Marty McKee and Josh Sanders were sworn in as new members of the Newton County School Board on Jan. 14.
Sanders represents District D, and Sanders, who defeated incumbent Mark Savell in the election last year, represents District C.
January’s meeting was the first for the two incoming board members.
Also at the meeting, Glenda Barrett was elected president of the board. Former president Jason Cain was selected as vice president. Johnnie Thorne was chosen to be secretary.
The board also approved a student accommodation, who is facing an medical issue.
Tennis coach Chad Bond approached the school board about naming one of the tennis courts after a former player that recently passed away. According to school board policy, they cannot name anything after a person until after three years following their death.
In the interim, the board suggested other options to honor the former player, such as planting a memorial tree near the courts or naming a tournament after the player.
Financial reports were approved. Cay Clark, director of finance, said the district’s November revenue matched 42 percent of the year with spending about 34 percent of budget. The fund balance was about $2 million.
The board accepted a $2,500 donation to the soccer program for supplies.
Bus driver Larry Smith and teacher Sabina Ivey’s retirements were accepted. Nicole Hillman also resigned as the Blue Stars dance coach.
Superintendent J.O. Amis presented his plan to renovate the elementary school’s bathrooms. He said they would likely do it in two steps to stay under the amount needed for an architect on the project. If they did it all as one, it would go over the amount and would increase the cost of the overall project.
They are also moving forward with plans to add fencing at the elementary school and considering its options for renovating the Peavey building.
