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Board votes 5-2 to move intercom contract discussion into new business after federal deadline warning
Summary
The New Hanover County Schools Board voted 5-2 to move an agenda item about an intercom system from "information" to "new business," enabling a vote the same day after a board member said a federal letter set a funding deadline.
The New Hanover County Schools Board of Education voted 5 to 2 to move an agenda item — identified as “part c” under information and relating to an intercom system — into new business, a change that allows the board to vote on the item during the same meeting.
The motion to amend the agenda was made by board member David Perry: “I'd like to make a motion to amend the agenda to move section, c under parts 6 of information to new business because I have motions related to that discussion.” The motion was seconded and then discussed before the roll-call vote. Melissa Mason, Josie Barnhart, Pat Bradford, David Perry and Pete Wildebor voted yes; Judy Justice and Dr. Tim Merrick voted no. The chair then asked for a motion to approve the amended agenda, which passed 5 to 2 after a vocal vote.
Board members debating the change said moving the item would allow formal action that day. Dr. Tim Merrick urged caution, saying the change would allow a vote immediately and that he did not believe it should be voted on that day: “The public has to understand it. We need to have really good deliberative conversations about it, and I do not believe it should be voted on today.”
Perry told colleagues he had emailed the proposal a week earlier but said new information had prompted urgency: “...since then, I've been made aware that there has been a letter, from the federal government stating that there's a February 28 deadline, and that we can get in trouble and lose our funding, possibly. So I believe that is why I'm moving it up so that we can consider the motions today.”
Board members opposing the shift argued the item belonged in information so the public and the board could review details before voting. Judy Justice said moving the item risked injecting politics into the meeting: “This is information so we can make better decisions further down in this meeting. We do not be need to be pushing politics in this meeting. We need to be pushing what's best for kids.”
The agenda item later appears on the meeting’s consent/contract list as “Contract with NC Sound for intercom systems,” indicating the subject matter the motion referenced.
