Wayne County school board elects new chair, approves budget amendment and routine items

The Wayne County Board of Education elected Miss Van Fleet as its new chair and selected a vice chair, adopted the meeting agenda and approved the minutes and ledger accounts for August, the board said during its meeting.

Board members approved a list of surplus technology items from the mechanic/technology center, a list of nonfaculty coaches and several small budget amendments. The board discussed a budget amendment that updated the district's estimate for local sales tax revenue by $140,000 and adjusted how ACT testing funds are shown in the budget after the state began paying for the test directly.

The presenter said the district had underestimated local sales-tax receipts compared with last year, so the amendment increases the local-sales-tax estimate by $140,000 to align with the state's required budget submission process. The presenter added that although state guidance now lists ACT-test funding as if the district receives the money, the state actually pays the ACT vendor directly; the line item remains in the district's budget for approval purposes.

A motion to approve the budget amendments was seconded by Rowan Hawkins and the board voted in favor. Several board members voiced support for the motion; no opposing votes were recorded in the meeting audio.

Nominations for chair and vice chair were opened at the start of the meeting. After nominations closed, board members voted by voice to elect Miss Van Fleet as chair; the vice-chair selection was recorded in the meeting audio but the name was not clearly audible in the transcript. The board confirmed that a quorum was present before conducting the votes.

No formal policy changes or new contracts were adopted during the meeting; the actions taken were procedural and related to routine district governance and budget housekeeping.

During the meeting several speakers thanked the Ayres Foundation staff for their work in supporting students and noted recent improvements to the district's stadium bleachers and press box at Guy Buchanan Stadium. The final portion of the meeting included a brief school representative announcement from Jessica Irving, who said Wayne County Virtual School has an official mascot, the Trail Blazers, and serves grades 5 through 12 with 54 students enrolled.

The board did not appear to set a new date for follow-up on the budget items during the meeting; staff indicated the amendment was submitted for state approval as required by the budget process.