He said many who apply from Scotland County meet those requirements and do well at UNC. Farmer did take issue with the number who apply from the local school system, however. Only between 14 and 25 apply annually, a number Farmer would like to see improve.