JULY 27, 2018
LC BOE Special Meeting: Placing the Nickel Tax on Ballot and SRO’s in the Schools
The Lawrence County Board of Education convened a Special Meeting on July 24, 2018 to discuss the next steps in the nickel tax process as well as to approve other items of business.
Even though no public comment was made during the meeting, Board members and Dr. Fletcher expressed comments that people in the community have made recently concerning the nickel tax.
Dr. Fletcher also reminded the Board that the nickel tax has traditionally been matched by the state legislature and would increase the district’s bonding potential to well over $17 million for much needed facility improvements.
Each Board member agreed that the final decision should be made by the people of our county, and the language on the ballot should be straight-forward. With this in mind, the Lawrence County Board of Education voted unanimously to put the issue before the voters in the November general election.
SHERIFF WILL PROVIDE SECURITY OFFICER FOR BLAINE AND FALLSBURG SCHOOLS
Another important item of business passed unanimously concerning school safety. Mr. Vernon Hall and Board Attorney Jonathan Shaw worked with City of Louisa and the Lawrence County Sheriff’s office to develop contracts that would place 2 student resource officers (SROs) on school grounds.
Specifically, the LC BOE approved contracts that would include $25,000 allocated to the Sheriff’s Department and $25,000 to the City of Louisa to help pay for the 2 SRO positions. The Sheriff’s Department officials would select one officer to patrol Fallsburg and Blaine Elementary Schools, while the City of Louisa officials would station one officer in town for Louisa East, Louisa West, Louisa Middle, and Lawrence County High School.
Other items of business included
* the Unaudited Annual Financial Report,
* contracts/agreements with Northeast Head Start,
* early enrollment petitions, and the
* Superintendent’s Personnel Action/Update. (SEE SEPARATE LAZER STORY)
CHAIRMAN Mr. Heath Preston, Mrs. Garnett Skaggs, Mrs. Maddlene Roberts, Mr. Jim See, and Mrs. Barbara Robinson were all in attendance for the Special Meeting.
