Rock Hill November Business Meeting Notes

School Board Meeting / Rock Hill Schools / November 24, 2008

The following action was taken by the board:

        approved the minutes of the October 27 and November 10 school board meetings; personnel recommendations; and overnight field trip requests submitted by Dutchman Creek and The Children's School at Sylvia Circle; vote was 7-0

        approved a request from Impact Community Church to use the auditorium at Rawlinson Road Middle School for Sunday morning church services for six months; vote was 6-1 with Brown against. Brown stated this would put the board in the middle of a church conflict.

        approved new high school course proposals for school year 2009-10, which include Honors Chorus 3 & 4, Symphonic Honors Band 3 & 4, Fundamentals of Coaching, Biology 2, and Warehousing and Distribution Technology 1. No new teaching positions will be required; vote was 7-0.

        approved first reading of policies KF (Community Use of School Facilities),  KCA (School-Community Relations Goals/Priority Objectives), IHBH (Charter Schools), IJJ (Textbook Selection and Adoption), ILBB (State Program Assessments), GCF (Professional Staff Hiring), GDF (Support Staff Hiring), JFAA (Admission of Resident Students), JJ (Student Activities), and JJI (Student Athletics); vote was 7-0

        approved second reading of policies DKB (Salary Deductions), JI (Student Rights and Responsibilities), and GBAA (Employee Racial/Sexual Discrimination and Harassment); vote was 7-0

        approved the purchase of property on East Black Street adjacent to the Central Child Development Center in the amount of $45,000 to be paid from the capital fund; vote was 7-0

        approved a gym lease at the Rock Hill Flexible Learning Center, January through April, to the Rock Hill Volleyball Club; vote was 7-0

        approved the recommended 2009-10 school calendar; vote was 7-0

recognized Judy Mobley, Rock Hill High principal, on her selection as Administrator of the Year by the S. C. School Counselors Assn.;

recognized the Rock Hill High School Band of Distinction as the 2008 South Carolina 5A Upper State Marching Champion and second place finish in the state. Representing Rock Hill High were Band Director Joe Gulledge, Asst. Director Randy Grantham, and Principal Judy Mobley.

heard Supt. Moody make the following announcements:

There has been a tremendous community response to our Back-the-Pack initiative introduced in October. We're continuing to receive food and money donations which will allow us to provide food for the elementary students who have little or no food to eat during weekends. Our only hope is that the Rock Hill community will continue to support this important program and that, at some point, we'll be able to extend Back-the-Pack to our middle and high school students.

When Business Week magazine published its second annual ranking this month of the Best Places to Raise Your Kids, Rock Hill beat out Charleston and Mount Pleasant to earn top honors in South Carolina. The magazine, which considered cities with at least 50,000 residents and a median family income between $40,000 - $100,000, looked at school performances, crime rate, air quality, job growth, and amenities. It cited Rock Hill's warm weather and "some of the best public schools in the state, as well as being the home to Winthrop University."

Rock Hill Schools, in partnership with the City of Rock Hill, will host a "dropout summit" on Thurs., Dec. 4, to serve as a call to action for our local community.  The summit will provide local businesses and individuals with information on the number of students who fail to receive their high school diploma and will lead to the development of local action plans. The summit, which is a part of a national call to action on behalf of the America's Promise Alliance, will be held from 8:00 a.m. until noon in The Palmetto Room in downtown Rock Hill.

        Representatives from Rock Hill Schools will also attend South Carolina's first-ever summit focused on reducing dropouts and increasing on-time graduation rates for the state's public schools on December 2 in Columbia.

The next Community Chat will be held on Wed. morning, Dec. 3, at Durango Bagel in the Millwood Shopping Center on Herlong Ave. Any citizen who wants to talk about the Rock Hill Schools can join the superintendent between 7:30-9:00.

All schools and offices will be closed for the Thanksgiving holidays, Nov. 26-28.

        All schools will be closed for the winter holidays, Dec. 22 through January 2.

The board work session on Dec. 8 will be held at 5:30 p.m. at The Children's School at Sylvia Circle.  On Jan. 12, the board will hold its work session at Belleview Elementary.

Mike Miller, from the Operations Research/Education Laboratory (OR/Ed.Lab) reviewed growth projections, current housing permits, and school capacity. Rock Hill Schools has  contracted with OR/Ed for the past six years to assist in determining the need for new schools or expansion of existing schools.

Associate Superintendent Harriet Jaworowski talked about the delay in the release of state report card information due to an error in the scoring of end-of-course tests given in middle and high school. Dr. Jaworowski stated that the projected release date will in January or February.

held an Executive Session for a property matter.