Superintendent Rick Stout asked school board members to consider adding three new director positions last week at a planning retreat.
The proposed positions – executive director of secondary education, director of middle school education and director of elementary education – are meant to maintain uniformity across schools of the same level and keep Stout and other top administrators better abreast of what is going on in each Scotland County School.
Stout said the proposed administrator positions only creates one additional position as the school system is eyeing closing two of the Scotland County High Schools, the Ninth Grade Academy and the school of Business, Finance and Marketing, which would eliminate two principal positions.
The superintendent promised no one's employment would be terminated in the move, rather, those currently serving in positions that would be cut should the proposals be approved will be allowed to work for the school system until they retire or find employment elsewhere.
Stout indicated the more important of the requests was that of executive director of secondary education, which Stout would like to see approved and filled quickly.
The goal of the position is to have one person responsible for all the high schools at the Scotland High School facility, which is currently inhabited by six distinct schools as part of the smaller learning academy program the school board instituted several years ago.
Having one person overtop the high schools would be advantageous, Stout said, as the director could instill uniformity in the procedures of the schools while acting as both the point man for the administration in the high schools and the contact person for parents with concerns.
It is especially important, the superintendent said, if the school board approved the consolidation of high schools, eliminating the Ninth Grade Academy and the school of Business, Finance and Marketing and merging those student bodies in the other four schools at the high school campus.
The position would also allow the school board to eliminate the position of director of campus wide services, currently filled by Joe Critcher.
Stout asked board members to move on the recommendation for the director of high schools since there are already "several applicants who are very attractive" and he felt it would benefit the school system.
The superintendent hopes the position can be approved and a person hired in the next 60 days.
He also discussed the other proposed director positions, though did not communicate the same urgency as the high school spot.
He said the directors of middle school and elementary education would act as a mediatory between top administrators and the principals, allowing a uniformity of policy and curriculum to the classroom and giving leadership to the schools while keeping Stout's administration abreast of what is going on in the classroom.
Budget trimming
Finance Officer Tony Messer discussed the implementation of several changes he gleamed from his time as assistant finance officer in the Moore County School System.
The first is instituting a purchase card policy that Messer says will not only help administrators and educators alike in securing supplies for the classroom but also could generate revenue for the school system.
The school system now has credit cards issued to certain administrators and that are available for teachers and board members. Messer said these cards will keep employees from running up their own credit cards and waiting for the reimbursement, sometimes even paying interest on purchases for the school without that interest being reimbursable.
The cards will also make it easier to track spending and monitor how the school spends its dollars.
Another plus to the new cards is floating the payments for 30 days, which helps liquidity of school funds.
Messer was also happy to note a modest income being generated from these cards, with the schools getting a check for 1.38 percent of the sum it spends each month, or $1.38 for every $100 that is spent.
He said the amount seems small, but adds up over time and could generate important savings for the schools.
The finance officer has also modified how payroll works.
Beginning in July, every employee will be required to sign up for direct deposit as a condition of employment with the school system, a change that will save costs as checks for the school system's more than 1,000 employees will no longer be printed. The change will also affect substitute teachers.
Another change in payroll will be the elimination of multiple paydays. Messer said the school system will start paying all employees on the 25th of each month, with the exception of in November and December when holidays interfere with that date.
The two changes are expected to reduce payroll expenses, Messer said, though he was unsure how much money would be saved by the shift.
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