Board endorses updated Sandhills Community College MOUs after staff and counsel clarify background-check and access rules

The Moore County Board of Education on June 30 endorsed two updated memoranda of understanding with Sandhills Community College that govern College and Career Promise programming and the More Innovative High School partnership, after staff and counsel summarized revisions requested by both boards.

Jamie Simon, the district presenter, told the board the main revisions clarified termination language and background-check practices. The termination phrase now specifies that termination would take effect at the end of the second fiscal year after notice, giving districts and students time to adjust, Simon said. The MOUs also now explicitly require that Sandhills employees who have direct contact with Moore County students be subject to criminal-background and sex-offender-registry checks.

Simon told the board that Sandhills had also removed language about independent contractors that the college said was no longer feasible. She said Sandhills added internal regulations that prohibit registered sex offenders from entering buildings or sections designated primarily for the instruction or supervision of minors, and that the More Innovative High School space (on the second floor of Van Dusen Hall) is keyed and access-limited to college personnel and the district program. “They have official regulations based on board of trustees action,” Simon said.

Board member David Hensley pressed for stronger assurances and asked whether Sandhills’ board had approved the changes; staff said Sandhills’ trustees were scheduled to consider the MOUs at their August meeting and that both districts’ counsel had worked through the language. Board counsel Charlie Schwartz said the motion should include the caveat “pending final legal review” in case Sandhills’ board made additional non-substantive edits.

After discussion, the Moore County Board voted to endorse the MOUs pending final legal review. At least one board member expressed lingering concern about campus access by students who appear on sex-offender registries; Simon and Dr. Locklear described Sandhills’ internal steps — building access controls and police coordination — intended to restrict access and notify officials when a registrant is identified.

The endorsements let district staff finalize the agreements with Sandhills subject to legal review and the college’s trustee action; the MOUs govern dual-enrollment, college access and the operations of the More Innovative High School program.