COURTLAND
Brian Camden, a representative of Alpha Construction, recommended the Southampton County School Board not hire an architect, but a roof repair expert to handle the issue of school roofs that need either repairs or replacements.

“Time is of the essence. The longer you wait to bid, the larger the costs,” he said. “Evaluate, get the surveys done and put in a bid. Contractors are ready as soon as school ends.”

Camden added that in his experience, roof jobs are “problem-laden. They never go easy.”

He said the middle school would be one of first ones to be fixed.

Ricky Blount, director of transportation for the school division, confirmed that there’s is constant patching and re-patching at Southampton Middle School, and added that the high school is now 24 years old, about the lifespan of roof for such a building.

Dr. Deborah Goodwyn, board chairman, asked Supt. Dr. Gwendolyn Shannon to continue working on the matter.

In other matters, the board agreed to discuss the Shannon’s formative evaluation during an executive session at the March meeting.

“We’ll identify indicators of success we’d like to see,” the chairman said.

The board also gave its OK for the overnight trip requests for the FFA Block and Bridle Livestock competition, the District Key Club Convention in Baltimore, the SkillsUSA State Competition,  as well as high school spring athletic schedules.

During the instructional report, Kelli Gillette announced spring writing dates.

English Term will have a multiple choice test on March 6, with a writing prompt on March 7. The end of Course English 11 will have its respective testing on March 27 and 28, and English 8 will be on March 20 and 22.

After-school tutoring will be made available to all students thanks to funding through Franklin and Southampton Charities..

The selection is based on individual needs using data, and the division will provide transportation.

Professional development will be done the week of Feb. 19, and that will include grade level and content meetings – curriculum revision, re-mediation, small groups, resources, assessments and parent communication.

The annual Read Across America event will take place on March 2.

Odyssey of the Mind is scheduled for March 17.

Parent/Teacher conferences for the elementary schools will take place on March 6; second schools will have theirs on March 7.

Vice chairman Jim Pope said the committee is still in the very early stages of the budget, and added he’s mostly positive about it. The next meeting is set for Feb. 21.