District staffers probe possibilities
The Abbeville County School District Board of Trustees met Tuesday night and listened to a presentation by District staffers on the referendum package which County voters will cast ballots on later this spring.
Director of Student Services Skip Hopkins, District Finance Director Roni Scott, District Director of Instruction and Accounting Brandi Sears and Superintendent Dr. Julie Fowler assembled their talents to present a powerpoint presentation on various facets of the referendum package.
There was an overview of current course offerings at AHS and DHS, electives offered at the two schools.
A countywide high school offers a number of potential new opportunities for students including robotics, academic challenge teams, jazz and concert bands to name just a few.
In other matters, the trustees passed first reading on a calendar for the coming 2020-2021 school year, and agreed to the Superintendent's recommendation to choose a day in on March 23 to make up for the day missed because of inclement weather -- Feb. 7.
For a countywide high school of 800 students, seven cafeteria staffers would be need to serve three lunch periods.
(Discussion of the presentation will be continued in next week's paper as well).
In a meeting which lasted two and one half hours, the trustees also listened to a presentation during the public comment period from Dionne Mills, who spoke about her experience as an educator and how she would very much like to see a consolidated high school.
"Unite us together as one," she told the board.
The meeting, which was attended by a standing room only crowd, featured a Gold Star Highlights segment.
Brandi Sears talked about how the schools in the District celebrated Black History Month, from studying about the life of Martin Luther King, Jr., to making Black History quilts.
The District's Chief Administrative officer Lori Brownlee Brewton presided over a number of items for February, including recognition of the school's bus drivers.
National School Counseling Week was celebrated during the first full week in February, and school counselors at the various schools were recognized.
Varonica Crawford, a kindergarten teacher at John C. Calhoun Elementary, was awarded Piedmont Reading Council's Elementary Distinguished Literacy Teacher Award, and a number of Career Center students were honored.
For their work in welding, Collin Price, Tyler Green, Kyle Driver, Caderrious Parks, Norayasha McDaniel were all recognized.
Culinary arts student Brady Vaughn is also participating in an internship at The Village Grill.
Kalezia Hadden and Steve Matthew Howard are, and have participated in, a Youth Apprenticeship Program at ACS Manufacturing and WCTel Communications in Abbeville. Trustee Buster Taylor was absent from the meeting.
In other matters, information of the effect which the projects would have on the tax burden can be found on the District website.
The tax information is posted on the District's website. County residents may be referred to the website for more information.
"The school district's job is to get out factual information," School Board Chairman James Tisdale said in closing.