Cleveland County board approves budget changes, contract renewals and STARBASE resolution in unanimous votes

The Cleveland County Board of Education on March 2025 approved a series of budget amendments, contract renewals and program actions — including a resolution supporting the STARBASE STEM program — with all recorded votes 9-0.

Board members said the package of approvals responds to newly available state and federal revenue and routine contract renewals that the district’s committees had recommended. "It's always a good thing when we get money," Superintendent Dr. Steven Fisher said as he introduced changes to the district budget tied to new state and federal funding.

The board approved routine procedural items early in the meeting: adopting the meeting agenda as presented and accepting minutes for consent items 4.01–4.06 (both recorded 9-0). The finance and personnel items the board approved included Budget Amendment No. 1 for the 2024–25 budget, which board members said mainly reflected recent state and federal revenue releases.

Committee recommendations that became board actions included: - Approval of a school bus replacement purchase (the purchase amount presented in committee was $155,555; the purchase will be processed through the district purchasing process and funded by NCDPI). The board recorded the vote as 9-0. - Approval of two child-nutrition contract renewals: Pate Dairy (milk bid) for $535,258.78 and Gordon Food Service (food) for $3,380,156.10 for the 2025–26 year, with the board noting state procurement rules allow the district to extend previously awarded low bids for up to four years before rebidding. The committee report and the board both supported the renewals 9-0. - Approval of the Child Nutrition Procurement Plan (to be reviewed in an upcoming audit) and related procurement items: vote 9-0. - Declaration of 19 transportation vehicles as surplus (the list includes more than half labeled as DWI-seizure vehicles): approved 9-0.

Education and curriculum approvals included: - Renewal and approvals tied to literacy and curriculum contracts presented by instructional staff: Reading Horizons invoices ($117,131.44 and $96,236.58) and the Wit & Wisdom renewal ($199,478.42). These items required board approval and passed 9-0. - Canvas infrastructure renewal ($36,400) and Frontline AESOP ($40,861.70) and ClassLink single sign-on ($53,598.90) were presented; because some renewals were below the district’s $75,000 threshold they were informational and did not require board approval. - Approval of the lead teacher plan for traditional high schools and restart elementary schools: approved 9-0. - Policy 34-50 (class rankings) moved from first read to approval: approved 9-0. Policy 15-10 (school safety, containing legal updates to threat assessment protocols) was presented as a first read and will return for approval in April.

Other items the board accepted from committee included a budget amendment previously vetted by the finance committee, a personnel report, and multiple committee information items (capital projects updates, planned HVAC projects for Kings Mountain High and Crest Middle schools, and the submission of an application to the Public School Building Repair and Renovation Fund to help fund Crest Middle work). Committee chairs described the projects as in design and planned for bid in the coming weeks; board members were informed they will see contract requests when bids are returned.

The board also unanimously adopted a resolution supporting continued and full federal funding for the STARBASE STEM program, following a presentation and school visit earlier in the day. After the resolution passed 9-0, district staff provided a brief update on recent school visits and upcoming events.

Ending: Board members closed the meeting with routine reminders about school visits and district events; no additional formal actions were recorded after the STARBASE resolution.