Notes From August 25 Rock Hill Schools Board Meeting

*approved minutes of the July 28 and August 11 meetings of the board; personnel recommendations; overnight field trip requests from Rawlinson Road Middle and South Pointe High; the S. C. School Boards Insurance Trust Interlocal Governmental Pooling Agreement; and distribution of board member Jim Vining's August compensation to the Dolly Parton Imagination Library; Vote was 7-0

*Supt. Moody made the following announcements:
        -The school board's next work session will be held at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, September 8,  in the media center at Castle Heights Middle School.

        -"open house" for parents from 6:30-8:00 on the following nights:
                Thursday, August 28 – All five middle schools
                Monday, September 8 – All three high schools.
                Tuesday, September 9 – The Applied Technology Center
        -Wednesday, September 10, will be the first of six late start dates this.
        -Recognizing that reading is the primary skill all children must have, all York County school districts and a number of community partners are making it possible for all children in York County, from birth to age 5, to receive a free book each month from the Dolly Parton Imagination Library.  To receive the books, parents in Rock Hill can register their children between 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 12, at the Rock Hill Family Resource Center, which is located at the intersection of Black and Orange streets. A number of community

leaders will be on hand to read to children throughout the day. For additional information, parents should call ParentSmart at 803.981-1557.

        -The dedication of Mount Holly Elementary School and Dutchman Creek Middle School has tentatively been scheduled for Sunday afternoon, October 5. More information will be provided in mid-September.

*accepted as information a summary of the school climate survey as presented by Keith Wilks in a PowerPointe presentation. Mr. Wilks told the board that the survey was devised by the S. C. Dept. of Education, and that it was completed by randomly chosen 5th, 8th, and 11th grade students, teachers, and parents in every school district in the state. Questions asked revolved around homework, school safety, home/school communications, etc.

*received a report from Serena Williams, Coordinator of Community Services, on students who had dropped out of school during the 2007-08 school year. Ms. Williams stated that home-school workers had visited the homes of the students during the summer in an effort to get them to reconsider returning to school. Of the 70 students who were located, 17 indicated that they would like assistance on returning to school.

*approved for first reading board policies JBCC (School Choice), JKD (Suspension of Students), JKE (Expulsion of Students), and JIC (Weapons in School; Vote was 7-0

 
*encouraged citizens to consider making donations to the Dolly Parton Imagination Library in care of the Early Learning Partnership of York County (see announcements from Dr. Moody above).