BOE to vote on central office building’s new furniture

Published 12:15 am Sunday, September 27, 2015

The Rowan-Salisbury Board of Education will vote on the approval of the Wallace Educational Forum’s furniture on Monday.

The meeting will take place in the Long Street Board Room on 110 S. Long Street in East Spencer at 5 p.m.

The forum is the Rowan-Salisbury School System’s new central office building. The Rowan-Salisbury school system personnel have been working in scattered locations since the systems merged in 1989, so the building will serve to consolidate personnel.

Ground broke for the building in April of this year, and the Wallace family donated the money for the building’s dome in July.

Back in August, fundraising for the furniture caused tension between Chairman Josh Wagner and board member Richard Miller after Wagner secured a donation from Food Lion co-founder Ralph Ketner.

When Miller was chairman, he was criticized for seeking funding for pet projects involving the central office.

Also during August’s meeting, board member Charles Hughes was upset about the board voting on the furniture funding after he left the meeting and wrote about it in a letter to the editor for the Salisbury Post.

Hughes was also not happy with the 3-2 vote that approved the furniture funding because the original policy stated that a motion had to receive four votes in favor to pass.

There will also be a presentation on the progress of the Discovery Education program in schools, which students use on their iPads in classrooms as part of the school system’s digital conversion.

Other points of discussion include a presentation on the Long Range Facility Plan, updates on school safety and second readings of policies involving suspended and expelled students.

Contact reporter Amanda Raymond at 704-797-4222.