Jessica Webb
editor@thesmokymountaintimes.com
Bus drivers—do they actually have eyes in the back of their heads? There is a lot they are required to pay attention to, that’s for certain. On Monday, Swain County Board of Education approved funding to upgrade cameras for the school system’s bus fleet that might make life just a little easier for the drivers.
The software upgrades from Seon-Safe will retrofit the existing camera system so video will automatically upload over Wi-Fi the same day and be viewable by school principals.
Toby Burrell, transportation and safety director, called it a “huge upgrade” and “a big bonus for our drivers—it would back them up.”
The cost is over $67,000 with the funds coming from the school system’s safety grant. There was a brief discussion about the warranty of the product, with the board concluding since it’s the same company’s hardware they believed it would be under the existing warranty.
Pre-K benefit
In other actions Monday, the board approved a plan that offers free tuition for Bright Adventures Pre-K for the children of school system employees as a benefit.
We don’t have the opportunity to offer a lot of benefits outside of what the state offers,” said Superintendent Mark Sale. “We don’t have childcare we can offer to all of our staff, some businesses do.”
He said he agreed with the board that it felt like the right thing to do.
Monday’s action followed discussion and an approval of the cost for those who don’t qualify for NC-Pre-K last month.
On the cost, next year it will be about $5,700 per student— with the anticipation of three. Sale did caution the board to be aware it could be more children and they would have to “absorb that cost somehow.”
Board member Gerald McKinney said this might help with one of their biggest concerns of losing teachers.
Board member Mitchell Carson added, “We don’t have a lot of local funds to give our teachers.”
Sale also said he wants to dispel misinformation in the community about the cost of Pre-K because many families qualify for NC Pre-K that makes it free for them.
“The first thing to do is put in an application and see if you qualify for NC Pre-K, try that and then we’ll talk about the rest,” he said.
Last month, the board approved a charge of $600 a month for those who don’t qualify for free Pre-K. Sale said enrollment was down about 10 percent this year.
Policies
Also Monday, the board unanimously approved the following policies with amendments: 7240 Drug-Free and Alcohol-Free Workplace; 2310 Public Participation at Board Meetings; 4325 Drugs and Alcohol; and 7950 Probationary Teachers: Nonrenewal.
The approval followed some discussion on recommendations from a committee. Board member RL Taylor led the discussion.
On the public participation policy, an amendment was made that requests to be on the agenda be received four not six days in advance to make sure they still have time to make the agenda. On drugs and alcohol policy, wording that would have granted principals the authority to authorize use of prohibited substances was stricken. They agreed its inclusion didn’t make sense. On the drug-free campus policy, there was clarification made about employees who are in safety sensitive positions being subject to drug testing.
Budget amendment
Finance Officer Stephanie Treadway presented the budget amendments that were unanimously approved.
She began with the budget to actual, saying they should be about 75% on those, and concluding “we’re right in line with everything right now.”
The only outlier was the capital outlay looks a “little out of whack” as she explained “when the auditors were here, we booked some transactions to get those ready for yearend” and that it would “be corrected” with the budget amendment.
The system received an increase of $2,125 per student from the NC Virtual public schools, adding up to $75,014 that went into the state public school fund. Other revenue included a transportation allotment of $11,128, and developmental day funding for Pre-K at $24,300.
Personnel
Prior to taking action Monday, the board had a closed session meeting for about 45 minutes under personnel and to discuss school safety. The board approved the personnel agenda as presented. In other matters, the board entered into open session settlement terms for a pension cap litigation the system had entered into with several other public bodies against the Teachers’ and State Employees’ Retirement System after it received an assessment following the retirement of former Superintendent Sam Pattillo. Simply put, Sale said, “ All of that concern about the lawsuit and requirement by the state has gone away for us, it’s done.” He explained a waiver was approved at the state level, making the local concern no longer an issue.
Also entered into the record was a board approval made by email last month for Anatomage Table, which was purchased through a CTE grant from Dogwood Health. The table provides a 3D anatomy visualization and virtual dissection tool for anatomy and physiology education. The total cost was $105,040.
The next meeting of the board is a finance work session Thursday, April 25 at 5 p.m. at the Central Office (50 Main Street, floor 2).