SCS board to interview 5 candidates for vacant seat

LAURINBURG — Five people have placed their names in the running for the available Scotland County Schools Board of Education seat left vacant by Herman Tyson.

Board members on Monday learned that Ryan Spangler, Loretta McNeill, Jacob Pate, Frances James Willis and Tabatha Burk each submitted applications for the seat to the school district. Diandre’ Benoit also applied but later requested to be removed from the running.

At the March meeting, school board members will interview each candidate in open decision and then make their final decision on who will fill the seat.

According to the school district’s policy 2115, the sitting board members have the authority to appoint a board member to fill an unexpired seat “caused by death, resignation or otherwise,” until the school board election.

Tyson announced his resignation via letter to the board’s chair Rick Singletary, the afternoon prior to the Jan. 8 board meeting, citing his moving outside the district as the cause for his action. The move comes just weeks before the next school board election, where seats held by Singletary, Gary Mauk and Carolyn Banks are up for grabs.

In his letter, read by Singletary during the meeting, Tyson stated, “It has been my pleasure to serve the district since 2017 in this capacity. I would like to thank the voters of Scotland County for believing and trusting my ethics and standards during my tenure.”

Tyson was appointed to the Board of Education Stewartsville Township in July 2017 to fill the remaining term of then-board member Darrell “BJ” Gibson. He ran for election in 2018 and was elected to the Board of Education. Tyson’s term expires in December of 2026.

In other news, the School Board heard some not-so-good results from the school district’s Fall End-Of Grade testing.

“We know that we have work to do but we also own our data,” said Barbara Adams, assistant superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction.

Board members learned that of Scotland High School students who tested, only 39.08% showed proficiency in English II, 1.49% showed proficiency in Math I, 21.52% showed proficiency in Math III, and 32.65% showed proficiency in Biology. These results showed a decline from the previous year.

At Shaw Academy, 0% of those who tested in English II, Math I, Math III and Biology showed proficiency.

A total of 80% of students at SEARCH showed proficiency in Biology. Data from English II, Math I and Math III were not yet available, Adams said.

‘The numbers are true. We have to own the numbers. I think the biggest thing is what are we going to do about it,” Adams said.

What the department intends to do is continue driving improvement through tailored intervention and support, professional development and intentional progress monitoring, Adams said.

“We do realize and we accept that we are a low-performing district but we are doing some great things and I feel like we will come out on top at the end,” Adams said.

Accountability is the next step for improving the school district’s performance; and not just with district staff but with students, Adams said. This is done by conducting transcript reviews, student academic contracts and grade-level meetings.

“Actually having those one-on-one conferences with them and letting them know that we are paying attention is making a difference … They all know that we’re paying attention and that’s powerful,” Adams said.

Board member Gary Mauk said it’s key to address the core issue which is not learning loss.

“You can’t lose learning if you never had it so it’s opportunity loss, not learning loss … If you have four skills that aren’t addressed along the line, each part of Math builds upon the next, we’re just reaping what we have sown and this was before the COVID lane,” Mauk said.

In other business, the school board:

— Approved a contract with Anderson Smith and Wike PLLC to provide auditing services for the school district. The contract is valued at $64,500.

— Discussed options for the traditional school calendar for the 2024-25 school year.

— Heard recommended NC School Boards Association policy updates for Fall 2023.