Johnston County
Board
of Education report from May 14 session |
 |
Board members present: Chairman Mike Wooten, Teresa Grant, Ronald Johnson,
Terri Sessoms, Peggy Smith, Todd Sutton, Tracie Zukowski
Absent: None
Board approves purchase of
40 acres
for an elementary school
east of Clayton
The Johnston County Board of Education on Tuesday approved an option to buy up to 40 acres identified as "the Earp property" on Lynch Road a half-mile from NC 42 in eastern Clayton Township.
The site would accommodate a new elementary school --- a project covered by the bond issue Johnston's voters approved last November. The negotiated price of the land is $16,000 an acre.
The purchase is contingent upon satisfactory geotechnical site tests and approval by the County Commissioners.
$2.5 MILLION TO BE SPENT FOR "SECURITY VESTIBULES"
The board approved a contract with Muter Construction of Zebulon to add "a second level of controlled access" to each of Johnston's 45 schools. The cost is $2,273,200 to add a secondary wall and locked doors behind entrance doors, creating a vestibule that requires visitors to enter a school through the front office. A second contract for $210,270.94 was awarded to North Carolina Sound of Pikeville for electronic hardware and security-control systems.
ANNUAL CONTRACT FOR MILK GOES TO PET DAIRY
The board approved a contract with Suiza Dairy Group (doing business as PET Dairy) --- the lower of two bidders at $736,993.45 --- to provide milk products to all the county's schools during the 2019-20 term. The contract includes 2.2 million cartons of Pet or Maola chocolate-flavored skim milk, 642,000 cartons of 1% plain milk, 405,000 cartons of strawberry-flavored skim milk, and lesser amounts of other products.
STUDENT TRANSFERS APPROVED AND DENIED
The board approved and denied numerous requests for reassignment of students to schools outside the attendance districts where they reside:
To view this month's list of APPROVALS>
To view the list of DENIALS>
BOARD HEARS PARENT'S PLEA FOR MORE BUS DRIVERS
Chris Aman of the Corinth-Holders Elementary School Parent Advisory Council urged to board to move more aggressively in hiring additional full-time school-bus drivers to end the system's reliance on teacher assistants to shoulder that duty. At Corinth-Holders Elementary alone, he noted, an estimated 630 hours of instructional time are lost each year because of this "dual employment" policy that is "prioritizing transportation over education." He thanked the board for seeking funds from the county to hire an additional 53 full-time drivers in the year ahead but pointed out the system is "short 470 drivers" to reach a full-time staff. Johnston currently employs 75 full-time school-bus drivers.
"CITIZEN'S COMMENT" ALLOWED AFTER SOME EDITING
Reggie Holley of the Johnston County Education Summit wanted to read another statement from the citizens' group about "marginalization of African-Americans" in Superintendent Ross Renfrow's administration, but he was stopped short when he disclosed that he had erroneously submitted an earlier statement for review by school staff prior to Tuesday's session. Board Chairman Mike Wooten was asked to look over the correct statement before Mr. Holley could read it and ruled portions out of order because it named specific school employees --- a practice the board does not allow in open meetings. The board took a brief recess to allow Mr. Holley to discuss his statement with board attorney Jimmy Lawrence. Following that private consultation, Mr. Holley read a shortened statement that repeated his group's concerns expressed at previous school-board meetings. At the end of his comments, Mr. Holley said his group looks forward to another "sit down" with Chairman Wooten and Superintendent Renfrow in June to see what can be done to increase the number of African-Americans holding prominent positions in the system's central office.
BOARD WILL HOLD AN EXTRA SESSION ON MAY 30
The board recessed Tuesday's regular monthly meeting until 5 p.m. Thursday, May 30. Originally, that session was scheduled primarily to deal with personnel matters behind closed doors. Now, the board will devote considerable time at that session to finish its monthly recognition of outstanding students. Crystal Roberts, the system's chief of communication and engagement, said the number of students to be saluted was too large to be accommodated during this week's meeting. The board may also take up other unfinished business at the May 30 session, including a proposed contract for professional training of teachers at "targeted" schools with underachieving students.
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