NEWBERRY — The Newberry County School District Board of Trustees voted to suspend public participation at board meetings last week, due to COVID-19.
“At the recommendation of the South Carolina School Boards Association, and at the recommendation of the district administration, I’d ask you to take action on temporarily suspending Policy BEDH — which is public participation at board meetings,” said Superintendent Jim Suber. “Obviously because of COVID-19 and the fact that the governor has shut down the schools and shut down public access to schools, and to these meetings — we recommend a temporary suspension of this policy be in place until further notice.”
The public participation at meetings is just as it sounds, inviting the public to attend board meetings to become better acquainted with the operations and programs of the school district. The suspension of this policy was approved after Board Member Ike Bledsoe made a motion and Board Member Jody Hamm gave a second.
Also approved by the board was the district textbook adoptions (to be used next year), as presented by Dr. Lynn Cary, assistant superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction. Cary said this is one thing they were luckily able to finish before the closure of schools.
The adoptions were approved after Bledsoe made a motion and Board Member Jessie Reeder gave a second.
In other business, Susan Dowd, chief financial officer for the district, gave an update on the budget for the 2020-21 fiscal year. She said the S.C. Senate and House members are not in session right now (they are scheduled to meet today to extend the budget).
“Because of COVID-19, it is anticipated, economically, things are going to look a whole lot different — which means our budget could look a whole lot different. I have heard that there is a likelihood our legislator will proceed with a continuing resolution from the 2019-20 budget for 2020-21,” she said. “Should they do that, my recommendation, as well as the administration, is that we also bring a continuing resolution to the board.”
Dowd added that they brought a continuing resolution to the board before, they did so in 2018. She said they were down to the wire, waiting for the legislator to approve the budget.
“We were not sure if the budget would be in place come June 30, and at our June meeting we brought a continuing resolution to you. We did not need it, we actually finished the budget in time,” Dowd said. “The continuing resolution basically states, should the State not have a budget in place, that we would operate on our current year’s budget for the following year.”
If the legislator did get a budget in place in time, according to Dowd this continuing resolution would no longer be effective.
After returning for executive session, the board approved three recommendations presented by Assistant Superintendent for Operations and Administration Joey Haney.
The first approved bid was in the amount of $95,735 from Mecklenburg Roofing, Inc., for partial roof replacement at Whitmire Community school for the cafeteria and dining area. Haney also requested permission to issue notice of intent to award this project.
They next awarded the contract for pest control services, in the amount of $23,940 to Terminix Services, Inc. Haney also requested permission to issue a notice of intent to award this project.
The final was for an unbudgeted expenditure of fund balance to purchase 10 Clorox 360 electrostatic sprayers and chemicals from Staples for $50,000. Haney said once they make this purchase, every campus will have a Clorox 360 electrostatic sprayer — which is being used for deep cleaning.
Continuity of Service
Updates were also given on continuity of service for various departments within the district. Cary touched on instructional packets that have been given out. The new round of packets were given out March 30-31, and will carry through April 30. These packets are also available online, for those who have access to the internet, and can also be submitted online.
Cary revealed the first day of the closure, they pushed out a survey to their parents, and they had 2,506 responses (she said there are approximately 6,000 students in the district). She said from those responses, 590 indicated they do not have internet access at home.
Cary added that they have teachers who do not have internet access as well.
When it comes to grades, Cary said they are going to be giving a second semester grade.
“There is not going to be a third nine weeks or a fourth nine weeks,” she said.
When it comes to district operations, Haney said they are continuing to do deep cleaning at all facilities. They have contracted with another contractor to assist with all disinfecting, to ensure all the facilities are done in a timely manner.
“We will do this multiple times, with the last time happening before going back to normal operations,” he said.
When it comes to the meal program — which is a USDA reimbursable program — Haney said they gave out 18,000 meals (the week of the meeting). The district is currently distributing a weeks worth of meals every Monday.
“We actually, in at least three locations, ran out of food. So we are not having a lot of waste,” he said.
The distribution sites are as follows: Reuben Elementary School, Newberry High School, Newberry Middle School, Mid-Carolina High School, Pomaria Garmany Elementary School and Whitmire Community School.
Bus stop site pick-up: Gallman Park, Prosperity Park, Bethlehem Apartments, Grants Apartments, White’s Trailer Park, Newberry Fairgrounds, Whitmire Community Center, Helena Community Center, Oakland Community Center, Hartford Community Center, Little Mountain Reunion Park.