Local News – Wednesday, February 21st, 2018
The Salem R-80 Board of Education held their regular meeting Thursday at the District Administrative Offices. Superintendent John McColloch gave a report on the Free and Reduced Lunch Count and all students in grades K-12 continue to eat school lunch and breakfast for free. He then went over the January Membership which showed the student enrollment for the district was 1,285 students. The current preschool enrollment currently stands at 133. A total of 283 of the Salem R-80 students are non-resident. Middle School Principal Scott Roberts recognized 8th grade student Denise Stoner for her accomplishments at a recent race at Rogersville where she set a new state record for her age group. McColluch recognized William Lynch teacher Lauren Prugh who discussed the first year of the Bridges program which helps students prepare for Kindergarten. The building principals gave their reports. Kriste Crocker from William Lynch Elementary said Kindergarten Registration will be March 20 and 21. Parents of incoming kindergarteners should call the office after March 1st to schedule an appointment. Children that will be five by August 1, 2018 are eligible for kindergarten enrollment. At the Upper Elementary School, Melanie Wisdom congratulated the eight Arrow Slingers who participated in the Dent Phelps R-3 tournament held on Thursday, January 25th. Three of those Arrow Slingers won medals. They were Bryar Bobbitt who took 1st place in the boys' division; Ayla Wood who captured 2nd place in the girls' division; and Izzy Crannell who took 3rd place in the girls' division. At the Middle School, Scott Roberts congratulated the SMS Quiz Bowl "A" Team for their win in the Dent County Middle School Quiz Bowl Tournament. The “A” Team is comprised Denise Stoner, Nate Darby, Marvin Aspinwall and Marshall Gollaher. He said the “B” Team took third place and that team is made up of Kayla Howard, Collin Heavin, Thomas McDonald and Wyatt Patrick. At the Senior High, Marty Anderson said the Work Keys and ACT testing will occur April 3rd as 60 Sophomores and 60 Juniors have signed up for the ACT. Anderson said the ACT Rewards will stay in place as in the past. In new business, the board approved the 2018-2019 school year calendar, and also approved the purchase of 10 new Promethean Boards for William Lynch Elementary using Cox Foundation funds. The board accepted the resignation of William Hubbs as the 7th grade basketball coach before going into closed session where Superintendent John McColloch discussed the growth plans and evaluations for all district administrators. The board then extended the contracts one additional year for Clay Moody, high school assistant principal; Rich Parks, high school assistant principal; Melanie Wisdom, upper elementary principal; Marty Anderson, high school principal; Scott Roberts, Middle School principal; John Smith, assistant superintendent; and Kriste Crocker, William Lynch Elementary principal. The meeting was then adjourned.
The Salem Board of Aldermen held their regular meeting Tuesday evening at the Salem Community Center @ the Armory with Alderman Molly Zettel attending via video. Requesting to be heard at the meeting was Nikki Riley who spoke for the citizens behind the "We Refuse To Pay" facebook group. She thanked the board for taking the issue of higher than normal electric bills seriously and being willing to help find solutions. She requested that the aldermen do not change the utility bill due dates back to the 20th as was talked about at the previous meeting. Riley also requested the city reconsider taking pledges for utility assistance through the South Central Community Action Agency program. Her final request was for the board to edit the new budget billing plan to allow all customers to take advantage of the program, even those that have had late notices in the past. City Administer Ray Walden noted the Salem Community Center@the Armory had 2,649 participants to programs in December and 3,611 participants in January. On Monday, February 26th from 5:00-7:00 PM, the second meeting of the 2040 Visioning project will be held at the Salem Community Center@the Armory. Both Walden and Mayor Nash encouraged local citizens to attend these meetings. The board approved Bill # 3363, an ordinance to authorize the mayor to execute an agreement between the city and Hydro-Kinetics Corporation for Waste Water Treatment Plant improvements on the intermediate pump station. The board also approved Bill No. 3364, an ordinance authorizing the mayor to execute an agreement with BHMG for engineering services to compile an RFP for AMI for the electric and water utilities. The board then went into closed session.