Rock Hill School Board OK's TIF Extension

These are my notes from the Rock Hill School Board business meeting on Monday, January 23, 2012:
The following action was taken:

• Approved the consent agenda with a 7-0 vote. Items included were; minutes from three meetings; administration personnel recommendations; approval of Elevation church and Transformation church to use school facilities for another month and; three overnight field study requests.
• Approved with a 7-0 vote the use of school facilities by Impact church for the rest of 2012, subject to a monthly vote of the board.
• Approved with a 7-0 vote the use of school facilities by New Life church, subject to a monthly vote of the board.
• Approved with a 6-1 vote the calendar for the 2012-13 year. Vining voted against because a potential bad weather make-up day would use the Memorial Day Holiday. The calendar will not be printed until the end of the year, but you can see what was approved by clicking here.
• Approved with a 7-0 vote, first reading of policies GBEB and JICDA. These revisions should be posted online this week for review.
• Approved with a 5-2 vote the extension of the city's downtown Tax Increment Finance district until 2039. Brown and Sharp voted against. Those supporting said; the school district would get more money now, when budgets are very tight; over the life of the TIF, the district would get benefits equaling the tax loss and; if the project is successful, there could be an economic improvement in the city and school district which would have other benefits. Those against questioned; the need for resource officers; the use of tax dollars and; the length of the TIF. Click here to read report in The Rock Hill Herald.
• Approved with a 7-0 vote a submission of changes to the state of South Carolina's No Child Left Behind Waiver. Click here to see what was approved.

The Board heard the following reports:

• Efforts and measurements which go in to reducing drop-out rates. Click here to read the report in The Rock Hill Herald.
• Students from Ebenezer Elementary School's 6th grade Leadership Academy made a presentation of some of their work this year.
• A review of this years budget preparation calendar.
• The team working on improving behaviors with kindergarten and First Graders gave a report on their first two weeks (approved during January work session)
• A review of the school districts community outreach efforts

The Board recognized the following:

• Newly certified National Board Teachers
• January "Distinguished Climbers"
• Piedmont Medical Center for donation of over $43,000 in medical equipment to the schools
• Fellow board member Mildred Douglas for her recent award during MLK day ceremonies.
• Energy Art Design Contest Winners
• MLK essay winners and their teacher.

Below is an interview I did with Andrew Kiel, WRHI's Straight Talk, on the TIF, Budget, and NCLB issues:

Rock Hill School Board member Jim Vining.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download