Full house at McIver for School Board

By Maurice Emery
Editor

When the Halifax County School Board walked into the cafeteria at McIver Elementary School on Monday they were greeted by a full house.  The meeting started forty minutes late, because the board was in closed session to deal with personal matters, but everyone was glad to get it started.   

One of the reasons for the larger than usual crowd was to show support for Alisha Hicks, from the McIver PTA who told the board it would be a disservice to close McIver.   This was in response to the information that McIver was one of five schools being looked at for consideration to more fully utilize the school boards resources. 

In her short but heartfelt presentation she talked about the importance of the relationships between teachers and students.  “One of the strongest attributes of McIver is its relationships between its teachers and students,” Hicks stated.

She went on to say, “By closing McIver not only will you break a bond that is strong amongst the faculty, staff, parents and students but you will also break a bond that is strong within the community.”

She told the board that when they are deciding on what to do to please think of the children.  She closed her presentation by asking everyone to sing the McIver School song.

Halifax County School Superintendent Geraldine Middleton recognized Hollister Elementary School 5th grader James Wright as Halifax County Student of the Month.  He was selected out of 4,800 students for many reasons; one of the leading ones was his enthusiasm that makes him such a good roll model.  James advice, “You should never give up and you should always do your work.”

His parents, Rodney and Darlene as well as principal, teacher and others were on hand for the presentation.  He said if he won student of the month his family would be proud of him, Middleton added, “your Superintendent is very proud of you.”

School Board member Carolyn Hawkins congratulated James on the recognition and commented, “thank you so much for trusting James to be a member of the Halifax County system.”

In a lighter moment when he was told he would be getting a goody bag his little brother asked if there was one for him.  After the presentation his family treated him to a special meal at Casa Mia’s.

One of the reasons for a larger than usual crowd was to hear an update from the Facilities Task Force.  Task Force Chairman Charles Chambliss presented the board with part two of the report, but made no public recommendations.  After listening to the presentation Middleton told the gathering that the next step in the process would to get input from the public. 

The board also heard presentations from representatives for the Literacy Coaches, Alliance for a Healthier Generation initiative and the Strategic Budget Planning Community Forums. 

Finance officer Arthur Callihan reported that the budget format has been changed.  The new format goes into a more detailed breakdown of the expenses.  He also revealed that they will be going back to the county to seek the $1.2 million they are short from previous years.